Philip Roth, American Pastoral

I've been collecting Philip Roth books. He's extremely prolific, sheesh.

This one's the first of a trilogy, so enjoy.

At Amazon, Philip Roth, American Pastoral (American Trilogy).

Faith Goldy and Stefan Molyneux #Charlottesville (VIDEO)

Faith Goldy was literally in the middle of all the violence yesterday. Talk about first-hand reporting.

Following-up, "State of Emergency Declared in Charlottesville, Virginia (VIDEO)."

Angie Harmon Bikini

She's so lovely.

ICYMI: "Going for the best bday nap EVER... & then I couldn't sleep. Afraid of FOMO! #blessed #grateful … https://t.co/IK1KUAHwCX

— Angie Harmon (@Angie_Harmon) August 13, 2017

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

You reap what you sow...https://t.co/Oj98iIxEAZ pic.twitter.com/LeDmkXhwaz

— BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) August 12, 2017

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

Michelle Vidal Golden Goddess Casting Call (VIDEO)

She's beautiful.

Angels Surge to Sole Possession of Second American League Wildcard Spot

There's video at MLB, "8/12/17: Pujols' late double propels Halos to 6-3 win."

And here's AP's report at LAT (the Times has no beat reporter covering the Angels right now), "Angels rally for 6-3 victory over the Mariners and to get back into a wild-card playoff spot."

Finally, check Jeff Fletcher, at the O.C. Register, "Angels move into 2nd wild card spot with 5th straight victory."

Let's see how long this lasts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, considering the Angels' (inconsistent) experience this season. Sheesh:

SEATTLE — The Angels have reached a notable, although meaningless, moment.

They are currently sitting in the second wild card spot, after running their winning streak to five games with a come-from-behind, 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

“It gives us a little taste of what’s left to come,” Jesse Chavez said.

The Angels have taken the first three games of this series against the team that was leading the race for the second wild card when it began. The Mariners were since passed by the Minnesota Twins, who also lost on Saturday to allow the Angels to pass them both.
At 60-58, the Angels still have 44 games to play, which is why being in playoff position now means little.

Asked if there was any small significance to draw from the standings now, Manager Mike Scioscia said flatly: “No. Nope. We’ve got a game tomorrow.”

To JC Ramirez, the standings don’t mean as much as the way the Angels are currently playing. They have now won 11 of their last 15 games.

“You’ve seen the tough season we’ve been through and now we finally gained that spot,” Ramirez said. “People that weren’t hitting are now hitting. People who weren’t pitching very well are now doing good. This is the kind of team we are. This is the kind of team we were supposed to be since the beginning of the season.”

The characteristic that has been on display most lately is a penchant for late-inning heroics. They scored the decisive runs in the eighth and ninth innings in all three victories so far in Seattle. And in the past two games, they overcame seventh-inning deficits, of four runs on Friday and two on Saturday...

More.

Margaret Walker, Jubilee

At Amazon, Margaret Walker, Jubilee.

John Jakes, North and South

At Amazon, John Jakes, North and South (North and South Trilogy Part One).

ICYMI: MacKinlay Kantor, Andersonville

We're in a cold civil war, starting to turn hot, it seems.

I'll post come related book links today.

At Amazon, MacKinlay Kantor, Andersonville.

Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March

I'm trying to keep my reading around the late Republic (for now), so this one as well's on my list.

At Amazon, Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March: A Novel.

Mary M. Luke, A Crown for Elizabeth

At Amazon, Mary M. Luke, A Crown for Elizabeth.

State of Emergency Declared in Charlottesville, Virginia (VIDEO)

I was out this afternoon, puttering around for used books, as usual.

And after I got home and had a snack, I checked Twitter and saw Robert Stacy McCain's tweet, "People need to calm the fuck down."

So I'm like, "Why. What the fuck happened?"

Then scrolling through my feed I see tweets on the violence in Charlottesville. It's not good. I'd like to know who drove that Dodge Challenger into the crowd, however. Was it an antifa leftist? Who knows?

In any case, check Memeorandum, "March of white supremacists at University of Virginia ends in skirmishes."

Video here and here.

And at the Other McCain, "The #Charlottesville Madness."

And at the Rebel:

Tom Holland, The Forge of Christendom

At Amazon, Tom Holland, The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West.

Shop Today

I'm going out for the afternoon. More blogging tonight.

Meanwhile, shop Goldbox Deals at Amazon.

See, especially, Dyson Ball Animal Complete Upright Vacuum with Bonus Tools, Fuchsia (Certified Refurbished).

Also, Xbox One Stereo Headset (Microsoft).

And, Haribo Gummi Candy, Original Gold-Bears, 5-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12).

More, Bright Eyed Medium Dark Roast Whole Bean Coffee from Nectar of Life - Full Body. Thick & Rich. Central & South American Coffee. Best Organic Coffee USDA Organic Coffee Fair.

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

Still more, TOSKATOK Unisex Ultra stylish Aussie Outback Safari Bush Hat.

BONUS: Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian.

'La Grange'

From my drive-time this afternoon, while out buzzing around between used bookstores, at the Sound L.A.

Here's ZZ Top, "La Grange":

Gimme Shelter
The Rolling Stones
6:10 PM

Back On the Chain Gang
Pretenders
6:07 PM

All Along the Watchtower
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
5:57 PM

You Better You Bet
Who
5:51 PM

Help!
The Beatles
5:49 PM

Don't Stop Believin'
Journey
5:45 PM

Blitzkrieg Bop
Ramones
5:43 PM

Africa
Toto
5:38 PM

La Grange
ZZ Top
5:34 PM

Stuck In the Middle With You
Stealers Wheel
5:31 PM

People Are Strange
The Doors
5:24 PM

Werewolves of London
Warren Zevon
5:21 PM

Sister Golden Hair
America
5:18 PM

Iron Man
Black Sabbath
5:12 PM

Heartbreaker
Pat Benatar
5:08 PM

Misty Mountain Hop
Led Zeppelin
5:04 PM

Life In the Fast Lane
Eagles
4:59 PM

Dream On
Aerosmith
4:55 PM

Terry C. Johnston, Carry the Wind

After I get through a few of these books on Ancient Rome, I expect to get back to reading my wilderness novels, especially Allan Eckert's books.

But I might give Terry C. Johnston a go before that. I found this one today while out puttering around at used bookstores.

At Amazon, Carry the Wind.

ICYMI: Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome

Following-up, "Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire."

At Amazon, Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization.

Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire

I'm not this far into my Roman reading, but apparently this new historical research is top-flight.

Readers may find this helpful.

At Amazon, Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians.

Salma Hayek Admits She Refuses to Bow to Size Pressures of Hollywood

Well, I don't think she has too much to worry about at this point, heh.

At London's Daily Mail, "'I am 50, why do I have to look good?' Salma Hayek admits she refuses to bow to size pressures of Hollywood... though jokes she wished some of her famous curves 'went in instead of out'."

salma hayek pic.twitter.com/yLA9GrljLU

— bella (@alejandra_xoo) July 25, 2017

😍 @salmahayek 😍 pic.twitter.com/m02kNacm4p

— Women Are Beautiful (@AgelesssBeauty) August 1, 2017

Trump's Dropping Bombs at Unprecedented Levels

Notice how leftists are just now getting worried about the expansion of executive power in national security? Never mind that Obama usurped literally dictatorial powers as Commander-in-Chief. Nope. Now it's all about how Trump's bombing our enemies at "unprecedented" levels, and even that Trump's nuclear brinkmanship is that of a "madman."

Yep, these leftist clowns are out of control.

At far-left Foreign Policy, "The candidate who once warned America about Hillary Clinton's hawkishness is turning into a war machine":

Throughout the 2016 campaign, many people opposed to Donald Trump’s candidacy were nonetheless reluctant to endorse Hillary Clinton, in part because of her relative hawkishness. Candidate Trump had a decades-long career in the public eye that demonstrated plenty of reason to worry he would be a disastrous president, but he lacked the long career in public service that fueled worries about Clinton’s approach to the use of force, and her alleged desire to expand executive war-making powers past what she inherited from her predecessor.

Six months into Trump’s presidency, we now have enough data to assess his own approach. The results are clear: Judging from Trump’s embrace of the use of air power — the signature tactic of U.S. military intervention — he is the most hawkish president in modern history. Under Trump, the United States has dropped about 20,650 bombs through July 31, or 80 percent the number dropped under Obama for the entirety of 2016. At this rate, Trump will exceed Obama’s last-year total by Labor Day.

In Iraq and Syria, data shows that the United States is dropping bombs at unprecedented levels. In July, the coalition to defeat the Islamic State (read: the United States) dropped 4,313 bombs, 77 percent more than it dropped last July. In June, the number was 4,848 — 1,600 more bombs than were dropped in any one month under President Barack Obama since the anti-ISIS campaign started three years ago.

In Afghanistan, the number of weapons released has also shot up since Trump took office. April saw more bombs dropped in the country since the height of Obama’s troop surge in 2012. That was also the month that the United States bombed Afghanistan’s Mamand Valley with the largest non-nuclear bomb ever dropped in combat.

Trump has also escalated U.S. military involvement in non-battlefield settings — namely Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. In the last 193 days of the Obama presidency, there were 21 lethal counterterrorism operations across these three countries. Trump has quintupled that number, conducting at least 92 such operations in Yemen, seven in Somalia, and four in Pakistan.

Hand in hand with Trump’s enthusiasm for air power comes a demonstrated tolerance for civilian casualties. Increased air power in Iraq and Syria has resulted in unprecedented levels of civilian deaths. Even by the military’s own count, civilian casualties have soared since Trump took office, though independent monitors tally the deaths as many as ten times higher. In Afghanistan, Trump’s tolerance for killing civilians has led to 67 percent more civilian casualties in his first six months than in the first half of 2016, according to the United Nations.

The expansion of air power and acceptance of civilian harm are together a problem, but they are made worse by the fact that they are occurring without any diplomatic strategy to wind down the wars...

More (FWIW).

American League Wild Card Race Tightens

The Angels won a dramatic 9th-inning victory last night in Seattle, after a terrible blown save by Bud Norris.

Here's the story, at LAT, "Mike Trout's three-run double in ninth inning gives Angels win after blowing three-run lead."

And with that, the AL wildcard race tightened even further. I wrote about it here, "The American League Wild Card Race is Getting Insane."

Earlier this week the Angels were catching up to Kansas City, but the Cards swept the Royals in St. Louis this week. (See, "Fowler makes more rally magic for suddenly 'dynamic' Cards.") Now both the Angels and Royals are one game behind Tampa Bay and Seattle (both tied at a .509 winning percentage, behind the Yankees for the first wildcard spot).

I love it!

Here's a piece debating the utility of MLB's wildcard playoff system, "Is Major League Baseball’s double-wild-card format working? MLB's six-year-old playoff set-up has its pros and cons." And a killer few paragraphs for me:

Matt Clapp: I still can’t decide how much I like the two Wild Cards. I’m a big believer in the better team being rewarded. Say the WC1 wins 96 games, and the WC2 wins 88 games. And then the WC2 beats the WC1 in the one-game playoff. That’s very unfair to the WC1, as they have absolutely been the better team over 162 games, and baseball should in no way be judged by one game.

Then again, 2015 was an example of the two Wild Cards being a good thing. The NL Central featured three teams with at least 97 wins; the Pirates were the WC1 with 98 wins and the Cubs were the WC2 with 97 wins. Those were the three best records in baseball! One of them being completely left out would’ve been quite lame. Of course, the Pirates would argue that it was even more lame that they won 98 games and had to face a historically red-hot pitcher in Jake Arrieta.

Again, one game deciding anything in baseball flat-out sucks. I’d prefer they find a way to make it a three-game play-in, but that’s of course difficult with scheduling. And because of the scheduling issues, Theo Epstein said in 2015 that he proposed the idea of a three-game playoff which included a doubleheader for two of the three games to make things easier. This would also be a very weird way to decide the Wild Card winner, but in my opinion it still beats just one game in deciding the more Division Series representative.

Whatever the case, what we think doesn’t matter. What matters is how it’s working out for MLB, and it’s working tremendously. Look at the AL Wild Card race right now. There are NINE teams (including the two currently leading the race) within four games for two spots. Several teams have a legitimate playoff shot because of the second Wild Card, and this means much more fan interest. Fans of the teams in the race will go out to the ballpark into deep September. Baseball fans that generally don’t even care about those teams will be following these games just because pennant races are compelling. Then the one-game playoff is fantastic drama, must-see TV for people that aren’t even big baseball fans. In general, it’s all more eyes on the game, more discussion on social media/TV/radio, and more money. This all makes it a success for MLB, regardless of whether or not we think it’s the best way to be handled...

Arielle Scarcella's Actually Pretty Hot

I remember years ago my older sister used to say how she hated homosexuals, because most of the ones she saw were hotties, and that was like depriving women of the smokin' dudes lol.

I'd say the same thing from the patriarchic angle regarding Arielle Scarcella. She's a fine woman. She could be hanging with some alpha dudes, heh.

It's happening @BufferFestival pic.twitter.com/STmt0nABzq

— Arielle Scarcella (@ArielleScarcell) August 11, 2017

#LGBTbabes pic.twitter.com/UxkL3nfqJ7

— Arielle Scarcella (@ArielleScarcell) August 4, 2017

Maybe she just likes the "activist" scene, and the cultural hipness that is lesbianism. It's not hip to me, but if you're a leftist, being lesbian's gotta be more cool than some dull, buttoned-down corporate floozy lol.

Robert L. O'Connell, The Ghosts of Cannae

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Robert L. O'Connell, The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic.

Google C.E.O. Sundar Pichai Should Resign

An excellent op-ed, from David Brooks, at NYT, "Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O."

Unsettling Truth About Affirmative Action

From Professor Jeannie Suk, at the New Yorker, "The Uncomfortable Truth About Affirmative Action and Asian-Americans":

The application process for schools, fellowships, and jobs always came with a ritual: a person who had a role in choosing me—an admissions officer, an interviewer—would mention in his congratulations that I was “different” from the other Asians. When I won a scholarship that paid for part of my education, a selection panelist told me that I got it because I had moving qualities of heart and originality that Asian applicants generally lacked. Asian applicants were all so alike, and I stood out. In truth, I wasn’t much different from other Asians I knew. I was shy and reticent, played a musical instrument, spent summers drilling math, and had strict parents to whom I was dutiful. But I got the message: to be allowed through a narrow door, an Asian should cultivate not just a sense of individuality but also ways to project “Not like other Asians!”

In a federal lawsuit filed in Massachusetts in 2014, a group representing Asian-Americans is claiming that Harvard University’s undergraduate-admissions practices unlawfully discriminate against Asians. (Disclosure: Harvard is my employer, and I attended and teach at the university’s law school.) The suit poses questions about what a truly diverse college class might look like, spotlighting a group that is often perceived as lacking internal diversity. The court complaint quotes a college counsellor at the highly selective Hunter College High School (which I happened to attend), who was reporting a Harvard admissions officer’s feedback to the school: certain of its Asian students weren’t admitted, the officer said, because “so many” of them “looked just like” each other on paper.

The lawsuit alleges that Harvard effectively employs quotas on the number of Asians admitted and holds them to a higher standard than whites. At selective colleges, Asians are demographically overrepresented minorities, but they are underrepresented relative to the applicant pool. Since the nineteen-nineties, the share of Asians in Harvard’s freshman class has remained stable, at between sixteen and nineteen per cent, while the percentage of Asians in the U.S. population more than doubled. A 2009 Princeton study showed that Asians had to score a hundred and forty points higher on the S.A.T. than whites to have the same chance of admission to top universities. The discrimination suit survived Harvard’s motion to dismiss last month and is currently pending.

When the New York Times reported, last week, that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division was internally seeking lawyers to investigate or litigate “intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions,” many people immediately assumed that the Trump Administration was hoping to benefit whites by assailing affirmative action. The Department soon insisted that it specifically intends to revive a 2015 complaint against Harvard filed with the Education and Justice Departments by sixty-four Asian-American groups, making the same claim as the current court case: that Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asians in admissions, giving whites an advantage. (The complaint had previously been dismissed in light of the already-pending lawsuit.) The combination of the lawsuit and the potential federal civil-rights inquiry signals that the treatment of Asians will frame the next phase of the legal debate over race-conscious admissions programs...

More.

Devin Brugman Bikini Update

She's so nice.

😎 pic.twitter.com/SHMGx3zC8t

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

Wow 😍🤤 pic.twitter.com/kiz5jLioaz

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

😋 pic.twitter.com/SJpG3ktaS9

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

🌠 pic.twitter.com/JyjmmexiQe

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 5, 2017

😜 pic.twitter.com/nqlhkcjTXe

— Devin Brugman Daily (@DevBrugmanDaily) August 6, 2017

Izabel Goulart via Helicopter (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

I've Finished I, Claudius

I took the book with me to Disneyland, and read good-sized chunks of it while waiting in line for some rides. Plus I chilled with some beer for a while as well, while waiting for my boys to hit the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride (which used to be Tower of Terror).

At Amazon, Robert Graves, I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54.

I'm zipping through Howard Fast today, also at Amazon, Spartacus.

The Rich Higgins 'Deep State' Memo

In case you've missed the alt-right backlash over H.R. McMaster, here's some background.

At the Atlantic, "An NSC Staffer Is Forced Out Over a Controversial Memo," and "The War Against H.R. McMaster."

And at Foreign Policy, "Here’s the Memo That Blew Up the NSC":

Fired White House staffer argued "deep state" attacked Trump administration because the president represents a threat to cultural Marxist memes, globalists, and bankers.

Jay Stephens Graduated College as an 'Off-My-Lawn Conservative' (VIDEO)

Another great video, from Prager U:

Alessandra Ambrosio in Malibu

She's still one of my faves, and rockin' a nice tan!

At London's Daily Mail:

Alessandra Ambrosio turns up the heat on the beach in Malibu 🔥 🔥 🔥 https://t.co/2QRlivIMFB

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) August 10, 2017

Jessica Simpson Stroll in New York City

Following-up from last week, "Jessica Simpson Shows Off Low-Cut Yellow Top."

At WWTDD, "Jessica Simpson Honey Boo Boo Chic."

Eleven Eleven coming soon... #staytuned pic.twitter.com/EULPA7RPCG

— Jessica Simpson (@JessicaSimpson) August 9, 2017

Gray Whale in Laguna Beach (VIDEO)

At the O.C. Register, "Juvenile gray whale is heading north after a day thrilling onlookers at Dana Point Harbor."

Trumpian Fury on North Korea

At WSJ, "China needs to know that the threat of military action is real":

When Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” Tuesday if it continues to menace the U.S. with nuclear weapons, he provoked almost as much backlash at home as in Pyongyang. The usual diplomatic suspects, including some American lawmakers, claimed his remarks hurt U.S. credibility and were irresponsible.

The President’s point was that the North’s escalating threats are intolerable; he didn’t set any red lines. True to form, Pyongyang responded by putting the U.S. island of Guam in its cross hairs. Mr. Trump may be guilty of hyperbole (quelle surprise), but that is far less damaging to U.S. credibility than Barack Obama’s failure to enforce his prohibition on the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. The foreign-policy elite who claim to be shocked also don’t have much credibility after their policy across three Administrations led to the current North Korean danger.

While the President’s words were unusually colorful, the Communist-style language may have been part of the message: Kim Jong Un isn’t the only one who can raise the geopolitical temperature. The U.S. has military options to neutralize the regime’s nuclear threat if it continues to develop long-range missiles, and the U.S. is considering those options.

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said as much in an interview Saturday, explaining that Pyongyang’s nuclear threat is “intolerable from the President’s perspective. So of course, we have to provide all options to do that. And that includes a military option.” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reinforced that message Wednesday, warning North Korea to stop acting in ways that could “lead to the end of its regime.”

Last week Senator Lindsey Graham told a morning television program, “There is a military option to destroy North Korea’s program and North Korea itself.” The South Carolina Republican revealed that Mr. Trump told him there will be war if the North continues to develop long-range missiles: “He has told me that. I believe him. If I were China, I would believe him, too, and do something about it.”

The China reference is a tip-off that the main audience for this rhetorical theater is in Beijing. Kim Jong Un won’t stop now that he’s so close to his goal of a nuclear deterrent. But China might restrict the flow of oil to the North, for example, if it believes that stronger action on its part could forestall a U.S. pre-emptive strike...

More.

Sharon Stone's 'Basic Instinct' Audition Tape

Well, I guess there's #WaybackWednesday heh.

Watch, at RealClearLife, "Sharon Stone Shares ‘Basic Instinct’ Audition Tape on Twitter."

She's pretty spectacular, for sure.

Thanks to Democrats, President Trump is Facing an Increasingly Dangerous Rogue North Korea (VIDEO)

Following-up here, "Technical Challenges to a Successful Nuclear Strike," and "Richard Smoke, National Security and the Nuclear Dilemma."

Here's Sean Hannity:

Arielle Scarcella's Dating Preferences (VIDEO)

I can't keep up with this crazy stuff. Seriously.

But see the Other McCain, "SJWs Attacking Lesbian @ArielleScarcell for . . . Well, Being a Lesbian, Really."

Richard Smoke, National Security and the Nuclear Dilemma

Following-up from my previous entry, "Technical Challenges to a Successful Nuclear Strike."

This is the must-have introductory textbook on the topic.

At Amazon, Richard Smoke, National Security and the Nuclear Dilemma: An Introduction to the American Experience.

Technical Challenges to a Successful Nuclear Strike

From longtime tech correspondent Ralph Vartabedian, at LAT, "North Korea has made a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on a missile. How worried should the world be?":

Before the age of compact cars, laptop computers and pocket telephones, there were miniature nuclear warheads.

For as long as there have been engineers, they have been working on making complicated things smaller and better. Weapons are no exception.

Now, North Korea apparently has figured out how to make a very big explosive small enough to sit atop one of its mobile-launched missiles, a development that could threaten much of the U.S., according to a U.S. intelligence report that surfaced this week.

North Korea is making progress, showing it can put together competent teams of scientists and solve technical problems, but it is far from proving that it is capable of launching a punishing nuclear strike on the U.S., according to U.S. weapons experts.

Making a miniature nuclear weapon that has a large explosive force involves a lot of scientific and engineering know-how.

The “Little Boy” bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 9, 1945, weighed as much as two 2017 Cadillac Escalade SUVs, about 9,700 pounds. Three days later, the “Fat Man” bomb, slightly heavier at 10,300 pounds, was dropped on Nagasaki.

Since then, the weight of U.S. atomic bombs has shrunk considerably, as scientists have refined the physics of the devices and streamlined how they are armed.

With the last generation of nuclear weapons designed in the 1980s, engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory produced the W88, weighing only 800 pounds despite having an explosive force equal to 475,000 tons of TNT — in other words, less than one-tenth the weight of the first atomic bomb, but 400 times more powerful.

What technical capability is necessary to build a missile-ready nuclear bomb?

The first step is understanding how to reduce the amount of conventional high explosives that surround a hollow pit of highly enriched uranium or plutonium. A nuclear detonation occurs when the high explosive implodes the hollow sphere of fissile material next to it to start an uncontrolled chain reaction.

After the war, work progressed on smaller bombs. One of the crucial design steps was to create a small, precisely uniform air gap between the conventional explosives and the sphere of nuclear fuel, amplifying the force of the conventional explosion and reducing the amount needed to trigger a nuclear chain reaction.

It’s unclear that Pyongyang has mastered that precise construction, said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons analyst with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif.

What Pyongyang has said so far is that its weapon is a “Korean-style mixed charge” device, indicating “they don’t have a lot of plutonium, so they are mixing it with uranium,” Lewis said.

It is possible the North Koreans are also injecting tritium gas into the hollow sphere to get some fusion energy out of the bomb, as well, he said...

More.

Chris Wickham, The Inheritance of Rome

This looks fantastic!

At Amazon, Chris Wickham, The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000.

Glen Campbell, of 'Rhinestone Cowboy' Fame, Dead at 81

At LAT, "Glen Campbell dies at 81; country-pop singer battled Alzheimer's."

Also, "'A shining light in so many ways': Music world remembers country-pop great Glen Campbell":

As news of the death of Glen Campbell spread, celebrities of all kinds took to the Internet to express their grief over the loss of the country music legend, who died Tuesday at 81.

"Had Glen Campbell 'only' played guitar and never voiced a note, he would have spent a lifetime as one of America’s most consequential recording musicians," Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement.

"Had he never played guitar and 'only' sung, his voice would rank with American music’s most riveting, expressive, and enduring," Young added. "He left indelible marks as a musician, a singer, and an entertainer, and he bravely shared his incalculable talent with adoring audiences even as he fought a cruel and dread disease. To all of us who heard and loved his soulful music, he was a delight."

Others shared similar sentiments about the singer, songwriter, musician, television host and actor...

More.

Evelyn Taft's Sunny and Warm Forecast

It's not too bad. You'd have gotten a sunburn yesterday if you failed to lube up with liberally with sunscreen. Just about the same weather today. And with the exception of Lake Elsinore and Palm Springs, it's not quite triple-digit temperatures across the Southland.

I've been just chilling today, getting back into my lazy summer routine after some partying this weekend, through yesterday, for some birthday celebrations. About a couple of more weeks until the new semester starts, and then my summer will really be winding down.

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

Colleen McCullough's 'Masters of Rome' Series

I found a brand new paperback copy of The Grass Crown for 25 cents at the Irvine Public Library. I thought what the heck? I'd procrastinated on picking up any of Colleen McCullough's books, but I'm starting an Ancient Rome jag, and I that one helped me launch it.

But I need to start at the beginning of the series, which is found in The First Man in Rome, so I'll start out with that (maybe today, heh).

The only problem with these books is their length. This one's about 930 pages, not counting a massive glossary!

Beer Beats Tylenol as Pain Reliever

News you can use.

At Instapundit, "THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: STUDY: BEER IS A BETTER PAIN RELIEVER THAN TYLENOL":

Probably no harder on your liver, either.

The American League Wild Card Race is Getting Insane

Check the standings here.

This is insane.

At Sports on Earth, "SIZING UP THE AL WILD CARD RACE":

There are roughly 50 games left in the Major League Baseball season. Some teams have more, some teams have fewer, but it's pretty much around that number -- and it will go by like that. All you can reasonably hope for, if you are a team that is on the fringes of contention -- particularly with first-place teams owning massive leads like Los Angeles, Houston and Washington -- is to at least have a shot.

This year, plenty of teams still have skin in the game thanks to the American League Wild Card chase, which looks like it's going to be lunacy. From the Wild Card leader (the Yankees) entering Monday's action to the team that's five spots out of the second slot (Minnesota), you have only 5 1/2 games of separation. Texas, a team that just traded away its ace, is closer to a Wild Card spot than the closest Wild Card team in the National League. It is jammed, essentially top to bottom. Keep your eye on these standings!

So let's take a look at every contender, what their chances are and what the stakes are moving forward. We have to cut off the definition of a "contender" at some point, so for the sake of discussion, we'll omit Texas, Toronto and Detroit, all of whom were sellers at the Deadline. We do this even though Texas is only one game behind Minnesota (also sort of a seller, but no matter). It's crazy this year, and we may have to revisit this in a few more weeks if any other teams go on a run. Also, right now, the Red Sox, thanks to a six-game win streak, have opened up a three-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. That division is far from settled, but for the sake of discussion, we'll include the Yankees but not the Sox. That, like everything else, could change quickly.

Here's the analysis for the Angels, who just can't seem to earn winning consistency. It's maddening!

Los Angeles Angels Record: 55-58, fourth Wild Card runnerup, three games out of second Wild Card spot.

Playoff projections on MLB.com: 9.8 percent.

What's at stake: The last few years of the best player in baseball. The Angels have been trying to cobble together a mediocre team around Mike Trout for a few years now, with no luck. This year has been different in that Trout missed two months and the Angels somehow treaded water. (Andrelton Simmons is quietly having a superstar season -- he's third in the AL in FanGraphs WAR -- which helps.) But the odds are still stacked against them. It would help to get something, anything, out of Albert Pujols. There are 514 American League position players who have enough at-bats to register a WAR rating this season. Pujols is ranked 513th in WAR.

Fans' reasonable optimism level: Realistic. Three more years of Trout left. They are a little closer to the playoffs than they were last year. But that feels like the fighting of gravity.

 Angels play the Orioles tonight, and could move past them with a win. So, root for the rally monkey, heh.

Peter S. Wells, The Battle That Stopped Rome

Here's another on Teutoburg.

From Peter S. Wells, at Amazon, The Battle That Stopped Rome: Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the Slaughter of the Legions in the Teutoburg Forest.

Disneyland

Here's your humble blogger, yesterday at Disneyland, for my young son's 16th b-day.

A good time was had by all.

Adrian Murdoch, Rome's Greatest Defeat

Reading I, Claudius has gotten me fascinated with Rome's wars with Germania, especially the crushing defeat at Teutoburg.

See, at Amazon, Adrian Murdoch, Rome's Greatest Defeat: Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest.

Disneyland Today

We're celebrating my youngest son's birthday.

I can't remember the last time we went to Disneyland. Weird. I lived for that place when I was a grade-schooler.

In any case, don't know what time we'll be home, and I'll probably be beat anyway. Head over to Instapundit for your blogging and news, the only "principled conservative view at this point." (?)

Is there even a principled conservative view at this point? Who should I be reading?

— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) August 5, 2017

J. Samuel Walker, Prompt and Utter Destruction

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, J. Samuel Walker, Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan.

Google Fires James Damore, Engineer Who Wrote 'Anti-Diversity' Memo

Well, you can't have a different opinion about such things. The guy should've known that, of course.

At Bloomberg, "Google Fires Author of Divisive Memo on Gender Differences" (at Memeorandum).

Also at Breitbart, "Google Fires Viewpoint Diversity Manifesto Author James Damore."

PREVIOUSLY: "Google Manifesto."

ADDED: Oh, the drama, at LAT, "Google employee's sexist manifesto is the latest crisis for a tech industry struggling to diversify."

Howard Fast, Spartacus

I've been puttering around all day at used bookstores, and sometimes you find the most serendipitous things.

As noted, I'm plugging along on I, Claudius, which has been a good read, and which has piqued my already not insubstantial interest in Roman history. And while there are many good scholarly works, apparently there's a wealth of really high-quality fiction on Rome as well, many tomes of which come highly recommended by experts of antiquity.

Now, I don't know if Howard Fast qualifies as one of the great novelists of the genre, although reading around and browsing online, I've come across mention of the book, so I was startled to see a cheap copy in excellent condition while out today on my lackadaisical rounds.

There's some used copies available on Amazon as well, if you're so inclined. See, Howard Fast, Spartacus.

And here's another edition, Spartacus (North Castle Books). (Click through for a used edition, as they're so much more affordable.)

In any case, books are my hobby right now. I always read a lot anyway, but since I don't watch news anymore, I've got even more time for it. And thanks for shopping through my Amazon links, as well. It's not a very expensive hobby, but your purchases are helpful in any event. So, thanks again.

Protecting Rhinos in South Africa

This is genuinely sad.

This piece wants to turn you into a nature-protector-enviro-radical, at LAT, "Armed only with her grandmother's shotgun, a South African woman fights to save her rhinos":

Lynne MacTavish lives in a small wooden house on her South African game reserve with a fierce pet emu, a juvenile ostrich, a flock of geese, two Jack Russell terriers and her grandma’s double-barreled shotgun to protect her rhinos.

She keeps an ugly statue at her gate: a tokoloshe, or evil spirit in the local traditional belief, installed by a witch doctor to ward off superstitious rhino poachers.

Every night MacTavish gets up after midnight, grabs her shotgun, clambers into her SUV and patrols for poachers.

She still gets flashbacks of the scene she found one windy October morning in 2014 and still cries telling the story. Poachers had killed two rhinos, including a pregnant cow she had known since the day it was born. Two more died as an indirect result of the attack and a calf, days from being born, was lost.

MacTavish, as tough as the spiky bush on her animal reserve in South Africa’s northwest, struggles to cover the cost of security guards. One local poacher has threatened to kill her.

South Africa is home to 80% of the world’s 25,000 rhinos. Hamstrung by corruption and security lapses, it loses three rhinos a day to poaching, 85% of them in state reserves. Private owners such as MacTavish have become important to the species’ survival, nurturing more than 6,500 rhinos on an estimated 330 private game reserves, spanning 5 million acres, that provide a relative degree of safety.

But security is costly — so much so that many reserves are closing their doors. To help generate revenue, private reserve operators have successfully sued to resume South Africa’s limited trade in rhino horns, which had been banned since 2009. The government is finalizing new regulations that will allow foreigners to export up to two horns apiece for personal use.

The measure has rocked the wildlife preservation world. Most wildlife advocates say opening the door even to “farmed” rhino horn sales could threaten an international effort to wipe out the trade across the globe. About 2,200 horns a year flow into the illegal trade, mostly poached, and opponents of the new trade rules argue that criminals will find ways to funnel poached horns into the new legal market.

“Reopening a domestic trade in rhino horn in South Africa would make it even harder for already overstretched law enforcement agents to tackle rhino crimes,” World Wildlife Fund policy manager Colman O’Criodain said in a statement...

More.

Kate Upton in Cairns, Australia (VIDEO)

Actually, this one's a movie length feature, dang.

At Sports Illustrated:

'As I’m writing this, Etiene Dalcol has protected her Twitter account...'

She sure did.

From Stephen Green, at Instapundit, "SHUT UP, SHE EXPLAINED."

She's a magenta-haired feminist web-programmer, or something, lol.

William R. Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond

The best book of international political history.

At Amazon, William R. Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900.

Lawrence James, Empires in the Sun

At Amazon, Empires in the Sun: The Struggle for the Mastery of Africa.

Tim Butcher, Blood River

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Tim Butcher, Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World's Most Dangerous Country.

Michela Wrong, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Michela Wrong, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo.

Jason Stearns, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters

At Amazon, Jason Stearns, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa.

This Vanity Fair Lionization of the Press is Why Everyone Hates the Press

Mary Katharine Ham has been doing much better work since she's moved over to the Federalist from Hot Air.

And I mean much, much better.

She's a fabulous writer.

Here, "The press is constantly saying this president is losing credibility without recognizing it is in the exact same predicament."

Google Manifesto

I wondered what this was when tweeps were tweeting "Google manifesto." I'm like, "huh?"

At Gizmodo, "Exclusive: Here's The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally at Google."

And at the Verge, "Not all Google employees disagree with anti-diversity polemic."

Maduro Regime Puts Down Attempted Military Uprising in Venezuela

At the Miami Herald, "Venezuela quells anti-government uprising on military base":

Venezuela squashed a small uprising on a military base Sunday, the first inkling of armed unrest in the beleaguered South American country after a new all-powerful legislative body condemned by the international community began targeting opposition foes.

Though the would-be rebellion, which left at least one man dead, appeared short-lived, it reignited spontaneous anti-government protests that had been absent for days after nearly four months of prolonged street tumult. Security forces once again repressed the demonstrations with tear gas and rubber pellets.

Further clashes loom. The opposition-held parliament intends to convene Monday at the legislative palace, which was taken over Saturday by the new constituent assembly. Its delegates, all ruling socialist party members elected last week in a vote widely seen as fraudulent, face potential sanctions from the U.S. and countries in Latin America and Europe.

The government of President Nicolás Maduro insisted Sunday’s incident was an outside attack staged by civilians hired by his political opponents. While security forces claimed the skirmish was quickly quelled, the defense minister acknowledged an ongoing search for an unknown number of stolen military weapons.

The extended confusion over what took place before dawn Sunday at the Paramacay military base in Valencia, a city in central Venezuela about two hours west of the capital, Caracas, fed opposition calls for dissenting troops to rebel.

They were fueled by the morning release online of a video — the kind used in failed coup attempts against previous Venezuelan governments — showing more than a dozen men dressed in military fatigues and holding assault rifles. They declared themselves in rebellion and urged like-minded security forces to stage a revolt against Maduro.

Without citing the video, socialist party deputy Diosdado Cabello asserted early on, via Twitter, that an irregular situation at the base was under control. But for hours, no government official took to the airwaves, communicating only in Twitter posts and written statements. State-run television replayed an episode of the late Hugo Chávez’s weekly TV show, “Aló Presidente.” The convening of a new “truth commission” was postponed.

When Maduro finally appeared on TV, at 3 p.m., he congratulated military leaders for their swift response but also admitted security forces were still hunting down a group of men from the morning assault who had gotten away.

“We’re going to capture them,” he said. “A week ago we defeated them with votes. Today, we were forced to defeat them with bullets.”

In an incongruous scene, Maduro spoke from a park, standing on a logo with colorful hearts — and surrounded by bodyguards. He admired a naturalist exhibit of animal skulls and skins, and cheered on a little girl standing in the middle of a circle of happy children, whacking a piñata.

According to Maduro, the scuffle at the base began at 3:50 a.m. when the instigators surprised overnight guards and went directly to weapons caches...

More.

Rhian Sugden Goes Brunette

She's been making a big deal out of it, on Twitter.

Stunner @RhianMarie looks VERY different as she shows off new brunette hairdo in Instagram snap https://t.co/KVVaTzGnOI

— The Sun North West (@TheSunNW) August 7, 2017

What's Worse: Trump's Agenda or Deep State Subversion?

From Glenn Greenwald, at the Intercept, "What’s Worse: Trump’s Campaign Agenda or Empowering Generals and CIA Operatives to Subvert it":

DURING HIS SUCCESSFUL 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump, for better and for worse, advocated a slew of policies that attacked the most sacred prongs of long-standing bipartisan Washington consensus. As a result, he was (and continues to be) viewed as uniquely repellent by the neoliberal and neoconservative guardians of that consensus, along with their sprawling network of agencies, think tanks, financial policy organs, and media outlets used to implement their agenda (CIA, NSA, the Brookings/AEI think tank axis, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, etc.).

Whatever else there is to say about Trump, it is simply a fact that the 2016 election saw elite circles in the U.S., with very few exceptions, lining up with remarkable fervor behind his Democratic opponent. Top CIA officials openly declared war on Trump in the nation’s op-ed pages and one of their operatives (now an MSNBC favorite) was tasked with stopping him in Utah, while Time Magazine reported, just a week before the election, that “the banking industry has supported Clinton with buckets of cash . . . . what bankers most like about Clinton is that she is not Donald Trump.”

Hank Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO and George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary, went to the pages of the Washington Post in mid-2016 to shower Clinton with praise and Trump with unbridled scorn, saying what he hated most about Trump was his refusal to consider cuts in entitlement spending (in contrast, presumably, to the Democrat he was endorsing). “It doesn’t surprise me when a socialist such as Bernie Sanders sees no need to fix our entitlement programs,” the former Goldman CEO wrote. “But I find it particularly appalling that Trump, a businessman, tells us he won’t touch Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

Some of Trump’s advocated assaults on D.C. orthodoxy aligned with long-standing views of at least some left-wing factions (e.g., his professed opposition to regime change war in Syria, Iraq/Libya-style interventions, global free trade deals, entitlement cuts, greater conflict with Russia, and self-destructive pro-Israel fanaticism), while other Trump positions were horrifying to anyone with a plausible claim to leftism, or basic decency (reaffirming torture, expanding GITMO, killing terrorists’ families, launching Islamophobic crusades, fixation on increasing hostility with Tehran, further unleashing federal and local police forces). Ironically, Trump’s principal policy deviation around which elites have now coalesced in opposition – a desire for better relations with Moscow – was the same one that Obama, to their great bipartisan dismay, also adopted (as evidenced by Obama’s refusal to more aggressively confront the Kremlin-backed Syrian government or arm anti-Russian factions in Ukraine).

It is true that Trump, being Trump, was wildly inconsistent in virtually all of these pronouncements, often contradicting or abandoning them weeks after he made them. And, as many of us pointed out at the time, it was foolish to assume that the campaign vows of any politician, let alone an adept con man like Trump, would be a reliable barometer for what he would do once in office. And, as expected, he has betrayed many of these promises within months of being inaugurated, while the very Wall Street interests he railed against have found a very welcoming embrace in the Oval Office.

Nonetheless, Trump, as a matter of rhetoric, repeatedly affirmed policy positions that were directly contrary to long-standing bipartisan orthodoxy, and his policy and personal instability only compounded elites’ fears that he could not be relied upon to safeguard their lucrative, power-vesting agenda. In so many ways – due to his campaign positions, his outsider status, his unstable personality, his witting and unwitting unmasking of the truth of U.S. hegemony, the embarrassment he causes in western capitals, his reckless unpredictability – Trump posed a threat to their power centers...

More.

Jennifer Delacruz's Coastal Clouds Forecast

A lot of moisture on the coast, but sunny and warmer inland. It's nice weather.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

'An Inconvenient Ruse'

Liz Wheeler slams Al Gore's new movie, "An Inconvenient Sequel."

Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome

At Amazon, Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization.

Hiroshima Day: 72 Years Since U.S. Dropped Atomic Bomb on Japan

Here's Michael Beschloss below, on Twitter.

Also, at the New York Times (FWIW), "The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima - Daily 360 video: Through modeling and mapping technologies, witness from above the attack on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945."

Hiroshima, today 1945: #NARA pic.twitter.com/iEmTZ4TDuO

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 6, 2017

Ta-Nehisi Coates on 'Confederate'

I don't care one way or the other about HBO's possibly upcoming show, "Confederate." To be honest, I'd probably watch just like I've watched "True Detective" and "Westworld," to say nothing of "Game of Thrones." HBO's shows are the only ones I really like, except "Homeland" on Showtime. Other than that, I mostly watch sports. I quit watching cable news earlier this year, and I rarely watch "CBS This Morning" like I used to. Everything's political and I don't want my whole life to be one big attack on President Trump. I have to teach this stuff for a living.

So, if you've been reading news online this past week or so, you've probably heard about the controversy over "Confederate," which hasn't even been produced yet. But just the fact that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the creators of "Game of Thrones," are developing the project sent race-baiting leftist into fits.

In any case, here's "black body" boy, Ta-Nehisi Coates, at the Atlantic, "The Lost Cause Rides Again."

But see Kyle Smith, at National Review, "'Confederate' and the Dunces Who Assume It’s Pro-Slavery."

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions)

Here's my copy, below.

And also available at Amazon, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions).

'Something Just Like This'

Hearing this on satellite radio yesterday, driving back from Studio City after visiting with my mom, who turned 82 last Thursday, and my sister's family.

A Slow-Rolling Coup D'état

From the great Derek Hunter, at Town Hall, "We’re Witnessing a Slow-Rolling Coup D'état":

From the moment Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, a plan was hatched to blame Russia for her historically epic loss and use it to hamstring Donald Trump’s presidency.

Always a hive-mind, Democrats in and out of the media could be counted on to do their parts, and they’ve done just that. But what started out as a few near-riot protests to keep their base angry has morphed into a slow-rolling coup.

The book “Shattered” documented how the Clinton campaign was not interested in an autopsy, it had a plan:

That strategy had been set within twenty-four hours of her concession speech. Mook and Podesta assembled her communications team at the Brooklyn headquarters to engineer the case that the election wasn’t entirely on the up-and-up. For a couple of hours, with Shake Shack containers littering the room, they went over the script they would pitch to the press and the public. Already, Russian hacking was the centerpiece of the argument.

From that, the idea that horrified Democrats during the campaign – that one of the participants would refuse to accept the election results – became an accepted, forgotten fact and the first salvo in what would become a sustained war against the duly-elected president.

Since that meeting, the media dutifully has gone over and above its duty to the cause. After eight years of slumber, print and cable news “journalists” became “woke” to the cause and blew past reporting to a level of propaganda activism that would make Leni Riefenstahl tell them to pump the brakes.

There has been enough embarrassment to go around, but none have beclowned themselves more than CNN’s Jim Acosta. He spent a month whining about not having the cameras on in the press briefing room to capture his antics and add to his sizzle reel so he could get his own show. Then, he showed himself to be the Forrest Gump of the press pool when he equated a poem written to raise money to build the base of the Statue of Liberty with actual law. He then proceeded to congratulate himself, repeatedly, for his performance.

But the media isn’t just a clown show of correspondents fumbling basic facts and shunning logic in its progressive pursuit of a new Nixon. It’s the PR wing of the Democratic Party’s “resistance.” No story is too absurd, no leak too damaging to the nation’s security not to publish. After years of repeating Obama administration spoon-fed talking points, they media now gleefully reports anything that might damage the Trump administration for that sake alone...

More.

Robert Graves, I, Claudius

*BUMPED.*

I'm currently reading this masterpiece. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for almost 30 years.

[Added: I'm almost halfway through this one, and I can say that once you wade through the first few chapters, the book gets fairly lively indeed. I'm enjoying it. And I love how historical dates are appended to the margins, to give accurate temporal context to events. Impressive book.]

At Amazon, Robert Graves, I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 (Vintage International).

Robert Spencer, Confessions of an Islamophobe

Out November 28th, at Amazon, Robert Spencer, Confessions of an Islamophobe.

Douglas Murray, The Strange Death of Europe

*BUMPED.*

Pre-order at Amazon, Douglas Murray, The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam.

Raheem Kassam, No Go Zones

This dude's been getting hassled and suspended on Twitter.

Come out with a "diverse" opinion and the left will target you for destruction.

At Amazon, Raheem Kassam, No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You.

Angels Storm Back, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Angels beat the Athletics last night, 8-6 at Anaheim Stadium. They were down 6-2 in the sixth inning, and I thought there for a minute the team would lose. It'd have been the first time they lost while I was in attendance for the last five years or so. Really, when I go to the park, they always win. And they did it again last night. I was pretty magical.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels mount comeback to beat A's, stretch winning streak to four and improve to .500":

The Angels are still not healthy, still receiving lackluster seasons from an array of hitters, still struggling to capture the public’s interest, still unlikely to actually qualify for the postseason.

But they are undeniably making this thing interesting. They secured their fourth straight victory and sixth in seven tries Friday, scoring six unanswered runs to come back to beat Oakland 8-6 at Angel Stadium. They are 55-55, and only two games separate them from playoff position.

“Better late than never,” said Ben Revere, who scored Friday’s winning run.

It has become the team’s refrain this summer, enjoyed because of its duality: “We’re still in it.”

Applicable to their 32 comeback victories and to their playoff odds, the Angels cite it in interviews and tell it to their pregame visitors during batting practice, a subtle reminder to one another that they can yet contend in 2017. With each passing week, the idea appears more plausible. They do not have to play particularly good games, especially while hosting Philadelphia, Oakland and Baltimore on this homestand. They can always come back, as they did Friday.

After Mike Trout hit an infield single to short in the first inning, Albert Pujols tapped into an inning-ending double play. It was the 351st double-play groundout of his career, which holds grand significance. It broke Pujols’ tie with Cal Ripken and staked him alone to the all-time record.

Making the first start of his career, the Angels’ Troy Scribner did not give up a hit until the second inning. It was a three-run home run to Matt Chapman — a walk and an error preceded it — that gave the Athletics an early lead. The Angels made it 3-2 with three singles, two errors, a sacrifice fly, and a hit by pitch in their half of the second. With the bases loaded and two out, Trout flied out to left field.

Over the next three innings, they mustered two baserunners — both on doubles, by Trout and Kole Calhoun. Neither man advanced...

More.

The rally monkey did the trick last night. I love that, heh.

Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Empire

At Amazon, Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Empire.

Colin Wells, The Roman Empire

*BUMPED.*

Colin Wells, The Roman Empire: Second Edition.

Michael Crawford, The Roman Republic

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Michael Crawford, The Roman Republic: Second Edition.

Jessica Simpson Shows Off Low-Cut Yellow Top

At London's Daily Mail, "Hello sunshine! Jessica Simpson shows off bountiful cleavage in VERY low-cut crocheted yellow top."

Far-Right YouTubers Dominate

At the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "For the New Far Right, YouTube Has Become the New Talk Radio":

In June, Zack Exley, a political organizer and a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, published a report on “Black Pigeon Speaks,” a political commentator on YouTube. In Exley’s judgment, B.P.S. is emblematic of a marginal but ascendant sort of YouTube figure — a type that is becoming a meaningful force in the practice of politics online. B.P.S. has, by any objective standard, a significant and engaged audience; at the moment, he has about 215,000 followers, and his uploads have been viewed more than 25 million times. In an introductory video, he describes himself as something like a pundit or an analyst: “I attempt to make sense out of the increasingly nonsensical world we all share,” he says of his channel. “I try and be only as offensive as I need to be.” His videos are unhurried, heavy on explanation and argument, regularly stretching over the 10-minute mark. And, as Exley notes, his politics skew right. Hard right:

He is a traditionalist in many ways, and is positive about Christianity as a cultural force and foundation of Western civilization, but he is not a Christian. He defies the postwar “fusion” of classical libertarianism and evangelical Christianity. B.P.S. believes in a global conspiracy of central bankers led by the Rothschilds who are driving immigration into predominantly white countries to increase the pool of “debt slaves” and to drive down wages; thinks that “cultural Marxism” is a Jewish conspiracy that is undermining Western civilization; and believes that women being allowed to do whatever they want, including choosing their own mates, is the deathblow to Western civilization.

Like its fellow mega-platforms Twitter and Facebook, YouTube is an enormous engine of cultural production and a host for wildly diverse communities. But like the much smaller Tumblr (which has long been dominated by lively and combative left-wing politics) or 4chan (which has become a virulent and effective hard-right meme factory) YouTube is host to just one dominant native political community: the YouTube right. This community takes the form of a loosely associated group of channels and personalities, connected mostly by shared political instincts and aesthetic sensibilities. They are monologuists, essayists, performers and vloggers who publish frequent dispatches from their living rooms, their studios or the field, inveighing vigorously against the political left and mocking the “mainstream media,” against which they are defined and empowered. They deplore “social justice warriors,” whom they credit with ruining popular culture, conspiring against the populace and helping to undermine “the West.” They are fixated on the subjects of immigration, Islam and political correctness. They seem at times more animated by President Trump’s opponents than by the man himself, with whom they share many priorities, if not a style. Some of their leading figures are associated with larger media companies, like Alex Jones’s Infowars or Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media. Others are independent operators who found their voices in the medium....

*****

The YouTube right may be comparatively marginal and ragtag, but it’s also comparatively young. If talk radio primed listeners for Trump’s style and anticipated the American right’s current obsessions, the YouTube right is acquainting viewers with a more international message, attuned to a global revival of explicitly race-and-religion-based, blood-and-soil nationalism. Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars, 35, is perhaps the archetypal YouTube-right vlogger; he has nearly a million followers, and his videos have been viewed more than 215 million times. He has in the last month published videos with titles including “Staged Video Shows ‘Refugee’ Fake Drowning,” “Finsbury Mosque Terror: What They’re NOT Telling You,” “The Truth about Refugees” and “Why Leftists Submit to Terror.” The scripts for these videos are straightforward nativist polemics, with a particular focus on Europe — Watson is from Northern England — delivered in a relentlessly insistent tone, and quite close to the camera. Watson posts extended “roasts” of his political villains, as well as rants that betray a peculiar blend of self-taught reaction: against pop culture, broadly, but also against “modern architecture” and “modern art.” If one video sums up what a receptive viewer might take from subscribing to his channel, it’s “Some Cultures are Better than Others.”

RTWT.

I obviously can do without the rank anti-Semitism. Interestingly, though, Ezra Levant has fired a number of his vloggers who've veered too far over into the outwardly racist right (here's looking at you, Lauren Southern). That said, I like Paul Joseph Watson, and Stephen Molyneux, the latter who nearly breeches the line at times, as well.

Whatever. These kind of people are shaking things up, giving voice to a lot of unconventional and politically unpopular opinions. They're helping to beat back radical leftism, and that's a good thing overall.

Democrats in Crisis

Here's Dana Loesch below, from Fox & Friends this morning.

Related, at WaPo, via Memeorandum, "West Virginia's governor is switching parties. And Democrats just hit a new low."

Michael Korda, Alone

*BUMPED.*

Out next month.

At Amazon, Michael Korda, Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat Into Victory.

Seems like the publisher would have moved up the release date to coincide with the movie (perhaps there's no corporate tie-in). But still, looks great.

Tourists Go Home! (Refugees Welcome.)

At Theo's, "Socialists in Spain Put Their Twisted Logic on Public Display."

Because It's Never Been Tried!

Following-up from the other day, "Venezuela's Useful Idiots Have Gone Silent."

From Frank Fleming, seen at Instapundit:

Bruce Catton, The Civil War

The basic introductory text.

At Amazon, Bruce Catton, The Civil War (American Heritage Books).