Senate Moves to Repeal ObamaCare (VIDEO)

Senators were actually working on this yesterday, their first day back on the Hill.

At Roll Call, "Senate Republicans Start Obamacare Repeal Process":

Senate Republicans wasted no time Tuesday setting in motion their plan to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

GOP senators intend to strike large portions of the law while avoiding the threat of a Democratic filibuster through a procedural gambit that expedites Senate consideration of the repeal bill.

But Democrats aren’t going down without a fight.

On Tuesday, Senate Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi started the process known as reconciliation. A fiscal 2017 budget resolution the Wyoming Republican unveiled on the first day of the 115th Congress includes instructions to two House and two Senate committees to craft legislation reducing the deficit by $1 billion over the next ten years.

To do so, those committees will draft bills repealing portions of the health care law. Senate debate is not subject to cloture, meaning 60 votes are not required to end debate. Republicans, with their 52-seat majority, will be able to advance the repeal without needing any Democratic defections.

One of the committees with jurisdiction is Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the panel’s chairman, GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said Tuesday that any repeal bill will be crafted “carefully.” Lawmakers have until Jan. 27 to draft the measures.

But before then, Democrats plan to put Republicans on the record regarding certain provisions of the 2010 health care law.

Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin said Democrats plan to offer health-related provisions when the Senate votes on amendments to the budget resolution. A marathon vote series known as a vote-a-rama is expected next week...

More.

Not sure why she mentions the cloture rule isn't in effect, mainly because the filibuster still applies to legislation (despite this whole debate over killing the filibuster). Normally floor debate is held when a bill is ready to be sent to conference, and thus it would be defeated in the Senate before that if there wasn't a 60-vote level of support. I've tweeted to Bridget Bowman for an answer.

The Wages of Trump Derangement Syndrome

From Roger Kimball, at Pajamas:

There will continue to be a lot of flailing [after Trump's election], a lot of wailing and abuse. But among the many things that changed during the early hours of November 9 was a cultural dispensation that had been with us since at least the 1960s, the smug, "progressive" (don't call it "liberal") dispensation that had insinuated itself like a toxic fog throughout our cultural institutions — our media, our universities, our think tanks and beyond. So well established was this set of cultural assumptions, cultural presumptions, that it seemed to many like the state of nature: just there as is a mountain or an expanse of ocean.  But it turns out it was just a human, all-too-human fabrication whose tawdriness is now as obvious as its fragility.

What we are witnessing is its dissolution. It won't happen all at once and there are bound to be pockets of resistance. But they will become ever more irrelevant even if they become ever shriller and more histrionic. The anti-Trump establishment is correct that what is taking place is a sea change in our country. But they are wrong about its purport.  It is rendering them utterly irrelevant even as it is boosting the confidence, strength, and competence of the country as a whole. Glad tidings indeed...

RTWT.

Hat Tip: James Taranto, at his final entry for the "Best of the Web" column at WSJ, "Finale." (I read that on my iPhone. My normal Google workaround for the subscription paywall didn't work. I'm thinking about subscribing to the newspaper this year, perhaps as part of a new change for my reading habits.)

An Embarrassing Start for the New GOP Congress

Actually, maybe House Republicans shouldn't have caved to the pressure, from Trump or elsewhere.

Following-up from yesterday, "House Republicans Retreat from Ethics Change Following Backlash."

See the Wall Street Journal editorial board, "Fake Ethics Reform Fiasco":

The burning question in the media has been whether Mr. Trump or public outcry deserve credit for the GOP’s about-face. In any case, House Republicans will pay a political price for trying, then failing, to rush through ethics changes—after running on draining the D.C. swamp. By caving so precipitously at the first sign of opposition, they’ve also invited more such pressure campaigns.

The upshot is an embarrassing start for a new GOP Congress that is supposed to be stalwart for pursuing conservative reform no matter the opposition. Progressives are elated that their Trump “resistance” project notched a victory and will continue the fact-free outrage campaigns. If you think the political pressure is intense on ethics rules, wait until the left completes its nationwide talent search for the person most harmed by the GOP’s health-care proposals. Mr. Trump will also figure he can rout any opposition with a tweet, not that he’s known for restraint.

The shame is that a review of the ethics office is overdue, much as due-process rights have suffered under the Obama Administration—from college campus show trials to bankrupting legal companies. Maybe Congress can restore its own due-process guarantees after it does something for everyone else’s.

RTWT.

George Hawley, Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism

This looks interesting.

At Amazon, Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism.

Rose Bertram's Tahitian Paradise (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

As Cops Retreat Under Political Pressure, Chicago Homicides Rise 57 Percent

At WSJ, "Murder and Policing in Chicago":

As cops retreat under political pressure, homicides rise 57% in Chicago: https://t.co/6kphDZJnRY

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) January 3, 2017

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told CBS’s “60 Minutes” this weekend that the increase in paperwork has taken time away from proactive policing and made officers more reluctant to stop suspicious individuals. According to CBS, the number of stops declined from 49,257 in August 2015 to 8,859 a year later while arrests fell by a third to 6,900. While current Superintendent Eddie Johnson denied that police were retreating, he noted at a press conference this weekend that anger at police has “emboldened” criminals. He also blamed lax enforcement of Chicago’s strict antigun laws.

All of this suggests that the demonization of cops has contributed to Chicago’s surge of violence, with the principal victims being young minorities, many of them innocent bystanders. Perhaps the President could include an elegy for these black lives in his farewell.

RTWT.

House Republicans Retreat from Ethics Change Following Backlash

I wasn't following politics too closely today. Indeed, I took my son to school and came home and went back to sleep. I woke up at Noon and the GOP ethics reform story was getting tremendous coverage at Memeorandum.

If House Republicans indeed retreated because Donald Trump tweeted his displeasure, that's gotta be a significant development. The GOP (and many in the conservative) establishment dissed Trump during the Republican primaries, lots of these people being part of the "Never Trump" movement. So it's interesting to see now the kind of power Trump can wield with a single tweet.

In any case, at WSJ, "House GOP Drops Bid to Undercut Ethics Board":

With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

WASHINGTON—House Republicans on Tuesday dropped their effort to curb the independence of a nonpartisan ethics board after a fierce backlash to it eclipsed other news on the first day of the new session of Congress.

Meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday, House Republicans unanimously decided to scrap their effort to place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, a move that would leave lawmakers policing themselves. That move, announced late Monday night, drew swift pushback from government-watchdog groups, Democrats and some Republicans, who heard from angry constituents about the proposal.

President-elect Donald Trump, in tweets Tuesday mornings, questioned the timing of the move over other congressional priorities.

“It’s like a circular firing squad—our first day here and we’re passing around the handgun,” lamented Rep. Rod Blum (R., Iowa).

As criticism mounted Tuesday, Republicans decided midday to abandon the measure for now, though lawmakers said they would try to advance changes to the ethics watchdog later this year. Lawmakers have raised concerns over the board, including objections that it makes complaints against them public.

House Republicans meeting Monday night had approved, by a 119-74 vote, the amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) to a package of new House rules. Both House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) had objected to the amendment, urging a bipartisan approach to changing the office.

It wasn’t clear that the rules package would have had the votes to pass, given that it was likely to garner no support from Democrats, and some Republicans objected to the ethics amendment.

In two tweets Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump seemed to express sympathy with the move on its merits, calling the watchdog office “unfair.” But he said, “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it…may be, their number one act and priority.” He added that he would prefer a focus on issues “of far greater importance!”

The Office of Congressional Ethics serves as the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog by reviewing allegations against House members and staff. It is governed by an eight-person board of private citizens who don’t work for the government...

Still more.

Best of LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

Heh, I haven't been too consistent posting these LOVE videos. They're nice though.

How Megyn Kelly's Move to NBC Could Change the Cable News Landscape

Following-up from earlier, "Megyn Kelly to Join NBC News."

I watched the "Kelly File" tonight, looking to catch the last of Ms. Megyn's appearances on Fox News. Unlike a lot of conservatives during the GOP primary (especially on Twitter), I wasn't critical of her. I liked her approach. I think Trump said some nasty things. I don't like him any less, but I don't think he shouldn't be called out from time to time.

In any case, it's going to be interesting at Fox News with Megyn gone. The network will be fine. The New York Times reported today that network executives have no plans to change the conservative programming that's made Fox the leader in cable news. That's good. On the other hand, I liked the more news/analysis feel of the 6:00pm hour (Pacific time) between O'Reilly and Hannity. Indeed, I always get a kick with how the "Kelly File" opens with "BREAKING TONIGHT!" It seems so urgent, heh.

In any case, at WaPo:

An ending, and a new beginning... pic.twitter.com/clyKaDpQTW

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 3, 2017

Thank you for watching. With love... pic.twitter.com/0MjyVl6vAe

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 4, 2017

Megyn Kelly's wholly unsurprising decision to leave Fox News to join NBC leaves a void at the network where she spent the past 12 years, and perhaps nudges the cable news juggernaut in a new direction — while opening the door for media rivals.

Kelly confirmed her job change in a message Tuesday on Twitter after it was first reported by the New York Times.

Already a cable news star before the 2016 election cycle began, Kelly became a household name as she remained poised amid nasty attacks by Donald Trump, who objected to her line of questioning at the first Republican primary debate. Last January, Fox News's then-chairman, Roger Ailes, rejected Trump's demand that the network replace Kelly as a moderator of the second debate, even as the billionaire threatened to boycott the event — which he did.

When former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused Ailes of sexual harassment in a lawsuit in July, prompting 21st Century Fox to launch an investigation, Kelly shared her own claim of harassment by Ailes, who resigned later that month.

From then on, Kelly seemed to be viewed as a traitor by some Ailes loyalists who remained at Fox News. Sean Hannity called her a Hillary Clinton supporter in October. Bill O'Reilly criticized Kelly's decision to air dirty laundry in a book released in November.

“If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance,” O'Reilly told CBS News. “You don't like what's happening in the workplace? Go to human resources or leave. I've done that. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But don't run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.”

Kelly's departure from Fox News appeared inevitable. But now that it is here, it is worth considering the effect on cable news...

An interesting piece.

Keep reading.

At at the bottom tweet above, Ms. Megyn announces she leaving the network.

How Close is #USC Football to Winning the National Championship?

I think they're very close.

As long as they've got Sam Darnold at QB, I think USC could win the national championship next year. I think they're that good.

At LAT, "How close is USC to winning a national championship?":

How close is USC to winning a national championship? https://t.co/bXTgflhfqk

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) January 4, 2017

.@ColinCowherd on Sam Darnold: "I think it's the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC." pic.twitter.com/hw8a8OiWTd

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 3, 2017

In a boisterous corridor outside the winning locker room following a classic Rose Bowl game on Monday evening, Lynn Swann, USC’s athletic director, was asked if the win meant the Trojans were back at the top of college football.

"No, if we were back at the top of the national landscape, we'd be playing on Monday, January 9th,” Swann said, referring to the national championship game. “We're not there yet. It's a building process.”

USC’s nine straight wins, its sizable chunk of returning talent and its quarterback, Sam Darnold, will likely thrust the Trojans into the national championship hunt next season. So, how close are they to being capable of winning it?

In short, they’re two offensive tackles, one linebacker, one defensive tackle and a couple receivers away. The return of a couple playmakers — receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and cornerback and return specialist Adoree’ Jackson — wouldn’t hurt either.

Whether USC can effectively plug those holes will determine whether it is a playoff or national championship team next season.

One player has elevated expectations to such levels: Darnold, who as a freshman set Rose Bowl records with five touchdown passes and 473 yards of total offense in a 52-49 victory over Penn State. It seems a foregone conclusion that he will begin next season as a Heisman Trophy front-runner. The hype is already stratospheric.

The morning after USC’s Rose Bowl victory, ESPN was teasing to a commercial with questions such as: "Will Sam Darnold be as good as Vince Young? We'll debate, next."

One his radio show, Colin Cowherd said Darnold is “the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC.” Darnold, he said, reminded him of Andrew Luck and Brett Favre.

Darnold deserves to be praised, but no team can win with one player alone. Much attention in the coming days will be given to Jackson and Smith-Schuster, who will decide whether to enter the NFL draft or return for their senior seasons. Both have said that coming back to compete for a national championship is attractive. But both are considered high-round draft prospects.

After the game, Smith-Schuster said he would “take about a few days” to make his decision. Jackson was noncommittal. “I don't know,” he said. “I'm out here living in this moment.”

The focus on Jackson and Smith-Schuster obscures what might be more impactful losses: offensive tackles Chad Wheeler and Zach Banner.

Unlike at cornerback, where there is a replacement, Jack Jones, waiting in the wings, or at receiver, where Darnold prefers to spread the ball around to many options, there are no clear replacements at tackle, where mistakes can be magnified.

More.

Deal of the Day: Save 35 Percent or More on Sheer Strength Fitness Supplements

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

BONUS: John Prados, Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy.

This 'May Have Been the Most Exciting Rose Bowl Game Ever...'

That's Penn State Head Football Coach James Franklin, at the Los Angeles Times:

Matt Boermeester's field goal caps wild comeback, lifts USC over Penn State in an American beauty of a Rose Bowl https://t.co/EvkcWpHUnf

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) January 3, 2017

Clay Helton looks a little misty eyed. pic.twitter.com/4OBH7nHMhN

— Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) January 3, 2017

Here is happy Clay Helton and happy Sam Darnold. pic.twitter.com/5D5fGq61yB

— Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) January 3, 2017

The enormity of it all seemed to stun USC Coach Clay Helton. Some fans had called for Helton’s job after USC started his first full season 1-3. After Monday’s game, he stood atop confetti with an arm around his son, Turner, his eyes a little wet as he watched the band.

“It felt like a tennis match, just going back and forth and back and forth, the mood swings and the emotion,” Helton said. “It was an amazing game. It’s what fairy tales are made of.”

Penn State Coach James Franklin conceded that it “may have been the most exciting Rose Bowl game ever.”

He had a point. Penn State’s Saquon Barkley ran 25 times for 194 yards and two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass.

Darnold passed for 453 yards with one interception and five touchdowns, a Rose Bowl game record. His total yards of 473 set another record, breaking Vince Young’s 467 in 2006 against USC.

Darnold stood near Helton as the band played, and he looked as though he had just awoken from a nap. USC players said they couldn’t remember a time when they’ve seen him rattled.

As he huddled the offense with 1:59 to play, USC down by seven points and 80 yards to go, his voice was calm.

“I just said, ‘Do your job,’” Darnold said.

More.

And see Bill Plaschke's front-page column at today's newspaper, "USC fights on and on — and wins a thrilling Rose Bowl on a last-second field goal."

USC's greatest Rose Bowl win in one of greatest Rose Bowls ever https://t.co/8MUtSliDYK

— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) January 3, 2017

British Fashion Model Louisa Warwick Blue Bikini in South Florida

At Egotastic!, "Louisa Warwick Blue Bikini Super Fine Female Form in South Florida."

Gwen Stefani is the New Face of Revlon (VIDEO)

I'm happy for her!

And Gwen Stefani's from Fullerton, Orange County, so it's good for the hometown rep, heh.

At London's Daily Mail, "She's red hot! Gwen Stefani unveiled as new face of Revlon."

Gwen Stefani unveiled as the new face of Revlon https://t.co/xSBFfKwccv pic.twitter.com/cKpC1hhmFa

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) January 2, 2017

Megyn Kelly to Join NBC News

Megyn Kelly's out at Fox News.

Her bottom line was $20 million, which Fox had already guaranteed in a renewed contract. But I'm sure Fox was toxic after the Roger Ailes sexual harassment episode, and I think perhaps to some extent Kelly's controversy with conservatives on her treatment of Donald Trump was an issue. Obviously, for her it was time to move on.

At Politco and CNN:

Our Megyn Kelly story has been updated w/ comments from her, NBC, and how Fox broke the story on air: https://t.co/WLYJo34Y03

— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) January 3, 2017

Update: @MegynKelly spokeswoman says she WILL host her show tonight... Her last day on Fox will be this Friday https://t.co/R5l5mS2MAv

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2017

Also, all over Memeorandum.


ADDED: Stelter, speaking on CNN, said the "bottom line here" is that Kelly wanted to get away from Fox News, to the point of taking a pay cut to do so. Apparently, she's going to have a roving "Katie Couric-type role" at NBC, and better hours, so she can spend more time with her family.

USC Beats Penn State in Rose Bowl, 52-49 (VIDEO)

I just can't get this thing out of my head. Folks are going to be talking about this game for a long time.

Here's the totally apt headline at SB Nation, "USC beats Penn State in the game of the year, with the most points in any Rose Bowl ever":

Penn State and USC entered on a combined 17-game winning streak. The Lions and Trojans both hadn’t lost since the weekend of Sept. 23-24, when USC lost at Utah and Penn State lost at Michigan. Both had been a buzzsaw ever since, and they only missed the Playoff because they got started just a little too late this season.

The Trojans capped their brilliant run in style, finishing the year 10-3 after a 1-3 start. They’ll be a popular Playoff pick heading into next season, and the emergence of Clay Helton as a really smart-looking head coach hire now has another chapter...

And at USA Today:

#USC rallies to edge #PennState in wild #RoseBowl. #USCFootball #FightOn #BeatTheLions #NittanyLions https://t.co/zg7D6b5Fl1

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017

I'll have more.

The Los Angeles Times sportswriters are still working on their coverage. It's going to be a full separate pullout section tomorrow, I'm sure, part of the overall Rose Parade/New Year's Day reporting. It's glorious. I swear USC winning the Rose Bowl is just one of those things. If you're a Southern Californian, it doesn't get any better.

After Penn State scored three touchdown on three plays to start the second half, I thought the momentum was over. USC was done.

I had hope though, and it was prescient:

.@LindseyThiry Still lots of time Darnold's the kind of QB to make things happen. Defense needs to settle down. #FightOn #RoseBowl #Trojans

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017

And check the highlights:



More later.

Deal of the Day: FitDesk 2.0 Desk Exercise Bike

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

Also, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) - White.

BONUS: Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose.

Finished My Name Is Lucy Barton

It's frankly a weird little book.

There's something about contemporary fiction that just doesn't do it for me. The spare minimalism is one thing. The Elizabeth Strout book reminded me of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005 (similarly spare and minimalist).

 

Strout's book is much better, thank goodness. With My Name Is Lucy Barton, I can actually recall the story, the tempo and crescendo, of the novel. There was a kind of emotional gut punch near the end there, so I can see why the book got prodigious praise. I mean really, it got a ridiculous amount of praise for such a slim novel. Indeed, its slimness seems to be one of its main virtues. I guess critics thought Strout packed an emotional wallop for such a tiny tome.

The other thing is the obligatory politically correct left-wing politics. The main character Lucy lives in New York City, after having grown up in poverty (and family household abuse) in Illinois. It's thus got the sensibility of the East Coast leftist elites, a sensibility that's just been rejected at the ballot box with Donald Trump's election in November.

But then, I found out about the book at the New York Times, so I'm only inflicting punishment on myself.

I don't want to overdo it, though.

As you know, I just love to read. The book has its moments. I just think it's popular because it checks all the right leftist boxes. It name-checks homosexuals and the AIDS crisis, making the reader get all emotional for the "toll" on the victims, as the novel's flashbacks are set in the 1980s. And there's also the au courant feminist epistemology. The book makes it cool for marriages to end in divorce. You know, the demise of these unions is all about feeding the "me" culture. Marriages aren't about struggle, emotional toil, and the hard work of making relationships work --- to say nothing of sticking it out for the children. I mean shoot, when Lucy bails on her marriage, she knowingly bails out on her children, despite the umpteen times she expresses her everlasting love for them throughout the story. Strout doesn't dwell on that (and on that inconsistency). She doesn't dwell on how Lucy might be screwing up her kids to feed her own happiness. It's a "me" thing, you see. Lucy's sad about her divorce. Sure. That's part of the emotion of the book. But there's not much internal discussion of the sanctity of the marriage commitment in terms of family and the integrity of the matrimonial vows. That would be "old fashioned," you know.

In any case, it's best to be well-rounded, which is why I read all this stuff in the first place. It certainly gives me something to blog about. And of course I can drop names with my leftist colleagues. When I do I'm usually way more well-read than my college's hipster leftist professors.

So, if you're up for a quick read, and a fairly pleasurable one, all things considered, check it out.

At Amazon, My Name Is Lucy Barton.

Kendall Jenner: American Power's Woman of the Year for 2016

I almost forgot to post my woman of the year!

And who else could it possibly be?

Kendall's been my woman of the year all year, heh.

PRETTY FUCKING fast year flew by

— Kendall (@KendallJenner) December 4, 2016

show is tonight on CBS! pic.twitter.com/2OMQIP5FsV

— Kendall (@KendallJenner) December 5, 2016

PREVIOUSLY: "Nina Agdal: American Power's Woman of the Year for 2015." (And click through there to see the previous years' winners.)

The U.S. Economy: Donald Trump's Newest Branding Effort

At LAT, "Donald Trump's newest branding endeavor: the economy":

Throughout his campaign for president, Donald Trump painted a gloomy picture of the American economy, scoffing at employment data that he said masked the truth.

“Our jobs are being stolen like candy from a baby,” the Republican said at an election-day rally in Michigan, lamenting how he saw global competitors like China outmaneuvering the U.S. economically. “They take our money. They take our jobs. They build their plants. They build their factories. We end up with unemployment and drugs.”

But his stunning election win seemed to change his —  and to some extent the public’s — outlook. The media-conscious president-elect has quickly adopted a role as the greatest cheerleader for an economy that was already on the rebound.

“The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index for December surged nearly four points,” Trump crowed in a tweet this week, noting in all caps that it reached a 15-year high. He added, with characteristic immodesty: “Thanks Donald!”

Donning the mantle of economic optimist is a time-honored tradition for presidents, who are seen as perhaps the most singularly influential person over the economy. Trump’s outlook, however, is notable for the reversal from the campaign and for his promotion of the unproven assertion that he himself is having a positive influence on the economy, even before he takes office.

“It’s clear that there’s been a bounce in sentiment since the election,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. “Now, is that because he won the election or just because people are happy the election’s over? That’s impossible to know.”

The statistics Trump touts fit well into his view of a world divided into who’s up and who’s down, winners and losers. In place of the daily trickle of state and national political polls that dominated his campaign remarks, he has turned to the Consumer Confidence Index as well as the daily stock market closings for what he sees as his successes.​​​​​​

Like he did with polls, Trump has cherry-picked economic data. The Consumer Confidence Index did not suddenly rise after Trump’s election; it has, like other indicators, trended upward since bottoming out shortly after the 2008 economic collapse. Its first major spike came shortly after the inauguration of President Obama, and saw a similar uptick after his reelection in 2012.

Additionally, it is a volatile index, subject to negative pressure from political circumstance as well — most notably a 2011 battle over raising the nation’s debt limit that pushed the country to the brink of a historic default.

And another key part of his economic message, the touting of new jobs as if he were singularly responsible for their creation, ignores that they usually resulted instead from efforts already underway. On Wednesday, he trumpeted news that telecom company Sprint and technology start-up OneWeb would hire a total of 8,000 workers in the U.S. —  calling it "very good news" for the economy.

But OneWeb, which is building a network of satellites to deliver high-speed Internet access, said nine days earlier that it expected to create nearly 3,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next four years after securing $1.2 billion in funding, mostly from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. And the head of SoftBank, which owns Sprint, had said on Dec. 6 that the company had agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 jobs here...

Keep reading.

Donald Trump Says 'No Computer is Safe'

He doesn't email, but he's not quitting Twitter anytime soon.

Word is he'll send communications by courier.

At the Resurgent:

Trump Says ‘No Computer Is Safe’ And He’s Totally Right https://t.co/HwtSL5eJGs via @stevengberman

— The Resurgent (@resurgent) January 2, 2017

Keith Jackson Returns to the Rose Bowl

Jackson's last broadcast was the Rose Bowl 2006, which was the national championship game that year, Texas vs. USC. I can't forget that game. USC was so close. Arrghh!

In any case, Jackson, who called games with ABC Sports from 1986 to 2006, is attending today, the first (full) game he's attended since retiring.

At LAT:

A college football icon comes home: Keith Jackson returns to the Rose Bowl game, just not in the broadcast booth https://t.co/Vgi1Vh4P5k pic.twitter.com/ZsInNQ2n8O

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 2, 2017

David Horowitz, The Left in Power

Start the new year off right.

With David Horowtiz, at Amazon, The Left in Power: Clinton to Obama: Black Book of the American Left: Volume VII.

Emily Ratajkowski Hits 10 Million Followers in Instagram

At Maxim:

.@emrata just hit 10 million followers on Instagram, so celebrate with her sexiest shots. https://t.co/9Ymox1XigN pic.twitter.com/z4Y357eINj

— Maxim (@MaximMag) January 2, 2017

BONUS: Emily topless here.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday New Year’s Funnies."



Also at Theo's, "Cartoon Roundup."

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Angry Duck."

Rule 5 Links

Here's a quickie.

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

Also, 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

At Theo's, "Chrissy Teigen, Bar Refaeli, Genevieve Morton & More Around the World - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit."

Also, at Hollywood Tuna, "Bella Thorne In Her Calvin’s." And WWTDD, "Bella Thorne Has Arrived.

And from the founding Rule 5 blog, the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Monday: Boxing Day Edition."

Gift wrapping makes me so happy 🤗 Best candles in the game compliments of @wikstudios 💪🏼🌊🌵🐚😈💀 pic.twitter.com/d1k8O3lNhj

— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) December 19, 2016

Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton

*Bumped.* [I'm about halfway through this book.]

This book is highly recommended at that New York Times piece on 2016 books in review.

And since I finished Exodus, I thought I'd check this one out.

I like fiction, although I don't post links to novels that much.

I'll update once I've read a few chapters (to let you know if it's any good).

At Amazon, Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton: A Novel.

Carnegie Deli

There's a Carnegie Deli at the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas.

I think we're going to Vegas in February. I'm not sure when, although we're celebrating my oldest son's 21st birthday.

Maybe I'll head over there for mountain-high pastrami on rye, heh.

The New York Carnegie's is now closed. Apparently lines were down the street, but mostly filled by tourists. Seems kinda weird, but apparently New York diners are choosing less expensive, and less kosher, alternatives.

At the New York Times:

As the Carnegie Deli Serves Its Last Pastrami on Rye https://t.co/uS7vFPkfFR

— Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) December 30, 2016

Kendall Jenner LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

I'm posting out of order at this point, but I just love Kendall:

At Least 35 Gunned Down in Istanbul Nightclub Massacre

Turkey is a mess.

It's a jihad nightmare.

At USA Today:

UPDATE: At least 39 killed in Istanbul nightclub attack, official says. https://t.co/P6Oo3BjIg0

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2017

Gunman who attacked #Istanbul nightclub still at large. https://t.co/3Trho4gefr

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2017

Holiday Hooliganism Traced Back to the Obama Administration

From Heather Mac Donald, at City Journal, "Violence in the Halls, Disorder in the Malls":

"If Trump wants to make schools safe again, he must rescind the Obama admin’s rules regarding classroom discipline." https://t.co/vKsC3it1Hd

— City Journal (@CityJournal) January 1, 2017

Judging by video evidence, the participants in the violent mall brawls over the Christmas weekend were overwhelmingly black teens, though white teens were also involved. The media have assiduously ignored this fact, of course, as they have for previous violent flash mob episodes. That disproportion has significance for the next administration’s school-discipline policies, however. If Donald Trump wants to make schools safe again, he must rescind the Obama administration’s diktats regarding classroom discipline, which are based on a fantasy version of reality that is having serious real-world consequences.

The Obama Justice and Education Departments have strong-armed schools across the country to all but eliminate the suspension and expulsion of insubordinate students. The reason? Because black students are disciplined at higher rates than whites. According to Washington bureaucrats, such disproportionate suspensions can mean only one thing: teachers and administrators are racist. The Obama administration rejects the proposition that black students are more likely to assault teachers or fight with other students in class. The so-called “school to prison” pipeline is a function of bias, not of behavior, they say.

This week’s mall violence, which injured several police and security officers, is just the latest piece of evidence for how counterfactual that credo is.  A routine complaint in police-community meetings in minority areas is that large groups of teens are fighting on corners. Residents of the South Bronx’s 41st Precinct complained repeatedly to the precinct commander in a June 2015 meeting about such street disorder. “There’s too much fighting,” one woman said. “There was more than 100 kids the other day; they beat on a girl about 14 years old.” In April 2016, a 17-year-old girl in Coney Island, Brooklyn, Ta’Jae Warner, tried to protect her brother from a group of girls gathered outside her apartment building who were threatening to kill him; one of the group knocked her unconscious. She died four days later. At a meeting in the 23rd Precinct in East Harlem in 2015, residents asked why the police hadn’t stopped a recent stampede of youth down Third Avenue. In April 2012, a group of teens stomped a gang rival to death in a Bronx housing project.

The idea that such street behavior does not have a classroom counterpart is ludicrous. Black males between the ages of 14 and 17 commit homicide at ten times the rate of white and Hispanic males of the same age. The lack of socialization that produces such a vast disparity in murder rates, as well as less lethal street violence, inevitably will show up in classroom behavior. Teens who react to a perceived insult on social media by trying to shoot the offender are not likely to restrain themselves in the classroom if they feel “disrespected” by a teacher or fellow students. Interviews with teachers confirm the proposition that children from communities with high rates of family breakdown bring vast amounts of disruptive anger to school, especially girls.  It is no surprise that several of the Christmas riots began with fights between girls.  School officials in urban areas across the country set up security corridors manned by police officers at school dismissal times to avoid gang shootings. And yet, the Obama administration would have us believe that in the classroom, black students are no more likely to disrupt order than white students. Equally preposterous is the claim that teachers and administrators are bigots. There is no more liberal a profession than teaching; education schools are one long indoctrination in white-privilege theory. And yet when these social-justice warriors get in the classroom, according to the Obama civil rights lawyers, they start wielding invidious double standards in discipline...

Keep reading.

Shop Gold Box Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And check out, The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series.

Also, Band of Brothers.

BONUS: James D. Hornfischer, The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945.

The Right to Disconnect

I don't ever "disconnect." I might not check my emails for a while, but I'm always available.

It's not that big of a deal to me.

But see the Washington Post, "French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours":

French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours https://t.co/pJA1eOGpxI

— Katie Zavadski (@katiezavadski) January 1, 2017

I've always thought that if you need to shut off when you leave the office, then you must not really like what you do. https://t.co/31QTfxGuOr

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) January 1, 2017

That 10 p.m. email from your boss? It's your right to ignore it.

That Saturday ping from a colleague with “just one quick question?” A response on Monday should suffice.

If you're in France, that is.

French workers rang in a new year at midnight — as well as a “right to disconnect” law that grants employees in the country the legal right to ignore work emails outside of typical working hours, according to the Guardian.

The new employment law requires French companies with more than 50 employees to begin drawing up policies with their workers about limiting work-related technology usage outside the office, the newspaper reported.

The motivation behind the legislation is to stem work-related stress that increasingly leaks into people's personal time — and hopefully prevent employee burnout, French officials said.

“Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash, like a dog,” Benoit Hamon, Socialist member of Parliament and former French education minister, told the BBC in May. “The texts, the messages, the emails: They colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.”

France has had a 35-hour workweek since 2000, but the policy came under scrutiny recently given France's near-record-high unemployment rate.

The “right to disconnect” provision was packaged with new and controversial reforms introduced last year that were designed to relax some of the country's strict labor regulations. The amendment regarding ignoring work emails was included by French Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri, who reportedly was inspired by similar policies at Orange, a French telecommunications company.

“There are risks that need to be anticipated, and one of the biggest risks is the balance of a private life and professional life behind this permanent connectivity,” Orange Director General Bruno Mettling told Europe1 radio in February. “Professionals who find the right balance between private and work life perform far better in their job than those who arrive shattered.”

Well, I don't think your life's going to be "shattered" by checking your email, and as a professor, I know that a lot of the emails are from students. So I check it throughout the day. It's no big deal.

In any case, keep reading.

For the Past 37 Years, the Droz Family Has Taken a Picture in Front of a Numbered Highway Sign for Their Annual Holiday Card

Well, that takes a lot of motivation. I can't even get motivated to mail out holiday cards at all.

At WSJ, "Every Year, the Droz Family Scours America for the Best Road Sign to Make the Perfect New Year Card":

Heartwarming story to wish you a #HAPPYNEWYEAR #FlashbackFriday #Gratitude #Love #Family #2017in3words https://t.co/WxkHQL3vHB

— Ben Droz (@bendroz) December 30, 2016

Dan Droz went for a drive one day last month. He stopped near rural Carlisle, Pa., about three hours from his Pittsburgh home, at his destination.

The junction of Route 17 had been on his radar for a while. Mr. Droz wanted a picture in this particular location this year, and only this year, for his annual holiday card.

Every year for almost four decades, like millions of families around the world, the Drozes mail a holiday card to hundreds of their friends. That’s where the similarities between their card and other cards end.

Their card isn’t a Christmas card or a Hanukkah card. It isn’t even really a holiday card. They call it a New Year’s card.

It’s what’s on their card that makes it curious. The Droz clan’s New Year’s card is more than a mere family portrait. It’s a family portrait underneath a sign that represents the road junction that corresponds with the coming year—like Route 17 for 2017.

Their epic pursuit of the perfect card requires years of scouting, months of planning and hours of driving. For many years it forced them to wake up at 6 a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving. It has taken the Drozes to several states, one town called Eighty Four, Pa., and a few places where they should not have been.

Their quests began in 1979, when Mr. Droz was a single father with a young daughter, Lani. He picked a spot near the intersection of Interstates 79 and 80 where signs for both roads could be in one shot. They were soon apprehended by a skeptical cop with a sensible question: Why are you stopped by this seemingly random sign on the side of the road?

“We’ve had to explain that many times,” Mr. Droz said.

It wasn’t long before there was another problem. The people on his mailing list weren’t used to receiving this type of card. They had the same question as the unsuspecting police officer: What exactly is this?

Mr. Droz, who runs his own marketing agency, made sure there was less confusion the next year. He chose a convenient intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 81 and replaced the words on the I-81 sign with “New Year” to help his friends understand why he was waving from a busy highway. “I’ve made it more vérité since then,” he said.

That card worked in ways he never could have imagined. At a holiday party, Mr. Droz happened to meet a woman named Cathy, who worked as a producer for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” He called her for dinner but never heard back. He called her again about a drink—still nothing.

And then he tried one last trick: He sent her his New Year’s card. She responded by sending back a postcard with Fred Rogers’ face.

“Nice card,” she wrote. “Let’s get together.”

They were married by the time the next card was sent.

Ms. Droz made her debut in the 1982 card. She also gave Mr. Droz a white sweater as a gift that has survived the elements—and ketchup stains—and appeared in every card since. They had three more children who have been in the New Year’s cards from the years they were born...

More.

These people are more than nerds. They're full on geeks, but obviously the lovable kind. Ben Droz, whose tweet is posted above is "a hemp lobbyist and event photographer in Washington, D.C., who also runs a hemp bolo-tie business."

See what a mean, lol?

New Year's Eve Prankster Changes Hollywood Sign Overnight to Read 'Hollyweed' (VIDEO)

Well, this state is "Cali-weed" now, so I guess it's appropriate.

At ABC 7 Los Angeles, "HOLLYWOOD SIGN ALTERED TO READ 'HOLLYWEED' IN APPARENT NEW YEAR'S DAY PRANK."

#HOLLYWOODSIGN UPDATE: Crews working to remove black tarps after vandal alters landmark to read '#Hollyweed' https://t.co/cmkNgpA1D5 pic.twitter.com/bMuWRk6j8u

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 1, 2017

Save Today: Select Amazon Kindle Books $3.99 or Less

One of the Gold Box Deals today, at Amazon, Today's Deals.

BONUS: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, and Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations.

Ugly Obama Snubs Voters in Drastic Year-End Policy Moves

An excellent editorial, at the New York Post, "Obama’s ugly bid to snub voters and tie Trump’s hands":

In his waning days in the White House, President Obama is desperately trying to make his policies as permanent as possible by tying the hands of his successor — and far more than other presidents have done on their way out.

From his dramatic and disastrous change of US policy on Israel to his executive order restricting 1.65 million acres of land from development despite local objections, Obama is trying to make it impossible for Donald Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress to govern.

Even Thursday’s announcement of wide-ranging sanctions against Russia presents Trump with a foreign-policy crisis immediately upon taking office.

By contrast, many of Obama’s predecessors have stood back in their final days in office and refrained from any dramatic shifts, in deference to the agenda of the man voters sent to succeed them.

But Obama won’t accept the election results. As he suggested the other day, Trump’s election was a fluke — and he himself would have easily been re-elected if allowed to stand for a third term.

He believes this not just because he’s an effective campaigner, but because he thinks his “vision” and policies continue to be backed by “a majority of the American people.”

But Obama, like many Democrats, fails to understand what happened in the election: Voters were calling for real change from the status quo — from his policies. Indeed, before the vote, he himself said it was a referendum on him and his policies.

Memo to the president: You lost.

Whether it was the lackluster economy, ObamaCare, trade, the sweeping failure of his foreign policy or illegal immigration, voters sought something very different.

Trump, on the other hand, did more than just energize his base: He flipped six states that voted for Obama in 2012.

The results, as many have since come to realize, is that the Democratic Party now caters to a hard-left, elite core located on the two coasts — and has abandoned the working-class Americans in the heartland it so loudly claims to champion...

Still more.

Donald Trump Ditches Media Hacks to Play Golf on New Year's Eve

Good.

Let the leftist media hacks stew in their own hatred and stupidity.

At CNN, "Donald Trump ditches his press pool to play golf."

Audrey Bouette Bikini Beauty in Miami (PHOTOS)

At Egotastic!, "French Model Audrey Bouette Purple Bikini Beauty in Miami."

Alexis Renn LOVE Advent 2016 (VIDEO)

I've been lagging on the LOVE blogging.

No matter. Enjoy Alexis Renn:

In Parting Shot at Obama, Putin Plays Nice Guy

Following-up, "Putin Won't Retaliate."

At LAT, "In a slap at Obama, Putin plays Mr. Nice Guy":

Vladimir Putin is betting that the smartest move is to do nothing.

The Russian president announced Friday that his government would not expel any U.S. diplomats in retaliation for U.S. punitive measures unveiled by the White House a day earlier in response to Russia’s alleged cyber-attacks.

Putin’s sidestep away from confrontation was widely read as a deliberate bow to President-elect Donald Trump -- and a final hard slap at President Obama in the waning weeks of the U.S. leader’s tenure.

“We will not create any problems for U.S. diplomats. We will not expel anyone,” Putin said in a statement posted on the Kremlin website that followed well-publicized calls from senior Russian officials for a sharp pushback against the U.S. administration over steps that included the expulsions of 35 Russian diplomats.

The Russian leader said the Kremlin would instead base future moves on “the policies of the Trump administration.” Trump quickly praised Putin for putting off any action, tweeting: “I always knew he was very smart!”

Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2016

Keep reading.

Amanda Nunes Knocks Out Ronda Rousey in 48 Seconds at #UFC207

No need to subscribe to the match when you can watch it in virtual real-time on Twitter.

Just 48 seconds and Rousey was toast.

ICYMI: After 13 months outside the octagon, Ronda Rousey lasted just 48 seconds against Amanda Nunes at #UFC207. https://t.co/h6tPObfqUw

— ESPN (@espn) December 31, 2016

#UFC207 reactions: https://t.co/BeT2slC6Cg

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 31, 2016

Coach may have doomed #RondaRousey's fight, career. https://t.co/wjgQpGqpJk

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 31, 2016

.@DLoesch #RondaRousey must retire after crushing loss to Amanda Nunes. https://t.co/FMTGNRkEZV v

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 31, 2016

Amanda Nunes did not hold back on Ronda Rousey's coach Edmond Tarverdyan after her dominant #UFC207 win. pic.twitter.com/m6FAPZBIOb

— ESPN (@espn) December 31, 2016

Ronda Rousey loses again; what now? https://t.co/rhzJzibKoj #ufc207

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 31, 2016

TPM's Josh Marshall Tweets Lesbian Porn in Failed Attack on Donald Trump

Unreal.

Just wow.

At Heat Street and the Ralph Retort:

Tweet of the year? https://t.co/mpy0LmetXM

— Heat Street (@heatstreet) December 31, 2016

SOCIAL JUSTICE! "Josh Marshall ... tweeted out a lesbian porn list to the entire world." https://t.co/ef7yYcuXlA @TheRalphRetort #tcot

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) December 31, 2016

no way no way no fuckin way. 2016 just delivers right down to the wire https://t.co/se1hgiVJtP

— Virgil Texas (@virgiltexas) December 31, 2016

Ben Garrison

Cartoons:

#HappyNewYearsEveEve #happy2017 to all! #MAGA #trump #FlashbackFriday #BenGarrison #cartoon at https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/OdCod9PMhz

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) December 31, 2016

#ItsTheEndOfTheWorldAnd I laughed! #LameDuckBarack #Obama #Putin #PresidentTrump https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/K6vobwlQ2S

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) December 31, 2016

New #BenGarrison #Cartoon #LameDuckPresident #ObamasLegacy #LameDuck #Russia #TRUMP #putin More at https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ #happynewyear pic.twitter.com/rGygoq2LRA

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) December 30, 2016

Deadly Fentanyl

This is gnarly, at NYT:

Fentanyl Outpaces Heroin as the Deadliest Drug on Long Island. #Opioids https://t.co/SZ7ArqAvPA

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 31, 2016

Donald Trump Tweets Happy New Year to 'My Enemies' Who 'Lost So Badly...'

Heh.

He's the best.

Donald Trump hits back at Democrats in triumphant tweet mocking Barack Obama's sanctions on Russia https://t.co/cJkTWxAj4k pic.twitter.com/bLeVXamZIg

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 31, 2016

Trump tweets: Happy new year to my enemies who "lost so badly" https://t.co/taDkSWHLDD pic.twitter.com/NkT1ABWpfG

— The Hill (@thehill) December 31, 2016

The 'Arc of History' Won't Help Obama's Sorry Legacy

At Foreign Policy, "Obama never understood how history works."

The arc of history is long, but it won't ever judge Obama's Syria policy kindly. https://t.co/XKgUCrXAyY pic.twitter.com/tFN8uV1I03

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) December 30, 2016

United Nations Bias Against Israel (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Jew Hatred at the United Nations."

This is an old but outstanding video:

Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom

*Bumped.*

At Amazon, Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis.

Germany Reckons With Its Genocide of the Herero People in Namibia

At NYT, "Germany Grapples With Its African Genocide":

Long before the Holocaust, Germany killed tens of thousands in Namibia. It will soon recognize this as genocide. https://t.co/C0QN5ShDJx pic.twitter.com/gkf9cuKKN5

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 29, 2016

WATERBERG, Namibia — In this faraway corner of southern Africa, scores of German soldiers lie in a military cemetery, their names, dates and details engraved on separate polished tombstones.

Easily missed is a single small plaque on the cemetery wall that gives a nod in German to the African “warriors” who died in the fighting as well. Nameless, they are among the tens of thousands of Africans killed in what historians have long considered — and what the German government is now close to recognizing — as the 20th century’s first genocide.

A century after losing its colonial possessions in Africa, Germany and its former colony, Namibia, are now engaged in intense negotiations to put an end to one of the ugliest chapters of Europe’s past in Africa.

During German rule in Namibia, called South-West Africa back then, colonial officers studying eugenics developed ideas on racial purity, and their forces tried to exterminate two rebellious ethnic groups, the Herero and Nama, some of them in concentration camps.

“It will be described as genocide,” Ruprecht Polenz, Germany’s special envoy to the talks, said of a joint statement that the two governments are preparing. Negotiations, which began this year, are now also focusing on how Germany will compensate and apologize to Namibia.

The events in Namibia between 1904 and 1908 foreshadowed Nazi ideology and the Holocaust. Yet the genocide in this former colony remains little known in Germany, the rest of Africa and, to some extent, even in Namibia itself.

Throughout Namibia, monuments and cemeteries commemorating the German occupiers still outnumber those honoring the victims of genocide, a concrete reminder of the lasting imbalance of power.

“Some of us want to remove that cemetery so that we can put our own people there,” said Magic Urika, 26, who lives about an hour away from the cemetery here in Waterberg. “What they did was a terrible thing, killing our people, saying all the Herero should be eliminated.”

While Germany’s efforts to atone for crimes during World War II are well known, it took a century before the nation began taking steps to acknowledge that genocide happened in Namibia decades before the Holocaust...

More.

Putin Won't Retaliate

Putin is pretty canny, actually.

He knows Obama's blowing steam. He knows he's spewing his bile not so much against Moscow, but against Donald Trump's victory itself. Putin's shrewd that way. He's waiting until O's out of office, expecting Trump to rescind the order and allow Russian diplomats back in.

That's what's going to happen. I mean, who doesn't think so?

At NYT, "Vladimir Putin Won't Expel U.S. Diplomats as Russian Foreign Minister Urged":

Putin won't expel U.S. diplomats as his foreign minister urged. He is apparently betting on better ties under Trump. https://t.co/deFtUkJJFh

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 31, 2016

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced Friday that he would not retaliate against President Obama’s decision to expel Russian diplomats and impose new sanctions — only hours after his foreign minister recommended doing just that.

Mr. Putin, betting on improved relations with the next American president, said he would not eject 35 diplomats or close any diplomatic facilities, rejecting a tit-for-tat response to the actions taken on Thursday by the Obama administration.

The switch was remarkable, given that Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, had just recommended the retaliation in remarks broadcast live on national television. He called for punitive measures mirroring the ones imposed by the Obama administration, which accuses Russia of intimidating American diplomats and hacking institutions like the Democratic National Committee to influence the 2016 election.

The two countries have a long history of reciprocal expulsions, and Russian officials had been threatening to retaliate for days. Then Mr. Putin abruptly changed course.

“While we reserve the right to take reciprocal measures, we’re not going to downgrade ourselves to the level of irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy,” Mr. Putin said, using a common Russian idiom for quarrelsome and unseemly acts. “In our future steps on the way toward the restoration of Russia-United States relations, we will proceed from the policy pursued by the administration” of Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Putin has a flair for smart, unexpected tactics, and his announcement on Friday appeared to be in keeping with that. To some observers, the sudden shift seemed carefully stage-managed, a way of building up suspense before Mr. Putin’s surprise announcement, helping portray him as a wise leader above the fray.

Mr. Putin even said he did not want to close a wooded picnic area on a Moscow River island used by diplomats because he did not want to deprive their children. Then he went one step further, inviting all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to celebrate the New Year and the Russian Orthodox Christmas with him at the Kremlin.

“Putin showed that he is above his own officials, that he doesn’t want to take the retaliatory action suggested by his foreign minister,” said Vladimir Frolov, an international relations analyst and columnist. “This is an attempt to show that he is a figure not just of worldly scale, but of planetary.”

Should Mr. Putin have chosen to retaliate harshly against the United States, he would most likely have deepened the rift between the two countries and left President-elect Trump with a nettlesome diplomatic standoff from the moment he arrived in the Oval Office.

But by choosing essentially to disregard Mr. Obama’s punitive measures, Mr. Putin can try to disarm his American critics, including members of Congress who consider him an aggressive foe of the United States. That could give Mr. Trump more room to pursue the closer cooperation with Russia that he has advocated.

Despite all of the statements from senior officials about the need to respect “reciprocity,” Mr. Putin essentially warned Washington that he was waiting for the Trump administration...

Shrewd, like I said. He's making Obama look like a petulant child.

Still more.

Kate Bosworth Bikini Photos

At Drunken Stepfather, "KATE BOSWORTH IS EVERYTHING IN A BIKINI OF THE DAY."

BONUS: "JESSICA LEE BUCHANAN SOUTH AFRICAN FOR FASHION OF THE DAY," and "MORNING HANGOVER DUMP OF THE DAY."

Finished Exodus

I finished Leon Uris's, Exodus.

As noted, I read it about 30 years ago and when I was visiting the Cactus Wren Bookstore in Yucca Valley, in September, I picked up a used copy.

What struck me so powerfully this time around is how unabashedly pro-Israel is Uris in the book. And I was also struck by so many of the historical and political themes that are essentially timeless, including the existential nature of Arab and Islamic hatred of the Jews, as well as the key political issues arising out of Israel's establishment as a nation-state, the wars of Israel's independence, especially the refugee crisis (and Uris's discussion of it as a completely manufactured crisis by corrupt Arab dictatorships to generate international condemnation of the Jewish state).

It is, in other words, a book to make leftist heads explode.

In any case, I thought I'd google around for some of the contemporary debate. It's interesting.

Start with Martin Kramer, "Exodus, myth and malpractice":

Exodus by Leon Uris must rank high on any list of the most influential books about the Middle East. The novel, published in 1958, popularized the story of Israel’s birth among millions of American readers. The 1960 film, based on the book and starring Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan, reached many more millions. Exodus is still of interest, not for what it says about the creation of Israel (the commander of the ship Exodus said Uris “wrote a very good novel, but it had nothing to do with reality. Exodus, shmexodus”), but for what it reveals about mid-twentieth-century America. So more inquiry into the American context of Exodus is welcome—provided you get the facts right.

Last fall, Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, offered his audiences an account of how Leon Uris came to write the book. In a speech at Brooklyn Law School, Khalidi made this claim:

This carefully crafted propaganda was the work of seasoned professionals. People like someone you probably never heard of, a man named Edward Gottlieb, for example. He’s one of the founders of the modern public relations industry. There are books about him as a great advertiser.

In order to sell the great Israeli state to the American public many, many decades ago, Gottlieb commissioned a successful, young novelist. A man who was a committed Zionist, a fellow with the name of Leon Uris. He funded him and sent him off to Israel to write a book. This book was "Exodus: A Novel of Israel." Gottlieb’s gambit succeeded brilliantly. Exodus sold as many copies as Gone With the Wind, which up to that point was the greatest best-seller in U.S. history. Exodus was as good a melodrama and sold just as many copies.

Khalidi made a similar assertion in another speech a few weeks later, this time at the Palestine Center in Washington...

Keep reading.

Kramer really tracked down the origins of this claim of a "modern public relations" "melodrama."

He goes on:

The purpose of myth

In sum, the Gottlieb “commission” never happened. Uris’s biographers dismiss it, Gottlieb’s most knowledgeable associate denies it, and no documents in Uris’s papers or Israeli archives testify to it. It originated as a boast by Gottlieb to another PR man, made almost thirty years after the (non-)fact. And given its origin, it’s precisely the sort of story a serious professional historian would never repeat as fact without first vetting it (as I did).

Yet it persists in the echo chamber of anti-Israel literature, where it has been copied over and over. In Kathleen Christison’s book, it finally appeared under the imprimatur of a university press (California). In Khalidi’s lectures last fall, it acquired a baroque elaboration, in which Edward Gottlieb emerges as “the father of the American iteration of Zionism” and architect of “one of the greatest advertising triumphs of the twentieth century.” What is the myth’s appeal? Why is the truth about the genesis of Exodus so difficult to grasp? Why should Khalidi think the Gottlieb story is, in his coy phrase, “worth noting”?

Because if you believe in Zionist mind-control, you must always assume the existence of a secret mover who (as Khalidi said) “you probably never heard of” and who must be a professional expert in deception. This “seasoned” salesman conceives of Exodus as a “gambit” (Khalidi) or a “scheme” (Christison). There is no studio or publisher’s advance, only a “commission,” which qualifies the book as “propaganda”—an “advertising triumph.” In Khalidi’s Brooklyn Law School talk, he added that “the process of selling Israel didn’t stop with Gottlieb…. It has continued unabated since then.” It is Khalidi’s purpose to cast Exodus, like the case for Israel itself, as a “carefully crafted” sales job by Madison Avenue mad men. Through their mediation, Israel has hoodwinked America...

Now, also check Haaretz, "The 'Exodus' Effect: The Monumentally Fictional Israel That Remade American Jewry":

The pantheon of Jewish-American novelists is as populous as it is distinguished. Among its titans are two Nobel laureates, Canadian-born Chicagoan Saul Bellow and Polish-born Isaac Bashevis Singer; a justly celebrated string of Pulitzer winners from Edna Ferber through Philip Roth to Michael Chabon; and the creators of such works as "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Catch 22."

Yet, a half-century ago, when a single book transformed American Jews as no other work has done, before or since, its author was none of these.

The book was "Exodus" - and like its creator, Leon Uris, it was savaged by critics and academics, and resoundingly ignored by literary prize committees. When the book appeared in 1958, however, it sold in the millions. It was said that it was nearly as common to find a copy of "Exodus" in American-Jewish households as to find the Bible - and, of the two, not a few Jewish households apparently had only "Exodus."

Tailoring, altering and radically sanitizing the history of the founding of the State of Israel to flatter the fantasies and prejudices of American Jews, Uris succeeded well beyond his own wildest dreams, essentially remaking his eager readers and himself as well. That is, he helped foment a significant change in his fellow Jews' perceptions of Israel and, indeed, of themselves.

"As a literary work it isn't much," sniffed David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister, still in power at the time "Exodus" was published. "But as a piece of propaganda, it's the best thing ever written about Israel."

Some 40 years after the novel's publication, the prominent Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said would ruefully remark of its demonized treatment of Arabs that "the main narrative model that dominates American thinking still seems to be Leon Uris' 1958 novel 'Exodus.'"

More.

Then see the very critical Alan Elsner, at the Jewish Journal, "Rereading Leon Uris’ ‘Exodus’: a disquieting experience."

I'm sure there's lots more commentary, but you get the idea. For good measure, here's one more, from Adam Kirsch, at the Tablet, "MACHO MAN: Exodus recast Israel’s founders as swaggering heroes and secured Leon Uris a place on the Jewish bookshelf even though, as a new biography shows, he was a mediocre writer and a troubled person."

As you can tell, leftists love to unload on Uris. But the book is awesome, and your view of it will shape your view of the man.