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.

And especially, Up to 30% off Kershaw Blur Knives.

Also, Buck Knives 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath - TOP SELLER.

More, GAOAG Anime Luminous Backpack Daypack Shoulder Under 15.6-inch with USB Charging Port and Lock School Bag Black.

Plus, AmazonBasics Lightning to USB A Cable - Apple MFi Certified - Black - 6 Feet /1.8 Meters.

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More here, Acer Aspire Desktop, 7th Gen Intel Core i3-7100, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Home, TC-780-ACKi3.

And, Signature Trail Mix, Peanuts, M & M Candies, Raisins, Almonds and Cashews.

BONUS: Masha Gessen, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.

93.1 Jack FM, KCBS Los Angeles

The Sound went down yesterday at 1:00pm. The station had a good run. The outpouring (and mourning, literally) was unheard of, man. That said, the last song I heard yesterday was Bad Company's "Moving On," so that's what I'm gonna do, heh.

Not sure what I'll be listening to, but I like Jack FM, which is still on the radio. Here's the set list from this morning:

Pumped Up Kicks
Foster The People
9:43 AM

Jimi Hendrix
Purple Haze
9:40 AM

Incubus
Pardon Me
9:43 AM

Real Life
Send Me An Angel
9:25 AM

Pat Benatar
Love Is A Battlefield
9:21 AM

Vance Joy
Riptide
9:17 AM

Fleetwood Mac
You Make Lovin' Fun
9:14 AM

Billy Idol
White Wedding
9:10 AM

Stone Temple Pilots
Interstate Love Song
9:07 AM

O.M.D
If You Leave
8:54 AM

Aerosmith
Love In An Elevator
8:51 AM

Outkast
Hey Ya!
8:47 AM

X Ambassadors
Renegades
8:39 AM

Queen
Fat Bottomed Girls
8:35 AM

David Bowie
Modern Love
8:23 AM

Michael Jackson
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
8:19 AM

Foo Fighters
My Hero
8:15 AM

Dead Or Alive
You Spin Me Round
8:12 AM

The Black Keys
Lonely Boy
8:08 AM

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
The Waiting
8:05 AM

Definitely eclectic. A nice change of pace perhaps. Or, moving on.

49ers Wide Receiver Marquise Goodwin Played Sunday After Death of Premature Son (VIDEO)

This is a good family. And this is a heartbreaking story. They have faith. Their faith helped make it through the crisis. And his prayer in the end zone Sunday, seen at the video, is for the ages.

Wow.

At CBS This Morning:

Slut-Shaming Al Franken's Accuser

So, Leeann Tweeden appeared on the cover of Playboy? So, she's a slut and is open game for Democrat sexual assailants, like Al Franken.

The "self-proclaimed nasty woman" is Vivian Copeland, who's apparently just earned her fifteen minutes of fame.

At Twitchy:

TWISTED: Self-proclaimed 'nasty woman' crawls INTO THE GUTTER to victim-shame Leeann Tweeden https://t.co/MELn9CgXmQ

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 17, 2017

Here's Franken's accuser. A far cry from the little girls Moore groped (and why haven't you spoken out about that you horrible hypocrite) or the respectable women who've accused YOU. pic.twitter.com/Id76FjN4LE

— Vivian Copeland (@Belairviv) November 17, 2017

Leeann Tweeden as she appeared on TV to accuse @alfranken and her nude centerfold from Playboy. Quite the transformation. I don't care what party a person belongs to. Perverts need to be held accountable but false accusations aren't cool, either. pic.twitter.com/WfZXcOl1bP

— Vivian Copeland (@Belairviv) November 17, 2017

A Tale of Two Scandals

Bob Menendez vs. Roy Moore.

Talk about a tale of two scandals! Check out our updated graph on the Roy Moore coverage vs. the Sen. Menendez corruption trial. Full Study: https://t.co/vSVz2pqDKU pic.twitter.com/mXWVTEH0Vf

— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) November 14, 2017

Thank you @thetorontosun for paying attention to #SleazeBobMenendez ! https://t.co/RaELyFwaRJ

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) November 16, 2017

From @michellemalkin: Silence on Sleaze-Bob Menendez. https://t.co/aKwfuBG5Eu pic.twitter.com/eUy26EwU2y

— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) November 16, 2017

.@SenateMajLdr, you do require that all those accused step down or be expelled including @SenatorMenendez who likes them "young and inexperienced".. https://t.co/EhnqOTYwDL

— Crusader MAGA 🇺🇸 (@MSPOA) November 16, 2017

He's Got a Point

He would be Robert Stacy McCain, in light of all the sexual assault allegations, for example, here: "Al Franken."

Dear Creepy Liberal Guys: Virtue-signaling, by demanding draconian punishment for sexual harassment, won't help you, once you are accused yourself. Wake the fuck up. Feminists hate you, too.

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) November 17, 2017

Al Franken

I'm seriously blown away by the sheer volume of sexual assault allegations floating to the top of the much right now. Some are serious, some not so much, but why have all these been suppressed for so long?

I'd like to see more actual evidence of wrongdoing in most of these cases, for example, more than he said/she said. And of course less politics. Stop defending your side while simultaneously attacking your enemies. Of course, leftists come out far, far worse, since they're the full on social justice warriors with mountains of demons coming out of the left's collective closet: Just now all these hip progressives are retroactively calling for Bill Clinton's resignation? Give me a freakin' break.

In any case, Al Franken's an idiot and a loser, but then, he's a Democrat, so I repeat myself:

KABC anchor: Senator Al Franken Kissed and Groped Me Without My Consent, And There’s Nothing Funny About It https://t.co/lG4A1ZTUhC pic.twitter.com/EYIzr9ok2s

— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) November 16, 2017

Here's Michelle Goldberg, who is very far left, at the New York Times:

Franken Should Go via @NYTimes https://t.co/usa9edBGXD

— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) November 17, 2017

And also, Kate Harding, who's got me blocked on Twitter, defending the Al Frankenstein predator:

'As I write this, only one woman has alleged that Franken assaulted her.' Guys, (if you are a Democrat) you get a pass for assaulting 'only one woman.' More than that though, is too much. https://t.co/hyQMVYL7DG

— Kirsten Powers (@KirstenPowers) November 17, 2017

More on this later, man.

Why Do Fewer and Fewer Americans Trust the Mainstream Media?

Here's Sharyl Attkisson, for Prager University:



And check out Ms. Sharyl's book, The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote.

William D. Gairdner, The Great Divide

At Amazon, William D. Gairdner, The Great Divide: Why Liberals and Conservatives Will Never, Ever Agree Hardcover.

Shop Today

At Amazon, Gold Box Deals.

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BONUS: Stephen Kotkin, Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941.

Angela Flournoy, The Turner House

At Amazon, Angela Flournoy, The Turner House: A Novel.

Coup d'État in Zimbabwe as Mugabe Under House Arrest

This looks like the real thing, at the Telegraph U.K., "Zimbabwe crisis: Army 'secures' Robert Mugabe and takes control of Harare."



And from Ms. Rukmini:

Every coup I covered in Africa in the 7 yrs I was there started with soldiers seizing state TV. https://t.co/YetvXnRDaP

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) November 15, 2017

“We just changed the head of the train,” says official in Zimbabwe, where president is under house arrest post-coup https://t.co/PP8sQobU1l

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) November 15, 2017

Countdown at 'The Sound'

Following-up from last week, "The Sound is Going Down."

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Excited for Christmas

Via London's Daily Mail, on Twitter:

We all have one friend who's already this excited for Christmas! 😂😂🎄 (Listen with your 🔊 on!) via @DailyMail pic.twitter.com/vXtqoETq9F

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 5, 2017

Stylin'

Seen on Twitter, a couple of weeks back:

pic.twitter.com/E2AvMKVTmj

— 😜ϦαϦᏋᏇϴᖇlᎴ😜 (@babeworld247) October 31, 2017

The Trump Wave

Or is that an anti-Trump wave, lol?

At Der Spiegel:

New @DerSpiegel cover: Washington, one year after pic.twitter.com/s2BANHmD5E

— Mathieu von Rohr (@mathieuvonrohr) November 3, 2017

Nice Ear Muffs

Seen on Twitter:

💘 pic.twitter.com/Qjhj7cCJPC

— Country Girls (@DownHomeGirls) November 8, 2017

Starting January, Your New Monthly Premium Will Be...

Whoa!

Family in NC received this letter from Blue Cross. Next time someone says #Obamacare is helping the middle class, tell them they’re lying. pic.twitter.com/AoJhOusNdm

— Alex Vargo (@alexandervargo) November 7, 2017

Ms. Sammy

The lovely Sammy Brady, seen on Twitter:

📸 @sammybraddy 📸https://t.co/kpXNSh8M8K pic.twitter.com/eQrayjlBdK

— SelfShotElite (@SelfShotElite) October 28, 2017

#MAGA

Seen on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/xzIfrorQgv

— Tom S. (@realTomShae) November 14, 2017

Katarina Bivald, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

At Amazon, Katarina Bivald, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend: A Novel.

New Dodge Challenger

I just tweeted right now. More photos of this beautiful babe later:

.@Instapundit Not the best photo, but it's my new Dodge Challenger, at 6:00am this morning while stopping for coffee at 7/11, ahead of my Tuesday commute to Long Beach. #YOLO @PatriarchTree pic.twitter.com/egRai0qsWB

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 15, 2017

Amber Lee's Wednesday Weather

The lovely Ms. Amber, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Brutal

At Althouse, "Drudge can't get no respect."

I've linked to @washingtonpost over 10,000X in 25 years of doing DRUDGEREPORT. I currently give them 37% of their referral traffic, according to https://t.co/ryZX1supbD. It's a brutal business. Not even a thank you. Instead: YOU'RE A RUSSIAN OPERATIVE! https://t.co/pFjPYxkzqa

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) November 13, 2017

Today's Shopping

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

Also, North Face Men's McMURDO PARKA III.

More, CLIF BAR - Energy Bar - Peanut Butter Banana Dark Chocolate - (2.4 Ounce Protein - 12 Count).

Still more, Dickies Men's Sanded Duck Sherpa Lined Hooded Jacket.

Here, AmazonBasics Lightning to USB A Cable - Apple MFi Certified - Black - 6 Feet /1.8 Meters.

Also, Onkyo TX-8140 2 Channel Network Stereo Receiver.

Plus, Timberland White Ledge Men's Waterproof Boot.

BONUS: Mikhail Zygar, The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900-1917.

Roy Moore

I'm just now getting home.

I taught today and I've been down at the H.B. Dodge dealer all night, buying my new Challenger.

I'll post some photos tomorrow.

The thumbnail at the dealer's page doesn't do this babe justice. It's a beautiful car.

Meanwhile, here's Memeorandum for the Roy Moore news, "Locals Were Troubled by Roy Moore's Interactions with Teen Girls at the Gadsden Mall."

Also, "Fifth Woman Accuses Senate Candidate Roy Moore of Sexual Misconduct."

And at Axios, "Four senators have pulled their endorsements of #RoyMoore, including Ted Cruz."

Cruz's full statement: "These allegations are deeply concerning. We've now seen multiple, serious allegations of criminal conduct. One of two things should happen. If these allegations are true, Judge Moore should drop out now, today. The people of Alabama deserve to have the option of voting for a strong conservative who has not committed criminal conduct. Or two, if these allegations are not true, then Judge Moore needs to come forward with strong, persuasive rebuttal demonstrating that they are untrue. As it stands tonight, the people of Alabama are faced with an untenable choice. And so it is my hope one of those two options will occur very, very quickly."

"I am not able to urge the people of Alabama to support his candidacy so long as these allegations remain unrefuted. Both last week and this week, there are serious charges of criminal conduct that, if true, not only make him unfit to serve in the Senate but merit criminal prosecution. Judge Moore, like any American, is entitled to present a defense, he's entitled to put forth facts demonstrating the charges are not true. But as it stands I can't urge the people of Alabama to support a campaign in the face of these charges without serious persuasive demonstration that the charges are not true."

'White Europe'

If it's a truly anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic outburst of racist hatred, then I'm out.

But I have a feeling that's just the way leftists are painting this. If it's a genuine nationalist patriotic outpouring for the mother country, then it's fine. Call me skeptical of leftists reports until I know more.

FWIW, at the Guardian U.K., "'White Europe': 60,000 nationalists march on Poland's independence day: Xenophobic phrases, far-right symbols and religious slogans mark event also attended by families and branded ‘a beautiful sight’ by the interior minister."

Magda Szabó, Katalin Street

At Amazon, Magda Szabó, Katalin Street.

Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove: A Novel.

Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge: A Novel.

Jennifer Delacruz's Mild and Comfortable Forecast

For Sunday, from the fabulous Ms. Jennifer, at ABC News 10 San Diego:

Catherine Merridale, Lenin on the Train

At Amazon, Catherine Merridale, Lenin on the Train.

Gal Gadot Won't Do 'Wonder Woman' Sequels Unless Brett Ratner is Out

She's so fine, heh.

She's got power too. Say goodbye to this loser Brett Ratner.

At the New York Post, at Memeorandum, "Gal Gadot will only be ‘Wonder Woman’ again if Brett Ratner is out."

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia.

Stephen R. Lawhead, The Iron Lance

I have Stephen R. Lawhead, Byzantium, at my bedside, waiting for the winter break to read.

But see also, Stephen R. Lawhead, The Iron Lance (The Celtic Crusades #1).

Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth

I'm really excited to read his latest, Ken Follett, A Column of Fire, but it's part 3 in a trilogy, so you gotta start at the beginning.

Here, Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel (Kingsbridge).

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Okay, today I'm reading Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1), and Ken Davenport, The Two Gates.

I've been collecting more fantasy novels, though, and will be able to get to some of them over the winter break, and next summer.

For example, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind.

Don't Disagree with Google!

I didn't blog about this at the time, I guess because there's plenty of competition in the leftist anti-freedom agenda. But James Damore's case is especially troubling.

Here's his paper, "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber." (And at the Federalist, "Read the Google Memo That Everyone Is Freaking Out About.")

And at Prager U:

George Takei Accused of Sexually Assault

Somehow this particular allegation is the most satisfying. George Takei is a disgusting far-left partisan, and now shown to be an epic hypocrite.

At the Hollywood Reporter:

George Takei accused of sexually assaulting former model in 1981 https://t.co/ZiL5AmMPAP pic.twitter.com/PBth567KIu

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 11, 2017

Is that the technique that you used? pic.twitter.com/gCzKMuUasY

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) November 11, 2017

Devin Brugman Red Bikini

She's so sweet.

Which should I️ post on IG? Right or left? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/b7XMLrLbEQ

— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) November 9, 2017

Natasha Oakley Nipples in White Dress

At Taxi Driver:

Natasha Oakley Nipples in Wet See Through White Dress - https://t.co/L1zrjjFPOz - pic.twitter.com/usAnfM18bQ

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) November 10, 2017

Caroline Wozniacki Body Paint (VIDEO)

Nice!

Crystal Renn Almost Loses Her Top (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

Tesla Tells Hundreds of Workers to Take a Hike, You're No Good

Tesla pfft.

I don't like that company.

At LAT, "Hundreds of Tesla workers were let go for subpar performance, the company says":

Outside #Tsla showroom in Walnut Creek, CA. Looks like alot of people are upset, even customers#model3delayed #whyelon pic.twitter.com/hDjwx2uS18

— Charlie (@TSLAEE) October 15, 2017

Firing hundreds of workers all at once is rare, at least in the auto industry. But Tesla Inc. does things differently.

Word leaked out Friday that the electric car, battery and solar roof company had bulk-fired several hundred employees.

The San Jose Mercury News, which broke that story, said Tesla made clear that workers were dismissed for subpar performance, not laid off. Layoffs tend be blamed on business conditions or overstuffed payrolls, not on job performance.

It's unclear how many of the company's 33,000 workers were cut. Tesla won't pinpoint the number. News reports put it between 400 and 1,200.

A factory employee told the Mercury News that about 60 fellow workers were told to head for the exit. The company said, however, that most of those dismissed work in administrative and sales jobs.

Some workers at the Tesla plant have been trying to organize a union.

"I had great performance reviews. I don't believe I was fired for performance," said Daniel Grant, who told The Times he's worked at Fremont factory since 2014 as a production assistant. He suspects he was fired because he raised safety issues and supported a union drive.

"The company didn't show me or others our most recent reviews when they fired us," Grant said. "I would like the company to release our full reviews, including peer reviews, to us."

An assembly line worker, Mike Williams, said his firing last week could not be the result of a bad performance review because, in his last review in 2016, "my supervisor had nothing but good things to say about me."

Other fired workers were treated the same, he said. "Our reviews were due in June. In June they told us they would be in August. In September they told us October."

Williams said he received a disciplinary write-up about a year ago for playing music that contained profanity but stopped when he was ordered to.
He was fired, he believes, because he spoke up about safety issues at employee meetings and because he wore a union shirt on what's become Union Shirt Friday for some workers at the Telsa plant. "I had a union sticker on my water bottle, too," he said.

Tesla declined to discuss the claims of either fired worker...

More.

Cadillac's CTS-V is High-End Hooligan

I never thought I'd get a Caddy, but this puppy could change my mind, lol.

At LAT, "Cadillac's CTS-V is a high-end hooligan that doubles as a daily driver":

Cadillac's CTS-V is a mild-mannered monster, a Clark Kent car that transforms instantly from milquetoast sedan to high-horsepower track master.

Moderately styled inside and out but massive under the hood, the CTS-V represents Cadillac's ambition to build the perfect all-around performance car — or what the company calls "the ultimate sports sedan."

"This is a car for someone who wants a car that can do everything," said Tony Roma, chief engineer for Cadillac's ATS, CTS and V-series family. "They don't want a fleet full of sports cars and luxury cars."

Cadillac has stuffed the CTS-V with sports car and luxury car appointments.

The four-door, five-passenger sedan is propelled by a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine, jointly designed by engineers from Cadillac and its GM sibling Corvette, that makes 640 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque.

The CTS-V engineers said they were trying for the throttle response of a Ferrari 458 and an engine growl that "barked with a special signature," helped in part by the quad exhaust system.

Check off that box. The rear-wheel-drive CTS-V is a rubber-burning, tail-wagging hooligan car.

The eight-speed transmission comes with a track mode and a launch control function. (The daily driver modes are Touring and Sport.) The 19-inch wheels are clad in performance tires. A front splitter and rear spoiler come standard.

Together, those elements allow this refined rocket to jet from zero to 60 miles per hour in a claimed 3.7 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 200 miles per hour.

Brembo brake calipers bring the vehicle back to earth. A magnetic ride control suspension system keeps it stable. A head-up display keeps the driver's eyes on the road, and the magnesium paddle shifters allow for a pleasantly engaged drive experience.

Of course, not all buyers will be ready to take advantage of the power, speed and handling of the CTS-V. So, Cadillac has thoughtfully included in the price of the car two days of "performance training" at a race track...

Keep reading.

I'd like to got to the race track, heh.

Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Shopping.

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Still more, Dickies Men's Sanded Duck Sherpa Lined Hooded Jacket.

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

Homeless People Cleared Out from Santa Ana River Trail

Brutal.

At LAT, "'It's been a night from hell': Homeless pushed out of Santa Ana River face uncertain futures": 

Lisa Weber pushed her red-rimmed glasses higher on the bridge of her nose Thursday morning as she pondered how best to move her belongings off the dirt trail she has called home for months.
Her blue eyes seemed to show a glimmer of hope in contrast with her doleful expression. A friend living in a tent farther down the trail passed by and waved.

Like other parts of California, Orange County has seen an uptick in its homeless population in recent years. Scores of homeless people who have set up camp in the past year along the quiet trail overlooking the Santa Ana River in Fountain Valley feel they’ve found safety and camaraderie there.

However, beginning Friday, Orange County sheriff’s deputies began evictions at the various homeless camps along the river as part of a crackdown sparked by complaints from nearby residents.

The situation underscores the tension created by the homeless surge in this suburban county, where officials removed bus benches near Disneyland after complaints from merchants and where a massive encampment in the Santa Ana Civic Center has sparked debate.

Many homeless people are now scrambling to figure out where to go next.

The county plans to permanently close the west side of the Santa Ana River flood-control channel between 17th Street in Santa Ana and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach as it prepares to start maintenance of flood-control district property along the trail, officials have said. That area includes the Fountain Valley encampment.

“I’m on my way out the gate,” Weber said as she looked toward the fence at the entrance to the river trail on Edinger Avenue. “I’m not scared because I have a plan, but I know other people are worried about where to go.”

Weber said she likely will begin sleeping in her Oldsmobile, which she recently bought for $100. The car runs, she said, but not very well. She’s afraid it eventually will be impounded because of child support she owes from decades ago.

But right now, she figures it’s her best option...

More.

Joseph Wheelan, Midnight in the Pacific

At Amazon, Joseph Wheelan, Midnight in the Pacific: Guadalcanal — The World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War.

Thomas Ricks Reviews Victor Davis Hanson's, The Second World Wars

At the New York Times, "World War II Seen by a Classicist, and Other New Books About Conflict":

As Thomas E. Ricks observes, some books look at war through a telescope, others through a microscope https://t.co/j7moEUyIA9

— New York Times Books (@nytimesbooks) November 9, 2017

For humanity in general, the low point of the 20th century was World War II, which Victor Davis Hanson accurately portrays as an unprecedented global bloodbath, killing about three percent of all human beings who were alive in 1939. Hanson, the Martin and Illie Anderson senior fellow in classics and military history at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, has a mixed reputation among military historians — essentially, it is that the further he wanders from his academic specialty of ancient Greek history, the less reliable he becomes. (For the details, see John A. Lynn’s “Battle: A History of Combat and Culture.”)

So I picked up Hanson’s THE SECOND WORLD WARS: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (Basic Books, $40) with some trepidation. To my surprise, I found it lively and provocative, full of the kind of novel perceptions that can make a familiar subject interesting again. It wouldn’t make a good introduction to World War II, but it may win readers already familiar with the conflict’s events.

Much of the book is written at the level of the strategic overview. Hanson notes, for instance, that both Germany and Japan probably would have won the war had they stopped early in 1941 and consolidated their gains in Europe and the western Pacific, without Germany attacking Russia and Japan pulling the United States into the conflict.

One of Hanson’s running themes is that the Allied victors mainly killed German and Japanese soldiers, while the Axis focused more on killing civilians. Over all, in its accounting of the global carnage, this book amounts to an ode in praise of deterrence and against appeasement and isolationism.

Hanson is most original and enjoyable when he uses his professional background in ancient history to illuminate 20th-century war...

More.

William Drozdiak, Fractured Continent

At Amazon, William Drozdiak, Fractured Continent: Europe's Crises and the Fate of the West.

Macy's to Close Westside Pavilion Store, Among Others (VIDEO)

The first of many more to come, no doubt.

At LAT, "Macy's is shutting its Westside Pavilion store and others in California":

Macy's Inc. plans to close its store at Los Angeles' Westside Pavilion mall, as well as two others in California, the retail giant said Thursday as it grapples with consumers' increasing shift to online shopping.

The closures, which include Macy's stores at the Laguna Hills Mall in Orange County and the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco, will occur early next year. It was not immediately known how many jobs would be affected.

The Macy's closure at Westside Pavilion probably is related to the recent opening of a new Macy's store at the nearby Westfield Century City mall, said Ron Friedman, co-head of retail and consumer products for Marcum.

"It's old, it hasn't been refreshed," he said of Westside Pavilion. "Why would I go to the Pavilion when I can go to brand new Century City?"

Located less than 2 miles from Westside Pavilion, Westfield Century City is wrapping up a two-year, $1-billion makeover into a high-end hangout and shopping destination.

The renovation brings five valet stations and more than 200 mostly new shops and restaurants, including famed chef Mario Batali's Eataly.

Analysts have said that malls of the future must be entertainment centers with a plethora of eating options to attract young consumers, rather than the current model that's heavily focused on apparel shops.

Westside Pavilion, owned by Santa Monica-based mall operator Macerich Co., recently lost its other anchor tenant Nordstrom to Westfield Century City...

I never go to the Laguna Hills mall. In fact, I'd forgotten about it.

Shop Deals

At Amazon, Deals Today.

Here, Bass G.H Co. Men's Weejuns Larson Penny Loafer Shoe.

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

And, CLIF BAR - Energy Bar - Crunchy Peanut Butter - (2.4 Ounce Protein Bar, 12 Count).

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BONUS: Philip Roth, Exit Ghost.

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Never Believed Trump Would Help

At Politico, "Johnstown Never Believed Trump Would Help. They Still Love Him Anyway":

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Pam Schilling is the reason Donald Trump is the president.

Schilling’s personal story is in poignant miniature the story of this area of western Pennsylvania as a whole—one of the long-forgotten, woebegone spots in the middle of the country that gave Trump his unexpected victory last fall. She grew up in nearby Nanty Glo, the daughter and granddaughter of coal miners. She once had a union job packing meat at a grocery store, and then had to settle for less money at Walmart. Now she’s 60 and retired, and last year, in April, as Trump’s shocking political ascent became impossible to ignore, Schilling’s 32-year-old son died of a heroin overdose. She found needles in the pockets of the clothes he wore to work in the mines before he got laid off.

Desperate for change, Schilling, like so many other once reliable Democrats in these parts, responded enthusiastically to what Trump was saying—building a wall on the Mexican border, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, bringing back jobs in steel and coal. That’s what Trump told them. At a raucous rally in late October, right downtown in their minor-league hockey arena, he vowed to restore the mines and the mills that had been the lifeblood of the region until they started closing some 40 years ago, triggering the “American carnage” Trump would talk about in his inaugural address: massive population loss, shrinking tax rolls, communal hopelessness and ultimately a raging opioid epidemic. When Trump won, people here were ecstatic. But they’d heard generations of politicians make big promises before, and they were also impatient for him to deliver.

“Six months to a year,” catering company owner Joey Del Signore told me when we met days after the election. “A couple months,” retired nurse Maggie Frear said, before saying it might take a couple years. “He’s just got to follow through with what he said he was going to do,” Schilling said last November. Back then, there was an all-but-audible “or else.”

A year later, the local unemployment rate has ticked down, and activity in a few coal mines has ticked up. Beyond that, though, not much has changed—at least not for the better. Johnstown and the surrounding region are struggling in the same ways and for the same reasons. The drug problem is just as bad. “There’s nothing good in the area,” Schilling said the other day in her living room. “I don’t have anything good to say about anything in this area. It’s sad.” Even so, her backing for Trump is utterly undiminished: “I’m a supporter of him, 100 percent.”

What I heard from Schilling is overwhelmingly what I heard in my follow-up conversations with people here that I talked to last year as well. Over the course of three rainy, dreary days last week, I revisited and shook hands with the president’s base—that thirtysomething percent of the electorate who resolutely approve of the job he is doing, the segment of voters who share his view that the Russia investigation is a “witch hunt” that “has nothing to do with him,” and who applaud his judicial nominees and his determination to gut the federal regulatory apparatus. But what I wasn’t prepared for was how readily these same people had abandoned the contract he had made with them. Their satisfaction with Trump now seems untethered to the things they once said mattered to them the most.

“I don’t know that he has done a lot to help,” Frear told me. Last year, she said she wouldn’t vote for him again if he didn’t do what he said he was going to do. Last week, she matter-of-factly stated that she would. “Support Trump? Sure,” she said. “I like him.”

Keep reading.

Electoral Landscape Remains Forbidding for Democrats

Following-up from last night, "Democrats Sweep in Virginia, New Jersey, and the Left Coast."

At Politico, "Democrats euphoric after Tuesday election romp: Wins in Virginia and across the country buoy the party's hopes about the 2018 midterms":

Virginia is a blue state now for two reasons: 1.) mass immigration (legal & illegal) and 2.) massive, growing dependence on Big Gov't.

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 8, 2017

Jubilant Democrats struck a defiant tone after sweeping victories across the country on Tuesday night, led by Democrat Ralph Northam’s surprise pummeling of Republican Ed Gillespie in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.

Surveying their first electoral sweep in half a decade after a soul-crushing 2016 campaign and a desultory start to the Donald Trump era, Democratic leaders reset their expectations for the 2018 midterms. They're now expecting a fundraising and candidate recruitment surge, powered by grass-roots fury at the Trump administration.

While most Democrats stopped short of predicting the party will take the House next year, they noted in Gillespie the failure of a candidate who tried balancing between Trump-style populism and establishment Republicanism.

“We were all under a lot of pressure saying we need to win this thing, we need a boost. But we gave a rocket boost tonight,” said outgoing Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, celebrating at Northam’s election night party. The result in the race to replace him, he said, “is a rejection of Trump, of the hatred and bigoted fear that they always bring into these campaigns.”

“I certainly didn’t see this ass-kicking coming; this is pretty stunning,” added Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “Republicans have two problems: their president and their agenda. And I don’t think either of those liabilities are disappearing anytime soon.”

The shifted landscape remains forbidding for Democrats. They must flip 24 Republican-held seats to win the House, and are forced to defend 10 incumbent senators running for reelection in states that Trump won in 2016. They must also handle a range of painful internal tactical and policy divisions threatening to rupture their unity at any moment.

Plus, Tuesday's wide victories came in one solidly Democratic state and another that's been leaning that way, making it potentially perilous to read too much into their results.

But paired with Phil Murphy’s long-expected victory in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, upsets in Virginia’s House of Delegates races, and wins in mayoral elections from New Hampshire to Florida, the evening presented Democrats with a night to celebrate for the first time since Trump’s shocking victory in November 2016. They have repeatedly fallen short in special elections in conservative areas so far this year, but Tuesday’s results wiped that slate nearly clean in the eyes of stunned party operatives and lawmakers...

Well, we'll know in one year. We'll know if the Democrats can surge back to power in the House.

More.

Democrats Sweep in Virginia, New Jersey, and the Left Coast

It's a big night for the Dems, and the battle for 2018 starts now. If Republicans lose the house that's big. Only a year away, amazing.

At the Hill, "Dems win from coast to coast, claim total control of 2 new states and find their mojo in age of Trump":

Democrats roared back on Tuesday a year after suffering perhaps the most demoralizing defeat in modern political history, claiming big victories in races up and down the ballot and across the country.

The breadth of the Democratic wins surprised even the most optimistic party stalwarts, who fretted over their own chances in key races Tuesday. But as the results rolled in, those Democrats said they had energized their core voters and capitalized on President Trump's unpopularity to reach swing voters.

"This is not a wave. This is a tsunami," Virginia Del. David Toscano, leader of the Democratic caucus, told The Hill in an interview Tuesday night. "This is a huge, huge sea change here in Virginia."

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) won the Virginia governorship by a wider-than-expected margin, even with Democrats fretting about his late campaign strategy. Democrat Justin Fairfax won the lieutenant governor's office, becoming only the second African American to win a statewide post in Virginia since Reconstruction, while Attorney General Mark Herring (D) won re-election.

In New Jersey, former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy (D) easily won the right to replace deeply unpopular Gov. Chris Christie (R), cementing Democratic control in the Garden State.

In Washington, Democrat Manka Dhingra (D) appeared headed for victory in a special election to fill an open state Senate seat. Dhingra's win, in a formerly Republican district, would give Democrats control of all levers of government in the Evergreen State.

Democrats won at least 14 seats in Virginia's House of Delegates, with another three likely headed to a recount. They picked up at least two seats in New Jersey's state Senate, with several Senate and Assembly districts yet to count ballots, and a seat in New Hampshire's state House.

Georgia Democrats celebrated winning two deep red districts in special state House elections. Two Democrats appear likely to face off in a runoff in a suburban Atlanta state Senate district formerly held by a Republican after finishing first and second in the all-party primary — a result that would break the GOP's supermajority.

Even local elections tipped left on Tuesday. In St. Petersburg, Fla., Mayor Rick Kriseman won re-election, after campaigning with former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democratic stalwarts, over former Mayor Rick Baker, an upset in a race in which early polls showed Baker leading.

In Manchester, Joyce Craig became the first woman to win the mayor's office, and the first Democrat to win the city since 2003, after she ousted four-term incumbent Ted Gatsas (R).

Senior Democratic strategists said their candidates had found a way to tie Republican candidates to the deeply unpopular president, not through his uncouth statements and behavior but through his unpopular policies...

Well, it does seem like a referendum, that's for sure.

More.

Also, at LAT, "Democrats seize Virginia and New Jersey governorships in elections seen as precursors of 2018 fights."

Tonight: Democrat had a better night that they even dreamed, while Republicans contemplate a complicated 2018 https://t.co/z1PmSPSU1I

— Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) November 8, 2017

Devin P. Kelley, Sutherland Shooting Suspect, Broke Infant Stepson's Skull and Assaulted Wife

Following-up from earlier, "Devin P. Kelley, Sutherland Shooting Suspect, Once Escaped From Mental Health Facility."

This was one very bad person. Extremely bad. Evil.

At the New York Times, "In 2012 Assault, Texas Gunman Broke Skull of Infant Stepson":

Before killing dozens of people in a Texas church, Devin Kelley was convicted of breaking his infant stepson’s skull https://t.co/F4Z3pveAI0

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 7, 2017

NEW BRAUNFELS, Tex. — He beat his wife, cracked his toddler stepson’s skull and was kicked out of the military. He drove away friends, drew attention from the police and abused his dog. Before Devin P. Kelley entered a rural Texas church with a military-style rifle, killing at least 26 people on Sunday, he led a deeply troubled life in which few in his path escaped unscathed.

In 2012, while stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Mr. Kelley was charged with assault, according to Air Force records, which said he had repeatedly struck, kicked and choked his first wife beginning just months into their marriage, and hit his stepson’s head with what the Air Force described as “a force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm.”

“He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull,” said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force, adding, “He pled to intentionally doing it.”

Prosecutors withdrew several other charges as part of their plea agreement with Mr. Kelley, including allegations that he repeatedly pointed a loaded gun at his wife.

He was ultimately sentenced in November that year to 12 months’ confinement and reduction to the lowest possible rank. His final duty title was “prisoner.”

His first wife, Tessa Kelley, divorced him while he was confined and was awarded the couple’s only four household items of value: a television, an Xbox, a wedding ring and a revolver.

After his confinement, Mr. Kelley was forced out of the military with a bad conduct discharge. The Air Force said the conviction should have barred Mr. Kelley from owning any guns. Instead, law enforcement officials say, he bought several.

Friends from New Braunfels, Tex., where he went to high school, expressed shock in the aftermath of the shooting, remembering how Mr. Kelley was a friendly, if awkward, teenager who grew up active in his church. His senior yearbook photo shows him smiling, with untamed hair and a Hollister T-shirt. But in recent years, friends said, he grew so dark that many unfriended him on Facebook.

“I had always known there was something off about him. But he wasn’t always a ‘psychopath,’” a longtime friend, Courtney Kleiber, posted on Facebook on Sunday. “We had a lot of good times together. Over the years we all saw him change into something that he wasn’t. To be completely honest, I’m really not surprised this happened, and I don’t think anyone who knew him is very surprised either.”

Instead of straightening out after his bad conduct discharge, Mr. Kelley began a long downward slide that culminated in the shooting Sunday.

After getting out of confinement, Mr. Kelley moved into a barn at his parents’ house, which they had converted into an apartment, according to the local sheriff’s office records.

During the next two years, he was investigated twice for abusing women. The authorities in Comal County, which includes Mr. Kelley’s hometown New Braunfels, released records on Monday that showed he had been the subject of an investigation for sexual assault and rape in 2013.

The investigation ended without the filing of any charges — Mr. Kelley’s only skirmishes in the local courts were traffic violations...

More.

Yuri Slezkine, The House of Government

This looks fascinating.

At Amazon, Yuri Slezkine, The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution.

Katie Salmon on a Paddleboard

At Taxi Driver, "Katie Salmon Topless on a Paddleboard."

Devin P. Kelley, Sutherland Shooting Suspect, Once Escaped From Mental Health Facility

This is really major, a major nugget of information, especially considering the left's diabolical politicization of the attack within minutes of the first breaking news.

At the Other McCain, "Crazy People Are Dangerous":

Once upon a time in America, crazy people were locked up in lunatic asylums, but then liberals decided we needed “reform.” So they turned loose the lunatics and enacted laws to prevent us from “discriminating” against crazy people. (This was just about the time, coincidentally or not, that Democrat George McGovern picked that kook Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.) Deranged and demented people weren’t the problem, according to liberals. “Society” was the problem. All we had to do is to remove the “stigma” from mental illness, they told us, and these wackos and weirdos could live among us in peace and harmony.

And at the New York Times, "Texas Church Gunman Once Escaped From Mental Health Facility":

Wow. Texas church gunman escaped from a mental health facility & threatened his Air Force superiors https://t.co/yPj6Fr5W25

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 7, 2017

The gunman who killed 26 people in a rural Texas church on Sunday escaped from a psychiatric hospital while he was in the Air Force, after making death threats against his superiors and trying to smuggle weapons onto the base where he was stationed, a 2012 police report shows.

The police took the man, Devin P. Kelley, into custody at a bus station in downtown El Paso, where he apparently planned to flee on a bus after escaping from Peak Behavioral Health Services, a hospital a few miles away in Santa Teresa, N.M. He was sent there after being charged in a military court with assaulting his wife and baby stepson, charges he later pleaded guilty to.

The report filed by the El Paso officers says that the person who reported Mr. Kelley missing from the hospital advised them that he “suffered from mental disorders,” and that he “was attempting to carry out death threats” against “his military chain of command.” The man “was a danger to himself and others as he had already been caught sneaking firearms onto Holloman Air Force Base,” it added. The police report was published on Tuesday by KPRC, a Houston television station.

Later that year, Mr. Kelley pleaded guilty in a military court to repeated assaults on his wife and her son, a toddler, including one that left the boy with a fractured skull. He was sentenced to a year in a Navy prison.

At a news conference Tuesday, investigators said they had hit a roadblock as they tried to fathom what motivated Mr. Kelley’s rampage at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs: they have not been able to unlock his cellphone, reviving an issue that received national attention after another mass shooting almost two years ago.

Law enforcement officers recovered the phone carried by Mr. Kelley and sent it to the F.B.I. laboratory in Quantico, Va., for examination.

Scott Adams, Win Bigly

At Amazon, Scott Adams, Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter.

A.C. Grayling, Democracy and Its Crisis

All these learned progressives trying to figure out what went wrong, lol.

They might read Laura Ingraham, for a start.

In any case, at Amazon, A.C. Grayling, Democracy and Its Crisis.

Shop Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And especially, Shop Char-Broil Gas Grills.

Also, Black & Decker WP900 6-Inch Random Orbit Waxer/Polisher.

Here, Meguiar's G18216 Ultimate Liquid Wax - 16 oz. Size: 16 Ounce.

Still more, Paul Mitchell Super Strong Daily Shampoo and Conditioner Liter Duo Set 33.8 Oz.

And, Java Planet - Good Morning USDA Organic Coffee Beans, Medium Roast, Arabica Gourmet Coffee Grade A, packaged in two 1 LB bags.

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More here, Aquafina Water, 16.9 oz (Pack of 24).

BONUS: Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes, The Soviet World of American Communism.

Twenty-Six Murdered in Texas Church Shooting (VIDEO)

I had to go off Twitter last night, the leftist ghouls were so bad. Some were even cheering the slaughter, saying it was all Texans anyway, and it made him happy. (That guy deleted his tweets later.)

The suspects was dishonorably discharged and court-marshalled, and was this prohibited from possessing. No gun control would have prevented this massacre, since he didn't abide by the law.

More later.

Meanwhile, at Dallas Morning News, "Sutherland Springs church massacre wasn't random, Abbott suggests."

And at CBS News This Morning:

Chloe Goodman

A fine young thing, at Taxi Driver, "Chloe Goodman Forgot Her Bra on Her Night Out."

President Trump Bringing Most Conservative Agenda in a Generation

Even more conservative than President Ronald Reagan, argues Steven Hayward, at LAT, via Instapundit, "WEIRD HOW BILL KRISTOL STILL SEEMS SO CHAFED: Despite the chaos, Trump has managed to push the most conservative agenda in a generation.

“This hitherto ideologically unmoored man has set in motion an administration arguably more conservative than Ronald Reagan’s. While the Congress controlled by his adopted party remains gridlocked, Trump is rolling back regulations and a number of the Obama administration’s most controversial achievements, including the internal structure of Obamacare and the Clean Power Plan. His foreign policy resets look increasingly sure-footed. His judicial nominees are uniformly conservative. It is inconceivable that any of the other leading Republican candidates from the 2016 cycle would have governed as boldly as Trump has.”

LOLZ: Woman Gets Fired for Giving President Trump's Motorcade the Bird

You gotta love it, at HuffPost, "Woman Fired for Flipping Off Donald Trump's Motorcade."

Damn. @jbendery tracked down the woman pictured flipping off Trump’s motorcade who was… subsequently… fired https://t.co/detJtMEHtE

— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 6, 2017

Armando Lucas Correa, The German Girl

At Amazon, Armando Lucas Correa, The German Girl: A Novel.

Emily Ratajkowski Topless Dance Moves (VIDEO)

At the link, via Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, "Emily Ratajkowski Dances, Nina Agdal Goes Bare & More Viral Moments."

Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky

At Amazon, Mark Sullivan, Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel.