–30–

See Robert Stacy McCain, "Now That the Election Is Over..."

Actually, the notion that "it's over" was my first thought when I saw the news last night, which is why I said I was glad to be off the grid all day.

My earlier blogging is here, "Trump's Lewd Talk Sparks Uproar."

BONUS: At WSJ, "Donald Trump Says Campaign Not in Crisis, and There Is 'Zero Chance I'll Quit'."

It's all a reality show at this point.

Either way, the left's fundamental transformation is sealed.

'The Battle of Algiers' — It's Excellent

I took my older son with me yesterday. He loves hanging out in L.A.

Here're my earlier posts, "Going to See 'The Battle of Algiers' Today," and "At the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles: 'The Battle of Algiers' — 50TH ANNIVERSARY NEW 4K RESTORATION (VIDEO)."

I remember from years ago, although I can't remember where (probably the LGM homos), how leftists praised "Battle of Algiers" as THE cinematic exegesis of the revolutionary experience. It was the radical left's "in" movie.

And I can see why. It's practically a do-it-yourself instructional video on how to mount an insurgency against the hegemonic colonial capitalist ruling classes.

See for example the review, at A.V. Club, from 2004 (when he movie came out on DVD):

In the current political climate, between the war in Iraq and the looming election, topical documentaries and fiction features have flooded the marketplace. But none are more relevant to the times than Gillo Pontecorvo's masterpiece The Battle Of Algiers, which was made nearly four decades ago. Throughout the years, the film has been tagged as a terrorist textbook, an inspiration for the Black Panthers and other radical organizations, yet its startling verity has recently proved useful for Pentagon officials eager to understand how networks like al-Qaeda operate. Still smarting from their moral and tactical failures in colonial Algeria, the French banned the 1965 film for several years, and some countries excised scenes revealing the systemic torture of National Liberation Front (FLN) operatives. But even though The Battle Of Algiers ranks among the great works of revolutionary cinema, Pontecorvo depicts insurgent warfare with a stark, evenhanded realism that feels like history painted on the screen. In fact, many prints actually come with the disclaimer that the film doesn't include a single frame of documentary or newsreel footage. And that's not a boast: It really does seem that real.

 Plus, I missed this earlier, at the New York Times from 1967, "MOVIE REVIEW - Screen: Local Premiere of Pontecorvo's Prize-Winning 'Battle of Algiers': Gripping Re-enactment Opens Film Festival."

And here's a good piece on the conflict altogether, at the World Socialist Web, "Torture in the Algerian war (1954-62)."

More here, from an interesting blog post by a leftist academic, "What was the Algerian War/Why should you care."

Related: James D. Le Sueur, Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics During the Decolonization of Algeria. And, General Paul Aussaresses, The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Algeria, 1955-1957.

Jesse Watters' Fox News Chinatown Segment (VIDEO)

Look, Irvine's like Chinatown, Little Seoul, and Little Tokyo rolled into one.

I'd frankly prefer having Latino immigrants moving in. I'm used to them, for one thing, and I can get by with a little Spanish in a pinch.

And don't get me going about Chinese drivers and their surgical smog face masks. I feel like I'm in Beijing in my own town. Sheesh.

But oh my god!

Jesse Watters exploited stereotypes for political humor!

Actually, I think the worst thing is the video showed literally how many of the Chinese are 100 percent non-assimilated. I mean, how many more Chinese immigrants like this speak not one word of English, and how many more cities could be multiplied in this hodgepodge of cultural invasion?

It's no wonder why Donald Trump surged to victory in the primaries. GOP voters, and many independents, welcomed blunt talk about the out-of-control monstrosity of leftist immigration and lawbreaking illegal alien outreach.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Activists blast 'O'Reilly Factor' Chinatown piece as racist."

Also, at the Daily Beast, "Why Fox’s Racist, Sexist Frat Boy Jesse Watters Will Always Win." And, "WOW: ‘The Daily Show’s’ Ronny Chieng Destroys Fox News’ Jesse Watters: ‘You Ignorant Sack of Sh*t!’"

Trump's Lewd Talk Sparks Uproar

The left's hypocrisy is to be expected. I mean, it's just par for the course.

Following-up from last night, "Donald Trump Apologizes (VIDEO)."

At WSJ, "Donald Trump's Lewd Comments About Women Spark Uproar":

Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign was in damage control late Friday after a decade-old recording emerged in which he speaks in crude sexual terms about women.

Mr. Trump quickly apologized for the comments, which included talk about grabbing and kissing women, saying they were “foolish.” But the recording drew blunt rebukes from both the Republican Party’s top elected official and the head of the GOP and didn’t sit well with some of Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters.

“I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down,” Mr. Trump said in a video statement posted on his Facebook page after midnight EDT on Saturday.

Mr. Trump said he regretted saying the things captured in the recording. “I was wrong and I apologize,” he said.

He then switched his focus to former President Bill Clinton, the husband of his rival, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who he said “has actually abused women.”

“We will discuss this more in the coming days,” he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said he was “sickened” by the recording and uninvited Mr. Trump to a campaign event in his state scheduled for Saturday. Mr. Trump said in a statement that he would send his running mate, Mike Pence, in his place, and instead spend the day in debate preparations.

In the 2005 recording, Mr. Trump said: “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.…

“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.…Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything,” Mr. Trump added.

Mr. Trump also referred to a married woman whom he said he tried to seduce: “I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and f—her.…”

“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married,” Mr. Trump said in the recording. “Then, all of a sudden, I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”

“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever,” said Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, in a written statement.

Before the evening was out, Mr. Trump had drawn the opprobrium of other Republicans, including former GOP presidential rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, several GOP senators running for re-election, and former GOP presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Still, few Republicans pulled support from Mr. Trump. Those who did were a trio of Utah politicians: Gov. Gary Herbert and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz withdrew their endorsements while former Gov. John Huntsman called on the nominee to quit the race.

Two other Republican congressmen who hadn’t supported Trump—Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado—called on Mr. Trump to quit the race. So did Rob Engstrom, the political director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “There is no GOP nominee for president in 2016,” Mr. Engstrom posted on Twitter. “Fundamentally offensive and unqualified.”

Ralph Reed, the founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, dismissed the recording as an ancillary issue for religious voters in the election.

“People of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defend religious freedom, defund Planned Parenthood and oppose the Iran nuclear deal,” Mr. Reed said Friday. “A 10-year-old audio of a private conversation with a television talk-show host ranks very low on their hierarchy of concerns.”

Ralph Reed hits the nail on the head, but there's no denying this episode could cause real damage to Trump's campaign. The Democrats smell blood in the water. Last week it was taxes. This week it's lewd comments. It's an extremely well-coordinated campaign to distract the voters from Hillary Clinton's manifest disqualifications for the office. It's actually depressing that it's come to this, but then it's American politics in the culture of reality television, social media, and coarsening progressive collectivism.

I'm not offended by Trump's words because I'm a grown woman who knows how men talk when I'm not around.

— Bree :) (@BreeSrsly) October 8, 2016

Told my wife I've said so-called "lewd" comments in the past. I can't think of any good old boy friends who haven't. https://t.co/Y46EXdGhgT

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 8, 2016

All orchestrated. Hypocrisy overload. Media complicit. Wikileaks avoidance. Clinton corruption. Post-American. China elated.

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 8, 2016

Keys To Power Are Given Gleefully EVEN To Criminals/Murderers Like Hillary AS LONG AS You Are A Good Globalist Puppet #BillyBush #TrumpTapes pic.twitter.com/RPNfdGoAtL

— Deplorable Me 😎🌵 (@LeahR77) October 8, 2016

Everyone knew Trump was bad boy before he ran. What you're seeing is a joint DNC/RNC/MSM effort to stop someone they don't own#TrumpTapes

— Jared Wyand 🇺🇸 (@JaredWyand) October 8, 2016

Donald Trump Apologizes (VIDEO)

Watch, at A.P. "Trump Apologizes for Lewd Comments":

After being caught on tape making shockingly crude comments about a married woman he tried to seduce, Donald Trump declared in a midnight video, “I was wrong and I apologize.”

Well, it's done now, the damage that is.

Nice that he apologized though. He doesn't come out with apologies like that very often, if ever.

At any rate, it's all over Memeorandum, of course.

Frankly, I'm glad I was off the grid all day.

Going to See 'The Battle of Algiers' Today

"The Battle of Algiers" opens today at the Nuart Theater in West L.A.

I blogged the press release a few weeks ago, "At the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles: 'The Battle of Algiers' — 50TH ANNIVERSARY NEW 4K RESTORATION (VIDEO)."

The L.A. Times posted a write-up, "Once banned, 'Battle of Algiers'' smart, compassionate take on terror and rebellion resonates today."

And here's one from 1993, "'Battle of Algiers' Captures Emotions in Both Camps."

Years ago, when I was an undergrad at Fresno State taking a course on modern France, I read John Talbott's, The War Without a Name: France in Algeria, 1954 - 1962. What I remember most about the book is how much the conflict roiled French society, and how the French military attempted a coup d'etat that led eventually to Charles de Gaulle's return to power with extraordinary constitutional authority under a new regime, the Fifth French Republic. So, it'll be interesting to see "The Battle of Algiers," particularly from the point of view of the revolutionaries who changed the world.

See also, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962.

Obama Delays Deportation of Central American Migrants

Heh.

As if this is surprising.

The longer these people stay, the more potential Democrats flood to voter rolls.

At NYT:

Unexpectedly! Obama Administration Is Quietly Delaying Thousands of Deportation Cases. #MAGA https://t.co/MbCAiNshOl

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 7, 2016

Jack Dorsey is Losing Control of Twitter

He's apparently not very "managerial" in his management. More "Socratic" in fact.

And he's losing control over Twitter's board of directors. The social media giant is losing money and about to be sold.

At Bloomberg.

Personally, I don't care.

Check out Instapundit's pinned tweet from September 29th and you can see why.

As ObamaCare Collapses, Democrats Eye Nationalized Health Care

It was so predictable that Americans should be extremely angry. Virtually every single criticism conservative levied at Obama's signature health care law --- which was passed on straight party-line voting in Congress --- has come to pass.

ObamaCare's now failing and even the pathetic New York Times can't avoid reporting the truth. Frankly, folks at the Old Gray Lady are probably glad, since it gives leftists a chance to push to "reform" ObamaCare with a "public option" or "MediCare for all."

As conservatives said back in the day, that's what it was all about to begin with: a healthcare reform Trojan Horse to destroy the U.S. healthcare system as we'd known it at the time. And boy, did leftists destroy it.

See:

Ailing Obama Health Care Act May Have to Change to Survive https://t.co/M2ZSKnM0tP

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 3, 2016

Clementine Ford is Just Wow

That was my response yesterday to Robert Stacy McCain's post, "No, @Clementine_Ford, Men Don’t Hate Women, But They Definitely Hate You."

2017 Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 S Coupe (VIDEO)

I keep seeing this Mercedes-Benz ad and the car is so aggressive.

It's way out of my price range, and I don't even like Mercedes that much, but this thing's something else.

503 horsepower, for one, heh.

Here's the homepage.

Jessica Ashley in Motion (VIDEO)

Via Playboy:

Creepy Clown Sightings (VIDEO)

From Sarah Hoyt, at Instapundit, "LIFE IMITATES THE ONION: Spike in Creepy Clown Sightings, With More Arrests Across U.S. Also Increased security around some St. Louis-area schools amid creepy clown concerns."

And at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



BONUS: Here's a particularly creepy clown, from Tuesday's vice presidential debate.

Mike Pence Wins Vice-Presidential Debate (VIDEO)

I did watch.

I didn't blog, but I did watch.

And Mike Pence was definitely a lot cooler under pressure. I turned it on a little bit late, so I guess I missed the beginning where Tim Kaine opened both barrels on Pence, and made himself look out of control, if not desperate and unhinged.

Here's Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "PENCE SCHOOLS KAINE: And holds Hillary accountable":

Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence put in a strong showing in the vice presidential candidates’ debate last night, explaining clearly what a Trump administration would do to bring America back from the brink and hitting his opponent Tim Kaine hard.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) laid out a largely conservative vision and a fuzzy but coherent blueprint for restoring America’s greatness last night. His opponent, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), assumed the role of Santa Claus and promised that more handouts, bigger government, and higher taxes on the productive would solve the nation’s problems. Kaine said cops and police brutality are big problems and Pence said the Left is too quick to condemn police before facts are known.

“Law enforcement in this country is a force for good,” Pence said.

Pence brought out onto the national stage the other ticket’s contempt for the State of Israel. After Kaine suggested the Israeli Joint Chiefs of Staff support the Obama administration’s loophole-ridden Iranian nuclear nonproliferation pact, the governor hammered him saying, “that’s not what Israel thinks.”

“You can go check it,” Kaine replied.

Pence then noted correctly that Kaine stayed away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress about Iranian nuclear arms in February 2015.

“You wouldn’t necessarily know that,” Pence said. “I know you boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech.”

“I visited him in his office,” was Kaine’s weak reply.

Kaine was on the defensive almost the entire debate while Pence seemed unfazed by anything thrown at him. After Kaine said Trump’s was an insult-driven campaign, Pence laid into him:

I mean, to be honest with you, if Donald Trump had said all of the things that you've said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were a basket of deplorables. It's -- she said they were irredeemable, they were not American. I mean, it's extraordinary.

In a nutshell, Kaine made the argument during the debate that battling terrorism is at least as important as fighting climate change. He got his prefab class-warfare talking points in which should make Democrats happy. He said it was important to elect Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman and her election would be historic and because he and his wife trust Hillary with the life of their son who, like Pence’s son, is deployed overseas in the Marine Corps. The thought of Donald Trump “as commander-in-chief scares us to death,” the senator said...

Keep reading.

And watch, at Fox News, "Who won the vice presidential debate?"

And at the PBS NewsHour, "Watch the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine."

Also, at Memeorandum.

Why is Donald Trump Still Winning?

Well, why's he winning at the USC Dornsife / LA Times Presidential Election 'Daybreak' Tracking Poll.

David Lauter has the answer, at the Los Angeles Times:

Why is #DonaldTrump still winning our poll? White men and uncertain voters. https://t.co/M8W3VfVx15

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 5, 2016

David L Henderson, My Teenage Zombie

Some public relations team sent me the blurb on this book.

From David L Henderson, M.D., My Teenage Zombie: Resurrecting the Undead Adolescent in Your Home.

Zombies are not just found in horror movies, sometimes they’re lying on your living room couch. These are undead adolescents whose psychological and social development have come to a screeching halt. Torn by their yearning for freedom and their fear of surviving the outside world, they have stalled in their maturity, motivation, and purpose in life, hijacked by a helplessness and fear of responsibility. Parents often feel ill-equipped to love, support, and guide them—especially when they may be facing a midlife crisis of their own and battling some of the same issues in their own lives. Is it really possible to escape this “undead” state of being?

In My Teenage Zombie board-certified psychiatrist and medical doctor David L. Henderson explains the parts of a teenage zombie (their brain, heart, and spirit), how they got into this undead state, and how to resurrect them back to life. Using real-life examples of families he has counseled, he describes both their physical and psychological characteristics and offers practical suggestions on how to deal with, and in many cases avoid, having an undead adolescent in your home.

The book is divided into three helpful sections:
· The Rise of the Undead: Understanding the Nature of a Teenage Zombie
· The Fear of the Undead: Facing the Anxiety of Confronting a Teenage Zombie
· Resurrecting the Undead: Restoring Your Teenage Zombie to a Life Worth Living

If you are the parent of an undead adolescent, there is hope for you and your child. Or maybe you have children who are not yet adolescents. It’s never too early to prepare for the challenges that await you. Either way, stay calm and start resurrecting zombies!

'Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On'

Shake it, baby.

Jerry Lee Lewis turned 81 years-young last Thursday.

The Sound L.A. played "Whole Lotta Shakin'" during my morning drive time. In fact, I'd just pulled into my parking spot at the school. And then boom! On comes Jerry Lee's rockin' piano introduction. So great. It reminded me of my rockabilly days back in the early '80s, when bands like the Blasters and the Stray Cats were playing concerts in Hollywood. Good times.

Watch, ole' Jerry Lee, at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, April 2015. Scroll forward to about 3:20 for "Whole Lotta Shakin'...":

Back On the Chain Gang
Pretenders
6:58 AM

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Jerry Lee Lewis
6:55 AM

Here I Go Again
Whitesnake
6:37 AM

Doctor My Eyes
Jackson Browne
6:34 AM

Hurts So Good
John Mellencamp
6:30 AM

White Room
Cream
6:24 AM

Your Song
Elton John
6:20 AM

Jamming
Bob Marley & The Wailers
6:06 AM

Your Love
The Outfield
6:02 AM

PBS Interview with David Cay Johnston (VIDEO)

I learned more about the Donald Trump tax issue from this video than I learned from all the other reporting over the weekend combined --- and David Cay Johnston's a leftist.

Watch, from the PBS NewsHour, "Why seeing Trump’s tax returns really matters."

And see the man's book, at Amazon, The Making of Donald Trump.

Can You Trust the Mass Media?

A great segment featuring Judith Miller, at Prager Univeristy:

The New Middle East

From Caroline Glick:

A new Syria is emerging. And with it, a new Middle East and world are presenting themselves. Our new world is not a peaceful or stable one. It is a harsh place.

The new Syria is being born in the rubble of Aleppo.

The eastern side of the city, which has been under the control of US-supported rebel groups since 2012, is being bombed into the Stone Age by Russian and Syrian aircraft. All avenues of escape have been blocked. A UN aid convoy was bombed in violation of a fantasy cease-fire. Medical facilities and personnel are being targeted by Russia and Syrian missiles and barrel bombs to make survival impossible.

It is hard to assess how long the siege of eastern Aleppo by Russia, its Iranian and Hezbollah partners and its Syrian regime puppet will last. But what is an all but foregone conclusion now is that eastern Aleppo will fall. And with its fall, the Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah-Assad axis will consolidate its control over all of western Syria.

For four years, the Iranians, Hezbollah and Bashar Assad played a cat and mouse game with the rebel militias. Fighting a guerrilla war with the help of the Sunni population, the anti-regime militias were able to fight from and hide from within the civilian population. Consequently, they were all but impossible to defeat.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to join the fight, he and his generals soon recognized that this manner of fighting ensured perpetual war. So they changed tactics. The new strategy involves speeding up the depopulation and ethnic cleansing of rebel-held areas. The massive refugee flows from Syria over the past year are a testament to the success of the barbaric war plan. The idea is to defeat the rebel forces by to destroying the sheltering civilian populations.

Since the Syrian war began some five years ago, half of the pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced.

Sunnis, who before the war comprised 75% of the population, are being targeted for death and exile. More than 4 million predominantly Sunni Syrians are living in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. More than a million have entered Europe. Millions more have been internally displaced. Assad has made clear that they will never be coming home.

At the same time, the regime and its Iranian and Hezbollah masters have been importing Shi’ites from Iran, Iraq and beyond. The process actually began before the war started. In the lead-up to the war some half million Shi’ites reportedly relocated to Syria from surrounding countries.

This means that at least as far as western Syria is concerned, once Aleppo is destroyed, and the 250,000 civilians trapped in the eastern part of what was once Syria’s commercial capital are forced from their homes and property, the Russians, Iranians, Hezbollah and their Syrian fig leaf Assad will enjoy relative peace in their areas of control.

By adopting a strategy of total war, Putin has ensured that far from becoming the quagmire that President Barack Obama warned him Syria would become, the war in Syria has instead become a means to transform Russia into the dominant superpower in the Mediterranean, at the US’s expense.

In exchange for saving Assad’s neck and enabling Iran and Hezbollah to control Syria, Russia has received the capacity to successfully challenge US power. Last month Putin brought an agreement with Assad before the Duma for ratification. The agreement permits – indeed invites – Russia to set up a permanent air base in Khmeimim, outside the civilian airport in Latakia.

Russian politicians, media and security experts have boasted that the base will be able to check the power of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and challenge NATO’s southern flank in the Mediterranean basin for the first time. The Russians have also decided to turn their naval station at Tartus into something approaching a full-scale naval base.

With Russia’s recent rapprochement with Turkish President Recip Erdogan, NATO’s future ability to check Russian power through the Incirlik air base is in question.

Even Israel’s ability to permit the US access to its air bases is no longer assured. Russia has deployed air assets to Syria that have canceled Israel’s regional air superiority.

Under these circumstances, in a hypothetical Russian-US confrontation, Israel may be unwilling to risk Russian retaliation for a decision to permit the US to use its air bases against Russia.

America’s loss of control over the eastern Mediterranean is a self-induced disaster.

For four years, as Putin stood on the sidelines and hedged his bets, Obama did nothing. As Iran and Hezbollah devoted massive financial and military assets to maintaining their puppet Assad in power, the Obama administration squandered chance after chance to bring down the regime and stem Iran’s regional imperial advance.

For his refusal to take action when such action could have easily been taken, Obama shares the responsibility for what Syria has become. This state of affairs is all the more infuriating because the hard truth is that it wouldn’t have been hard for the US to defeat the Iranian- Hezbollah axis. The fact that even without US help the anti-regime forces managed to hold on for four years shows how weak the challenge posed by Iran and Hezbollah actually was.

Russia only went into Syria when Putin was absolutely convinced that Obama would do nothing to stop him from dislodging America as the premier global power in the region...

A great analysis.

Keep reading.

Paul Krugman Wonders How the Presidential Race Could Be So Close

I've been telling my students for a long time that the 2016 election was going to be close.

And I've also been telling them that Hillary Clinton was never going to generate as much youth voter enthusiasm as Barack Obama did in 2008, and I had no idea how well that prediction would turn out (Gallup reported last week that youth interest in politics has cratered since Obama was first elected.)

So get a load out of this post at the Monkey Cage, the political science blog at the Washington Post, "Krugman wonders how the race could be close. Political science wonders how it could be otherwise."

A good piece. Read it all at the link.

NPR Reporter Has No Idea What 'Come and Take It' Means

A great post, at Instapundit, "MOLON LABE."

Hillary Clinton Considered Drone Strike on Julian Assange?

Well, how's Hillary gonna take the guy out with a drone?

He doesn't go anywhere. She'd have to take out the entire Ecuadoran embassy in London.

But hey, it's what folks are talking about.

At the Toronto Sun, "Hillary Clinton suggested taking out Wikileaks founder Julian Assange with drone: Report."

Actually, this was back when she was secretary of state. That's when she'd have been in a position to act on such rants, and that's also why you can understand Assange's assassination fears. Governments kill people for reasons of state, and the Obama administration's been more Machiavellian than most.

Go right to True Pundit, "Under Intense Pressure to Silence WikiLeaks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Proposed Drone Strike on Julian Assange."

I'm no expert but wanting to "drone" Assange isn't exactly #LoveTrumpsHate @HillaryClinton Evil dictator much?💣 #MeanGirls pic.twitter.com/z7sKx7RQ6i

— Black Women 4 Trump (@TallahForTrump) October 3, 2016

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Voting Against a Potential President (VIDEO)

A great segment from last night on Fox News.

I especially liked O'Reilly's dissection of Hillary Clinton's post-debate "gloating."

Yes, that's quite ugly, but that's her. Like Barack Obama in 2008 (and since), it's all about her.

Watch:

Julian Assange Assassination Concerns?

I thought something was funny when I saw this tweet from the Washington Examiner:

Report: WikiLeaks founder won't make announcement because of "security concerns" https://t.co/kPOJ7XTxAH pic.twitter.com/b2qSMAGlt2

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 2, 2016

Since when has #WikiLeaks been worried about "security concerns"? Something's funny about this. https://t.co/FRBZTBuQlk

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 2, 2016

So, it turns out the WikiLeaks folks were worried about an assassination attempt in Julian Assange? Well, sounds like a significant security concern alright. But how legit?

At Heat Street:

UPDATE: Julian Assange of Wikileaks To Appear by Video Tomorrow Due to Apparent Assassination Concerns https://t.co/6SFiUQQa77

— Deplorable Observer (@PrivateName11) October 4, 2016

Bill Clinton's Love Child?

I haven't been trolling the web like I usually do, so this story escaped me.

But man, this is frankly astonishing.

At Evil Blogger Lady's, "Bill Clinton has a son? Does Danney get to fly on the private jet just like Chelsea Clinton?"

Does Danney get to fly on private jets to climate conferences? #SonOfClinton #BillClintonLoveChildhttps://t.co/GwTJD74iT8@AceofSpadesHQ pic.twitter.com/J0zg8bG2m2

— Evi L. Bloggerlady (@MsEBL) October 3, 2016

Also at AoSHQ, "Long-Suspected Clinton Love Child Resurfaces, Declaring 'I Am Bill Clinton's Son'":

He looks a lot like him. A lot.

He does. Freakin' a. He does.

Jackie Johnson's Cooler Weather Forecast

It was quite nice today, actually.

I'm not looking forward to a return of that 100-plus weather from a week ago, although it's supposed to warm up toward the end of the week, but not that bad.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

My Mom Gave Me Robert J. Gordon's, The Rise and Fall of American Growth, for My Birthday

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to get this book.

It's a huge tome, The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War.

We went out to dinner last night to celebrate my birthday, and my mom's husband's, along with my wife, my youngest son, and my older sister.

We ate at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach, which has been there as long as I can remember. It's definitely recommended. I was stuffed to the gills, heh.

Vin Scully Calls His Last Game

The Giants beat the Dodgers 7-1 at AT&T Park, and San Francisco heads to New York for a wildcard game against the Mets on Wednesday.

But it was all emotion today when Vin Scully called his last broadcast, and he was all class, as usual.

Bill Shaikin has a column, at LAT, "It's last call for Vin Scully, and Giants could make it a historic one."

And at ABC News, "Vin Scully, Voice of the Dodgers, Gives His Final Farewell (VIDEO)."

A lot of memories of @Dodgers games past, with #VinScully's voice helping me while away my summer days. #LADodgers #SFGiants

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 2, 2016

.@lamblock They sang "Take me out to the ball game" at #SFGiants AT&T Park, changing the words to "Let's root root root for the #Dodgers"!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 2, 2016

Dear friends... pic.twitter.com/akgzIU1UdW

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 2, 2016

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."




Also, at Theo's, "Cartoon Roundup..."

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Pre-Programmed."

Unhinged John Podhoretz Attacks Robert Spencer

Just last month I said that "Commentary remains my favorite magazine on the conservative right."

Well, I don't know how much longer I can say that, especially considering the behavior of the vile idiot John Podhoretz.

See Robert Spencer, at Jihad Watch, "John Podhoretz to Robert Spencer: “You piece of sh*t”."

Of course, Podhoretz deleted these tweets, but the Internet is forever, as they say:

Donald Trump to Attack Hillary Clinton Over Husband Bill's History of Infidelity and Sexual Assault

Charles Krauthammer mentioned that you don't go after these things unless you're down 12 points in the polls. It's too dangerous. It's ugly. The GOP got burned on Monica Lewinsky and impeachment in the '90s. Bill Clinton's numbers were at nearly 60 percent by the time he left office. It's a losing proposition.

Well, after the first debate Team Trump was already gearing up for attacks on Bill's "dalliances," but after NYT's vicious attack on Trump's taxes last night, I doubt The Donald's going to be able to resist.

See this great post at Hot Air, "Should Trump attack Hillary for trying to discredit Bill’s accusers at the next debate?"

And embedded there is Rush Limgaugh's radio segment, "RUSH: Hillary Beats Trump In BULLYING WOMEN, Every Day of the Week."

We'll see. Frankly, I'd be hammering Hillary over this, but like Allahpundit notes at Hot Air, you gotta make it about Hilary's complicity. She bullied women to shut up. Don't make her a victim.

Anyway, FWIW, at NYT, "Donald Trump Opens New Line of Attack on Hillary Clinton: Her Marriage."

The Left's Response to New York Times Release of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes

My initial thoughts are here, "New York Times Publishes Parts of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes."

New York Magazine has a good post on the left's response, "Report: Donald Trump May Not Have Paid Taxes for 18 Years."

HRC's campaign tweets:

Trump "apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades—while tens of millions of working families paid theirs." pic.twitter.com/g62jB9fKr5

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2016

More at Politico, "Bombshell report on Trump taxes sends GOP nominee reeling: It puts an exclamation point on what was already one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in recent memory."

Well, as they say, all's fair in love and war, and this is war.

More later...

American Hero Heckles Europeans, Sinks Their Putt, Then Takes Their Money (VIDEO)

Heh.

You gotta give it up for the dude.

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "TROLL LEVEL: SUPREME GALACTIC OVERLORD."

New York Times Publishes Parts of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes

I read the story online last night.

Exclusive: NYT has obtained parts of Trump's 1995 tax records. He could have paid no federal income tax for 18 years https://t.co/lpSr9M6IwA

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2016

Here are the pages from Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax records that were obtained by The Times. https://t.co/SFSIzIiSXQ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2016

Trump team puts out statement with no one's name on it, unusual since @JasonMillerinDC arrival from Cruz pic.twitter.com/1OiwUYCROs

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 2, 2016

This is obviously scandalous, as evidenced by the leftist reaction on Memorandum.

Whatever sense of electoral possibility I felt last weekend, on the eve of the presidential debate, is gone now. Trump's mediocre debate performance wasn't strong enough to overcome the left's ceaseless smears and attacks. The surge in polling Trump was enjoying has stalled. And now, with just over another week until the second debate, the campaign's going to be focused on Donald Trump's taxes rather than how much farther down the Democrats will take the country into the rat hole. And it's the Old Gray Lady who broke the news. I mean, it's too perfect. The newspaper's entire organization, from top to bottom, has been intent to take down The Donald, going so far as announcing that the traditional "objective" standards of old-fashioned press reporting no longer applies. Reporters are free to write "A-section" news reports as if they were op-ed pieces. If the election's still close a couple of weeks from now it'll be a miracle.

Expect updates.

ADDED: I forgot to mention that Donald Trump's done nothing wrong. There's no claim of law-breaking or illegality. New York Times leftists want to paint Trump as a plutocrat scofflaw out to stiff the average Joe. They also want to portray him as a loser in business, who passes the costs of his business loses onto the average schmuck. If folks remember how the left destroyed Mitt Romney in 2012, especially with the secret "47 percent" video, then you'll have a sense of how leftists will play it. The only difference this year is that Obama's not on the ballot, and the Clinton Foundation scam, and Hillary's endless email scandal, should be the bigger controversies. But we're dealing with neo-Marxist collectivists who'll do anything to win. Anything. No lie. No Alinskyite tactic. Nothing is too low for the left. They'll use any means necessary to destroy opposition to their undemocratic statist program.

Gisele Bündchen Sunbathing in Italy

She's supposedly the most successful fashion model --- supermodel --- in the world.

Well, who knows?

She's definitely successful in a thong bikini, either way.

At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Gisele shows off her pert posterior as she sunbathes Deflategate suspension away with husband Tom Brady."

Jason Brennan, Against Democracy

I know this is an interesting book, perhaps even vital, when the Jacobin foams at the mouth in denouncing it. See, "Bleeding Heart Bullshit."

And from the blurb at Amazon:

Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us--it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy. But, Jason Brennan says, they are all wrong.

In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results--and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens have a right to competent government. But democracy is the rule of the ignorant and the irrational, and it all too often falls short. Furthermore, no one has a fundamental right to any share of political power, and exercising political power does most of us little good. On the contrary, a wide range of social science research shows that political participation and democratic deliberation actually tend to make people worse--more irrational, biased, and mean. Given this grim picture, Brennan argues that a new system of government--epistocracy, the rule of the knowledgeable--may be better than democracy, and that it's time to experiment and find out.

A challenging critique of democracy and the first sustained defense of the rule of the knowledgeable, Against Democracy is essential reading for scholars and students of politics across the disciplines.

Brennan is supposedly some hip new libertarian dude, although I'm not familiar with him, and I'm not that big on libertarianism (since it ineluctably devolves to leftism and anti-Semitism, frankly, at least in its current manifestations amid the culture wars).

But if the guy in fact harks back to a more Milton Friedman-esque style of libertarianism, I could throw some weight behind it.

In any case, here's another review, at Free Beacon, "Free People at the Polls — Review: Jason Brennan, 'Against Democracy'."

Amid Violent Protests, Authorities Release Video of Black Man Killed in El Cajon Police Shooting

If we were still in the middle of the summer, I'd be tempted to go down to San Diego for some original blog reporting. I haven't done anything like that in a while.

In any case, following-up from the other day, "El Cajon Police Officer Shoots and Kills Black Man (VIDEO)."

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "El Cajon protests continue after release of police shooting video":

Three days after an El Cajon police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man, authorities released video of the incident his family and protesters have demanded to see.

A protest far more peaceful than Thursday night followed the release of the footage.

The two videos, lasting less than 90 seconds total, show the moments on Tuesday before and when an officer fired his gun and a second officer fired a Taser at Alfred Olango, 38.

On the video with sound, four gun shots are heard, followed by a woman’s screams.

The recordings last only a few seconds after the shooting. One recording was surveillance video from a nearby business, the other was taken on cellphone by a witness.

El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis, backed by Mayor Bill Wells, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and others, held a news conference on Friday to distribute copies of the video to reporters.

Davis identified Officer Richard Gonsalves as the officer who shot Olango and Officer Josh McDaniel as the officer who fired a Taser. Both have been on the department for 21 years.

The chief said he sat in on a conference call Friday morning with Wells, Dumanis, Sheriff Bill Gore, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman and Escondido police Chief Craig Carter. All agreed to release of the video in the interest of public safety, he said.

He added that misinformation was spreading through the community “with the potential to create unrest” in the city.

“We didn’t want to waste time,” he said. “At the end of the day, it was important to put this out to the community.”

Davis said nights of “escalating aggression” and the effects of protests in the city, including closed stores and schools, led to the decision to allow the public to see the videos.

Dumanis said she agreed with the release of the footage, adding that the video is only one piece of evidence her office will review in deciding whether the shooting was legally justified.

She said the FBI has been involved in the investigation into the shooting.

Dr. Andre Branch, president of the NAACP San Diego, also at the conference, agreed that the video needed to be shown.

“I applaud and commend Chief Jeff Davis and the city of El Cajon for releasing the video of the police-involved shooting. NAACP believes this is the action that should follow any and all police shootings.”

Olango’s family were not present at the conference.

The videos were shown live over local news stations. About a dozen people collected outside police headquarters during the news conference watched the videos on their cellphones and reacted with anger as they heard the shots ring out...

More.

Also at LAT, "The battle for footage after the El Cajon shooting: 'The country is begging for a video'."

Van Morrison's New Album, 'Keep Me Singing', is Now Available

Just released yesterday, at Amazon, Keep Me Singing.

PREVIOUSLY: "Van Morrison, 'Too Late' (VIDEO)."

Supreme Court Justices Return to Face Volatile Docket

I was just thinking about the Court's new term this week, since I'm doing civil liberties in my classes and I thought I might show my students an article or two or the coming term, which starts (each year) at the beginning of October.

So, what do you know?

See the New York Times, "Supreme Court Faces Volatile, Even if Not Blockbuster, Docket":

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, awaiting the outcome of a presidential election that will determine its future, returns to the bench this week to face a volatile docket studded with timely cases on race, religion and immigration.

The justices have been shorthanded since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, and say they are determined to avoid deadlocks. That will require resolve and creativity.

“This term promises to be the most unpredictable one in many, many years,” said Neal K. Katyal, a former acting United States solicitor general in the Obama administration now with Hogan Lovells.

There is no case yet on the docket that rivals the blockbusters of recent terms addressing health care, abortion or same-sex marriage. But such cases are rare, whether there are eight justices or nine.

“This term’s cases are not snoozers,” said Elizabeth B. Wydra, the president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal group. “This term features important cases about racial bias in the criminal justice system, voting rights and redistricting, immigration and detention, and accountability for big banks that engaged in racially discriminatory mortgage lending practices.”

There are, moreover, major cases on the horizon, including ones on whether a transgender boy may use the boys’ restroom in a Virginia high school and on whether a Colorado baker may refuse to serve a same-sex couple.

“If either of these cases is taken, it will almost immediately become the highest profile case on the court’s docket,” said Steven Shapiro, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

There is also the possibility that a dispute over the outcome of the presidential election could end up at the Supreme Court, as it did in 2000 in Bush v. Gore.

“That is the doomsday scenario in some respects of having an eight-member court,” said Carter G. Phillips, a lawyer with Sidley Austin. A deadlocked Supreme Court would leave in place the lower court ruling and oust the justices from their role as the final arbiters of federal law.

Race figures in many of the new term’s most important cases, including two to be heard in October, and that seems to be part of a new trend. “The court hasn’t had a lot of cases recently dealing with race in the criminal justice system,” said Jeffrey L. Fisher, a law professor at Stanford.

In June, a dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor brought a new perspective to the issue. Citing James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me,” she insisted that the brutal history and contemporary reality of racism in the United States must play a role in the court’s analysis.

That dissent may prove influential, said Justin Driver, a law professor at the University of Chicago. “One item to keep an eye on this term,” he said, “is the extent to which the Black Lives Matters movement makes its presence felt on the court’s docket.”

On Wednesday, the court will hear arguments in Buck v. Davis, No. 15-8049. It arose from an extraordinary assertion by an expert witness in the death penalty trial of Duane Buck, who was convicted of the 1995 murders of a former girlfriend and one of her friends while her young children watched. The expert, presented by the defense, said that black men are more likely to present a risk of future danger.

The justices will decide whether Mr. Buck, who is black, may challenge his death sentence based on the ineffectiveness of the trial lawyer who presented that testimony.

“The Buck case raises questions that could not be more relevant to ongoing conversations sparked by police shootings about implicit bias and stereotyping of African-American men as violent and dangerous,” Ms. Wydra said. “The Roberts court, and particularly the chief justice himself, has often been reluctant to acknowledge the reality of systemic racism in this country, but the egregious facts of the Buck case make it impossible to avoid.”

On Oct. 11, the court will consider another biased statement, this one ascribed to a juror during deliberations in a sexual assault trial. “I think he did it because he’s Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want,” the juror said of the defendant, according to a sworn statement from a second juror.

The question in the case, Peña Rodriguez v. Colorado, No. 15-606, is how to balance the interest in keeping jury deliberations secret against the importance of ridding the criminal justice system of racial and ethnic bias.

Race also figures in cases on redistricting, fair housing and malicious prosecution...

Well, that's a lot of stuff on race and criminal justice, but I can't wait to see the Court take up the transgender restroom issue, to say nothing of the homosexual wedding cakes. You gotta ask how far is the culture war going to succeed in rending our country into that which is totally unrecognizable.

But keep reading. We'll certainly know in due time.

Kopp-Etchells Effect: Michael Yon Named Sparkling Photographic Phenomenon to Honor Soldiers

I haven't kept up with Michael Yon since he left Afghanistan.

Instapundit has an update, "THE PHOTOGRAPHER IS MICHAEL YON, WHO MANY INSTAPUNDIT READERS WILL REMEMBER: How a Combat Photographer Named a Phenomenon to Honor Soldiers."

Supermodel Paulina Porizkova, 51, in Tiny Bikini on Beach in Hawaii

She's amazing.

Still looking fabulous.

And she's a rock-solid mom as well.

At London's Daily Mail, "'No makeup and no filters!': Paulina Porizkova, 51, proves she's still a supermodel as she poses in tiny bikini on beach in Hawaii."

FLASHBACK: "Rule 5 Saturday: Paulina Porizkova."

On Board the USS Eisenhower (VIDEO)

At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE: 'We kill bad guys and blow up their stuff' - on board the USS Eisenhower as its Top Guns blast ISIS with bombing missions around the clock."

Also, via the Joint Forces Channel:

Hedge Funds Take Short Position Against Germany's Deutsche Bank

This is interesting.

Hedge funds are attacking Deutsche Bank AG, and profiting.

At WSJ, "Hedge Funds Profiting on Bets Against Deutsche Bank":

Hedge funds that have placed bets against Deutsche Bank AG are reaping the rewards.

Deutsche Bank shares are down nearly 50% since the start of the year on concerns about its capital position, leading to large profits for a number of hedge funds who have been running short positions on the German lender, betting its stock will fall further.

However, it has been a bumpy ride. Deutsche’s shares fell as much as 8% in morning trading Friday, reaching a record, following reports that clients, including several large hedge funds, have pulled billions of dollars from the bank. But they later recovered to close up 6.4% in afternoon trade in Frankfurt.

Greenwich, Conn.-based AQR Capital Management, which runs $159 billion in assets, revealed that it had a short position in Deutsche Bank on Wednesday, according to a filing made public by the German regulator on Thursday.

AQR was also among a number of funds that have recently taken steps to withdraw securities or cash from the bank, or dial back their trading activities, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Deutsche Chief Executive John Cryan said in a message to employees Friday that media speculation that a few hedge funds had reduced some activities with the bank was causing “unjustified concerns.”

He said the bank had “strong fundamentals” and pointed to the sale this week of British insurer Abbey Life for $1.2 billion and the bank’s plans to sell its stake in China’s Hua Xia Bank. “We fulfill all current capital requirements and our restructuring is well on track,” he said.

Other hedge funds to have bets against the bank include Marshall Wace LLP, Discovery Capital Management LLC and Highfields Capital Management LP, according to filings. Marshall Wace first declared a 0.5% short position in Deutsche Bank in February. By Tuesday, it had doubled its bet to 1.03%, although this was cut back Thursday to 0.9%.

Discovery first disclosed a position at the start of August and increased it late that month, while Highfields first disclosed a position in July, which it quickly increased.

Hedge funds’ bets against the troubled German lender have been cranked up in recent days, although they are still below levels hit earlier this summer...

More.

Edward Majerczyk Pleads Guilty in Celebrity Hacking Scandal

I wondered why search results were pulling up my old Jennifer Lawrence posts.

At LAT, "Man convicted of hacking Gmail and iCloud accounts of at least 30 celebrities in L.A."

Angelo Codevilla, The Ruling Class

At Amazon, Angelo Codevilla, The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It.

And see Professor Codevilla's essay, "After the Republic" (via Instapundit).

Senate Votes to Override Obama's Veto of Saudi 9/11 Lawsuit Bill (VIDEO)

And the vote was 97-1?

Can Obama really be that badly on the wrong side of the issue?

Indeed he can.

At USA Today, "Congress rejects Obama veto of 9/11 bill; first override of his presidency":

WASHINGTON — The House and Senate voted Wednesday to reject President Obama's veto of legislation allowing lawsuits against foreign sponsors of terrorism — the first successful override of a presidential veto since Obama took office.

The president had vetoed the legislation Friday because he said the bill — known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA — would infringe on the president’s ability to conduct foreign policy. It was the 12th veto of his presidency.

But after an intense push by 9/11 survivors and families of victims who want to sue Saudi Arabia based on claims the country played a role in the 2001 terror attacks, even Obama’s Democratic allies on Capitol Hill voted to override his veto.

The House voted 348-77, well above the two-thirds majority needed. The final vote tally in the Senate was 97-1. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., cast the lone dissenting vote.

"In our polarized politics of today, this is pretty much close to a miraculous occurrence," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. Democrats and Republicans in both chambers agreed, he said, that the bill "gives the victims of the terrorist attack on our own soil an opportunity to seek the justice they deserve."

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he shared some of Obama's concerns but said the victims' rights outweighed them.

"We cannot in good conscience close the courthouse door to those families who have suffered unimaginable losses," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said.

Obama told CNN on Wednesday that he thinks overriding his veto was a "mistake" and "basically a political vote." But he said he understood why Congress voted the way it did, despite what he suggested were private misgivings among some lawmakers.

“If you're perceived as voting against 9/11 families right before an election, not surprisingly, that's a hard vote for people to take," he said. "But it would have been the right thing to do."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest decried the override as the "single most embarrassing thing the United States Senate has done possibly since 1983."

"Ultimately these senators are going to have to answer their own conscience and their constituents as they account for their actions today," he said, adding that Reid showed "courage" in opposing it.

The measure essentially creates an exception to sovereign immunity, the doctrine that holds one country can’t be sued in another country’s courts. It allows plaintiffs to sue other nations in U.S. federal courts for monetary damages in cases of injury, death or property damage caused by acts of international terrorism in the United States.

The White House has argued that the legislation will prompt other nations to retaliate, stripping the immunity the United States enjoys in other parts of the world. Obama said in a letter to Reid before Wednesday's vote that lawsuits already are allowed against countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. government.

The president warned the law could be "devastating" to the U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence communities...

More.

And watch, at CNN, "Senate overrides Obama's veto 97-1."

The House voted 348 to 77 to override as well, so it's a done deal: the first congressional override of this administration. At LAT, "In a first, Congress rebukes Obama with veto override of 9/11 bill."

Deal of the Day: Save on FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System

At Amazon, FoodSaver FM2435-ECR Vacuum Sealing System with Bonus Handheld Sealer and Starter Kit, Silver.

Also, Nathaniel Persily, ed., Solutions to Political Polarization in America.

And, James Campbell, Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America.

BONUS: Beth Akers and Matthew M. Chingos, Game of Loans: The Rhetoric and Reality of Student Debt.

Robert L. Shibley, Twisting Title IX

This is a vital read.

At Amazon, Robert L. Shibley, Twisting Title IX.

Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy [BUMPED]

Following-up from Sunday, "Wendy Warren, New England Bound."

At Amazon, Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832.

I'll have more blogging tonight.

El Cajon Police Officer Shoots and Kills Black Man (VIDEO)

I don't know the full details yet, especially the genuine details outside of the leftist media propaganda machine.

FWIW, at the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man shot, killed by El Cajon police officer."

And at ABC News 10 San Diego:

AlfonZo Rachel: My Observations on the Clinton/Trump Debates (VIDEO)

At Theo's, "My Observations on the Trump / Hillary Debates by AlfonZo Rachel."

Hannah Ferguson Irresistibles (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated:

WATCH: Charlotte McKinney Strips Down in New Pete Yorn Video

At the London's Daily Mail, "Charlotte McKinney strips off her lacy lingerie in provocative new music video."

Here's the video, "Pete Yorn - I'm Not The One."

Katy Perry Nude Funny or Die Video

At London's Daily Mail, "'Let those babies loose!' Katy Perry strips NAKED at polling station but later gets arrested in new parody clip urging fans to vote..."

She's wild.

Amber Lee's Wednesday Forecast

It's been very hot, although my school's air conditioning has been working just fine (or at least in my building).

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Shimon Peres Has Died

A great obituary at NYT:

#ShimonPeres Dies at 93; Built Up #Israel’s Defense and Sought Peace. https://t.co/n8Rr8V2bYG

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 28, 2016

Los Angeles Unified Has Nearly 700 Unresolved Complaints About Failed Air-Conditioning During This Week's 100-Degree Weather

What a nightmare.

At LAT, "L.A. Unified has almost 700 unresolved complaints about broken air conditioning":

Jessica Melgoza is one of the lucky ones. A freshman at Banning High School’s new firefighter magnet, the 14-year-old has a prime seat in her English class — right in front of one of two fans.

All Los Angeles Unified School District classrooms are supposed to have working air conditioning. But as of Monday, when temperatures crept above 100 degrees by early afternoon, L.A. Unified schools had almost 700 unresolved complaints about problems with air conditioning.

Five, including two received Monday, came from Banning, located in Wilmington.

The current number of unresolved complaints is half of what the school system faced in mid-August, after school started, said Roger Finstad, L.A. Unified’s director of maintenance and operations. For the most part, the temperatures this school year have been more forgiving than last year, he said.

“For us, that’s a very modest backlog,” Finstad said. The district has about 30,000 classrooms...

Modest?

Well, I wouldn't want to see a severe backlog then. That's inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on students, inadvertently or not.

Keep reading.

Statement from Dean Melanie Wilson About Professor Glenn Reynolds's tweet

I saw this at Memeorandum yesterday, "Statement from Dean Melanie Wilson about Professor’s Tweet."

And at Instapundit, "THE UNIVERSITY ENDS ITS INVESTIGATION: “In short, no disciplinary action will be taken against Professor Reynolds. The tweet was an exercise of his First Amendment rights.” Though perhaps not the most brilliant such."

Heh, it goes with the territory these days. If you're a conservative online, and a public intellectual college professor, expect the attack mobs to come after you with 20 divisions.

More here.

Hillary Clinton Feels the Pressure

At the Hill, "Clinton feels the pressure":

Hillary Clinton is feeling the pressure in the race for the White House — even after a strong night in the first 2016 presidential debate.

Clinton has a huge staff advantage over Donald Trump, which should help her turn out supporters this fall.

The Electoral College is tilted in her favor, and demographics are moving in the Democratic Party’s direction.
She’s running to succeed a popular president who is firmly on her side, and the economy is strengthening.

She’s also running against Trump, who has divided the Republican Party while alienating large groups of Americans.

Despite all those advantages, Clinton finds herself in an excruciatingly tight race.

As recently as Aug. 27, she had a more than 6-point lead over Trump in the RealClearPolitics national average of polls after a strong stretch following the Democratic National Convention.

On Tuesday, her lead was 2.4 percentage points in RealClearPolitics national advantage.

Polls have shown Trump ahead in the swing states of Florida and Ohio, and he has at least a fighting chance in all of the other battlegrounds, from purple states such as Nevada and Virginia to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two states a Republican hasn’t won in decades.

Clinton’s team believes its candidate had a strong performance in Monday’s debate that will translate into a wider lead going into the second and third contests next month.

“The debate buoys her to the next big thing and the next debate,” said one Clinton surrogate.

They also argue that it is Trump who faces some pressure. The next presidential debate on Oct. 9 in St. Louis could be a must-win situation for the Republican.

All the same, Clinton and her supporters acknowledge they are in a dogfight over the next six weeks that could still go either way.

And they expect a fierce challenge from Trump...

Well, no one should taking it easy at this point.

More.

Debate Reactions

Honestly, I'd say Hillary Clinton won the first debate, but by decision rather than a knockout.

She was clearly prepped with lots and lots of policy details, memes and attacks against trump on racism and sexism, and she was ready with a couple of zippy one-liners. But for all that, she couldn't put Trump away.

In fact, Trump on a number of occasions made Hillary look bad, awful even. Unfortunately he missed a number chances to deliver a tough blow. For me, most of all, he missed the chance to call her out on her endless "racism" attacks, which as Trump pointed out, are desperately unfounded. Also unfortunately, Trump indulged her, especially on the birther issue, rather than waving away the issue as done and settled. That was a mistake, and he wasted time defending his position, as Laura Ingraham pointed out in the post-debate analysis segment on Fox News.

Charles Krauthammer, also on Fox, called the debate a draw, and a challenger usually gets the benefit of the doubt when it's a draw, hence Trump held his own and beat expectations. Perhaps, although I'm certain Trump left some juice opportunities hanging. He was very strong on trade and international treaties. He was also good on law and order, and stayed consistent on longstanding themes of his campaign. But he looked reactive more than proactive. That hurt him, although not too bad all around. [Added: See Glenn Reynolds here, "SO I’D CALL IT A DRAW. Both Trump and Hillary left key points out. Neither looked awful, but neither looked great. And people I follow on social media seem equally divided.")

One thing not to forget: Trump was respectful, didn't call Hillary names, and avoided so-called sexist attacks, even though Hillary tried to make some sexist hay out of his remarks.

I've got CNN on now and the chyron just flashed saying Hillary won the debate according to a CNN/ORC snap poll. Whatever. That's not going to be a trustworthy poll, considering the tiny number of those sampled. Trump, for example, may have helped himself greatly in the Rust Belt with his consistent attacks on the economy and the offshoring of jobs. We won't know for sure on that until the next round of high-quality polls.

So, Hillary came out on top, but not by much, and only won be a decision.

There's more at WSJ's live blog, "First Presidential Debate: Live Coverage."

Also, at LAT, "Clinton and Trump clash often in ferocious opening debate."

And FWIW, the pro-Hillary spin, at Politico, "Clinton gets under Trump’s skin: The Republican nominee loses his cool as a composed Clinton hits him on his business record, the Iraq war, and his secret Islamic State plan."

The Democrats Are Worried

They are indeed.

From John Hinderaker, at Power Line:

In recent days, it has begun to dawn on a lot of people that Donald Trump really may win the election. (I, of course, have been predicting it all along…) This is causing near-hysteria in some quarters, and louder demands by Democrats for journalists in general, and the debate moderators in particular, to put their thumbs on the scale. As if they weren’t already doing so!

More.

And more from Hind-Rocket, "ELECTORAL COLLEGE MATH, AND WHY I THINK TRUMP WILL WIN."

Wayne Allyn Root, Angry White Male [BUMPED]

This is great!

At Amazon, Wayne Allyn Root, Angry White Male: How the Donald Trump Phenomenon is Changing America—and What We Can All Do to Save the Middle Class.

Clinton and Trump Deadlocked Before the Debate; Leftists Media Goes All Out to Paint Trump as 'Unprecedented Liar'

The number of undecided voters at this point is probably ten percent or less, which makes the left's freak out even more hilarious. Polls show the presidential horse race neck and neck, and leftist are worried.

Here's Bloomberg, via Memeorandum, "Trump, Clinton Deadlocked in Bloomberg Poll Before Key Debate."

And Trump deadlocked in the Keystone State, which I've considered my benchmark state for Trump's turning-point in the Electoral College. I'll need to see a couple more polls out of Pennsylvania, but it's exciting.

And see Larry O'Connor, at Hot Air, for the leftist media's coordination with the Clinton campaign on the Trump "unprecedented liar" meme over the weekend, "Where did all those ‘Trump Lies’ articles come from this weekend? The Clinton campaign, of course."

Amber Lee's Triple-Digit Forecast

It's extremely hot.

I couldn't even go out today it was so hot. Ridiculous. I'm glad the Rams weren't playing at home. The Colosseum would have been miserable, if not downright treacherous.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles, the lovely Amber Lee:

Wendy Warren, New England Bound

Back in July, I posted the link to Edmund Morgan's, American Slavery, American Freedom.

I've been thinking about it because when my buddy Greg Joseph retired from the college in June he gave me a bunch of old books that he wasn't going to keep, including his old copy of Morgan's tome.

So it's even more interesting to find Wendy Warren's new and related book, New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America.

You can't read everything, of course. But I like to dapple all over the place, so I'll keep the Warren book in mind.

The Silencing of KrebsOnSecurity

On Techmeme earlier, "Brian Krebs' site hit by record 620Gbps sustained DDos attack, nearly twice as big as any previous attack seen by Akamai..."

Up now, "The Democratization of Censorship: As insecure IoT devices make large-scale DDoS attacks more potent, the Internet community should work to adopt standards and tools to prevent these attacks..."

And at Ars Technica, "Why the silencing of KrebsOnSecurity opens a troubling chapter for the ‘Net":

For the better part of a day, KrebsOnSecurity, arguably the world's most intrepid source of security news, has been silenced, presumably by a handful of individuals who didn't like a recent series of exposés reporter Brian Krebs wrote. The incident, and the record-breaking data assault that brought it on, open a troubling new chapter in the short history of the Internet.

The crippling distributed denial-of-service attacks started shortly after Krebs published stories stemming from the hack of a DDoS-for-hire service known as vDOS. The first article analyzed leaked data that identified some of the previously anonymous people closely tied to vDOS. It documented how they took in more than $600,000 in two years by knocking other sites offline. A few days later, Krebs ran a follow-up piece detailing the arrests of two men who allegedly ran the service. A third post in the series is here.

On Thursday morning, exactly two weeks after Krebs published his first post, he reported that a sustained attack was bombarding his site with as much as 620 gigabits per second of junk data. That staggering amount of data is among the biggest ever recorded. Krebs was able to stay online thanks to the generosity of Akamai, a network provider that supplied DDoS mitigation services to him for free. The attack showed no signs of waning as the day wore on. Some indications suggest it may have grown stronger. At 4 pm, Akamai gave Krebs two hours' notice that it would no longer assume the considerable cost of defending KrebsOnSecurity. Krebs opted to shut down the site to prevent collateral damage hitting his service provider and its customers.

"It's hard to imagine a stronger form of censorship than these DDoS attacks because if nobody wants to take you on then that's pretty effective censorship," Krebs told Ars on Friday. "I've had a couple of big companies offer and then think better of offering to help me. That's been frustrating."

Until recently, a DDoS attack in excess of 600Gb was nearly impossible for all but the most sophisticated and powerful actors to carry out. In 2013, attacks against anti-spam organization Spamhaus generated headlines because the 300Gb torrents were coming uncomfortably close to Internet-threatening size. The assault against KrebsOnSecurity represents a much greater threat for at least two reasons. First, it's twice the size. Second and more significant, unlike the Spamhaus attacks, the staggering volume of bandwidth doesn't rely on misconfigured domain name system servers which, in the big picture, can be remedied with relative ease...

Pretty amazing.

Keep reading.