Saturday, May 27, 2017

Scouts Placed Flags at More Than 88,000 Graves at Los Angeles National Cemetery (VIDEO)

Well, not everything's gone to hell in this country, thank God.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



Professor Bret Weinstein Attacked by Leftist Mob at Evergreen State College (VIDEO)

You may have seen this story this past couple of days.

Unreal.

At the College Fix, "Students harass white professor for refusing to leave campus on anti-white 'Day of Absence'," and "White professor forced to flee campus as police say he’s not safe."

And at Tucker Carlson's last night, on Fox News:



Gilles Kepel, Terror in France

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Gilles Kepel, Terror in France: The Rise of Jihad in the West.

Heidi Klum's New Photography Book

At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE: 'I have no problem with nudity': Supermodel mum-of-four Heidi Klum, 44, goes completely NAKED in new photography book."

More here and here.

Jessica Chastain Enjoys Final Days in Cannes

At London's Daily Mail, "Jessica Chastain offers a glimpse of her hourglass curves and slender waist in plunging nude dress as she enjoys her final days in Cannes."

ADDED: "Jessica Chastain works business-chic as she arrives for board member duties at the Cannes Film Festival."

Lloyd Clark, Blitzkrieg

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Lloyd Clark, Blitzkrieg: Myth, Reality, and Hitler’s Lightning War: France 1940.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, Portland Murder Suspect, Attended March for Free Speech Rally at Montavilla City Park in April (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Suspect on Portland MAX Train Was Screaming 'Muslims Should Die' (VIDEO)."

No doubt Rachel Maddow's going to have a field day (week) covering this guy.

At the Williamette Week, "The Man Accused of MAX Double Murder Is a Portland White Supremacist Who Delivered Nazi Salutes and Racial Slurs at a 'Free Speech' Rally Last Month."

Apparently, the dude was supporting "Sanders/Stein 2017" on Facebook, and called Donald Trump the "anti-Christ."

But Maddow and others will still smear conservatives over this attack. That's why I hate politics.


Suspect on Portland MAX Train Was Screaming 'Muslims Should Die' (VIDEO)

This story is now headlining at both Britain's Guardian and Telegraph (and I'm sure more), as obviously some kind of evidence of the "backlash" against Muslims. These attacks are always played to the hilt, while at the same time, the same leftists moan about how we'll never know what caused the Manchester bombing, and about how this one "deluded" individual isn't a true representation of Islam.

I denounce this suspect in Portland and I pray for those murdered.

I just cringe at the politics of it all.

At the Oregonian, "Man saw teenagers, one with hijab, and launched into racial tirade":


Two teenage girls boarded a MAX train in downtown heading to Northeast Portland early Friday evening when a man got on at a later stop and immediately launched into a racial tirade as soon as they caught his eye.

"He was saying that Muslims should die," said Dyjuana Hudson, a mother of one of the girls. "That they've been killing Christians for years."

Hudson recounted what her daughter, Destinee, told her hours after police tracked down the man as he ran from the rush-hour train into the Hollywood neighborhood. Other passengers chased him from a distance and called 911.

The suspect left a gruesome scene on the Green Line train. He lashed out at three men who had tried to calm him down, fatally stabbing two of them and sending the other to the hospital with stab wounds, police said. The third man is expected to survive.

The rampage at the start of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, brought an immediate outcry from religious and civic leaders in Portland and across the country.

Destinee Hudson, 16, is black, and her friend, 17, who was wearing a hijab, is Muslim, the mother said.

The girls distanced themselves from the man after he got on the train at Lloyd Center, Hudson said. But he pressed on, approaching them as he kept screaming, she said...
More.

Douglas Murray on the Manchester Bombing (VIDEO)

Murray's one of the most thoughtful "neocons" out there.

Watch, "Douglas Murray on the Daily Politics with Andrew Neil discussing the Manchester Bombing."

Vans Pool Party 2017: Legends Highlights (VIDEO)

Some of my old skating buddies, still skating, heh.

This was just a couple of weeks ago, at the Vans Skatepark combi-pool, in Orange.



William J. Cooper, The Lost Founding Father

At Amazon, William J. Cooper, The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Garth Kemp's Forecast

For CBS News 2 Los Angeles.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing long weekend.



David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

Salman Abedi Used Taxpayer-Funded Student Loans and Benefits to Finance Manchester Arena Jihad Attack

British taxpayers literally financed the murder of their own children.

At the Telegraph U.K., "Exclusive: Manchester suicide bomber used student loan and benefits to fund terror plot."

Susan Sleeper-Smith, ed., Rethinking the Fur Trade

At Amazon, Susan Sleeper-Smith, ed., Rethinking the Fur Trade: Cultures of Exchange in an Atlantic World.

Yale Awards Student 'Truthtellers' Who Bullied Faculty

The cultural revolution in America.

We're in bad shape, and it's not just on campus.

Here's Jamie Kirchick, at the Tablet, "YALE CEMENTS ITS LINE IN THE ACADEMIC SAND BY AWARDING THE STUDENT ‘TRUTHTELLERS’ WHO BULLIED FACULTY."


Greg Gianforte Wins Montana Special Election

I'd never even heard of the guy until Wednesday night, on Twitter, when I saw the live-tweeting of the alleged "body-slam" assault. Seems like that would have hurt his chances, but a large number of voters (60 percent, apparently) voted by absentee ballot. And besides, it's Montana. I don't see how progressives are going to do well in a conservative rural state in this environment. It's political war at the moment, and frankly. Leftists are trying to nationalize the election, tying it to "the bully" President Trump. It's not working obviously. Everything's about hate nowadays, and no one's more hateful that a radical leftist.

In any case, here's Sean Trende, at RCP, "Four Takeaways From Gianforte's Win in Montana":
Believe it or not, they are still counting votes in the special election held Thursday in Montana. Greg Gianforte, the Republican nominee to replace former congressman and current Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has been declared the winner over Democrat Rob Quist. Speculation had abounded that the race could tighten -- or even flip to Democrats -- because of Gianforte’s alleged assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the day before the election. This didn’t pan out, as Gianforte seems headed for a win in the six-to-seven-point range.
Here are four thoughts on the outcome...
RTWT.

And see some of the outlandish left-wing headline at Mememeorandum, from Brian Beutler, "The Republicans Broke American Politics, and Media Elites Are Blind to It"; Karen Tumylty, "The GOP inherits what Trump has wrought"; and from Matt Yglesias, "Republicans' 7-point win in last night's Montana election is great news for Democrats."

That's all fake news.

It's a nightmare these days.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Jackie Johnson's May Gray Forecast

I missed last night's weather forecast post. I just petered out and hit the sack. Worked all day today, but now I have the long weekend off, including Tuesday, when I'm taking a personal day.

Looks like it's going to be overcast through most of the weekend. Meh. I guess it'll be cool and comfortable.

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Jackie, for CBS News Los Angeles:



Found at the Scene in Manchester

I love the graphics at this piece, especially of the foyer at the Manchester Arena, where Salman Abedi detonated his IED.


ICYMI: Omar El Akkad, American War

*BUMPED.*

Following-up from my previous earlier entry, I'm reminded if this, at Amazon, Omar El Akkad, American War: A Novel.

From 9/11 to Manchester

From Daniel Henninger, at WSJ, "Donald Trump found out something about the presidency and the world on this trip":

Now we have Manchester and its 22 dead, many of them children. Somehow, we always end up back at 9/11, leaving flowers and candles again.

A political constant since 9/11 is that terrorism inevitably changes U.S. presidencies. I think the events this week—the president’s overseas trip and then Manchester—may have a similar effect on Donald Trump.

On Inauguration Day in January 2001, George W. Bush’s mind no doubt was filled with plans for his first term. Months later, his was a war presidency and would remain so.

Several things sit in my memory from the politics of that period. One is President Bush’s face as he addressed Congress on Sept. 20. He was a changed man. Also remembered is the solidarity of national purpose after the attack. The final memory is how quickly that unity dissipated into a standard partisan melee.

The Democratic point of attack became the Patriot Act’s surveillance provisions, a legal and legislative battle that ran the length of the Bush presidency. By the end of his second term, George Bush had become an object of partisan caricature and antipathy equal to anything President Trump endures now.

During Barack Obama’s presidency, four major terrorist attacks took place inside the U.S.: Fort Hood in 2009, the Boston Marathon in 2013, San Bernardino two years later and then Orlando in 2016. During these years, the locus of terror migrated from al Qaeda to Islamic State.

Volumes have been written about Barack Obama and terrorism, much of it about the president’s struggles with vocabulary terms such as war, Islam, extreme and radical. The killing of Osama bin Laden evinced a rare, passing moment of national unity.

With the opposition to the Trump presidency programmed for driverless resistance, there will be no national unity in the war on terrorism. The Democrats have become the Trump-Is-Russia Party, and that may be as good a way as any for them to spend their waking hours.

But even Hillary Clinton couldn’t duck the terrorism problem in the 2016 presidential campaign, and when Mr. Trump said he would “defeat ISIS,” his lack of nuance no doubt won him votes.

Which brings us to Manchester this week and memories of 9/11.

Note the political response to the Manchester murders. Again, total solidarity, such as this from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker : “These cowardly attacks will only strengthen our commitment to work together to defeat the perpetrators of such vile acts.”

Post-9/11, naturally one expects such commitments to erode like sand castles. But this time, by coincidence, alleged Manchester bomber Salman Abedi murdered concertgoers in the same week Donald Trump was using his first overseas trip to build a coalition to defeat Islamic State.

This was not a routine presidential foreign trip for self-pomp and circumstance. Mr. Trump went to Saudi Arabia to initiate an anti-ISIS policy designed and midwifed by three Trump appointees and Middle East specialists—Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

The policy entails the U.S. sale over 10 years to Saudi Arabia of $450 billion of military equipment—tanks, ships, precision-guided bombs—in return for Saudi leadership of an Arab-state coalition, which is their idea, to fight Islamic terrorists in the region and thwart Iran’s territorial ambitions.

A New York Times online summary of the speech Mr. Trump delivered Sunday in Riyadh called it “a speech about Islam.” I thought it was about something larger than that.

For instance, the Times and Washington Post ran stories about how the Trump foreign policy has demoted human-rights issues. It has not. Implicit in the Trump-Tillerson formulation is that defining the abuse of human rights as oppression by governments, such as Saudi Arabia’s, is too narrow. Now, any discourse over human rights must include the right not to have one’s life ended by acts of organized terrorism.

Grasping at Trumpian straws is a fact of life, but I am going to hazard not much more than a thought, which is that the president who left for Saudi Arabia last Friday will not be the same president who returns here this weekend...
Still more.

James F. Brooks, Captives and Cousins

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, James F. Brooks, Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands.

Salman Abedi's Manchester Bomb Used TATP (Triacetone Triperoxide), Same Explosive Used in 7/7, Brussels, and Paris Attacks

From Rukmini Callimachi, on Twitter:


Jennette McCurdy on Snapchat

At Bro Bible, "Jennette McCurdy REALLY Wants You to Know That She Can Twerk and Has Nipples."

Italian Model Bianca Balti 'Birth of Venus' Photoshoot

At London's Daily Mail, "Really coming out of her shell! Italian model Bianca Balti flashes her nipples as she dares to bare all for sexy shoot inspired by Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus painting in Cannes."

And at Taxi Driver, "Bianca Balti Caught on a Photoshoot."

Katie Hopkins on Manchester Jihad Attack

Following-up from yesterday, "Katie Hopkins Under Fire After Calling for 'Final Solution' to the Muslim Problem (VIDEO)."

Here's Katie Hopkins, at London's Daily Mail, "KATIE HOPKINS: Despite all the politicians’ clichés of bravery, there is a sickness in our society - and I fear it’s terminal," and "KATIE HOPKINS: The politicians now have hundreds of troops protecting them while telling the rest of us to Keep Calm, Stay 'United' and Carry On. But who is going to protect OUR kids from the terror THEY let in?"

Nine-Year-Old Ruby and Her Family Were at the Ariana Grande​ Concert During the Manchester Attack (VIDEO)

This is an amazing first-hand account, riveting even.

Via Sky News:



Morrissey’s Response to the Manchester Attack

From Stephen Green, at Instapundit, "BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN: Singer Morrissey’s response to #ManchesterBombing has PC heads exploding."

And from Morrissey:
In modern Britain everyone seems petrified to officially say what we all say in private. Politicians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims. How easy to be unafraid when one is protected from the line of fire. The people have no such protections.
I have a newfound respect for the Smiths, heh.

Amazon's First Bookstore in New York City

At Quartz, "Amazon’s first bookstore in New York City sucks the joy out of buying books":


“We talk about ourselves as a physical extension of Amazon.com,” said Jennifer Cast, vice president of Amazon Books, on a tour for press. Indeed: Amazon Books heavily promotes its data-driven approach all around the store, just like the site does with its many recommendations—and makes Amazon’s Prime service feel irresistible, just like the site does. But by making the store an extension of Amazon.com, rather than a place in which people really want to spend time and forget their screens in lieu of something quieter, Amazon Books takes away one of the greatest pleasures of a bookstore: escapism. With the entire store blinking like a banner ad for Amazon Prime above your head, you lose the ability to fade away into the printed word...
RTWT.

And if you've got a used bookstore in your community, give it your business.

Enlightened Progressivism Doesn't Protect You from Jihad

Seen at AoSHQ:


Michelle Malkin on the Manchester Jihad Attack (VIDEO)

On Fox & Friends yesterday morning:



Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Manchester Bombing Suspect Allegedly Part of International Network of Jihad

At the Washington Post, "Manchester bombing probe seeks ‘network’ of suspects as Britain tightens security":

MANCHESTER, England — The police chief leading the investigation into a suicide bombing that killed 22 people at a Manchester concert said Wednesday that the attacker had not acted alone and authorities were trying to unravel a wider web of plotters.

“It’s very clear that this is a network we are investigating,” said Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.

The comments — which came as British troops fanned out across London at prominent sites such as 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace — confirmed what other senior British officials have hinted. It also offered further insights into Britain’s decision to raise the nation’s threat level to its highest point.

Hopkins said British police had taken at least five people into custody in connection with the attack since Monday night.

Raids continued Wednesday in Britain, including one in the heart of Manchester — not far from the concert venue where Salman Abedi carried out the blast that claimed victims as young as 8 years old.

Hours after Hopkins spoke, police said a person was arrested in Wigan, about 20 miles west of the city.

Among those detained in Britain was Abedi’s older brother, Ismail. Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reported that Salman’s younger brother Hashem was also arrested by authorities in Libya.

The bomber Abedi was a British-born citizen whose parents emigrated from Libya.

Britain’s domestic security chief, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, said did not provide details on possible associates of the 22-year-old Abedi.

But she told the BBC that security services — which had been aware of Abedi “up to a point” before the bombing — were focusing on his visits to Libya, at least one of which was very recent.

Rudd’s French counterpart, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, told broadcaster BFMTV that Abedi may have also gone to Syria and had “proven” links with the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Manchester blast and called Abedi a “soldier.”

Abedi’s father, Ramadan Abedi, said his son sounded “normal” when they last spoke five days ago. The elder Abedi told the Associated Press by telephone from Tripoli, Libya, that his son planned to visit Saudi Arabia and then spend the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with family in Libya.

“We don’t believe in killing innocents,” he told the AP. “This is not us.”

The local mosque where Abedi’s family worshiped — and where Ramadan Abedi had once worked, issuing the call to prayer — denounced the attack. Mosque officials also denied reporters that the bomber had worked there.

“The horrific atrocity that occurred in Manchester on Monday night has shocked us all,” said Fawzi Haffar, a trustee with the Manchester Islamic Center, which is also known as the Didsbury Mosque. “This act of cowardice has no place in our religion, or any other religion.”

Abedi was reported Wednesday to have been a college dropout who had recently become radicalized. Security experts said it was unlikely that he coordinated the attack, and the BBC reported he may have been “a mule” tasked with carrying out the bombing, but who had little role in creating the explosive or choosing the target.

Of particular concern to British investigators was the possibility that the bomb-maker was still at-large, and may be planning to strike again.

On Tuesday night, British Prime Minister Theresa May took Britain’s alert level from “severe” to its highest rating, “critical.” The decision, she said, was “a proportionate and sensible response to the threat that our security experts judge we face.”

The impact was quick and visible.

In London, nearly 1,000 soldiers were deployed onto the streets to help free up police. Soldiers were seen at prominent locations including Downing Street and Buckingham Palace...
Still more.

Hailey Baldwin Tops the 2017 Maxim Hot 100

On Twitter.

And at Drunken Stepfather, "HAILEY BALDWIN IS NUMBER 1 IN A NONSENSE OF THE DAY":
Hailey Baldwin is a scam, her family is in the industry, she’s a golden child who has managed to find the Kardashians / Jenners / Hadids to leverage…

It just took the family publicists to make that magic happen, the scam of the scams…keep the 1 percent 1 percenting – which is why content is such shit lately – the talent has left the building and the entitled kids of the talent are taking over.


Playboy Playmate Lada Kravchenko May 2017 (VIDEO)

At Editorials Fashion Trends, "LADA KRAVCHENKO BY KYLE DELEU FOR PLAYBOY US (MAY-JUNE 2017)."

And at Playboy, "That time May Playmate Lada Kravchenko took over a NYC hotel room."

And watch, at Playboy on YouTube, "What Turns May Playmate Lada Kravchenko On (and Off)?"

Shop Today's Deals

At Amazon, New Deals. Every Day.

BONUS: Sebastian Gorka, Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War.

Dr. Rachel McKinnon Attacks Feminists

I wrote about "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism" last year.

Here's an update, from Robert Stacy McCain:


Kara Del Toro Says Bring Back Carl's Jr. Bikini Advertising

Hey, I'm down with that!


Stana Katic

She's so sweet. What a refreshing Rule 5 break from all the political correctness and murder.

Seen on Twitter:


U.C. Berkeley Professor Posts Hit List of Alleged 'Islamophobic' Conservatives

The sole purpose of publishing and disseminating such lists is to foment murderous violence against the targets. It's no surprise that conservatives need armed guards virtually 24/7.

From Pamela on Twitter:


Katie Hopkins Under Fire After Calling for 'Final Solution' to the Muslim Problem (VIDEO)

She's probably the most righteous outspoken critic of Islam in Britain, if not all of Europe.

And of course she's under fire. When you're batting 1.000 you'll have your enemies gearing up for a fight.

At WaPo, via Memeorandum, "‘We need a final solution,’ British columnist tweets — then deletes — after Manchester bombing."

Also, seen on Twitter and on Fox News, below:




The Politically Correct Enablers of Murder and Mayhem

From Bruce Bawer, at City Journal, "Enabling Murder."


Theresa May's Downing Street Statement on Manchester Terror Attack (VIDEO)

Following-up from last night, "Manchester Suicide Bomber Identified as British-Libyan Jihadist Salman Abedi," and "Saffie-Rose Roussos, 8-Years-Old, Killed in Manchester Terror Attack."

Here's the Prime Minister's statement from yesterday. Quite dramatic:



Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Evelyn Taft's Cooling Trend Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn.

It's been great weather. Cool but comfortable. Sunny but not hot. Very nice all around.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



Lawsuit Against San Diego Unified School District's Muslim Anti-Bullying Program (VIDEO)

That's what I'm talking about.

More of this, please.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:


William Cronon, Changes in the Land

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England.

Fox News Retracts Story on Murdered D.N.C Staffer Seth Rich (VIDEO)

Really interesting developments on this, starting with the Fox News statement on the retraction, at top. Sean Hannity said earlier today that he "retracted nothing," but then on his evening broadcast announced he was "backing off" the story for now.

As noted previously, I don't care for this story. I don't know what evidence there is linking the young man's murder to the Democrat Party. That said, clearly, as seen in Hannity's segment, there is absolutely no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign, Russia, the D.N.C. hacks, or whatever. It's all a scam.




Saffie-Rose Roussos, 8-Years-Old, Killed in Manchester Terror Attack

Following-up, "Manchester Suicide Bomber Identified as British-Libyan Jihadist Salman Abedi."

At the Telegraph U.K.:


Manchester Suicide Bomber Identified as British-Libyan Jihadist Salman Abedi

At the Telegraph U.K., "Salman Abedi named as the Manchester suicide bomber":

The Manchester Arena suicide bomber had made trips to Libya, Downing Street said last night, as intelligence agencies combed his connections with al-Qaeda and Islamic State in his parents’ homeland.

Salman Abedi, 22, who was reportedly known to the security services, is thought to have returned from Libya as recently as this week.

A school friend told The Times: "He went to Libya three weeks ago and came back recently, like days ago."

Abedi born in Manchester and grew up in tight-knit Libyan community that was known for its strong opposition to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

He had become radicalised recently - it is not entirely clear when - and had worshipped at a local mosque that has, in the past, been accused of fund-raising for jihadists.

Abedi’s older brother Ismail had been a tutor at Didsbury mosque’s Koran school. The imam last night said that Salman Abedi, who wore Islamic dress, had shown him “the face of hate” when he gave a talk warning on the dangers of so-called Islamic State.

Born in 1994, the second youngest of four children, Abedi’s parents were Libyan refugees who fled to the UK to escape Gaddafi.

His mother, Samia Tabbal, 50, and father, Ramadan Abedi, a security officer, were both born in Tripoli but appear to have emigrated to London before moving to the Whalley Range area of south Manchester where they had lived for at least a decade.

Abedi went to school locally and then on to Salford University in 2014 where he studied business management before dropping out. His trips to Libya, where it is thought his parents returned in 2011 following Gaddafi’s overthrow, are now subject to scrutiny including links to jihadists...
Keep reading.

New Deals. Every Day

At Amazon, Shop Today's Deals.

BONUS: S. Jonathan Bass, Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'.

Leakers Have Done Far More Damage Than Trump

Following-up from my previous entry, here's Marc Thiessen, at WaPo (amazingly):


What a Conservative Sees from Inside Trump's Washington

Heh.

Here's Instapundit, "HUH. I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT OF MEGAN MCARDLE AS A CONSERVATIVE..."

Click through for the Megan McArdle piece at Bloomberg, lol. She's libertarian, but on many issues she comes off as fairly doctrinaire conservative.

Truck Driving, Once a Road to the Middle Class, is Now Low-Paying, Grinding, Unhealthy Work. Why Do They Do It?

I've always been fascinated with truck drivers. Still am.

I especially love the peaceful and easy feeling of the cross-country long haul. But alas, there's not much glamour to the job, at least not any more.

At NYT, "Alone on the Open Road: Truckers Feel Like ‘Throwaway People’":

EFFINGHAM, Ill. — The vast Petro truck stop here is a neon-lit, blacktop oasis at the crossroads of America. It beckons big-rig drivers with showers, laundry machines, a barber shop, even a knife store. “Professional drivers only,” reads the sign above the tables of the Iron Skillet restaurant, where truckers sit mostly alone, carrying the solitude of their jobs into an otherwise social setting.

Driving a long-haul tractor-trailer is as commonplace as the items that drivers carry, from blue jeans to blueberries, from toilet paper for Walmart to farm machinery bound for export. There are 1.7 million men and women working as long-haul drivers in the country. Yet truckers — high up in their cabs — are literally out of view for most Americans.

At a moment when President Trump has ignited a national discussion of blue-collar labor and even climbed into a truck during a White House event, trucking, which was once among the best-paying such jobs, has become low-wage, grinding, unhealthy work. Turnover at large for-hire fleets hauling freight by the truckload — the backbone of the industry — runs an astonishing 80 percent a year, according to a trade group. Looming over the horizon is a future in which self-driving trucks threaten to eliminate many drivers’ livelihoods.

Still, trucking continues to draw plenty of newcomers, reflecting the lack of good alternatives for workers without a higher education (one survey found that 17 percent of truckers had less than a high school diploma). Some have lost better-paying manufacturing jobs in the continuing deindustrialization of America. Others have spent years knocking on the door of the middle class in minimum-wage jobs in fast food or retail. To them, trucking is a step up.

Over two days recently, The New York Times spoke to truckers at the Petro stop, which sits at the intersection of Interstate 57, between Chicago and Memphis, and Interstate 70, between Indianapolis and St. Louis. These interviews were edited and condensed. The maps show drivers’ routes in picking up and delivering their loads...
Keep reading.

Carol Swain on the Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party

She's a good lady!

For Prager University:



Brooklyn Decker in the Virgin Islands (VIDEO)

She looks better than ever, frankly.

For Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:


Mark Mazzetti, The Way of the Knife

At Amazon, Mark Mazzetti, The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth.

Anthony Weiner's World About to Get Much Smaller and Sadder

The New York Post has had very good coverage.


Monday, May 22, 2017

Jackie Johnson's Gradual Cooling Forecast

It's cool and comfortable on the coasts, but sunny and hot inland.

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



At Least 19 Slaughtered at Ariana Grande Concert in Manchester, U.K. (VIDEO)

Well, I doubt this is going to help Jeremy Corbyn and Labour.

But it's still early.

At Telegraph U.K., "Live Manchester Arena explosion 19 dead in 'terror attack' at Ariana Grande concert."

Terrorism is suspected.

Expect updates.



ADDED: Here's Pamela Geller on Twitter, reporting it was a "suicide attack":


Now here's the front-page at tomorrow's Guardian U.K.:


I'll append tweets as I see them:


Max Boot, the Perpetually Unhappy Camper

Honestly, if I was Max Boot, I'd just focus on writing books and academic scholarship. Since the nomination (and then election) of Donald Trump, Boot's been publishing one piece after another bemoaning all the old institutions to which he had ties, first it was the GOP itself, now it's Fox News.

He's really pathetic. And that's the saddest thing. I used to find him interesting. I used to respect him. Now look what's happened. All because of President Trump. I don't know. Chalk it up to "Trump Derangement Syndrome."

In any case, here's Boot, at Foreign Policy, "The Seth Rich ‘Scandal’ Shows That Fox News Is Morally Bankrupt":

The network I once respected as a necessary antidote to liberal media now peddles craven lies and Russian disinformation.

It was just a coincidence, but a telling one, that Roger Ailes died on May 18 just as the television powerhouse that he created, the Fox News Channel, was propagating a conspiracy theory involving a Democratic National Committee staffer named Seth Rich, whose murder in Washington, D.C., last summer remains unsolved.

If you don’t watch Fox News, read Breitbart or the Drudge Report, or listen to Rush Limbaugh, you likely don’t have any idea who Seth Rich was. If, however, you are a devotee of those dubious news sources, you have been fed a grab bag of unsubstantiated allegations designed to make you think that Rich was murdered by some kind of Democratic Party cabal for having revealed the party’s secrets to WikiLeaks.

These spurious insinuations have been put forward (before being largely recanted) by a sometime Fox News contributor named Rod Wheeler. Never mind that Rich’s family, the Washington police force, CNN, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, among others, have debunked these conspiracy theories, showing there is no evidence that Rich was a WikiLeaks source, much less that his murder has anything to do with the stolen Democratic Party emails. Sean Hannity, one of the last of the old guard hired by Ailes to rule prime time, nevertheless devoted three separate segments of his show last week to the “DNC murder mystery.” On Sunday morning, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was pushing the same allegation about Rich’s “assassination” on Fox & Friends. Lou Dobbs has spouted these theories on Fox Business Network, too.

Fox’s tasteless conspiracy-mongering has been denounced by the Rich family, which wants the far-right to stop exploiting their son’s tragic death, but it has found support in an unlikely quarter. Ever happy to play the troll, the Russian Embassy in London tweeted: “‪#WikiLeaks ‪informer Seth Rich murdered in US but MSM was so busy accusing Russian hackers to take notice.”
I'm not up on the Seth Rich story, and that's not by accident. I personally stay away from conspiracy theories. That said, I distinctly remember Julian Assange saying, at the time of Rich's death, that he suspected that his sources were putting their lives in danger. I don't recall him conceding that Seth Rich had leaked documents to WikiLeaks. He simply said that powerful people had an invested interest in making those leaks stop. Assange and WikiLeaks (one and the same, as far as I know) have stated consistently that they do not divulge the names of their sources. But that's about as far as I'll go.

Oh, well, that, and Max Boot is a special snowflake neocon wienie.

BONUS: At the New York Times, "How the Murder of a D.N.C. Staff Member Fueled Conspiracy Theories."

S. Jonathan Bass, He Calls Me By Lightning

Looks like a thrilling read.

At Amazon, S. Jonathan Bass, He Calls Me By Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty.

Jennifer Delacruz's Monday Forecast

The video wasn't available when I hit the hay last night, or I would've posted my nightly weather forecast. But it's never too late for the lovely Ms. Jennifer.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:



Harleys, Hamburgers, and American Flags Welcome Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia

At the New York Times, surprisingly:


Jessie James Decker

Stunning.

From last night at the BBMAs.


Big Game Hunter Crushed to Death by Falling Elephant in Zimbabwe

The elephant was wounded. Once shot, it had apparently grabbed the hunter by its trunk, then falling dead, crushed the guy under its weight. Talk about taking 'em out with you, heh.

That was some righteous karma at the end there.

At the Telegraph U.K., via Memeorandum, "South African hunter crushed to death by elephant."

On Twitter, one woman writes, "Big game hunter crushed to death under an elephant he's just shot? Good."

Actually, I wish they weren't hunting big game myself, but it's not illegal. And I wouldn't wish the man killed. I get the karmic justice, but it's still a sad loss of human life.


Sunday, May 21, 2017

Alison Gopnik, The Gardener and the Carpenter

At Amazon, Alison Gopnik, The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children.

Richard White, 'It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own'

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Richard White, "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West.

White's the author of, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815, and the forthcoming, The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford History of the United States).

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The Crisis in American Journalism Benefits No One

From Salena Zito:


Brazilian Supermodel Isabeli Fontana Stuns in Black Bikini at Cannes

At London's Daily Mail, "Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian Supermodel with Victoria's Secret and Dolce & Gabbana, Stuns in Sexy Tight Black Bikini at Cannes Film Festival (PHOTOS)."

Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations

This is really shocking piece, considering how nonchalant everybody is about spying and intelligence these days. All this hacking and leaking and political payback can get you killed. A lot of people are getting killed.

At NYT, with the response at Zero Hedge:


Idiot Leftist Trying to Save the Internet

It's Evan "Ev" Williams, one of the founders of both Blogger and Twitter, and the founder of Medium. He apologized for giving Donald Trump a platform (on Twitter), and contributing to the real estate mogul's election. He wishes only views he shares could be posted on his platforms, like the idiot loser leftist he is.

At Memeorandum and NYT:


Danielle Gersh's Early Summer Blazing Hot Forecast

As I was saying at my earlier entry, "Jennifer Delacruz Continued Hot Forecast," it wasn't quite as hot yesterday in San Diego. We were in record-breaking territory in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and more heat is expected today.

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle with the forecast. Stay cool, people!



Saturday, May 20, 2017

Orwell's Animal Farm

I just read it.

I've had a copy on my shelf for probably 30 years and never read it.

I have an even earlier version of this, an old Signet mass-market paperback, at Amazon, George Orwell, Animal Farm.

The latest, cheaper Signet paperback is here. It's a great little read, heh.

Jennifer Delacruz Continued Hot Forecast

It's not just "warm." It's freakin' blazing hot! It was pushing 90 in the O.C. today, if not higher.

San Diego might not be getting the brunt of the high pressure, if it's any cooler than what we were having up here today.

Either way, here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:



Kendall Jenner Steals the Show in Cannes

I'll say.

Flaunt it while you got it, babe.

At London's Daily Mail:


'Alien: Covenant' is Rad! (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' (VIDEO)."

My son and I caught the early-bird (cheapskate) showing, at the Tustin Marketplace 10 theaters.

That was an extremely enjoyable movie. You feel like you're plopped right back into the original "Alien" with Ellen Ripley (Signorney Weaver). And you don't feel like you've missed too much even if you haven't seen "Prometheus" (which Ridley Scott now thinks was a mistake).

The L.A. Times review (linked at top) was ecstatic about it. So was my son.

Here's the review at the New York Times, below. And do yourself a favor: Go out and have some fun --- see this movie.

See, "Review: ‘Alien: Covenant’ Stays on Brand With Its Terror."




Louise Mensch Claims President Trump's About to Be Impeached

Following-up from yesterday, "Leftist Conspiracy Theories Flourishing in the Age of Trump."

I don't know. It's like spraying machine gun fire: you're likely to hit something after a while. Maybe Louise is about to get lucky and prove her detractors wrong.

Seen on Twitter (be sure to click through for the tweets):


'The Conceptual Penis'

Oh boy.

Truly a riot, and then sad at the same time.

A peer-review hoax along the lines of Alan Sokal's bogus "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," which was published in the peer-reviewed journal, the Social Text, in 1996.

Seen on Twitter:


Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' (VIDEO)

I need to get caught up on this franchise.

The original "Aliens" is an all-time classic. I love watching that movie, heh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Review: Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' is a sleek, suspenseful return to form."



Friday, May 19, 2017

Lawsuit Against Cal State San Marcos Challenges Left-Wing Bias (VIDEO)

I hope this is a the beginning of a trend and we see lots more of these lawsuits.

At the San Deigo Union-Tribune, "Suit accuses Cal State San Marcos of liberal bias":
A student club is suing Cal State San Marcos, alleging the university spent nearly $300,000 in mandatory student fees this year to promote gay- and gender-equality issues, but refused a request for $500 to bring in an outside speaker with conservative views.

The campus chapter of Students for Life, a national group opposed to abortion, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging its members’ free-speech rights were violated, and the group was subjected to viewpoint discrimination. The suit also accuses the school of violating club members’ right to equal protection.

In the suit, the club argues the university’s student government rejected the funding request that would have been used to help bring in an out-of-state college professor for a presentation on “Abortion and Human Equality” this spring. The suit states that the student government told the campus club that it does not supply money for speakers fees.

However, the suit says, the student government — Associated Students Inc. — funds the LGBTQA Pride and Gender Equity centers with nearly $150,000 each a year, and that some of that money was spent this year on presentations like “Kink 101,” a talk by a local “sexologist.”
More.

And watch, at ABC News 10 San Diego, "Lawsuit claims liberal bias at Cal State San Marcos."

Leftist Conspiracy Theories Flourishing in the Age of Trump

I don't usually post Vox articles, but this one's talking about Louise Mensch, who I used to consider a friend on Twitter. She invited me to write at Heat Street, where's she's the editor-in-chief. But she writes at Patribotics blog, publishing all her theories and "investigations" into Russian meddling. She's acquired the reputation as a nutjob. It's kind of sad.

In any case, at Vox, "Democrats are falling for fake news about Russia: Why liberal conspiracy theories are flourishing in the age of Trump."


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BONUS: Ann Coulter, If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans.

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz on Alleged Collusion Between President Trump and Russia (VIDEO)

Via the Conservative Treehouse:



Julian Assange Rape Investigation Is Dropped in Sweden

He's gonna be extradited to the U.S., one way or another.

British authorities said they'd arrest him if he leaves the Ecuadoran embassy.

At Memeorandum and Twitter:

Liz Habib Friday

She's following me on Twitter, for some reason.


Dana Loesch: 'For My Haters'

Happy warrior.


'Untitled' Jean-Michel Basquiat Painting Sells for 'Mind-Blowing' $110.5 Million at Auction

Amazing.

Apparently, the painting "remained in the same private collection since it was bought at auction in 1984 for $19,000."

That's a smart investment.

At the Telegraph U.K., "Basquiat painting fetches record $110.5 million at New York auction."


Thursday, May 18, 2017

Pamela Geller on Rebel Media: #CUNY Terror Invite to Jew-Hater Linda Sarsour (VIDEO)

Following-up from last month, "Controversy Surrounds Linda Sarsour Commencement Address at City University of New York (VIDEO)."

As noted, I'm against banning her talk. If we forcefully shut down leftists, we're no better than they are on the issue of public speech.

That said, here's Pamela, at the Rebel:



Protest Against New '10 Barrel Brewery' in San Diego (VIDEO)

This is a trip, because I've been drinking Elysian Brewing Company's Space Dust IPA, which come to find out, is really produced by Anheuser-Busch, which bought 10 Barrel Brewing a couple of years ago.

Actually, I'm against the protest. I'm for the free market to determine the winners and losers. If 10 Barrel's beers are no good, people won't drink them.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "East Village's 10 Barrel Brewing prepares for a party and a protest."

And at ABC News 10 San Diego:



Here We Go Again with the 'Special Counsel'

Ha!

This is great.

Following-up from yesterday, "Robert Mueller Named Special Counsel in Russia Investigation," where I wrote: "If memory serves, past special prosecutions have been a joke."

Well, yeah.

I think the editors at the Wall Street Journal have been reading my blog.

See, "The Special Counsel Mistake" (via Memeorandum and InfoWars):

Democrats and their media allies finally got their man. After weeks of political pressure, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein blinked late Wednesday and announced that he has named a special counsel to investigate Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election. These expeditions rarely end well for anyone, and Democrats are hoping this one will bedevil the Trump Administration for the next four years.

“My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted,” said Mr. Rosenstein, which is nice but irrelevant. With Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused from the Russia probe, Mr. Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller III, who will now have unlimited time and resources to investigate more or less anything and anyone he wants.

While the decision will provide some short-term political relief, not least for Mr. Rosenstein, it also opens up years of political risk to the Trump Administration with no guarantee that the public will end up with any better understanding of what really happened.

The problem with special counsels, as we’ve learned time and again, is that they are by definition all but politically unaccountable...
RTWT.

Bella Thorne Flashes Pierced Nipple on Snapchat

I thought Disney was sending these girls back to school?

I guess that's for the up-and-coming stars. Ms. Bella's hit bottom and past redemption, I guess.

She's crazier than ever.

At Taxi Driver, "Bella Thorne Shows Us Her Piercing."

Bella Hadid Upskirt Flash on the Red Carpet at Cannes Film Festiva Opening Ceremony

At the Sun U.K., "IF IT AIN'T BROKE: Bella Hadid flashes her knickers (and a great deal of flesh) in Cannes … a YEAR after wearing THAT dress on the red carpet — The model hit the French film festival in eye-catching style."

Quarter-Life Crisis

Here's Dana Perino, for Prager University:



The Left's Assault on President Trump is the Greatest Threat to the U.S. Today

It's Professor Stephen Cohen, who's married to Katrina Katrina vanden Heuvel, the publisher and editor of the Nation.

This is really interesting.


Will Republicans Stick with Trump?

Not if their own material interests are threatened by the president's difficulties and inexperience, writes Josh Kraushaar, at National Journal:


Jessica Gomes in Paradise (VIDEO)

Via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:



Trump's Statements Are Not an Obstruction of Justice

A great piece, from Elizabeth Price Foley, via Instapundit:
Principled objections to Mr. Trump’s policies and leadership style should not blind opponents to the dangers of repeated, knee-jerk calls for criminal prosecution of the president of the United States. Let the evidence unfold, and reserve serious charges if and when the evidence warrants it. Crying wolf undermines the credibility of the opposition, further divides an already deeply divided country and breeds cynicism about American institutions that is as dangerous to our republic, if not more, than outside meddling.
A great piece. RTWT.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Danielle Gersh's Warm-Up Forecast

It was still cloudy and cool today, but as noted by Ms. Evelyn last night, a high pressure system is moving in by the end of the week, and with it warmer temperatures.

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle:



Mary V. Dearborn, Ernest Hemingway

Out today, at Amazon, Mary V. Dearborn, Ernest Hemingway: A Biography.

The Most Important Book for College Graduates to Read

According to Bill Gates, it's Steven Pinker's, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

I've been meaning to read it, actually.