Santa Barbara Whittier Fire

It's up by Lake Cachuma. Been burning for well over a week now.

At the Santa Barbara Independent, "Whittier Fire Quiets Down Overnight: Crews Working to Contain Bear Creek Edge, State of Emergency Declared."

And at KEYT News 3 Santa Barbara, "State of Emergency and Local Emergency declared in Santa Barbara County," and "Whittier Fire burns 18,311 acres. Continued updates16 homes and 30 other structures destroyed."

Also, "AirTankers work to stop the spread of the Whittier Fire."

Video here, "LIVE CAM : Whittier Fire July 15, 2017."

The air-tankers used to fly overhead --- and I mean literally over the top of my head --- just about every summer when I was living up in Goleta, attending UCSB. Those dry mountains had wildfires every year, some catastrophic. There was always the threat that the fires would burn down the ocean-facing mountainside and wipe out the local foothill communities.

El Cajon Home of Reptile Lover Burglarized (VIDEO)

There are some evil people out there, and in this case, I think the suspect wasn't a stranger to this home.

Watch, at ABC News 10 San Diego, "Burglar steals lizard, poisons turtle tank":

EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) - A reptile lover is hoping to track down the ‘heartless’ burglar who stole one animal and killed another.

Emery Aranda, a pet owner and breeder, returned to his El Cajon home Wednesday to a devastating sight:  An unlocked back window forced open and a white powder tossed around his bedroom.

That powder, which may include ant poison he had in the house, was also tossed into Aranda's turtle tank. He saw his red-bellied turtles trying to swim to the surface, one of them dead. A few feet away, a cage was closed and his red monitor lizard missing.

While other items were taken from the home, Aranda has little doubt.

Aranda says the lizard was the most valuable animal in his collection, and that’s why he believes the intruder knew about his animals and targeted them.

Water Wheel: Deadly Flash-Flood in Arizona (VIDEO)

At the Water Wheel swimming hole, about an hour-and-a-half north of Phoenix.

At the Arizona Republic, "The Payson flash flood: How did this happen?":

It happened in a flash.

A wall of black water mixed with fallen trees, ash and debris swept away 14 people Saturday, killing nine, at a swimming hole at Cold Springs near Payson.

The search for another person, Hector Miguel Garnica, continued with no success Monday and was to resume Tuesday.

Sgt. Dave Hornung of the Gila County Sheriff's Office said finding Garnica alive would be a "miracle."

As searchers and investigators worked through the day, questions persisted, beginning with, "How did this happen? And could it have been avoided?"

Officials said they are not sure exactly what led to the flood, but attention turned to an area upslope of the flood site, where a wildfire blackened 7,198 acres in June along the Highline Trail.

“We’re actually still trying to evaluate whether damage from Highline Fire contributed,” said Carrie Templin, a spokeswoman for Tonto National Forest.

After a wildfire

Wildfires leave scars. Some of the scars are obvious — blackened stumps, charred hillsides, fallen trees — but others remain hidden from view.

One such scar is the sudden inability of the forest to absorb rain and runoff.

A summer monsoon storm can trigger flash floods such as the one that swept through Ellison Creek on Saturday. Ordinarily, vegetation, both dead and alive, mitigates the effects of heavy rain. The forest floor, full of trees, brush, grass, roots and duff, absorbs water, so that it moves downhill slowly.

Wildfire strips away brush and branches. Trees can be reduced to ash. Not only does that raindrop flow downhill without interference, it picks up speed.

“After fires, there’s nothing to stop that raindrop," Youberg said. "There’s nothing to slow down that velocity.

“There’s nothing there that breaks the fall.”

The result can be what happened on Ellison Creek — a deadly wall of water filled with mud, ash, rocks and trees, the flotsam of nature swept downstream.

Flash floods can develop miles away and come with no warning — it’s possible to be hit by rushing water under clear skies. The wall of water that struck Saturday was said to have been 40 feet wide and 6 feet tall...

More.

Also, "Arizona swimming hole flash flood: What we know now."

Camila Cabello Stars in Guess Jeans Hot New 2017 Campaign

At London's Daily Mail, "She's worth it! Ex-Fifth Harmony star Camila Cabello sizzles in sexy crop tops and bustiers as she models in her debut campaign for Guess."

.@Camila_Cabello is ROCKING her new @GUESS campaign! https://t.co/kCrDgl3Oun 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/VWVl3fMGng

— 102.7 KIIS-FM (@1027KIISFM) July 17, 2017

Tomi Lahren Gets the Final Word on 'Hannity' (VIDEO)

I think Sean Hannity wants to help Tomi Lahren's career. She seems to be working to get back in good graces on the right, attempting to be more conservative than everyone else, after her bogus appearance on "The View" earlier this year.

Watch, "Tomi Lahren: Let's Make the GOP Work Again."

Amber Lee's Sunny, Warm, and Humid Forecast

Actually, I think we're having a mild summer. I can't really remember any recent weather that's been unbearable in Irvine. Now inland's a different story. That super high-pressure heat wave a couple of weeks ago saw temperatures in Phoenix of around 120 degrees. But it's been just fine this last few days.

I'm reading and chillin', as usual. The Angels had the day off after taking their Sunday afternoon game against Tampa Bay and moving to 3 games back in the wildcard race. We'll see how that goes. It's a shame we can't get the Dodgers on TV. That damned SportsNet L.A. deal has messed up summer baseball in SoCal. The hottest team in the country and we can't even watch their games.

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Amber, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

For the Last Six Years Helsinki Has Ranked in the Top 10 of the Most Livable Cities in the World (VIDEO)

At Theo's, "Hello Helsinki":

Afshon Ostovar, Vanguard of the Imam

I can't get to this one right away, but for me this is must reading. I'm not as up on Iran as I should be.

At Amazon, Afshon Ostovar, Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today. As the appointed defender of Iran's revolution, the Guards have evolved into a pillar of the Islamic Republic and the spearhead of its influence. Their sway has spread across the Middle East, where the Guards have overseen loyalist support to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and been a staunch backer in Iraq's war against ISIS-bringing its own troops, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Shiite militias to the fight. Links to terrorism, human rights abuses, and the suppression of popular democracy have shrouded the Revolutionary Guards in controversy.

In spite of their prominence, the Guards remain poorly understood to outside observers. In Vanguard of the Imam, Afshon Ostovar has written the first comprehensive history of the organization. Situating the rise of the Guards in the larger contexts of Shiite Islam, modern Iranian history, and international affairs, Ostovar takes a multifaceted approach in demystifying the organization and detailing its evolution since 1979. Politics, power, and religion collide in this story, wherein the Revolutionary Guards transform from a rag-tag militia established in the midst of revolutionary upheaval into a military and covert force with a global reach.

The Guards have been fundamental to the success of the Islamic revolution. The symbiotic relationship between them and Iran's clerical rulers underpins the regime's nearly unshakeable system of power. The Guards have used their privileged position at home to export Iran's revolution beyond its borders, establishing client armies in their image and extending Iran's strategic footprint in the process. Ostovar tenaciously documents the Guards' transformation into a power-player and explores why the group matters now more than ever to regional and global affairs. The book simultaneously serves as a history of modern Iran, and provides a crucial and engrossing entryway into the complex world of war, politics, and identity in the Middle East.

Brazilian Beauty Ana Paula Araujo (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, "Brazilian Beauty Ana Paula Araujo Goes Topless in Tropical Brazil."

Tucker Carlson Takes on Max Boot (VIDEO)

I've been meaning to get to this, as well as Tucker's exchange with Ralph Peters, a portion of which is excerpted in the introduction.

Max Boot's scurrying away with his tail between his legs, if his response at Commentary is any clue. See, "Useful Idiocy: 'Realists' will take what they can get."

And actually, I think Ralph Peters is great. Max Boot, not so much.

Dana Loesch Decries Sexism Against Women Second Amendment Advocates (VIDEO)

On Stuart Varney's show this morning, at Fox Business Channel:

Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals. New deals. Every day. Shop our Deal of the Day, Lightning Deals and more daily deals and limited-time sales.

More, Mountain House Just In Case...Classic Assortment Bucket.

Also, Large Beach Towel, Pool Towel, in Cabana Stripe - (Variety, 4 pack, 30x60 inches) - Cotton - by Utopia Towel.

Plus, Premium Horny Goat Weed Extract with Maca, Tribulis, Muira Puama, L-Arginine and Ginseng - 100% Natural for Men and Women, 1000mg Epimedium, 60 capsules, and Extra Strength Horny Goat Weed Extract With Muira Puama, Maca Root, L Arginine, 1000mg Epimedium, Icariins - For Men & Women - All Natural Boost.

And, 2 Pounds Unroasted Coffee Beans, Premium Select from RhoadsRoast Coffees (Brazil Cerrado Arabica - Natural 17/18 Screen Coffee Beans, 2 Pounds Unroasted Green Beans).

Still more, California Umbrella 11-Feet Sunbrella Fabric Fiberglass Rib Crank Lift Collar Tilt Aluminum Market Umbrella with Bronze Pole, Terracotta.

Even more, WildHorn Outfitters - Sand Escape Compact Outdoor Beach Blanket / Picnic Blanket- 7’ X 9’ 20% Bigger Than Other Blankets. Made From Strong Parachute Nylon. Includes Built In Sand Anchors & Valuables Pocket.

BONUS: A.J.P. Taylor, Germany's First Bid for Colonies, 1884-1885: A Move in Bismarck's European Policy.

Billie Lourd Celebrates Turning 25 with Glitzy Backyard Pool Party with Pals Including Emma Roberts

This is how leftist Hollywood parties.

Not your average amenities, especially compared to folks in flyover country. Homosexuals, rainbows, and unicorns.

At London's Daily Mail, "Rainbows and unicorns! Billie Lourd celebrates turning 25 with a glitzy backyard pool party with pals including Emma Roberts":

Her 25th birthday birthday is actually today.

But Scream Queens star Billie Lourd decided to celebrate her quarter century a day early with a fun rainbow and unicorn-themed pool party for family and friends in a garden in Beverly Hills.

Among the guests risking the blow-up rainbow water slide were Billie's Scream Queens pal Emma Roberts, 26, and Teen Wolf star Colton Haynes, 29...

'Made in Chelsea' Star Lottie Moss in Lingerie

She's a British reality show star.

At London's Daily Mail, "Anything you can do! 'Newly-single' Lottie Moss poses seductively on a bed in sizzling sheer lingerie... shared mere HOURS after 'love rat ex' Alex Mytton posts sexy shirtless selfie," and "Newly single Lottie Moss brushes off split from ex-boyfriend Alex Mytton with a girls' night out... as she parties with his Made In Chelsea co-stars."

Also, "Hottie Moss! Kate's stunning little sister Lottie shows off her pert behind in skimpy bikini as she poses for ANOTHER racy holiday snap."

BONUS: At Taxi Driver, "Lottie Moss in White Lacey Corset."

Today's Forecast with Jennifer Delacruz

I watched "Game of Thrones" last night, like everybody else, I'm sure. And then I felt drowsy while reading. I'd gotten up yesterday at 6:00am for Wimbledon's men's final, and that threw off my normal sleep routine. (I didn't post on it, but Marin Čilić totally lost it during the second set. I don't know? Hold the bawling until the end of play. That's my position. He looked a little babyish. But then, I get it. It's the premiere stage, overcome by nerves, and all that emotion comes out. It just didn't look that good, and it didn't make for great play. Roger Federer was coasting. Too much so, in fact. Oh well. Maybe the guy will get some experience out of it and do better next time.)

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer with today's forecast. Hot and muggy, especially inland, because we've got a lot of coastal moisture and humidity.

At ABC 10 News San Diego:

Ava Capra at the Dream Hotel in Hollywood

On Twitter, "Ava Capra, from 'America's Next Top Model' (22), at the Dream Hotel in Hollywood."

Also, at Taxi Driver, "Ava Capra Upskirt Entering the Limo."

ICYMI: Mark R. Levin, Rediscovering Americanism

At Amazon, Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism.

Trump Attorney Jay Sekulow Interview with Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday' (VIDEO)

Folks were tweeting this interview earlier this morning. It got kinda heated, lol.

Sekulow apparently appeared on all five Sunday news programs. He's really sharp.

Watch, "Sekulow defends Don Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russian lawyer."

Benjamin J. Cohen, The Future of Money

At Amazon, Benjamin J. Cohen, The Future of Money.

Howard W. French, Everything Under the Heavens

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Howard W. French, Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power.

Martin Ford, Rise of the Robots

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Martin Ford, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future.

Andrew Klavan: What is Fake News? (VIDEO)

For Prager University:

Why Would President Trump Go to France for 'Bastille Day'? (VIDEO)

Here's Jessie Watters' Jersey Shore "Bastille Day Beach Quiz," for Fox News:

Bar Refaeli in Israel (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



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

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – If he can make it in Hamburg."

RELATED: At the New York Post, via Weasel Zippers, "Mayor De Blasio is a 'Deutsche bag'."

Congressman Darrell Issa, One of the Most Vulnerable Republicans in 2018

I keep seeing folks mentioning "Orange County Republican Congressman Darrell Issa." And I'm all, huh? The guy's from San Diego?

Well, apparently parts of his district include San Clemente and Camp Pendleton, located in South Orange County. So I guess his new moniker is technically accurate, even if this L.A. Times piece notes that his main constituency is in San Diego County.

Either way, he's definitely vulnerable. California's way left-wing, and even South O.C.'s not immune to the degenerate influences of radical leftist ideology.

See, "Darrell Issa was Obama's toughest critic. Here's why he's suddenly sounding like a moderate" (safe link):

The hundreds of protesters who show up weekly to wave signs outside Rep. Darrell Issa’s office in a drab office park in Vista, Calif., have written a song for him to the tune of “Oh! Susanna.”

“Darrell Issa, you’ve got to oversee. You need to check-and-balance [Trump] before it’s World War III,” they sing toward the tinted windows of the building.

As chairman of the committee charged with overseeing the executive branch, Issa was once known as President Obama’s toughest critic. Now the richest man in Congress has found himself with protesters at his door, no committee to lead, and a tough race expected in 2018.

It has forced the nine-term congressman to walk a shaky line, reassuring his conservative base that he’s not moderating his positions while showing the growing number of independents and Democrats in his district that he’s not as partisan as people think.

For months, the 63-year-old Issa has sporadically ventured outside, all smiles, to talk with protesters at his office. He’s been the only vulnerable Southern California Republican to do so since President Trump’s election inspired regular demonstrations at their offices.

Though the crowd of about 300 at an April protest yelled and booed over him at times, Issa answered questions with a steady voice, pushing back when someone accused him of being more conservative than tea party supporters or demanded that he try to impeach the president.

“You can go online and look at conservative groups and what you’ll find is I’m not the most conservative Republican, I’m not the least conservative Republican, but I am a Republican,” he told them.

Prior to his tight 2016 win, Issa had gotten at least 58% of the vote in his eight previous campaigns. He wasn’t expecting the reliably Republican district to react so badly to Trump, or so well to Democrat Doug Applegate, a novice candidate on no one's radar.

His 0.6% victory margin, and the fact that the district narrowly went for Democrat Hillary Clinton, makes him one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress. For 2018, Issa has already raised $1.2 million, and has drawn a rematch from Applegate and challenges from Orange County environmental lawyer Mike Levin and San Diego real estate investor Paul Kerr as well as the attention of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has promised to make the 49th District a battleground again.

“He won by only about 1,600 votes. ... We smell blood," said protest organizer Ellen Montanari, 63, of Encinitas.

When Issa was first elected in 2000, more than half of registered voters in the district were Republicans, 27.2% were Democrats and 15.4% chose no party preference.

Now Republicans make up just 37.7% of registered voters in Issa’s district, which includes southern Orange County and northern San Diego County suburbs such as Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista. Meanwhile, the share of voters registering as Democrats, 31%, and no party preference, 26%, has increased.

Though it is mostly white, the district has a growing Latino population. The influence of the military vote from Camp Pendleton still holds a lot of sway, but the area’s tech industry is growing, too.

“The district is changing,” said UC Irvine political scientist Graeme Boushey. “He is really walking on a razor’s edge now, especially given Trump’s unpopularity with voters.”

Those who first showed up at Issa’s office protests were hoping he’d moderate to match the district, Montanari said.

“I wanted to hear him, I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to be able to find out what he’s thinking and what he thought about Trump,” Montanari said. “I’ve never heard him sound more like a moderate than he did [during a telephone town hall]. The day he starts voting like that is the day I will say, ‘Thank you.’”

More.

Snowpack Still Melting in the Sierras in July

You know the story: Radical leftists stopped calling changing temperatures "global warming" a decade or so ago, because the temperatures weren't warming, and hence the weather wasn't sticking to the leftist narrative. Now the weather's all about "climate change," which is a more Gramscian term for leftists, deployed to claim any unusual weather event is evidence of "climate catastrophe."

It's a joke.

In any case, here's this morning's cover story at the Los Angles Times. Things aren't going well up in the Sierras. The ice isn't melting fast enough for campers to enjoy their vacations.

See, "Winter's snow is disrupting this Sierra Nevada summer":

Snowpack still melting up in the Sierras in #July! But muh global warming! pic.twitter.com/yjKPvJ673w

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 16, 2017

Even when snowbound and inaccessible to vehicles, the rustic Tioga Pass Resort on the crest of the Sierra Nevada range offered homemade pie, a wood-burning stove and plump sofas to relax on after a day of backcountry skiing.

But the winter of 2017 was more than the log cabin lodge, just two miles east of Yosemite National Park, could bear.

Trails, roads and campgrounds throughout the Sierra high country were hit hard by snow and runoff from one of the largest snowpacks in recorded history, leaving public agencies scrambling and summer visitors feeling lost. At Tioga Pass Lodge, established in 1914, loyalists’ hopes of kicking back on a sunny afternoon have taken a particularly tough wallop.

Entombed in 20 feet of hard pack known as “Sierra cement,” the lodge “suffered severe crunch injuries,” said Dave Levy, manager of the resort, which is owned by a consortium of investors.

A team led by Levy used shovels to dig down through the snow to reach the kitchen door. Sheared structural support beams appeared like ghostly shadows in the glare of a flashlight.

“Inside, the bad news was much worse,” he said. “Doors won’t open, windows are shattered, floors are warped, the roof sags. We may reopen sometime next year, but it won’t be easy fixing a place built like a jigsaw puzzle with antiquated construction techniques.”

A creek running through the property leased from the U.S. Forest Service is surging over its banks with snowmelt, undermining the foundations of the lodge and several cabins surrounding it.

Over the July 4 weekend, as thousands of summer vacationers streamed into the mountains with coolers, bicycles, fly rods and barbecues, the runoff in streams peaked.

But with many popular trails and campgrounds still closed because of safety and health concerns, rangers struggle to keep up with visitors arriving each day with the question: “Where can we find a place to camp?”

The hard recovery ahead

“Nearly every campground in the area has problems,” said Deb Schweizer, a spokeswoman for the Inyo National Forest. “There are broken water systems and sewer lines, gates that bent under the weight of so much snow, washed-out bridges and trails, damaged roads, fallen trees, downed power lines.

“It’s taken an incredible amount of cooperative efforts by multiple agencies to open as many campground facilities and roads as possible — and we’re opening more every day,” she said.

In the meantime, the Forest Service has been promoting its “dispersed camping” rules, which allow visitors to pitch a tent on certain undeveloped forest lands. This strategy has brought only despair to Dwayne Beaver, leader of the volunteer fire department in Lee Vining, about 10 miles west of the Tioga Pass.

“It’s costing our fire department money — and lots of lost sleep,” he said. “That’s because whenever someone needs a rescue, or inexperienced campers build an unauthorized fire in a ring of rocks, we have to scramble to deal with it.”

Signs of the snowpack-fueled deluge are visible in most of the watersheds draining the Sierra Nevada. Smallmouth bass and other fish, for example, were found floating belly-up in a stretch of the Lower Owens River near the town of Lone Pine — suffocated by mud and debris flows, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported.

But Southern California Edison and the DWP, which operate extensive networks of dams, diversions and hydroelectric plants across the Sierra range, say that things are not as bad as they could have been.

With snowpack levels at 241% of normal, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in March issued an emergency declaration allowing the DWP to take immediate steps to “armor” its vulnerable Los Angeles Aqueduct in Owens Valley and $1-billion dust-control project on dry Owens Lake, which L.A. tapped to slake its thirst in the last century.

Preparing for the worst, engineers and heavy-equipment operators worked furiously to empty reservoirs and clean out ditches and pipelines to keep them from being overwhelmed by flooding...

More.

Jennifer Delacruz's Hot and Humid Forecast

I was out shopping today and it was hot. I think it was only about 11:00am and I already wanted to get back inside with the air conditioning, heh.

As usual, just reading my books today, blogging, and watching baseball. The Angels keep losing. They've lost two straight to the Rays, at Angel Stadium, falling four games back in the Wild Card race. (There's no chance they'll catch the Astros, who along with the Dodgers have the best record in baseball.)

So, here's your forecast for tomorrow, from the fabulous Ms. Jennifer, at ABC News 10 San Diego:

Gordon A. Craig, Germany: 1866-1945

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Gordon A. Craig, Germany: 1866-1945.

Venus Williams is Gracious in Defeat at #Wimbledon

I was up at 6:30am.

Then just after, I got a pot of coffee brewing and sat down to watch. Venus had a set point game going. But she botched it, and then just ran out of gas, completely. Garbiñe Muguruza was dominating. Really dominating.

Venus was totally gracious in defeat, though. And I thought Muguruza was a little arrogant and cocky, not humble at all, although I'm sure that was just me.

In any case, at USA Today, "Defiant Venus Williams 'doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing' at 37."

Margaret MacMillan, The War That Ended Peace

At Amazon, Margaret MacMillan, The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914.

Sally Marks, The Illusion of Peace

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Sally Marks, The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe, 1918-1933.

Barry Rubin, Silent Revolution

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Barry Rubin, Silent Revolution: How the Left Rose to Political Power and Cultural Dominance.

President Trump Was Good-Humored with Reporters on Air Force One for an Hour, in Stark Contrast to How He Treats the News Media in Public

Following-up from Thursday, where I mentioned, "President Trump is killing it in Paris!"

When he gets away from the leftist siege of D.C., he loosens up. Has a good time. And then you find him as a raconteur with the media correspondents. They're not used to it, so it becomes a story.

President Trump is a nice guy. You'd definitively like to have a Big Mac with him, lol.

See the New York Times, at Memeorandum, "Dropping the Bluster, Trump Revives Banter With Reporters":

WASHINGTON — The Donald J. Trump who turned up in the press cabin of Air Force One on Wednesday evening, as his plane crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the way to Paris, was starkly different from the one who publicly pillories the news media but surprisingly familiar to reporters who know him well.

The president had taken off his tie but kept on his jacket — a wardrobe change that for him qualifies as casual Friday — and he was in a happy-hour frame of mind. Expansive, engaging, even at times ebullient, Mr. Trump held forth for an hour, addressing reporters by name and alighting on topics as different as Chinese history and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

It was a loose, good-humored side of Mr. Trump that the public rarely sees amid the fusillade of angry speeches and venomous tweets that have characterized the president’s first six months in the White House. And it came to light only because he retroactively put the session on the record, asking a reporter the next morning why she had not quoted his remarks.

White House aides say they see more of this side in the Oval Office, where the president has debated advisers about issues like sending more troops to Afghanistan. Diplomats say their bosses see more of it in meetings, where Mr. Trump has engaged even those who are deeply skeptical of his views, like Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

But this is hardly the view most people have of a president who built his populist appeal on contempt for the mainstream media; who thundered on Inauguration Day, “This American carnage stops right here”; and who told supporters on his 100th day in office, “If the media’s job is to be honest and tell the truth, the media deserves a very, very big fat failing grade.”

In some ways, Mr. Trump has reversed the usual dichotomy between the public and private president.

“One of the great differences between Trump and more successful politicians, like J.F.K. and F.D.R., is that they would vent their spleen in private, but in public, they would project a more humorous and civilized face,” said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian.

John F. Kennedy, he said, canceled the White House’s subscriptions to The New York Herald Tribune out of pique at its coverage, even as he wooed and won over reporters. Mr. Trump has publicly tarred reporters, like Jim Acosta of CNN, while continuing to watch their networks.

The White House’s antagonism toward the news media is born of genuine grievance and a calculated strategy that it plays well with Mr. Trump’s political base. But his hunger for press — which he nourished over 40 years of cultivating reporters, taking their calls on virtually any subject and calling them out of the blue to chat — remains undiminished.

When Mr. Trump came to the back of Air Force One, his deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, stipulated that the conversation would be off the record. Despite suffering one of the worst weeks of his political career, he was in a buoyant mood. He fended off Ms. Sanders when she interrupted him to suggest he should return to his cabin so the reporters could get some sleep (they assured him they were not tired)...

More.

Also at Althouse, "'Expansive, engaging, even at times ebullient...a loose, good-humored side of Mr. Trump" — described in the NYT today."

And still more at JustOneMinute, "Now Who Wants to Be Liked?"

City of Anaheim Removes Bus Benches Near Disneyland, So the Homeless Have One Less Place to Sleep

I have no recommended solution here.

After reading about homelessness, you find there are some people who don't want to be institutionalized. They don't want all the fancy rehab treatments and shelters. They want to be free, even with psychiatric problems. So, at some level you'll always have street-people. What to do? Well, for the City of Anaheim, remove more and more of the bus benches near Disneyland, lest you give the homeless too comfortable a shelter for the night.

I guess this is just one of those shake your head stories. I don't know.

At the Los Angeles Times, "While homelessness surges in Disneyland's shadow, Anaheim removes bus benches":

Sweat rolled down Ron Jackson’s face as he pondered, as he does every day just steps from “the Happiest Place on Earth,” where he would sleep.

The homeless man’s hangout in Anaheim had until recently been a grimy bus bench across the street from Disneyland.

Then, one day, the benches around the amusement park — including his regular spot outside of a 7-Eleven at Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue — disappeared.

Soon, people were competing for pavement.

“No more sleeping spot. Just concrete,” Jackson, 47, said on a sweltering day. “There were already people claiming the space.”

The vanishing benches were Anaheim’s response to complaints about the homeless population around Disneyland. Public work crews removed 20 benches from bus shelters after callers alerted City Hall to reports of vagrants drinking, defecating or smoking pot in the neighborhood near the amusement park’s entrance, officials said.

The situation is part of a larger struggle by Orange County to deal with a rising homeless population. A survey last year placed the number of those without shelter at 15,300 people, compared with 12,700 two years earlier.

Desperation amid Orange County’s riches

In a wealthy county known for suburban living and sun-dotted beaches, the signs of the homeless crisis are getting harder to ignore.

At the county’s civic center in Santa Ana, homeless encampments — complete with tents and furniture and flooring made from cardboard boxes — block walkways and unnerve some visitors. Along the Santa Ana River near Angel Stadium, whole communities marked by blue tarp have sprung up. In Laguna Beach, a shelter this summer is testing an outreach program in which volunteers walk the streets offering support and housing assistance to homeless people.

Cities across California — notably Los Angeles and San Francisco — are dealing with swelling ranks of the homeless. But officials in Orange County said most suburban communities simply don’t have the resources and experience to keep up.

Susan Price, Orange County's director of care coordination, said officials are trying to build a coordinated approach involving all of the more than 30 disparate cities that takes into account the different causes of homelessness, including economic woes, a lack of healthcare and recent reforms in the criminal justice system.

Most cities "don't have capacity to respond to all the issues of homelessness effectively. That's why we need a regional strategy,” Price said. "Every city has been grappling with this issue and not all cities are full-service so that means we need to find out what each other is doing and figure out how to combine resources.”

The homeless problem often stands in stark contrast to the perceptions many have about Orange County...

Come to think of it, though, sounds like some of the people, just drinking and smoking pot, maybe need to just get cleaned up and find a job. You can't just be bumming for handouts all the time, panhandling and causing "broken windows" style crimes. If that's so, perhaps a city crackdown is indeed a remedy.

But it's like I said, I'm not sure what to do about this. Seems like homelessness took off in the O.C. after the Great Recession hit, and it hasn't subsided much with the so-called economic recovery.

Blame the Democrats, I guess.

Still more at the link.

Thanks to the Reader Who Bought Extra Strength Horny Goat Weed Extract with Muira Puama, Maca Root, and L Arginine — All Natural Boost for Men and Women!

Heh.

Maybe I'll pick up a couple of bottles for myself, lol.

At Amazon, Extra Strength Horny Goat Weed Extract with Muira Puama, Maca Root, L Arginine, 1000mg Epimedium, Icariins - for Men & Women - All Natural Boost (Havasu Nutrition).

Thanks again!

And thanks to all of my readers who're shopping through my Amazon links.

As you know, I don't blog for money, but I'm having more fun than ever blogging about books, and linking my great finds through the Amazon webpage. All your purchases fund an associate's commission, at no extra cost to yourself.

It's really appreciated!

Sean Hannity: Democrats and Leftist Media Seek to Delegitimize and Destroy President Trump (VIDEO)

I don't check these things, but I'll bet Hannity's ratings are through the roof. I do know leftists tune in. I mentioned it the other day.

In any case, here's last night's monologue, at Fox News, "Hannity: Real collusion is between Democrats and the media (VIDEO)."

Michael A. Barnhart, Japan Prepares for Total War

At Amazon, Michael A. Barnhart, Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941.

Akira Iriye, Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific

At Amazon, Akira Iriye, The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific.

Edward Vose Gulick, Europe's Classical Balance of Power

At Amazon, Edward Vose Gulick, Europe's Classical Balance of Power: A Case History of the Theory and Practice of One of the Great Concepts of European Statecraft.

Evelyn Taft's Heat Advisory Forecast

That high pressure's coming on strong this weekend.

It'll be pushing 90 degrees in the L.A./O.C. metro areas, and double-digits in the valleys. Palm Spring's expecting 113 degrees.

So, stay cool if you're in the area.

Here's the lovely Ms. Evelyn, who's looking great!

For CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Martin Gilbert, The First World War

At Amazon, Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History.

Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World at Arms

At the time, back in 1994, this book was considered one of the best ever published on the war.

At Amazon, A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II.

Nina Agdal's Vajazzle (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark:

New Demi Rose Bikini Pics

She's really spectacular.

At London's Daily Mail, "Busty Demi Rose Mawby leaves VERY little to the imagination as she flaunts her assets and eye-popping derriere in a scanty bikini while sunning in Ibiza."

Also, "Sun's out, buns out! Demi Rose Mawby flaunts her eye-popping peachy derriere in skimpy thong-cut swimsuit during Ibiza getaway."

She calls Ibiza her "second home."

BONUS: At the Sun U.K., "GOD DEM! Demi Rose and glamour model Abigail Ratchford go topless in VERY racy underwear in sizzling new photo shoot: Glamour model shows off her incredible bum in sexy undies and suspenders in mansion shoot with her equally sexy American pal."

Duke University Historian Nancy MacLean Lashes Out at Critics of Her Book, Democracy in Chains

I blogged about the book a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed it was catching quite a buzz, "Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains." Now Professor MacLean's catching a lot of flak for her seriously shoddy scholarship.

Instapundit's been on the case for a while now. See, "NANCY MACLEAN’S DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS: Yet another devastating critique," and "IF YOU CAN’T CRITICIZE LIBERTARIANS WITHOUT LYING ABOUT THEM, MAYBE YOU CAN’T CRITICIZE THEM AT ALL: Some dubious claims in Nancy MacLean’s ‘Democracy in Chains,’ continued." (Check Glenn's search for "Nancy MacLean" for even more hits.)

And here's Inside Higher Ed from a couple of days ago, "Stealth Attack on Liberal Scholar?" She's not "liberal," of course. She'a radical leftist.

And a little blog literature review of the debate, at Cafe Hayek, "Nancy MacLean Unraveled."

Finally, even leftists have taken issue with MacLean. See Henry Farrell and Steven Teles, at Vox, "Even the intellectual left is drawn to conspiracy theories about the right. Resist them" (safe link):

A deep, historical study of public choice would be welcome, and [James] Buchanan’s role in the development of the thought and organizational infrastructure of the right has generally been overlooked. Unfortunately, the book is an example of precisely the kind of work on the right that we do not need, and the intellectuals of the left who have praised it are doing their side no favors...

Ouch.

I'm sure there'll be more outrage surrounding this story, so expect updates.

Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War: Explaining World War I.

David Fromkin, Europe's Last Summer

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, David Fromkin, Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?

'I'm Bored'

It was the funniest thing: Early this morning, checking Twitter, I see this NBC fake news piece in my feed, "Former Soviet Counter Intelligence Officer at Meeting With Donald Trump Jr. and Russian Lawyer," and then all of a sudden I start singing Iggy Pop's "I'm Bored" in my head, lol.

That's a safe link at Memeorandum. No need to give the idiots at NBC any traffic from my blog.

I'm really bored with the Russia fake news story.

In any case, "I'm Bored" appeared as Track 4, on Side 1, of Iggy's 1979 album "New Values." I saw him in concert at least twice, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and at the Hollywood Palladium. He's everything that you've ever heard about him. I think some of his teeth were knocked out at the time. So fun.

'Smooth'

From yesterday afternoon, when I was out to CVS and the bagel shop.

Santana, at the Sound L.A.:

Jungle Love
Steve Miller Band
2:35 PM

Rock'n Me
Steve Miller Band
2:32 PM

Abracadabra
Steve Miller Band
2:29 PM

Tush
ZZ Top
2:26 PM

Sharp Dressed Man
ZZ Top
2:22 PM

Legs (Edit Version)
ZZ Top
2:18 PM

Smooth
Santana
2:07 PM

Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
Santana
2:02 PM

Evil Ways
Santana
1:58 PM

Bye Bye Love
The Cars
1:54 PM

Let's Go
The Cars
1:51 PM

Just What I Needed
The Cars
1:47 PM

Good Times Bad Times
Led Zeppelin
1:37 PM

Rock and Roll
Led Zeppelin
1:33 PM

D'yer Mak'er
Led Zeppelin
1:29 PM

Purple Haze
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:26 PM

All Along the Watchtower
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:22 PM

Fire
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:20 PM

Eric Raymond, 'Gramscian Damage'

Glenn Reynolds links to this post every now and then, and since I've been blogging about cultural Marxism today, now's as good a time as any to post it. At Raymond's "Armed and Dangerous" blog, "Gramscian Damage":

Americans have never really understood ideological warfare. Our gut-level assumption is that everybody in the world really wants the same comfortable material success we have. We use “extremist” as a negative epithet. Even the few fanatics and revolutionary idealists we have, whatever their political flavor, expect everybody else to behave like a bourgeois.

We don’t expect ideas to matter — or, when they do, we expect them to matter only because people have been flipped into a vulnerable mode by repression or poverty. Thus all our divagation about the “root causes” of Islamic terrorism, as if the terrorists’ very clear and very ideological account of their own theory and motivations is somehow not to be believed.

By contrast, ideological and memetic warfare has been a favored tactic for all of America’s three great adversaries of the last hundred years — Nazis, Communists, and Islamists. All three put substantial effort into cultivating American proxies to influence U.S. domestic policy and foreign policy in favorable directions. Yes, the Nazis did this, through organizations like the “German-American Bund” that was outlawed when World War II went hot. Today, the Islamists are having some success at manipulating our politics through fairly transparent front organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

But it was the Soviet Union, in its day, that was the master of this game. They made dezinformatsiya (disinformation) a central weapon of their war against “the main adversary”, the U.S. They conducted memetic subversion against the U.S. on many levels at a scale that is only now becoming clear as historians burrow through their archives and ex-KGB officers sell their memoirs.


The Soviets had an entire “active measures” department devoted to churning out anti-American dezinformatsiya. A classic example is the rumor that AIDS was the result of research aimed at building a ‘race bomb’ that would selectively kill black people.

On a different level, in the 1930s members of CPUSA (the Communist Party of the USA) got instructions from Moscow to promote non-representational art so that the US’s public spaces would become arid and ugly.

Americans hearing that last one tend to laugh. But the Soviets, following the lead of Marxist theoreticians like Antonio Gramsci, took very seriously the idea that by blighting the U.S.’s intellectual and esthetic life, they could sap Americans’ will to resist Communist ideology and an eventual Communist takeover. The explicit goal was to erode the confidence of America’s ruling class and create an ideological vacuum to be filled by Marxism-Leninism.

Accordingly, the Soviet espionage apparat actually ran two different kinds of network: one of spies, and one of agents of influence. The agents of influence had the minor function of recruiting spies (as, for example, when Kim Philby was brought in by one of his tutors at Cambridge), but their major function was to spread dezinformatsiya, to launch memetic weapons that would damage and weaken the West.

In a previous post on Suicidalism, I identified some of the most important of the Soviet Union’s memetic weapons. Here is that list again:

* There is no truth, only competing agendas.
* All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West’s history of racism and colonialism.
* There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor.
* The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable.
* Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.
* The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)
* For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But ‘oppressed’ people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors.
* When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist’s point of view, and make concessions...

Keep reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "How Deep is the Left's System of Ideological Indoctrination?", and "Linda Kimball, 'Exposing America's Enemies: The Social Justice Seeking Communist Left'."

Jackie Johnson's Hot Weekend Forecast

It was very mild today, about average temperatures for the L.A./O.C. metro areas, but it's warming up. There's a high pressure system pushing westward that's going to beat back the monsoonal moisture that's been keeping it cool these last couple of days.

As usual, I'm just chillin'. Been reading Fritz Fischer and ordering a few more books on Amazon. I'll start Omar El Akkad, American War, over the weekend.

In any case, here's the lovely Ms. Jackie. You can barely see her baby bump in that beautiful yellow dress. I'm so happy for her!

VIDEO: President Trump Teases Emmanuel Macron on French Security: 'You'd better do a good job...'

President Trump is killing it in Paris!

Watch:



And at Free Beacon, "Trump Teases Macron on Security of France: ‘You’d Better Do a Good Job’."

Mark Hewitson, Germany and the Causes of the First World War

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Mark Hewitson, Germany and the Causes of the First World War.

Emily Ratajkowski St. Lucia (VIDEO)

Following-up from Tuesday, "Emily Ratajkowski for Harper's Bazaar Australia: 'My boobs are too big...'"

At Sports Illustrated:

Linda Kimball, 'Exposing America's Enemies: The Social Justice Seeking Communist Left'

At his post this morning, Robert Stacy McCain linked Linda Kimball's piece on "Cultural Marxism" at American Thinker. It's an old piece, which I've read before, but I googled some of the articles linked there. One of these is, "Exposing America's Enemies: The 'Social Justice Seeking' Communist Left," originally posted at the American Daily, but now dead.

I'm posting here some excerpts I've found at various other cites. Ms. Kimball apparently aroused some strong passions on this issue, at Democrat Underground, for example, and this was back in 2006.

Free Republic also posted it at the time:

On one hand, Americans were outraged and appalled by the May 1 immigrant demonstrations that clogged streets and virtually closed down some cities. Law-abiding citizens saw lawbreakers who not only seemed to feel justified in their criminal behavior, but also believed they ought to be rewarded for it.

On the other hand, Americans are more infuriated and disgusted with their duly elected government officials in both legislative and administrative branches for not enforcing the law and protecting the rights of citizens. President Bush and the weak-kneed GOP have deservedly come under fire. If our sovereign nation is to survive, however, it is of paramount importance that the harsh light of truth be focused upon the subversive element responsible for creating an atmosphere conducive to lawlessness and tyrannical militants brazenly declaring their intentions to ''conquer'' the Southwest and to throw Americans out of their homes and off of their land.

The subversive element--a motley collection of Marxists, Stalinists, Trotskyists, Maoists, anarchists, and malcontents--organized themselves in the 1960’s and became known as the New Left. For over forty years the New Left has been waging a Gramscian ''quiet'' revolution for the overthrow of the America of our founders. Today these subversives call themselves liberals, progressives, and Democrats. Even though there yet remain good, decent Democrats such as Zell Miller, the majority, as David Horowitz attested to, are social-justice seeking communists: “The Democratic Party is very close to being the (Communist-controlled Progressive) party of Henry Wallace…The vast bulk of the American left is a Communist left and they’ve introduced some fascist ideas like “identity politics,” which is straight out of Mussolini.” (How Marxism Dominates the Left, Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com, June 1, 2005)

America’s Communist Left operates in a vast interconnected matrix of revolutionary groups disguised as respectable civil rights and legal organizations. These front groups have consistently worked towards the transformation of America through subversion of America’s Rule of Law, Constitution, judiciary, and all institutions necessary to the longevity and health of our nation and civilization. These groups attack all national security measures, subvert immigration laws and procedures, lobby on behalf of terrorist and enemy combatants, and engage in propagandistic apologetics for the most brutal dictatorships in the world even as they constantly vilify and demean America and Americans. As they do these things to destroy America and shame Americans, they hypocritically portray themselves as defenders of democracy and humanity.

The purpose of this article is to expose, at least in part, some of the principal communist groups responsible for undermining and weakening America and who likewise serve as a power source, not only for the militant Marxist organizers of the recent demonstrations, but for Islamic jihadists as well.

The Quiet Revolution

In 1984, “The Power to Lead” was published. In it, author James McGregor Burns admitted: “The Framers of the US Constitution have simply been too shrewd for us. They have outwitted us. They designed separate institutions that cannot be unified by mechanical linkages, frail bridges, tinkering. If we are to ‘turn the Founders upside down’…we must directly confront the constitutional structure they erected.” (A Chronological History: The New World Order by D.L. Cuddy PhD)

Turning the ''Founders upside down'' and directly confronting the ''constitutional structure'' are what the American Civil Liberties Union, National Lawyers Guild, and The Center for Constitutional Rights are committed to doing. Together, these three communist front groups comprise the “legal left,” and they slash and rip at the fabric of the constitutional framework.

The ACLU was established in 1920 by Roger Baldwin, a Stalinist who candidly admitted: “I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately, for abolishing the state itself.” On the Communist Party USA website, the ACLU can be found at this link: go here. http://www.cpusa.org/link/category/22/

When not working with and defending terrorists like Sami al-Arian, the ACLU terrorizes towns into removing Ten Commandments monuments and crosses and persecutes and intimidates Boy Scouts and law abiding Christians. The ACLU’s Immigrant Task Force and Immigrant Rights Project are a dual driving force in the Open Borders Lobby. Among current projects: dissolving America’s borders, erasing all evidence of Christianity and God, and requiring the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to provide free legal counsel to illegals while simultaneously demanding that illegals be provided with full welfare benefits.

The ACLU and its partner groups receive funding from a large assortment of subversive leftist funders. Among them: Arca Foundation, Ford Foundation, George Soros Open Society Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, Woods Fund of Chicago (Source: www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org)

The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1936 by the Communist Party USA. The NLG is an active affiliate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, which served as a Soviet front group during the Cold War. The NLG defines its mission as an effort to: “unite lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers of America (to) function as an effective political and social force…to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.” In other words, its mission is to ''deKulakize'' America in the name of social justice.

In 1999, NLG member Chip Berlet described a Guild ''communist debate'' session: “The cacophony at some meetings (arises from) debates featuring…Leninist, Trotskyite, Stalinists…Maoist…Marxist, anarchists, libertarians and progressive independents…with multiple identities as lawyers, legal workers, labor organizers, tribal sovereignty activists, civil liberties and civil rights advocates, environmentalists, feminists, gay men and lesbians, and people of color.” Chip Berlet is an activist with Morris Dees Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), another communist front group and Open Borders member.

Not coincidentally, it was the SPLC that ''redistributed''--in the name of social justice--an Arizona ranchers’ property to some illegal aliens. This incident was detailed in an article entitled: “Two Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court,” (New York Times, 8/19/05). Dees was quoted as saying, “…it’s poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land”

Like the ACLU, the NLG is a key member of the Open Borders Lobby. Its National Immigration Project consists of a network of lawyers, law students, and legal workers committed to “full democratic rights for all non-citizens”--in the name of social justice. The NLG receives funding from, among others, the George Soros Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation. (Source: www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org)

The last of the trio is the Center for Constitutional Rights. It was founded in 1966 by pro-Castro attorneys Morton Stavis, Ben Smith, Arthur Kinoy, and William Kuntsler. The CCR prides itself on using “litigation proactively to advance the law in a positive direction to guarantee the rights of those with the fewest protections.” This is communist code for: “We subvert America’s laws.” Among those deemed by the CCR to be in need of protection are terrorist organizations, enemy combatants, and illegal immigrants.

The CCR receives funding from the Ford Foundation and George Soros Open Society Institute. (Source: www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org )

Two principal front groups, both of whom disguise their treachery as ‘civil rights,” are United for Peace and Justice and Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

The UFPJ is a rabidly anti-American, anti-war coalition co-chaired by committed communist Leslie Cagan. Cagan, who worships upon Fidel Castro’s altar, was an original founder of the Committees of Correspondence, a splinter group of the Communist Party USA. The UFPJ was created Oct. 25, 2002 in the Washington D.C. offices of People for the American Way, which played a key role in forming UFPJ. UFPJ is a sponsoring organization of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. UFPJ’s social justice agenda extends well beyond anti-war activism as it is also a pro-abortion, pro-open borders advocate that condemns nearly every aspect of American culture and our government’s foreign policy. (Source: www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org)

The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR), another key player in the Open Borders Lobby, is supported by the ACLU and Communist Party USA. Additionally, it has the backing of Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean, and Joe Lieberman. Among other groups listed as members of the IWFRC’s national sponsoring committee are ACORN, National Council of La Raza, National Immigration Forum, and United for Peace and Justice.

At the link below are literally hundreds of sponsors of IWFR, such as: Democratic senators, representatives, county board supervisors, governors, town council members, radical organizations, liberalized Christian and non-Christian churches, and political parties (including CPUSA and Democratic Socialists of America: go here).

Many thousands of Americans have been taken in by a myth. The myth states that communism died when the Soviet Union imploded. It further says that in these ''enlightened progressive times,'' only superstition-believing McCarthyite rednecks still believe in the communist boogieman. The myth, of course, was created by New Left communists to whom seduction, deception, and psychological manipulation are the ''rules of the game.'' Gramsci’s transformational revolution is very much alive. It’s spreading the cancer of godless communism--the ideology from Hell--throughout the length and breadth of our culture, and corrupting and decaying everything it touches.

President Ronald Reagan cautioned that: “…without God, there is no virtue because there’s no prompting of the conscience. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

Americans---awaken and remember!

And here's more, from "Exposing America's Enemies, Part 2: Communist Progressive Democrats":

Social Justice is Communism

Judging from the adolescent name-calling and howls of protest which my previous article elicited from Progressive groups such as the Democratic Underground, it is obvious that the enraged howlers have no idea of what it really means for one to be a seeker of social justice. Either that or they really do know but are deceivers of the first magnitude.

Be that as it may, some clarification and definition of the terms social justice and communism is in order before proceeding on to the issue of Progressive Democrats.

To most Americans, communism means the Kremlin, gulags, killing fields, and Mao's brutal Red Guard. These things though were not the essence of communism. They were the visible manifestations of inhumane power and its consequences, all of which resulted when social justice seekers acquired total control to remake society and man.

The essence of communism is social justice, or justice in the social sphere. This is code for the elimination of poverty, of suffering, and of all differences between humans that erect walls between people. Fundamentally, social justice is a process of elimination that results in sameness (egalitarianism). When social justice seekers speak of the need for equality, what they're really calling for is sameness.

However, the attributes which make people different from each other and which social justice seekers are determined to eliminate, are the product of human nature and of freely made choices. For instance, some people are ambitious and hard-working while others are indolent and lazy and may willfully choose to live out of the pockets of the former.

It's the positive aspects of human nature that make a society dynamic. Dynamism is the animating force behind America's greatness -- her productivity, excellence, creativity, free markets, etc. In eliminating human differences, social justice seekers kill all of this, and as they did in the former Soviet Union, leave behind a smoking ruin haunted by despairing cookie-cutter claymation beings.

In speaking of the social justice process of elimination, Balint Vazsonyi remarked, prophets of socialjustice communists, whether by that name or any other name, focus on who should have less. Because they have nothing to give, they can only take away. First, they take away opportunity. Next, they take away possessions. In the end, they have to take away life itself. (America's 30 Years War, Balint Vazsonyi, p. 59)

The America of our Founders simply cannot coexist with the Search for Social Justice. For instance, as designed by our Founders, the Rule of Law exists to guarantee that unequal (different) people can have individual liberty, rights and possessions—including land ownership, which social justice seekers view as the original sin. Social justice demands that those who possess more of anything have it taken away from those who earned it and redistributed to those who did nothing to earn it.

Social Justice Seeking Democratic Progressive Caucus

The Democratic Progressive Caucus (DPC) is an organization comprised of about sixty Members of Congress. It was founded in 1991 by Rep. Bernie Sanders, former socialist mayor of Burlington, VT, and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The DSA describes itself as the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International. (www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org)

The DPC advances its communist agenda behind innocuous sounding phrases such as social and economic justice. The three core principles of The Progressive Promise are:

1. Fighting for economic justice and security for all. (Code for: We’re going to ‘eliminate poverty and suffering’ by taking away all of your possessions and redistributing them.)

2. Protecting and preserving our civil rights and civil liberties. (Code for: We’re going to ‘eliminate’ all differences and pound everyone down to the lowest common denominator).

3. Promoting global peace and security. (Code for: We—your Superiors—will finally feel secure and at peace once agendas 1-2 have been carried out to completion.) (Source: http://www.bernie.house.gov/document_display_text.asp?FileToConvert=/pc/index.asp)

In “Pelosi Leader of Progressive Caucus,” it was revealed: “Until 1999, the website of the Progressive Caucus was hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Following an expose of the link between the two organizations in World Net Daily, the Progressive Caucus established its own website.” (WorldNetDaily.com, Nov 11, 2002)

On the website of the DSA it boldly declares: “We are socialists…Democracy and socialism go hand in hand…wherever…democracy has taken root, the vision of socialism has taken root as well.” ( www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org ) The DSA increases its influence and power by networking with the Democratic Party to advance social justice programs and policies such as affirmative action and Stalinist hate crime laws. “Like our friends and allies in the feminist, labor, civil rights, religious, and community movements, many of us have been active in the Democratic Party.” (ibid)

Following are brief descriptions of some of the social justice seeking subversives in the Democratic Progressive Caucus whose words and actions embrace the tenets of communism:

1. Barbara Lee (D-CA): “former agent of the Black Panther leader and convicted killer, Huey Newton. Lee conspired with fellow communist, Cong. Ron Dellums, who used his authority to impede US foreign policy with regard to the Communist dictatorship of Grenada.” ( www.DiscoverTheNetWork.org ) “anti-American Communist who supports America’s enemies and has actively collaborated with them.” (Radical Road Map, James H. Hansen, p.189)

2. Jim McDermott (D-WA): “In 2002, McDermott and fellow Progressive Caucus member Rep. David Bonoir (D-Mich) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) traveled to Baghdad, where they publicly embraced Saddam Hussein and created propaganda on his behalf.” ( www.DiscoverTheNetWork.org )

3. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill), who has accepted an award from the DSA once told one of its writers: “The American people are not ideological; therefore, the way to go is to attack private power.” (ibid)

4. John Conyers (D-MI): “In 1981 Conyers co-hosted a delegation from the Soviet front World Peace Council, giving that group a forum in Congress. Conyers endorsed a Communist-led antiwar demonstration in Washington in 1983 and…spoke at another Washington demonstration led by ANSWER in 2003.” (Radical Road Map’s, James H. Hansen, p 189)

5. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) “has taken part in…CAIR (a radical group with ties to Mideast terrorist organizations) events…including a Ramadan iftar…hosted (on Capitol Hill) by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA).” (Kucinich Headlines Muslim Fundraiser, WorldNetDaily.com, Nov. 30, 2003)

The Constitution requires that members of Congress “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this constitution.” The Oath of Office sworn to by US Senators reads:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the U.S…that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Very simply, if Democratic Progressive Caucus members truthfully believed in the Christian-Judeo God and likewise in our Constitution--the document conceived of by our Founders and not the Lefts living document nonsense—they wouldn’t be social justice seeking communists. Rather, they would be Conservative Constitutionalists. That they are social justice seekers tells us that when they took their oath before God, they lied. Quite simply—they lied.

In Noah Webster’s 1828 edition of the American Dictionary of the English Language we find the correct term to apply to treacherous Democratic Progressives. That word is “traitor,” and the following definition is the one most likely referred to by our Founders. “Traitor: One who violates allegiance and betrays his country; one guilty of treason…who, in breach of trust, delivers his country to its enemy…who aids an enemy in conquering his country.”

Through use of Stalinist psycho-politics, America’s Communist Left imprisoned the consciences of Americans within psychic strait-jackets of political correctness. As long as we allow ourselves to be chained by political correctness, we will not be able to identify and speak openly about our enemies--those without, and those within. In the absence of freedom of conscience and of clear and honest speaking, we can neither formulate strategies for our safety nor deal appropriately with the treacherous deceivers operating amongst us who are colluding with our enemies and plotting to destroy our nation from within. The first order of business then, is for all Americans to break out of the psychic strait jackets of political correctness, thus allowing Truth to expose the treachery and treason at work in our nation.

Truth will set us free: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.

How Deep is the Left's System of Ideological Indoctrination?

Blogging about cultural Marxism today, prompted by Robert Stacy McCain, had me reading around and following links. I came across this old interview with David Horowitz at Newsmax, reposted at FrontaPage Magazine, "How Marxism Dominates the Left":

The Democratic party has never been such a left wing party and I think that comes directly out of the campuses. The whole Howard Dean campaign is what shifted the Democratic party to the far left. You had three Democratic front-runners - Kerry, Edwards and Gephardt - who were all supporters of the war until the Deaniacs came along. And who were the Deaniacs? They were the campus Communists.

The reason you have a blacklist and the reason you have indoctrination, which you've never had before on such a scale, is that you have the generation of the 1960s radicals who to avoid the draft and keep organizing against the war stayed in school and got student deferments and went on to became professors.

They are not academics, they're political activists. Do you think the woman who invited Susan Rosenberg, a convicted bomber, to be a visiting professor at Hamilton and followed that by inviting Ward Churchill – the closest thing to a campus terrorist guerilla – is an academic? Do you think she's a scholar? She's actually the daughter of a Communist lawyer, Victor Rabinowitz, whose closest friend is Leonard Boudin, another Communist whose daughter Cathy was a Weather Underground terrorist.

These people have infiltrated the academic world and converted it and largely captured the Democratic party in the process...

More.

Plus, at Amazon, David Horowtiz, The Black Book of the American Left Volume 7 — The Left in Power: Clinton to Obama.

Rise of the 'Dirtbag Left'

I just posted on Angela Nagle's, Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right.

I first read about the book at this interesting piece, at Maclean's, "The rise of the internet's 'dirtbag left'."

Roger Kimball, The Long March

Following-up on my previous entry, I've got Kimball's book on order.

Get yours at Amazon, Roger Kimball, The Long March: How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America.

Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks

Robert Stacy McCain got me going on posting all this Marxist and Marxist-related literature. (See, "It All Comes Back to Hungary: Soros, Cultural Marxism, Lukacs and Bela Kun.")

I expect to keep reading a lot on the origins of World War One, and I'm well caught up on contemporary communism and related genres. But I've never read Gramsci.

That might change soon.

At Amazon, Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks.

Jon Halliday and Jung Chang, Mao

At Amazon, Jon Halliday and Jung Chang, Mao: The Unknown Story.

'Totalitarians cannot tolerate rival sources of authority, which is why all totalitarian regimes seek to destroy religion and the family as independent institutions...'

The headline's from Robert Stacy McCain's new essay, at the Other McCain, "It All Comes Back to Hungary: Soros, Cultural Marxism, Lukacs and Bela Kun":

What we are actually witnessing — in Hungary, in the United States and in many other countries in recent years — is a populist reaction against the elite “progressive” consensus of which [George] Soros is a prominent symbol. There is an international clique of influential people and organizations who share certain ideas about the future direction of political, social and economic policies, and who don’t want to be bothered with debating the merits of these policies. The ordinary people whose lives would be affected by the agenda of the elite aren’t being asked for their approval, and popular opposition to the elite agenda (e.g., the Brexit vote, Trump’s election, Hungary’s anti-“refugee” referendum) is treated by the elite media as evidence of incipient fascism. Never does it seem to have occurred to George Soros, or to anyone else in the international elite, that perhaps their policy ideas are wrong, that they have gone too far in their utopian “social justice” schemes. Unable to admit error, the progressive elite therefore resort to cheap insults and sloppy accusations of “fascism” to stigmatize opposition to the Left’s agenda. Why is Viktor Orban under attack by Soros-funded organizations? Why is the Left trying to depict Hungary as a fascist state?

RTWT.

David Priestland, The Red Flag

At Amazon, David Priestland, The Red Flag: A History of Communism.

ICYMI: W. August Mayer, Islamic Jihad, Cultural Marxism, and the Transformation of the West

*BUMPED.*

This is a surprisingly good book. Mr. Mayer deserves a wider audience. I'd never heard of him before and literally came across him by chance, through a random Amazon search that just popped into my head.

He's very well read and makes incisive, original arguments.

At Amazon, W. August Mayer, Islamic Jihad, Cultural Marxism, and the Transformation of the West.

Keystone Kops Collusion

At WSJ, "Don Trump Jr.'s Problem is Donald Trump Sr.'s Credibility":

President Trump’s critics claim to have uncovered proof, finally, of 2016 collusion between the campaign and the Kremlin. Another reading of the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a well-connected Russian lawyer is, well, political farce.

In June 2016, Mr. Trump Jr. arranged an appointment in Trump Tower with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. He said in a statement that he hoped to acquire opposition research about Hillary Clinton, and he even pulled in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and then campaign manager Paul Manafort. By Mr. Trump Jr.’s account, Ms. Veselnitskaya relayed nothing to compromise Mrs. Clinton and then lobbied him about the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 U.S. law that sanctions Russian human-rights abusers.

According to the emails that Mr. Trump Jr. released Tuesday, Mr. Trump Jr. agreed to meet with Ms. Veselnitskaya after he was approached by Rob Goldstone, a publicist who offered to pass along “some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.” He wrote that this information “is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

The appropriate response from a political competent would have been to alert the FBI if a cut-out promised material supplied by a foreign government. Mr. Trump Jr. instead replied that “if it’s what you say I love it.”

Then again, the Trumps knew Mr. Goldstone through the Russian pop star Emin, aka Emin Agalarov, whose father partnered with Donald Trump Sr. in bringing the Miss Universe beauty pageant to Moscow in 2013. Mr. Trump Sr. appeared in a music video with Emin the same year. Mr. Goldstone said that “Emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting”—info his father got from the “Crown prosecutor of Russia.” Russia’s “Crown prosecutor” doesn’t exist.

Mr. Trump Jr. responded that “perhaps I just speak to Emin first.” Mr. Goldstone brokered the call, reporting that “Ok he’s on stage in Moscow but should be off within 20 Minutes so I am sure can call.” Subsequent messages show Emin asked Mr. Trump Jr. to meet with Ms. Veselnitskaya, who was well-known as an anti-Magnitsky operative at the time. Mr. Goldstone publicly checked into Trump Tower on Facebook during the meeting, which isn’t how a KGB man would normally conceal the handoff of state secrets.

In the daisy chain from Russian oligarch to singer to PR go-between to lawyer to Trump scion, which is more plausible? That Don Jr. was canny enough to coordinate a global plot to rig the election but not canny enough to notice that this plot was detailed in his personal emails? Or that some Russians took advantage of a political naif named Trump in an unsuccessful bid to undermine the Magnitsky law they hated?

Still more.

Contrast WSJ's to Krauthammer's analysis, "Charles Krauthammer on Donald Trump, Jr.: 'I Love It' Are 'Fatal Words' (VIDEO)."

Greg King and Sue Woolmans, The Assassination of the Archduke

At Amazon, Greg King and Sue Woolmans, The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World.

Charles Krauthammer on Donald Trump, Jr.: 'I Love It' Are 'Fatal Words' (VIDEO)

Lots of conservatives hate Charles Krauthammer, seeing him as a Beltway hack because he doesn't always toe the right's political memes du jour.

I get it.

I like Krauthammer because he's so smart. He's very conservative, but he doesn't let an agenda get in the way of facts. He calls it like he sees it. In this case, (1) in Donald Jr's emails we have clear factual evidence that gives fuel to leftist claims of "collusion." But it's not just that, (2) it's that we're talking about a "foreign power," Russia, probably America's greatest adversary right now, a country that opposes American interests at every turn and which has been the headlines for years with foreign invasions, attacks on civilian aircraft, and great power hostility at the U.N. All of this makes recent developments very grave for the White House.

Watch, from Martha MacCallum's segment yesterday, at Fox News, "Krauthammer on Trump Jr.: 'I love it' are the fatal words."

PREVIOUSLY: "Donald Trump, Jr.: 'For Me, This Was Opposition Research...' (VIDEO)."

Donald Trump, Jr.: 'For Me, This Was Opposition Research...' (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Russia Story Has Become the 'Brier Patch' from Which the Trump Administration Cannot Escape."

I was watching the All-Star Game last night, tweeting baseball, when I see all kinds of establishment types, like Professor Daniel Drezner and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, posting tweets about Donald Trump, Jr.'s, interview on Sean Hannity.

Give me a break!

Don't these people take time off from their campaign of attacks?

This is after 8:00pm on the East Coast, so the Beltway blowhards have been at it all day finding ways to take down the administration. And funny thing? There's no "there" there. There's nothing. Donald Jr. had this meeting in June 2016. Donald Sr. had barely wrapped up the nomination by then and we hadn't had the GOP national convention. This is way early in the campaign season and most establishment hacks thought the Trump presidential bid was a joke. Now Russia's become all-consuming, since this is the one shot leftists have at destroying the president. The New York Times is right: This so-called scandal has emerged as a "brier patch," but more for the partisan hacks in the press than for the Trump administration. President Trump will continue to have an easy target for his rancor and tweet-storms, and rightly so. The genuine problem for Republicans will be the failure to advance their policy goals in the Congress, a failure which the Democrat-Media-Complex is working to bring about. The end result will be more anger at Washington, policy debilitation, and political polarization. Who this helps in 2018 remains to be seen.

In any case, listen for yourself. This is this most I've ever heard Donald, Jr. He's a fine man. I hope he's got as much fortitude and Teflon as his dad, because the attacks are just heating up.

At Fox News:



And at Fox, via Memeorandum, "Donald Trump Jr. tells Sean Hannity: ‘In retrospect I probably would have done things a little differently’."