Echoes of Watergate

Huge headlines tonight, at the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump," and "Live Updates and Reactions to F.B.I. Director Comey's Firing."

Plus, I love this, below. It reminds me of when I first started following politics. My first political science professor, Mr. McDonald at Saddleback College, was a old-school kinda guy who loved to talk about party machines and political scandals. We had to read two non-fiction books on politics for his course, and I read Teddy White, The Making of the President 1960, and Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon.

Good times, heh.

Analysis: Trump fired the man who may have helped make him president — and the man who perhaps most threatened him https://t.co/QMle9SvrSI

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) May 10, 2017

Conservatives Need Deep Soul-Searching

From Daniel Horowitz, at Conservative Review, "After budget betrayal, conservatives need deep soul-searching":

Thursday, May 4, 2017, will go down as a watershed moment in political history. This day showed us the culmination of all of the vices of our 28-year addiction to the binary idolatry of politics. Under the false dichotomy of binary choices (“but you might get the Democrats”), we are left with a political system that looks like a bad unibrow. If we don’t engage in some serious introspection and forward-looking planning, there is essentially no purpose to continuing this red vs. blue game. We have reached the moment when, just like the Whigs in 1854, after they failed to stand for anything related to the issues of their time, a group of us will have to meet in a schoolhouse and chart a new course.

Speaking of binary choices, I began the day with the choice of watching C-Span 1, where House Republicans sounded like Democrats on health care and were making ObamaCare popular again, or watching C-Span 2 and seeing Senate Republicans extol the virtues of a Democrat budget while having full control over government. For my own blood pressure, I opted for neither.

The events of Thursday – betraying the ultimate promise to save a sixth of our economy and pass a Democrat budget, all with control of all three branches – is the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act moment for the GOP. I am not comparing these issues to slavery, but the political dynamic is identical. At the time, the new Republicans recognized that the Whig Party was completely maladroit and failed to confront the consummate challenge of its time. That is the context from which the Republican Party was born. Yet we have now been keeping a comatose party afloat for 28 years – since the retirement of Reagan – longer than the entire shelf life of the Whig Party.

Too many people will get caught up in the minutiae of the politics, details, and process of the health care and budget bills. The reality is much broader. The party just doesn’t share our values. When a party has principles, it finds a way to win even when it has very little power. Thus the Democrats. When a party has no principles, it finds a way to lose, even with full control of government. Thus the Republicans...

Keep reading.

Carmen Goséy, 'Woke' Student Leader at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Attacks 'All White People' as 'Racist'

This is really something else.

I don't get too many students who are this hardcore on my campus. This chick's got it bad.

At the the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Daily Cardinal, "Outgoing ASM chair condemns university’s attitude toward students of color."

Former ASM Chair issued a letter to the campus community condemning UW-Madison's treatment of students of color. https://t.co/zTc44WQyzG pic.twitter.com/XB1s92ALrN

— The Daily Cardinal (@dailycardinal) May 4, 2017

And at the College Fix, "Head of UW-Madison student gov. leaves in a huff; blames racism, oppression."

Here's her farewell letter:

Dear Campus Community,

As I move on from the role as Chair of Student Council, I believe it is necessary to leave honestly. The University is on stolen, Ho-Chunk land, yet does little to recognize its historic significance. For the University to truly recognize this sacred land and its inhabitants it would have to acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day. This institution perpetuates and suppresses the voices that are the most vulnerable. As Chair, I used to be hopeful. I used to be proud. I am no longer content with the University's action and active silencing of students of color on this campus. I ask people of color to reconsider your place at this institution. I ask parents of color to rethink sending your children to this institution.

This University lacks the capacity, courage, and integrity to protect communities of color. I have held one of the highest student positions on campus, and I was a token for white supremacists. In my first semester, I was ambitious to implement change and new initiatives surrounding diversity and inclusion. However, I found myself lost and defeated. I was operating in a white position as a person of color. Now I see that this University was not designed for the success of minority communities; it was designed for white students to learn about my oppression while not having to participate in dismantling it. I have struggled with the juxtaposition of my identity and representing a campus that does not look like me or remotely relate to my experience.

Racism is an institutionalized structure which is embedded in ASM and the University. Racism is a system designed to disadvantage people of color and create inequalities in each pocket os society. All white people are racist. Not only by upholding a system of disadvantage but being born into a conditioned environment where you are many steps ahead. Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition. However, being an anti-racist is a choice. A choice that white people will have to make which boils down to what they are willing to do to actively participate in deconstructing racism.

My last and final words call out an unfortunate reality; this institution does not care about people of color. This institution does care about people of color.

Sincerely,

Your woke, ratchet 23rd ASM Chair Carmen Goséy

Seriously, "woke."

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Steve Bannon and Julius Evola

At the time, a few weeks months ago, the progressive Twitter literati was all "lit" up about this piece, at NYT, "Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists":

Steve Bannon Cited Italian Thinker Who Inspired Fascists. @jasondhorowitz via @nytimes https://t.co/FaVVkYi6OT

— Michiko Kakutani (@michikokakutani) February 19, 2017

ROME — Those trying to divine the roots of Stephen K. Bannon’s dark and at times apocalyptic worldview have repeatedly combed over a speech that Mr. Bannon, President Trump’s ideological guru, made in 2014 to a Vatican conference, where he expounded on Islam, populism and capitalism.

But for all the examination of those remarks, a passing reference by Mr. Bannon to an esoteric Italian philosopher has gone little noticed, except perhaps by scholars and followers of the deeply taboo, Nazi-affiliated thinker, Julius Evola.

“The fact that Bannon even knows Evola is significant,” said Mark Sedgwick, a leading scholar of Traditionalists at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Evola, who died in 1974, wrote on everything from Eastern religions to the metaphysics of sex to alchemy. But he is best known as a leading proponent of Traditionalism, a worldview popular in far-right and alternative religious circles that believes progress and equality are poisonous illusions.

Evola became a darling of Italian Fascists, and Italy’s post-Fascist terrorists of the 1960s and 1970s looked to him as a spiritual and intellectual godfather.

They called themselves Children of the Sun after Evola’s vision of a bourgeoisie-smashing new order that he called the Solar Civilization. Today, the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn includes his works on its suggested reading list, and the leader of Jobbik, the Hungarian nationalist party, admires Evola and wrote an introduction to his works.

More important for the current American administration, Evola also caught on in the United States with leaders of the alt-right movement, which Mr. Bannon nurtured as the head of Breitbart News and then helped harness for Mr. Trump.

“Julius Evola is one of the most fascinating men of the 20th century,” said Richard Spencer, the white nationalist leader who is a top figure in the alt-right movement, which has attracted white supremacists, racists and anti-immigrant elements.

In the days after the election, Mr. Spencer led a Washington alt-right conference in chants of “Hail Trump!” But he also invoked Evola’s idea of a prehistoric and pre-Christian spirituality — referring to the awakening of whites, whom he called the Children of the Sun.

Mr. Spencer said “it means a tremendous amount” that Mr. Bannon was aware of Evola and other Traditionalist thinkers.

“Even if he hasn’t fully imbibed them and been changed by them, he is at least open to them,” he said. “He at least recognizes that they are there. That is a stark difference to the American conservative movement that either was ignorant of them or attempted to suppress them.”

Mr. Bannon, who did not return a request for comment for this article, is an avid and wide-ranging reader. He has spoken enthusiastically about everything from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” to “The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which sees history in cycles of cataclysmic and order-obliterating change. His awareness of and reference to Evola in itself only reflects that reading. But some on the alt-right consider Mr. Bannon a door through which Evola’s ideas of a hierarchical society run by a spiritually superior caste can enter in a period of crisis.

“Evolists view his ship as coming in,” said Prof. Richard Drake at the University of Montana, who wrote about Evola in his book “The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy.”

For some of them, it has been a long time coming.

“It’s the first time that an adviser to the American president knows Evola, or maybe has a Traditionalist formation,” said Gianfranco De Turris, an Evola biographer and apologist based in Rome who runs the Evola Foundation out of his apartment.

“If Bannon has these ideas, we have to see how he influences the politics of Trump,” he said...

You see, it's very important to document how Trump's key advisers may have been --- or may not have been --- influenced by esoteric fascist thinkers from the 1930s who nobody's even heard about. But when Obama spent a lifetime at the teat of the most radical Marxists, Weather Underground terrorists, and black liberation revolutionaries, to even raise concerns is "racist," gauche, and thus fundamentally lowbrow. You're clinging to guns and religion, bro.

This is why Trump won. And it's why Americans hate politics and the corrupt leftist media.

More (FWIW).

Brittany Pettibone

Following-up from yesterday, "Macron's Regime: So It Begins."

She traveled to France to cover the election --- in style, I might add.

Off to Paris for the French Election. May Le Pen be victorious! pic.twitter.com/eLnoKSkNmu

— Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 5, 2017

Why Macron Won

Here's NYT "voxsplaining" the French election:

Et voilà. MUST READ this very good @AdamNossiter analysis of why Emmanuel Macron won and Marine Le Pen lost. https://t.co/EPWo2V6ofz

— Rachel Donadio — NYT (@RachelDonadio) May 8, 2017

PARIS — The French presidential runoff transcended national politics. It was globalization against nationalism. It was the future versus the past. Open versus closed.

But in his resounding victory on Sunday night, Emmanuel Macron, the centrist who has never held elected office, won because he was the beneficiary of a uniquely French historic and cultural legacy, where many voters wanted change but were appalled at the type of populist anger that had upturned politics in Britain and the United States. He trounced the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, keeping her well under 40 percent, even as her aides said before the vote that anything below that figure would be considered a failure.

His victory quickly brought joy from Europe’s political establishment, especially since a Le Pen victory would have plunged the European Union into crisis. But in the end, Mr. Macron, only 39, a former investment banker and an uninspired campaigner, won because of luck, an unexpected demonstration of political skill, and the ingrained fears and contempt that a majority of French still feel toward Ms. Le Pen and her party, the National Front.

For the past year, a pressing political question has been whether widespread public frustration against Western political establishments had morphed into a global populist movement. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union last June, followed by the presidential election of Donald J. Trump in the United States, created the impression of a mounting wave. Ms. Le Pen, stalwart of the European far right, was the next truly big test.

But Ms. Le Pen’s challenge was different because French history is different. She has spent the last six years as president of the National Front single-mindedly focused on one objective: erasing the stain of her party’s association with the ex-collaborationists, right-wing extremists, immigrant-hating racists and anti-Semites who founded it 45 years ago.

She knew — as her father, the party patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen, always refused to acknowledge — that she would always be a minority candidate as long as she reminded the French of perhaps the greatest stain in their history, the four years of far-right rule during World War II. Inside and outside the party this process was called “undemonization” — a term suggesting the demons still associated with her party. The French do not want them back.

“There was no choice. I couldn’t vote for Le Pen. You’re not going to vote for the extremist,” said Martine Nurit, 52, a small-restaurant owner who had just cast her ballot in Paris’s 20th Arrondissement on Sunday. She had voted for the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round, on April 23, and it was with “not an ounce of joy” that she voted for the “business-oriented” Mr. Macron in the second.

“Mostly, I voted against Le Pen,” she said.

In the end Ms. Le Pen failed to “undemonize,” spectacularly. She failed during the course of the campaign, when her angry rallies drew the Front inexorably back into the swamp from which it had emerged. And then she failed decisively in one of the campaign’s critical moments, last week’s debate with Mr. Macron, when she effectively “redemonized” herself and the party, as many French commentators noted...

More.

You know, that's fair enough, as far as it goes. I wouldn't vote for a party that was essentially the Vichy warmed over. But that's not what the National Front is today. Alas, too late. The party's going to change its name, attempting to put its so-called collaborationist, right-wing extremist, immigrant-hating, and racist anti-Semitic history behind. At Politico:

National Front will change its name after Le Pen’s defeat https://t.co/psbUtUDRA4 pic.twitter.com/90v1Yh2aGj

— POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) May 7, 2017

Victims of Communism Day

Via David Horowitz, on Twitter:

Communist May Day - now a day of protest for progressive neo-communists. Here's an informed view: https://t.co/OtrmAzy3zr

— David Horowitz (@horowitz39) May 1, 2017

Uncensored Richard Nixon Interview with Pat Buchanan from 1982 (VIDEO)

This showed up in my featured recommendations, and it's worth a look.

Take the way-back machine to the early years of cable television, and I guess, the rehabilitation of Richard Nixon:

Pepe the Frog is Dead

Pepe is Dead. Long Live Pepe!

Heh.

At Althouse, "'Pepe the Frog is dead' — as depicted in the new comic strip by Matt Furie, the artist who originally drew the character."

I don't take this stuff too seriously, but apparently some people do, including the cartoonist who created Pepe.

At the BBC:

Pepe the Frog 'is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol' https://t.co/MONlOpnxZ3

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 8, 2017

Kaloea Surfer Girls (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

Rule 5

Lovely.

@TwistysExile @TMBbyCiccio @kkoij75 @withlovealways2 @BrutuslWallie @goodstuffpage @Naughty_Flash @kokoroco25 @hannahobeyed @mayasroses @cCynthii @pjot_rock @elisomed5 @bustersmith6 @h20kogi @Daisykia @Elsie_geselsie @koerperkontakt @LourdesDean88 @vill_ha_dig @lovesladys57 @isrc1970 @Ginaoben @Tedhenrya @K__S__J__A @vipgirls4free @desires_unknown @daddyskitty6 @Coach0302 🦋@TwistysExile🦋#ClassyBabes#TeamBeauty#VIP pic.twitter.com/hmwyfbjUOP

— ღ Sabrina ღ 158K (@saby292) May 2, 2017

Antonella Kahllo

On Twitter, "Busty Pinup Glamour Model 100% All-Natural."

Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence

Out tomorrow, at Amazon, Holger Hoock, Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth.

Amber Lee's Slightly Warmer Forecast

It was mild today. Perfectly nice weather. And no rain, heh.

Here's the lovely Ms. Amber, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

California Democrats to End Ban on Communists in State Government

I had to sign a loyalty oath when I was a teaching assistant at U.C. Santa Barbara. I have to admit, I was caught off guard when the form was first handed to me. I'd never had to do that before, but of course I had no problem with it. It just seemed so hardcore.

I'm older today, though. And given the nature of leftist subversion, I think it's a big mistake to do away those requirements now. Frankly, some of the Republicans are furious at this piece, at the Sacramento Bee, via Memeorandum, "California may end ban on communists in government jobs."

California may end ban on communists in government jobs (Sophia Bollag / Associated Press) https://t.co/jLWuU6ie3h https://t.co/WfS1t1ZLWI

— memeorandum (@memeorandum) May 9, 2017

Macron's Regime: So It Begins

Seen at Brittany Pettibone's feed:

And so it begins. pic.twitter.com/Upa8AKmBJW

— Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 8, 2017

ADDED: It's worth noting, but this Breitbart piece is a week old. Still, it definitely "begins" with the election of that dang macaroon.

Emmanuel Macron, No Nutritional Value

Heh, via Lauren Southern:

pic.twitter.com/5wJjNw4r9e

— Lauren Southern (@Lauren_Southern) May 8, 2017

Francesca Eastwood in See Through Sweater

At Taxi Driver:

Francesca Eastwood Braless in See Through Tight Sweater - https://t.co/EblEMHkxPs - pic.twitter.com/ZqFtkoMfRY

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) May 8, 2017

Lindsey Pelas Braless in See Through Dress

At Taxi Driver:

Lindsey Pelas Braless in See Through Tight Dress - https://t.co/6oqCrerQ1E - pic.twitter.com/4jhDuT8jrJ

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) May 8, 2017

Was the American Revolution Such a Good Idea?

Heh. Here's the quick Instapundit reply, "YES. NEXT QUESTION? Was the American Revolution such a good idea?":

“We could have been Canada,” Adam Gopnik says. Well, there’s a Canada right up there for anyone who wants it.

But, as good and satisfying as quick snark feels, it pays to drive the point home, that this piece, from Adam Gopnik, at the New Yorker, is fundamentally evil. I can't be more emphatic. The world today would be a much worse place without the U.S., but for demonic leftists like Gopnik, Australia and Canada are models of modern enlightened nation-states. Fuck the racist U.S. You should have been aborted, you cancer on the world.

Like I said, this is evil incarnate. Leftists are evil. Never, ever forget that.

Was the American Revolution such a good idea? https://t.co/09Rinf2qq7 via @adamgopnik

— Marc-William Palen (@MWPalen) May 8, 2017

France's Surrender

At Politico:

Pro-Brexit group compares Macron’s election win to France’s surrender in World War II – POLITICO https://t.co/tetkA5oqEp

— Mike Allen (@AMike4761) May 8, 2017

And from Ben Garrison:

Don't do it #France No Suicide by Political Correctness! #VivelaFrance #jevotepour #LePen #BenGarrison #cartoons https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/tUO8xqQCdl

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) May 7, 2017

Au revoir en France! #MacronPresident #frenchelection https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/Djg7UfcZKG

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) May 7, 2017

Melanie Phillips, Londonistan

Following-up from earlier today, "Melanie Phillips Braves Berkeley (VIDEO)."

At Amazon, Melanie Phillips, Londonistan.

Condoleezza Rice

She's got a new book out tomorrow, at Amazon, Condoleezza Rice, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom.

And at CBS This Morning:

Melanie Phillips Braves Berkeley (VIDEO)

There's video at the link, "Melanie at Berkeley":

I’m on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, where conservative speakers are being systematically censored by violent protests designed to prevent them from speaking. I am on Sproul plaza in the centre of the campus, where free speech was supposedly enshrined back in the sixties but where it is now appallingly being suppressed.

This is the campus where conservative views are called fascism and shouted down. As you can see from these posters on this campus noticeboard.

This is where Jewish students in particular are being intimidated by threatening pro-Palestinian demonstrators. I was originally asked to speak at Berkeley Hillel, the Jewish student centre here. But remarkably, even that was considered too dangerous for me.

So I spoke instead to Jewish students at another, more discreet centre. These students had to be personally coaxed to attend my meeting – because Jewish students at Berkeley are now too frightened for their own safety to attend pro-Israel presentations. That is the truly shocking state of affairs in this prestigious seat of learning today...

More.

Hat Tip: Blazing Cat Fur.

Storm Brings Snow to Local Mountains (VIDEO)

Snowy weather in May.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Nathan Damigo

Faith Goldy interviews the white nationalist from Central California --- the guy who decked Emily Rose Mitchell.

I've Finished The Last of the Mohicans

Boy, what a book. You've gotta wade through a novel like that; it's not always easy going, although I found myself riveted at times.

Check it out, at Amazon, The Last of the Mohicans.

I hadn't realized it beforehand, but the 1992 film version of the book alters the story considerably. Reading around online, some commentary indicates the alterations improve the story, making the tale more into a romance thriller of sorts.

Either way, it's worth a look, in paperback or on DVD.

Jennifer Delacruz's Lingering Showers Forecast

The San Diego Padres cancelled today's game against the Dodgers, and rescheduled for September 2nd, which'll be a double-header.

We're having some winter weather in May. I stayed in all day, reading and watching baseball. The Angels had no problems with the weather, but lost to the Astros 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium.

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer with the weather report, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Emmanuel Macron Beats Marine Le Pen

It was as I expected. I don't know if a "far-right" candidate's ever going to win in France, and Marine was the right's best candidate ever.

At Bloomberg and the Telegraph U.K.:

Emmanuel Macron beats Marine Le Pen in the #Frenchelection with 65% of vote - exit polls https://t.co/6aSX0XS5dJ pic.twitter.com/oSUq89nrTJ

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 7, 2017

39-year-old Macron will become the youngest president in French history https://t.co/kXLJZUcWM6 #Presidentielle2017 pic.twitter.com/4Wz8a5fg5Q

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) May 7, 2017

Jennifer Delacruz's Thunderstorms Forecast

The lovely Ms. Jennifer's back for the Sunday forecast, and we've got a 90 percent chance rain with possible thunderstorms.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

ICYMI: Richard White, The Middle Ground

My copy came today.

Once again, thanks for your support.

At Amazon, Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815.

Deals Today

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BONUS: Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness.

Emmanuel Macron's Emails Hacked Ahead of French Presidential Election (VIDEO)

Heh.

You gotta love it.

At the Telegraph U.K., "French election: Are Russian hackers to blame for Emmanuel Macron's leaked emails - and could they target UK general election?"

Is the Macron campaign that stupid? They can't secure their own emails? Like John Podesta caught in a phishing scam? These people are idiots.

More from Jack Posobiec, at the Rebel:

Prominent French Leftists to Abstain in Sunday's Presidential Vote

They won't vote.

Looks like the so-called establishment candidate, Emmanuel Macron, doesn't appeal to the leftist establishment.

At NYT:

Pascal Bruckner, Zeev Sternhell, Agnès Varda, Sophia Aram et al vs. Emmanuel Todd & other left-wing abstainers. https://t.co/181ymA8KP2

— Rachel Donadio — NYT (@RachelDonadio) May 6, 2017

PARIS — The French comedian Sophia Aram took to the airwaves of one of France’s most popular morning radio shows this week. In the squealy voice of a teenage girl, she cried, “I can be against toothbrushes, and against cavities!” She then added: “Hashtag: NeitherCheeseNorDessert.”

Ms. Aram was making light of what she saw as a worrisome trend ahead of the French presidential election on Sunday, a race that has divided the country’s intellectuals and cultural figures: voters, especially on the left, who might abstain or cast a blank ballot because they intensely dislike both the centrist front-runner Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.

The “Neither-Nor” impulse, as it’s called here, was a factor in past French elections, but greater discontent — with conventional political parties and the European Union — has been particularly strong this time.

“A lot of people don’t recognize themselves in either of these candidates,” said Sudhir Hazareesingh, a politics professor at Oxford University and the author of “How the French Think.” The backdrop is a French left that’s divided, especially over the big Cs: capitalism and communism — and the collapse of the governing Socialist party in this election.

Keep reading.

Devon A. Mihesuah, Repatriation Reader

At Amazon, Devon A. Mihesuah, Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains?

This is fascinating.

Fergus Bordewich had a chapter on it, in Killing the White Man's Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century.

Camila Mendes

At Drunken Stepfather, "Camila Mendes – Not Hot – but Worth a F**k."

BONUS: "Steplinks of the Day":

Trying to convince a girl to let me braid my beard into her pussy hair – so that we can feel like conjoined twins…connected in this universe…is really not taken as seriously as it should…because it’s the only thing I want to do..and bitches just laugh it off...

Evelyn Taft's Chance of Scattered Showers Forecast

Very mild and pleasant in the O.C. today, although no rain.

Hopefully it'll be just like that tomorrow.

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn, for KCAL 9 News Los Angeles:

Fidget Spinners

The new hot thing:

Say hello to fidget spinners, the latest toy sensation https://t.co/pF88u75Fu7 pic.twitter.com/7dLYpf4eBs

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 5, 2017

Teachers are totally over fidget spinners: https://t.co/aAT5lzeQe5

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 5, 2017

Stacy Washington Resigns from St. Louis Post-Dispatch (VIDEO)

It's Stacy on the Right, who's a cool chick.

At Fox Business:

Bella Thorne Magic Mountain

At London's Daily Mail, "Look, no bra! Bella Thorne proudly flashes underboob while wearing flimsy crop top to theme park with Kendall Jenner's 'ex' Jordan Clarkson."

And TMZ, "BELLA THORNE AND JORDAN CLARKSON -- MAGIC MOUNTAIN SHOTS."

Also at Taxi Driver, "Bella Thorne Nipples in Braless Cutoff White Beater."

Who Wins and Who Loses in the Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill

The House bill would weaken federal mandates, allowing insurers to impose limits on lifetime coverage in employer-sponsored plans, which got a lot of attention yesterday.

Frankly, I'm not quite sure what the bill does exactly. It's going to lift the individual mandate, but charge you extra for initial enrollment if you've been uninsured longer than two months. And it's going to phase out federal ObamaCare subsidies for Medicaid, or something like that.

In any case, maybe this piece will help, at NYT, "Who Wins and Who Loses in the Latest G.O.P. Health Care Bill":

The American Health Care Act, which narrowly won passage in the House on Thursday, could transform the nation’s health insurance system and create a new slate of winners and losers.

While the Senate will probably demand changes, this bill, if it becomes law in its current form, will repeal and replace large portions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). It will change the rules and subsidies for people who buy their own insurance coverage, and make major cuts to the Medicaid program, which funds care for the poor and disabled.

Any sizable change in our complex health care system leaves some people and businesses better or worse off. For some, insurance will become more affordable — or their taxes will be lower. Others will lose out on financial support or health care coverage. You can see how you might be affected in our summary of winners and losers...

Keep reading.

ADDED: Ignoring the dramatic, sky-is-falling headline, and the leftist bent, you get a gist of the major provisions here, at LAT, "All the horrific details of the GOP's new Obamacare repeal bill: A handy guide."

MORE: After reading around, I like the bill --- it's repealing the most reviled elements of ObamaCare, and returning more power to the states. I think we need to keep some protections for the poorest and the elderly, but we don't need the ObamaCare mandates to do that.

See additional analysis, at Heritage, "The House Acts on Obamacare. Time for the Senate to Follow Suit."

Devon A. Mihesuah, American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities

*BUMPED.*

My copy came yesterday Wednesday.

Thanks to reader support I'm able to keep my book collection going.

I really appreciate it!

At Amazon, Devon A. Mihesuah, American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities.

This is a nifty little book, by the way. It's a myth-busting little tome, chock full of bibliographic citations.

Don't miss it!

Cinco de Mayo in the Trump Era

So stupid. Everything is so politicized.

Folks can still celebrate Cinco without being all depressed about heightened immigration enforcement. Leftists are just such fucking goons.

At ABC News 10 San Diego, using the AP wire service:

Cinco de Mayo in Trump era leaves Mexican-Americans torn https://t.co/2sQ8TuntdV

— 10News (@10News) May 5, 2017

For years, Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz saw Cinco de Mayo as a reason to eat tacos and listen to Mexican music.

The 25-year-old Mexican-born medical student left Mexico for the U.S. as a child and celebrates the day to honor a homeland she hardly remembers.

But the Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident said she's reluctant to take part in Cinco de Mayo festivities this year as President Donald Trump steps up federal immigration enforcement and supporters back his call for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I mean, what is it about? You want to eat our food and listen to our music, but when we need you to defend us, where are you?" Irazoqui Ruiz asked about the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

She isn't alone. Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican Americans and immigrants feeling at odds with a holiday they already thought was appropriated by beer and liquor companies, event promoters and bars.

Latino activists and scholars say that ambivalence is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo and by stereotypes exploited by marketers.

The once-obscure holiday marking a 19th century-battle between Mexico and invading French forces is now a regular celebration in the U.S., where party-goers flock to bars for cheap margaritas and tacos. Television beer commercials often show mostly white actors on a beach celebrating.

"The narrative around Cinco de Mayo seems to say, 'this day really isn't yours'," said Cynthia Duarte, a sociology professor at California Lutheran University...

More.

Evelyn Taft's Chance of Showers Forecast

Just a nice mild day today.

It's getting toward the end of the semester, though, so I'm ragged after a full day. It'll be nice to lounge around tomorrow and read books. The weather's certainly suited for it. I hope it's not too hot, heh.

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn, herself sporting the robust red tonight, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

The Collapse of American Identity

Here's a great piece, from Robert P. Jones, at the New York Times (surprisingly).

Jones is the author of The End of White Christian America.

.@PatriarchTree The Collapse of American Identity: #MAGA https://t.co/eiJS0QWBgg

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 2, 2017

There have been other times in our history when the fabric of American identity was stretched in similar ways — the Civil War, heightened levels of immigration at the turn of the 20th century and the cultural upheavals of the 1960s.

But during these eras, white Christians were still secure as a demographic and cultural majority in the nation. The question at stake was whether they were going to make room for new groups at a table they still owned. Typically, a group would gain its seat in exchange for assimilation to the majority culture. But as white Christians have slipped from the majority over the past decade, this familiar strategy is no longer viable.

White Christians are today struggling to face a new reality: the inevitable surrender of table ownership in exchange for an equal seat. And it’s this new higher-stakes challenge that is fueling the great partisan reorientation we are witnessing today.

The temptation for the Republican Party, especially with Donald Trump in the White House, is to double down on a form of white Christian nationalism, which treats racial and religious identity as tribal markers and defends a shrinking demographic with increasingly autocratic assertions of power.

For its part, the Democratic Party is contending with the difficulties of organizing its more diverse coalition while facing its own tribal temptations to embrace an identity politics that has room to celebrate every group except whites who strongly identify as Christian. If this realignment continues, left out of this opposition will be a significant number of whites who are both wary of white Christian nationalism and weary of feeling discounted in the context of identity politics.

This end is not inevitable, but if we are to continue to make one out of many, leaders of both parties will have to step back from the reactivity of the present and take up the more arduous task of weaving a new national narrative in which all Americans can see themselves.

RTWT.

Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley on the Beach in Miami

These two have a pretty sweet life, I gotta say.

From Hawaii to Miami and tropical locales in between, it's rough out there.

At Egotastic!, "Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley Sweet Thong Sisters."

There's times where I forget what a beach girl I am 💫🌴 So happy to be in Miami wearing @mondayswimwear X pic.twitter.com/I11d6aYcjq

— Natasha Oakley (@Tashoakley) May 4, 2017

Shop Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And, Mountain House Just In Case...Essential Bucket.

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

Plus, Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, Sensitive SPF 30+, 5-Ounce.

Also, Save on Craftsman Tools.

Still more, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 1.8 Ounce, 32 Count.

BONUS: Paul MacDonald, Networks of Domination: The Social Foundations of Peripheral Conquest in International Politics.

Dennis Prager on Communism's Horrific Legacy

Prager's a great guy.

This is most excellent, man.

Aleister, Long-Time Blog Personality, Comes Out as Mike LaChance

Formerly of "American Glob," Aleister used a pseudonym for about 10 years, and then revealed his true identity just the other day.

I probably should have started with a pseudonym, lol.

At Legal Insurrection, "Meet Mike LaChance, aka “Aleister”."

He's been blogging full-time for a few years now. More power to him.

Jessica Gomes Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

Lovely.

Naomi Schaefer Riley Interview at Prager University (VIDEO)

Following-up from Tuesday, "Ending the Trust System Will Do More for American Indians Than Changing the Name of the Washington Redskins."

At Prager U:

Trump White House Deliberates on Afghanistan War

From Eli Lake, at Bloomberg:

.@EliLake reports on the White House's deliberations over the war in Afghanistan - https://t.co/L2n0Jy1lzj

— FPI (@ForeignPolicyI) May 2, 2017

The New York Times Prints Fake Facts

From the Center for Security Policy:

.@nytimes Prints the Fake Facts that Fit its #FakeNews Narratives https://t.co/H33V9uvJzt

— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) May 2, 2017

Patricia Murphy Responds

On Twitter Tuesday:

@1PatriciaMurphy That's really cool, Patricia!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 2, 2017

@AmPowerBlog Thanks! I've known the fight song since birth.

— Patricia Murphy (@1PatriciaMurphy) May 2, 2017

Lock 'em Up: Code Pink Protesters at Sessions Hearing Could Face Year in Prison

Fuck 'em.

The woman who laughed during the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions was convicted and could face a year in prison https://t.co/yHfUsgB66R

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 4, 2017

Jackie Johnson's Increasing Clouds with Chance of Showers Forecast

It's going to be another spectacular day tomorrow, with sunny and warm conditions. But through the weekend we'll have a low pressure system coming in, with increasing clouds and possible showers. Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie and a robust red dress that accentuates her natural assets!

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Christine Brennan‏: #NFL Disses Colin Kaepernick While Embracing Athletes Accused of Sexual Assault

Hey, it's an interesting read.

Kaepernick's exercising his right to dissent when dissing the flag, no matter how vile his opinion. No NFL team will touch him. But a number of athletes accused of violent crimes against women, some caught on videotape, are riding high in the league.

I don't feel sorry for Kaep. That said, Mixon and some of the other thugs are sick and should've been given the cold shoulder.

At USA Today:

NFL welcomes those accused of sexual and physical assault, but not Colin Kaepernick. My @USATODAYsports column: https://t.co/EYY46wBeQI

— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) May 3, 2017

ICYMI: Naomi Schaefer Riley, The New Trail of Tears

Following-up from yesterday, "Ending the Trust System Will Do More for American Indians Than Changing the Name of the Washington Redskins."

At Amazon, Naomi Schaefer Riley, The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians.

Ashley Graham for V Magazine

At London's Daily Mail, "'My cellulite does not define my worth!': Model Ashley Graham poses NUDE for V Magazine as she reveals she was 'disgusted' with her body as a teen."

And at V, "Body Beautiful: Ashley Graham Bares All to Tracee Ellis Ross."

Critics Tell 'Elitist' Jimmy Kimmel to Shut Up (VIDEO)

It's Charles Hurt, at the Washington Times, via Memeorandum, "Shut up, Jimmy Kimmel, you elitist creep."

Also, from the scum leftist TBogg, at Raw Story, via Memeorandum, "CNN panel goes off the rails after conservative calls Jimmy Kimmel's emotional healthcare appeal ‘cheap’."

Amber Lee's Warm Inland Forecast

We've got the May gray weather by the beaches, but as you move inland it's not only warmer, but near record temperatures in some locations.

It's definitely SoCal heaven right now.

Go out a grab a beer and enjoy it!

Here's the lovely Ms. Amber, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Mark Moyar, Strategic Failure

At Amazon, Mark Moyar, Strategic Failure: How President Obama’s Drone Warfare, Defense Cuts, and Military Amateurism Have Imperiled America.

Kendall Jenner Wore See-Through Gown and Thong to Met Gala

She's pretty wild.

At USA Today, "The time Kendall Jenner wore a visible thong to the #MetGala."

And at Taxi Driver, "Kendall Jenner Ass Cheeks at the Met Gala."

Can't Get Enough of Kate

Well, I certainly can't, heh.

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

We can't get enough of our cover girl. 💙 https://t.co/O0XifWcPUo pic.twitter.com/tMCEU66UOg

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 2, 2017

Out Today: Jocko Willink, Way of the Warrior Kid

At Amazon, Jocko Willink, Way of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way.

Adam Tooze, The Deluge

A major tome, at Amazon, Adam Tooze, The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931.

Ending the Trust System Will Do More for American Indians Than Changing the Name of the Washington Redskins

Naomi Schaefer Riley's the author of The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians.

Reading her book was one of the reasons I've been on the frontier America jag for the last few months.

And here she is with a great new video for Prager University.

Not to be missed. I love these clips:

I've Finished Fergus Bordewich's, Killing the White Man's Indian

Following-up, "I've Started Fergus Bordewich's, Killing the White Man's Indian."

I forgot to mention I'd finished the book, which is a shame, considering its sheer excellence.

At Amazon, Fergus Bordewich, Killing the White Man's Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century.

This book should be a required introductory text for any student of Native American history. If readers start only with Dee Brown's Bury My Heart, or Vine Deloria, Jr.'s, Custer Died for Your Sins, they're doing it wrong.

Bordewich is no conservative (nor Trumpian nationalist, for that matter). But he's fair and pragmatic, and he drops a few righteous barbs onto the far-left "settler colonial"-hating scholars and commentators.

It definitely deserves a spot on your bookshelf. A great volume.

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, Trump vs. the Media

At Amazon, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, Trump vs. the Media.

How bad is the problem of media bias? The answer can be summed up in a few words: President Donald J. Trump. Whether you love or hate him, there's no question that Trump gained a huge amount of support for his willingness to criticize the media in harsh and unsparing terms. Yet, the media seem baffled by the fact they've lost the trust of the American people. They have responded by being extraordinarily defensive and doubling down on even more histrionic attacks. However, the American system has always depended on a strong and trusted media to hold those in power accountable. Journalist Mollie Hemingway looks at the impressive list of media failure that led us to this unique moment and asks: Is it possible for the media to recover their credibility before it's too late?

Glamour Model Elle Johnson Dubbed 'Too Sexy for Instagram'

Well, she got booted from Instragram, and then started promoting "FreeTheCleavage" on Twitter.

At Maxim, "#FreeTheCleavage model @_ElleJohnson gets booted off Instagram (again) for her sexy pics."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Glamour model dubbed 'too sexy for Instagram' is banned from the site for her VERY racy snaps - and says she feels like Doctor Dao who was thrown off a United Airlines flight."

Vulnerable Dems Aren't Pulling Punches

Well, offense is the best defense, as they say.

At National Journal, "Vulnerable Democrats Are Showing Little Fear of Trump":

.@AndreaDrusch explains why vulnerable red-state Dems aren't afraid to bash Trump https://t.co/bvArBqHKoV (free!)

— Kimberly Railey (@KimberlyRailey) May 1, 2017

Vul­ner­able Demo­crats aren’t pulling any punches cri­ti­ciz­ing Pres­id­ent Trump’s first months in of­fice. In­stead of veer­ing to the right—as many red-state Demo­crats have tried with little suc­cess in re­cent years—2018’s most en­dangered sen­at­ors have re­peatedly voted against Trump’s Cab­in­et nom­in­ees, helped fili­buster his Su­preme Court pick, and rat­cheted up their rhet­or­ic against policies they say hurt the middle class.

While these sen­at­ors still need to win back plenty of Trump voters ahead of the midterms, strategists say the moves re­flect a new real­ity for red-state Demo­crats. After three elec­tion cycles of dormancy, the Demo­crat­ic base could sud­denly play a sig­ni­fic­ant role in their reelec­tions, even in states Trump won hand­ily.

Point­ing to the House spe­cial elec­tion he’s work­ing on in Geor­gia, Demo­crat­ic poll­ster John An­za­lone said Demo­crats are already tak­ing note of an in­flux of voters who hadn’t par­ti­cip­ated in pre­vi­ous midterms—a trend that could dra­mat­ic­ally al­ter the polit­ic­al land­scape in red ter­rit­ory in two years.

“If that holds in­to 2018, we’re go­ing to see a voter uni­verse that’s dif­fer­ent from any­thing we’ve seen in God-knows how many midterms,” An­za­lone said in an in­ter­view last week. “That’s what we should be fo­cus­ing on as Demo­crats.”

Among vul­ner­able sen­at­ors, many of whom pledged to work with the new pres­id­ent after he was elec­ted, few are shy­ing away from at­tack­ing the pres­id­ent, even in places he just won.

Sen. Robert Ca­sey of Pennsylvania, long con­sidered a quiet cent­rist, raised eye­brows earli­er this spring when he took to Twit­ter cri­ti­ciz­ing the pres­id­ent and par­ti­cip­ated in a series of ram­bunc­tious town halls. Mem­bers of the Sen­ate Fin­ance Com­mit­tee, which in­cludes a hand­ful of vul­ner­able Demo­crats, boy­cot­ted a hear­ing for Trump’s picks to lead the de­part­ments of Justice, Health and Hu­man Ser­vices, and Treas­ury. And all but four Demo­crats joined with their lead­er­ship in a fili­buster of Trump’s Su­preme Court nom­in­ee, Neil Gor­such.

As law­makers re­turned from their April re­cess last week, red-state Demo­crats wasted no time lay­ing in­to short­com­ings of Trump’s first months. In a press con­fer­ence Tues­day, Sens. Ca­sey, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Tammy Bald­win of Wis­con­sin each laid in­to the pres­id­ent for a lack of ac­tion on out­sourcing and trade. Asked wheth­er any ap­pet­ite re­mained to work with the White House, Stabenow said each of them had ini­tially been “hope­ful” about it in the be­gin­ning, but grown less op­tim­ist­ic throughout the course of the pres­id­ent’s first months.

That at­ti­tude has drawn praise from pro­gress­ive groups, who say frus­tra­tion with Trump is already driv­ing up their act­iv­ism in tra­di­tion­ally red ter­rit­ory...

I doubt Dems have much shot at taking back the Senate, especially if Trump continues to hold his main base of supporters heading into the 2018 midterms (as polls are now showing). (Dems are defending the majority of Senate seats up for reelection in 2018). But, political science shows that the president's party almost always loses seats in the midterms, so I'm not holding my breath. The Senate's vulnerable to a Democrat takeover, although the House not so much. It'll pay to refer to some of the Larry Sabato-style vote-prediction analyses in the months ahead.

But we'll see. We'll see.

I love politics right now. I love how the Democrats are all fucked up.

More.

Democrats Know Why Clinton Lost

Democrats know why they lost. Even Bill Clinton was warning of impending disaster, and thus he was all the more pissed once the results came it. It was the ultimate I told you so moment.

But autopsies continue to pour in, and if they've got some supreme pedigree, some establishment authority and gloss, the updated spin sort of excuses base Democrats of their stupidity. If they'd only known this before the election!

At McClatchy, "Democrats say they now know exactly why Clinton lost" (via Memeorandum):

A select group of top Dem strategists know why Clinton lost. Will the rest of the party listen to them? https://t.co/QnHAeYwdnw

— Alex Roarty (@Alex_Roarty) May 1, 2017

A select group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year’s presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they’re right.

Many Democrats have a shorthand explanation for Clinton’s defeat: Her base didn’t turn out, Donald Trump’s did and the difference was too much to overcome.

But new information shows that Clinton had a much bigger problem with voters who had supported President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Trump four years later.

Those Obama-Trump voters, in fact, effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost, according to Matt Canter, a senior vice president of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group. In his group’s analysis, about 70 percent of Clinton’s failure to reach Obama’s vote total in 2012 was because she lost these voters.

In recent months, Canter and other members of Global Strategy Group have delivered a detailed report of their findings to senators, congressmen, fellow operatives and think tank wonks – all part of an ongoing effort to educate party leaders about what the data says really happened in last year’s election.

“We have to make sure we learn the right lesson from 2016, that we don’t just draw the lesson that makes us feel good at night, make us sleep well at night,” Canter said.

His firm’s conclusion is shared broadly by other Democrats who have examined the data, including senior members of Clinton’s campaign and officials at the Democratic data and analytics firm Catalist. (The New York Times, doing its own analysis, reached a similar conclusion.)

More.

The Last Diversity Visa Lottery?

The diversity lottery is an abomination.

And seriously? Fourteen million people have puts their names in for it this year? God, what are the odds? Not much better than PowerBall, that's for sure.

At WaPo, "Despite Trump, millions hope to win what could be the last U.S. green card lottery":

Despite Trump, millions hope to win what could be the last U.S. green card lottery https://t.co/82b9tSwUax

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 1, 2017

On Tuesday, more than 14 million people around the world, including anxious applicants in the Washington area, will begin checking computers and smartphones in one of the strangest rituals of the U.S. immigration system. When the clock strikes noon in the nation’s capital, they will be able to visit a State Department website, enter their names, years of birth and 16-digit identification numbers. Then they will press “submit” to learn whether they have won one of the world’s most coveted contests: the U.S. green card lottery.

Each year, the Diversity Visa Lottery, as it is officially known, provides up to 55,000 randomly selected foreigners — fewer than 1 percent of those who enter the drawing — with permanent residency in the United States.

The current lottery coincides with an intense debate over immigration and comes amid policy changes that have made the country less welcoming to new arrivals. President Trump has cracked down on illegal immigration and pressed forward with plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico. He has issued executive orders targeting foreign workers, refugees and travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries.

But he hasn’t said a word about the green card lottery...

Keep reading.

And ICYMI, see Steven Camarota, at Foreign Affairs, "The Case Against Immigration: Why the United States Should Look Out for Itself."

Jackie Johnson's Continued Warming Forecast

As I was saying, it's paradise weather in SoCal.

Still warm with clear skies through the week, with the slightest chance of some clouds and moisture coming down from the north by Friday.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie to start off our weather week blogging, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

May Day Protests

Riots broke out in France.

Watch, at RT, "May Day marches and protests in Paris," and Ruptly, "France: Protesters hammer police with Molotov cocktails amid clashes in Paris."

See the New York Times, "From France to Indonesia, Marking May Day With Protests."

Also at CBS News 5 San Francisco, "Latest on #MayDay protests in Bay Area."

And at Berkeleyside, which includes the BAMN photo, "By Any Means Necessary," seen below. (Via Memeorandum.)

‘My students are fearful:’ Berkeley teachers rally for May Day https://t.co/TMwNmvVeAJ

— Berkeleyside (@berkeleyside) May 1, 2017

"How a Group That Defended Affirmative Action Evolved Into an Anti-Trump Force" https://t.co/q79J9axBUi #TrumpMustGo #StopDeportations pic.twitter.com/40ZjQYMKsF

— BAMN (@followbamn) April 25, 2017

The Arrogance of Blue America

From the excellent Joel Kotkin, at the Daily Beast:

The arrogance of blue America https://t.co/oY5RV81AdE pic.twitter.com/4J41gCmSs2

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 1, 2017

Trump Will Test Democrats' Tax Patriotism

From Professor Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Trump Will Test Democrats’ Tax Patriotism: President’s plan would make high-tax blue states pay their fair share."

Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., Now That the Buffalo’s Gone

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., Now That the Buffalo’s Gone: A Study of Today’s American Indians.

Lindsey Pelas in Tangerine Lingerie on Instagram

Here, and on Twitter too:

😼 pic.twitter.com/WLtJnQMJht

— Lindsey Pelas (@LindseyPelas) April 30, 2017

Demi Rose Rule 5

Seen on Twitter:

🐱 pic.twitter.com/QITvCniCbq

— Demi Rose (@DemiRoseMawby) May 1, 2017

Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

See, Sport-Brella Portable All-Weather and Sun Umbrella. 8-Foot Canopy. Blue.

More, Mountain House Just In Case...Essential Bucket.

Still more, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) - Black.

And, OPSELL 5 Pack 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Memory Stick Thumb Drives (5 Mixed Colors: Black Blue Green Red Silver).

BONUS: Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger.

Trump's First 100 Days at the Riverside Convention Center (VIDEO)

At the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "Why there were cheers for Donald Trump in Riverside":

Why there were cheers for Donald Trump in Riverside https://t.co/mHOLBfWkr0 pic.twitter.com/4DAtKxyXkx

— The Press-Enterprise (@PEcom_news) May 1, 2017

As they gave President Donald Trump high marks for his first 100 days in office, a trio of conservative radio talk show hosts at a Riverside conference Sunday, April 30 urged congressional Republicans to get their act together and pass the president’s agenda, especially repealing Obamacare.

“It’s OK to disagree. It’s fine to be a divided caucus if at the end of the day, you come together and take 75 percent of what you want and call it a win,” Dennis Prager told an audience of more than 800 at the Fourth Annual Unite IE Conservative Conference.

Republicans “generally do not perceive the threat that the left is to our society,” he added. “This is the Achilles’ heel of the Republican Party … If you do understand it, then any victory is a victory.”

The conference, which took place at the Riverside Convention Center, offered a chance for conservatives to gather, network and be inspired in a state that’s been hostile ground for their beliefs.

This year’s conference focused on the first 100 days of the Trump administration, which hit that mark Saturday. Radio host Hugh Hewitt, who served as a panelist for four debates of GOP presidential hopefuls, gave Trump a “solid B,” saying the Republican real estate mogul and reality TV star needs to fill more judgeships.

Another radio personality, Larry Elder, gave Trump an A+, calling the nomination and confirmation of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch “far and away” the president’s most important accomplishment.

Prager gave Trump an A- and apologized for resisting Trump’s quest for the GOP presidential nomination.

“I am starting to love this man and I thought I would never say that in my life,” Prager said.

Unlike liberals, Trump doesn’t care if America is loved, Prager said, adding: “The recipe for peace on Earth is not for America to be loved, but feared.”

More.

Michael Marrus and Robert Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews

At Amazon, Michael Marrus and Robert Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews: With a New Foreword by Stanley Hoffmann.

UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute Finds U.S. College Freshmen More Politically Polarized Than Ever

Here's the annual survey from the institute, at the UCLA home page, "Survey reveals stark gender gap in political views among college freshmen":

Report by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute also finds difference between men and women in concerns over cost of tuition.

The political divisions that emerged and intensified during the 2016 U.S. presidential election were particularly apparent at colleges and universities: Students protested candidates, registered to vote and debated hot-button issues inside and outside of their classrooms.

According to findings of the Freshman Survey, an annual study of first-year college students administered by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, political polarization on campuses is the most extreme it has been in the study’s 51-year history. The 2016 report is based on responses from 137,456 full-time, first-year students at 184 U.S. colleges and universities.

Just 42.3 percent of freshmen characterized their political orientation as middle of the road — the lowest figure since the survey began in 1966. Meanwhile, 35.5 percent considered themselves liberal or far left and 22.2 percent said their views are conservative or far right.

The report also reveals the survey’s largest-ever gender gap in terms of political leanings. An all-time high 41.1 percent of women identified themselves as liberal or far left, compared to 28.9 percent of men. Women also were more likely than men to agree that addressing global climate change should be a priority of the federal government (82.4 percent versus 77.6 percent) and to favor stricter gun control laws (75.4 percent versus 58.8 percent).

The survey also pointed to differences in students’ views of their own empathy for others. For example, 86.6 percent of students who called themselves left-of-center said their tolerance of people with different beliefs is “strong” or “somewhat strong,” compared 82.0 percent of centrist students and 68.1 percent of right-of-center students.

“The increased activism among entering college students we found in 2015 seemed to intensify in the months leading up the election, and our 2016 survey points to the diversity and polarity of how college freshmen perceive their place in the current political landscape,” said Kevin Eagan, lead author of the report and managing director of the institute, which is housed in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. “The gender gap in students’ political beliefs and levels of empathy suggests an opportunity for campuses to facilitate dialogues that bridge differences.”

Keep reading.

Genevieve Morton Soaks Up the Sun (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

New Political Reality for France

At Der Spiegel, where the staff there is sweating it, lol.

See, "Macron vs. Le Pen: A New Political Reality for France."

Macron vs. Le Pen: A New Political Reality for France https://t.co/fMLuVVjRSj pic.twitter.com/CSIEbPDLrP

— SPIEGEL English (@SPIEGEL_English) April 24, 2017