Huge Rhian Sugden

At Taxi Driver:

Rhian Sugden Huge Boobs in Black Lace Lingerie Selfie - https://t.co/yDd5pP0n7L - pic.twitter.com/7LKKKEPbYV

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) October 17, 2019

Emily Agnes

At Drunken Stepfather, "EMILY AGNES OF THE DAY."

Jennifer Delacruz's Monday Forecast

Very warm late-October weather, with real fire danger from the winds.

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

Searing Moment in the Middle East

For the record, I'm not pleased with President Trump's handling of Syria and Turkey this past week or so. Not pleased at all. Yeah, I can dig the current public sentiment to wind things down, and end "regime change wars," but previous commitments should be honored and our dealings with allies should be respectful and up and up. It's especially disgraceful to cough up territory and control in places Americans have shed blood, to say nothing of fierce fighters like the Kurds.

Oh well.

At WaPo, "The hasty U.S. pullback from Syria is a searing moment in America’s withdrawal from the Middle East":

The hasty U.S. pullback from Syria is a searing moment in America’s withdrawal from the Middle East https://t.co/Gk8dYbpM2N

— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) October 17, 2019

BEIRUT — The blow to America’s standing in the Middle East was sudden and unexpectedly swift. Within the space of a few hours, advances by Turkish troops in Syria this week had compelled the U.S. military’s Syrian Kurdish allies to switch sides, unraveled years of U.S. Syria policy and recalibrated the balance of power in the Middle East.

As Russian and Syrian troops roll into vacated towns and U.S. bases, the winners are counting the spoils.

The withdrawal delivered a huge victory to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who won back control of an area roughly amounting to a third of the country almost overnight. It affirmed Moscow as the arbiter of Syria’s fate and the rising power in the Middle East. It sent another signal to Iran that Washington has no appetite for the kind of confrontation that its rhetoric suggests and that Iran’s expanded influence in Syria is now likely to go unchallenged.

It sent a message to the wider world that the United States is in the process of a disengagement that could resonate beyond the Middle East, said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

“There’s a sense that the long goodbye has begun and that the long goodbye from the Middle East could become a long goodbye from Asia and everywhere else,” he said.

Images shared on social media underscored the indignity of the retreat. Departing U.S. troops in sophisticated armored vehicles passed Syrian army soldiers riding in open-top trucks on a desert highway. An embedded Russian journalist took selfies on the abandoned U.S. base in Manbij, where U.S. forces had fought alongside their Kurdish allies to drive out the Islamic State in 2015.

“Only yesterday they were here, and now we are here,” said the journalist, panning the camera around the intact infrastructure, including a radio tower and a button-powered traffic-control gate that he showed was still functioning.

“Let’s see how they lived and what they ate,” he said, before ducking into one of the tents and filming the soldiers’ discarded snacks.

On Arab news channels, coverage switched from footage of jubilant Syrian troops to scenes of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lavish receptions by the monarchs of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Washington’s most vital Arab allies in the Persian Gulf. The visits had been long planned, but the timing gave them the feel of a victory lap.

“This has left a bad taste for all of America’s friends and allies in the region, not only among the Kurds,” said a former regional minister who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to not embarrass his government, an American ally. “Many will now be looking for new friends. The Russians don’t abandon their allies. They fight for them. And so do the Iranians.”

It was the manner of the withdrawal, hastily called amid chaos on the battlefield as Turkish forces pushed deep into Syria, that gave the event such impact in the region, analysts said. Few had anticipated that the most advanced military in the world would make such a scrambled and hasty departure, even after President Trump signaled he would not endorse a war on behalf of the Kurds against a U.S. NATO ally.

Less than 48 hours before the withdrawal announcement, U.S. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had given assurances that the troops would remain indefinitely, standing by their Kurdish partners to continue to hunt down the Islamic State.

 But the Turks’ capture Sunday of a key highway that served as the U.S. troops’ main supply line revealed the fragility of a mission that had narrowly focused on the Islamic State fight while neglecting regional dynamics, including the depth of Turkish animosity to the Kurdish militia with which the United States had teamed up...

More.

Tulsi Gabbard Slams Hillary Clinton, the 'Queen of Warmongers'

Just beautiful.

At Epoch Times, "Gabbard: Clinton Smeared Me Because ‘She Won’t be Able to Control Me’ If I’m Elected President."

And on Tucker's below:

Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a ...

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019

... powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.

It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 18, 2019

Lindsey Pelas

She's a cool tweep, responding frequently to her followers.

rawr pic.twitter.com/47Helb4W63

— Lindsey Pelas (@LindseyPelas) September 10, 2019

😚😚 pic.twitter.com/8etINdrtoV

— Lindsey Pelas (@LindseyPelas) September 24, 2019

my twins big like tia tamera 👯‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/GMRsKqQl8y

— Lindsey Pelas (@LindseyPelas) October 4, 2019

Hillary Clinton Asked to Leave Costco

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "I’m so old, I can remember when the Babylon Bee was still a satiric Website, before morphing into America’s Paper of Record..."

Hillary Clinton Asked To Leave Costco After Repeatedly Accusing Sample Lady Of Being A Russian Assethttps://t.co/G6UAE7bhSW

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) October 18, 2019

Alex Biston's Saturday Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Alex, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Kimberley Strassel on the Eric Metaxas Radio Show (VIDEO)

She's on tour to promote her book, Resistance (At All Costs): How Trump Haters Are Breaking America.

And with Eric Metaxas:

Demi Lovato Leaked Photos

At LAT, "Demi Lovato’s nude photos leak after her Snapchat is hacked."

And Drunken Stepfather, "DEMI LOVATO SKINNY NUDES BEFORE THE OD OF THE DAY," and Celeb Jihad, "DEMI LOVATO LEAKS NEW SET OF NUDE PHOTOS."

Detroit Couple Hoped to Make It Big in Hollywood, Now They're Homeless

Dashed hopes on the hard streets of L.A.

At the Los Angeles Times, "They came to L.A. to chase a Hollywood dream. Two weeks later, they were homeless":

YES, LA DREAM ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE. They came to L.A. to chase a Hollywood dream. Two weeks later, they were homeless. Powerful ⁦@LATimescitybeat⁩ column https://t.co/nQp8jIbvYu

— Shelby Grad (@shelbygrad) October 19, 2019

So many people come to L.A. carrying little else but big dreams. One misstep, one con, one stroke of bad luck can be all it takes to derail them.

I recently met a young couple from Detroit whose journey here started with great hope.

They arrived last spring in possession of a promise, $800, two backpacks and two duffel bags.

The promise was what had prompted them to leave home. But it was broken that first day, before they left LAX.

Their interactions in our city then began to fray so fast that two weeks later they were sleeping on our sidewalks.

I asked them if I could tell their story in part to remind us all how swiftly disaster can strike, but also as a nudge to contemplate how we treat others — our newcomers, our most vulnerable, those we routinely write off.

Why tell a person you’ll help them if really you won’t? Some people like to toy, cats pawing at mice.

In Detroit, Loxk Calhoun (pronounced Lock, born DaShawn), had been scraping by for two years on his own since his mother kicked him out at 18. He was thrilled when someone in the music business encouraged him to come to L.A. He describes himself as an audio engineer who also writes music and raps and performs. He wants to be better known. The guy from L.A. said if Loxk just flew out here, he’d put him up and help make that happen.

But Loxk got here and he didn’t. He offered no help at all. When Loxk called from LAX, he said he’d be out of town for a long time.

Loxk and his girlfriend, Bri Meilbeck, who just turned 24, suddenly had only each other. They were novice travelers. They’d been together just one month. In a giant city, they had no one else whose support they knew they could count on.

In a fix, Loxk called another contact on his phone — a music producer he hadn’t yet met. He was relieved when this virtual stranger said that he and Bri could come stay. But the West Hollywood house they arrived at, which looked like a mansion on the outside, turned out to have bedroom after bedroom crammed with bunk beds. Bri and Loxk didn’t know how many there were or even whose house it was.

They also didn’t know that the producer to whom they had given some money owed rent — until one night after dark they got the word that the landlord wanted them gone at once.

This was the moment when they slipped into homelessness and slipped out of the world as they’d known it. They were the only ones who noticed. They had just $50 left.

As they strained to lug all they owned out the door, they knew that they would have to own less. At a dumpster, they shed a lot of favorite clothes, including Bri’s pink Adidas track suit.

Where to go was a problem. They didn’t know L.A.

But there had been a moment during those early days when they were feeling so overwhelmed by the strangeness of it all that they needed to get away and be alone. So they’d splurged on a cheap room at the Las Palmas Hotel in Hollywood, which in “Pretty Woman” is where Julia Roberts lived in the tough times before Richard Gere.

They’d liked that little brush with fame, though there’d be no fairy-tale rescue for them. Now pushed out of the house, they went back to the Las Palmas and scaled the fence of the park next door. Trying not to be seen, they avoided the playground’s rubber mats and lay down on pavement under Bri’s faux fur coat. All that night, she kept her eyes open.

A couple of years earlier, Bri had gotten very close to finishing college. She’d had her act together. She’d never imagined this.

“I was very scared. You could hear people yelling and screaming. I thought someone was going to rob us,” she told me. On her phone, she searched the discussions on the social news website Reddit, typing in phrases: “I just became homeless,” “Where do homeless people go in L.A.?”

Early the next morning on Venice Beach, the two bummed a smoke from a homeless man with a dog. He offered up tips for their new life.

Wear fresh socks to avoid infections. Go to St. Joseph Center for help. He walked around with them looking for a tarp and pieces of cardboard for their bedding.

That night and for a few nights to come, until they could get their own, he let them sleep in his little tent, squeezed in with him and his German shepherd, in front of the Public Storage at 4th and Rose avenues...

More.

Saddleridge Fire, Porter Ranch, Los Angeles (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "For Porter Ranch, Saddleridge fire is the latest disaster on a growing list."

And, "Saddleridge fire’s rapid spread left residents little time to get out," and "City and state declare emergencies as Saddleridge fire burns homes in the Valley."

Classic Rock Show, 'All Along the Watchtower' (VIDEO)

I literally listen to this every day. Mindbogglingly good.

The band's website is here. I wish they'd tour the U.S., man.

Jennifer Delacruz's Saturday Forecast

I haven't seen Ms. Jennifer in a while --- she's spectacular!

It's hot and fiery weather, though. Take it easy out there if you're in California.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

Fred Anderson, Crucible of War

At Amazon, Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766.

Ronan Farrow, Catch and Kill

At NPR, "In 'Catch and Kill,' Ronan Farrow Offers a Damning Portrait of a Conflicted NBC."

And at Amazon, Ronan Farrow, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.

Shepard Smith Out at Fox News

I don't watch shep, so I missed his live announcement.

At AoSHQ:

how can you not love Ace's HQ?https://t.co/BsRObYRb1O

— SynodeAmazonie Aka Heresy Island (@lamblock) October 11, 2019

Alexis Ren Stunt Team (VIDEO)

Seen on Twitter:

Rehearsals for south of the border music video ❤️ only had one day for rehearsals but my stunt team kicked my butt for 6 hours 😂 pic.twitter.com/Biua09Lw5c

— Alexis Ren (@AlexisRenG) October 10, 2019

New Bella Thorne Bikini Photos

At Drunken Stepfather, "BELLA THORNE CRACKHEAD BIKINI OF THE DAY."

Heh. Don't Litter

On Twitter:

This is awesome https://t.co/qSbQ2Ic7kM

— Kandi Rider (@KandiRider) September 28, 2019

Nice Lady

Seen on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/JT1rDec2wn

— ❤❤عاشق ❤❤ (@hwawii69) October 4, 2019

Lights Out in California

It's Chuck DeVore, at the Federalist, "The Lights Are Out in California, And That Was the Plan All Along."

3 million Californians may go without power.https://t.co/YpIaRUxDRF

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) October 9, 2019

Homelessness in San Francisco

What a nightmare.

From Heather Mac Donald, at City Journal, "San Francisco, Hostage to the Homeless."

For the last three decades, San Francisco has conducted a real-life experiment in what happens when a society stops enforcing bourgeois norms of behavior—in the name of compassion toward the homeless. The results have been the opposite. https://t.co/QOREy5oiAV via @HMDatMI

— City Journal (@CityJournal) October 7, 2019

The stories that the homeless tell about their lives reveal that something far more complex than a housing shortage is at work. The tales veer from one confused and improbable situation to the next, against a backdrop of drug use, petty crime, and chaotic child-rearing. Behind this chaos lies the dissolution of those traditional social structures that once gave individuals across the economic spectrum the ability to withstand setbacks and lead sober, self-disciplined lives: marriage, parents who know how to parent, and conventional life scripts that create purpose and meaning. There are few policy levers to change this crisis of meaning in American culture. What is certain is that the ongoing crusade to normalize drug use, along with the absence of any public encouragement of temperance, will further handicap this unmoored population.

RTWT.

Britney Spears Stretching

I wonder how she's doing lately, with all her legal issues?

At Drunken Stepfather, "BRITNEY SPEARS DEEP STRETCH OF THE DAY."

'Suddenly, banks have been left grudgingly weighing the benefits of a party run by neo-Marxists, radical union leaders and lawmakers with a history of supporting communist regimes...'

You can't be serious?!

You gotta read this piece on Britain's Labor Party, and especially how open Labor is to what's essentially a communist political economy.

At the New York Times, "Jeremy Corbyn or No-Deal Brexit? The U.K. Might Have to Choose":

Why are capitalists warming to the leftist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn? “The Tories are promising the most radical and extreme economic intervention probably in 200 years,” says one analyst. “Any of Labour’s policies pale in significance." https://t.co/JSPBQGPrBK

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) October 6, 2019

LONDON — He is the bane of bankers, a bearded, teetotaling socialist often derided in the British press and in Parliament for his efforts to suppress dissent inside the Labour Party and his radical plans to remake the British economy.

But in the unmitigated chaos of Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn, the opposition Labour leader, is trying to remint himself as a safe pair of hands, and an unlikely salve to jittery British markets panicked by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans for an abrupt split with the European Union.

And, surprisingly, it might be working.

“‘What method of execution would you prefer?’ is basically the question,” said David Willetts, a Conservative former minister who was once an aide to Margaret Thatcher. “Corbyn would in normal circumstances look like an off-the-scale risky gamble. However, Brexit is the single biggest change in Britain’s economic and political relations in 40 years, so Brexit itself is an off-the-scale economic gamble.”

With an early election looming, Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party, once a friend to big business and a refuge for establishment figures of all types, has torched one convention after another, creating dust-ups with Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Court and Parliament. The prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal, proffered last week to Brussels, was met with so much dismay that most analysts believe he is fully resigned to Britain leaving the bloc without one.

That has turned Mr. Corbyn — a lifelong rabble-rouser and one of the most left-wing leaders in Labour’s century-long history — into an improbable figure of restraint. He is implacably opposed to a no-deal Brexit and promises a second referendum that could reverse the split altogether...

Keep reading.

Amateur Rocks Black Dress (VIDEO)

Watch, "Amateur: The Hardest a Black Dress Has Ever Been Rocked."

James Bond Nostalgia

On Twitter:

Celebrate #JamesBondDay with the first poster for #NoTimeToDie #Bond25 pic.twitter.com/EoU4PXhxwX

— James Bond (@007) October 5, 2019

Happy James Bond Day. The World Premiere of the first 007 film DR. NO was on this day in 1962. How will you be celebrating? #JamesBondDay pic.twitter.com/6aPr4vGC5X

— James Bond (@007) October 5, 2019

On October 5th, 1962, Sean Connery was introduced to the world as Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Tonight, be sure to watch the movie that started it all, and celebrate with a martini, shaken, not stirred of course... #JamesBondDay @007 pic.twitter.com/e6AUVdPz0i

— Jack Carr (@JackCarrUSA) October 5, 2019

The 'Just Society' of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

It's statist collectivism, socialism in all but name.

At Fox News, "AOC pushes national rent control, welfare for illegal immigrants in latest massive proposal":

Keep talking crazy person! Love it. @realDonaldTrump & GOP landslide coming. https://t.co/ktu9dnfwEq

— Wayne Allyn Root (@RealWayneRoot) October 5, 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is promoting a new package of left-wing economic policies, including national rent control and expanding welfare to illegal immigrants across the country, as part of a massive new proposal aiming to achieve a “just society.”

The freshman lawmaker, who champions the multi-trillion-dollar Green New Deal proposal to combat economic inequality and climate change, has now proposed a package of bills aimed at solving perceived economic injustice.

“A just society provides a living wage, safe working conditions, and healthcare. A just society acknowledges the value of immigrants to our communities. A just society guarantees safe, comfortable, and affordable housing,” the website for the package says. “By strengthening our social and economic foundations, we are preparing ourselves to embark on the journey to save our planet by rebuilding our economy and cultivate a just society.”

That “Just Society” proposals are made up of six different pieces of legislation that deal with issues including housing, welfare, poverty and human rights.

“The Place to Prosper Act” would prevent year-over-year rent increases of more than three percent. Meanwhile, “The Embrace Act” would allow illegal immigrants to claim the same welfare benefits as U.S. citizens and those immigrants here legally,

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law ... an individual who is an alien (without regard to the immigration status of that alien) may not be denied any Federal public benefit solely on the basis of the individual’s immigration status,” the bill reads.

A federal public benefit is defined as: “any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and...any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States.”

A similar bill “The Mercy in Re-entry Act” uses similar language to stop the granting of public benefits based on whether a person was convicted of a criminal offense...

Yes, let's joke about what a "crazy person" she is, but imagine, if folks don't take this seriously, what will happen if the Democrats win power in 2020.

'The impeachment nightmare that House Democrats are so eagerly plunging the country into now is merely another outbreak of that party’s inability to accept the voters’ verdict of 2016...'

From Andrew Malcolm, at McClatchy, "Clinton and Russia didn’t take down Trump, so Democrats try Ukraine and impeachment":

Week's Most-Read Column--Remember Clinton was so shaken by Trump's upset win she couldn't compose herself to concede election night? The Dem #impeachment effort began that same night https://t.co/BJNhvr6E4N pic.twitter.com/MNA8nKophd

— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) October 5, 2019

Donald Trump’s unlikely victory was so shocking for Hillary Clinton and her lazy, overconfident campaign team and supporters that she was emotionally unable to compose herself for a concession speech until the next day.

Which suggests to many that voters made the correct choice for commander in chief, even if they have real doubts about Trump.

Clinton and her crowd have never recovered. Even before Trump took the oath and could perform an actual high crime or misdemeanor in office, an impeachment campaign was underway.

Now, billionaire Tom Steyer and noisy segments of that Democratic caucus have finally succeeded in forcing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch the preliminary impeachment inquiry, which — news flash! — has actually been playing out in the House Judiciary Committee since mid-summer. The Ukraine phone call is the cover story for a foregone impeachment conclusion.

It’s never surprising anymore that politicians alter their tune with each day’s changing climate. Here’s Pelosi last March:

“Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.”

Here’s Pelosi last week: “Right now, we have to strike while the iron is hot.”

The president’s high crime she professed to see even before the July Ukraine phone transcript emerged was Trump pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Ukraine’s president has denied any quid pro quo or feeling any pressure from Trump.

Here’s an amazing irony that somehow hasn’t attracted the same volume of media attention: That same Joe Biden is currently on the presidential campaign trail, boasting that, in fact, as a sitting vice president he did threaten Ukraine with a quid pro quo loss of aid if it didn’t fire the prosecutor investigating an energy company that was paying Biden’s son $50,000 a month for something. Biden succeeded.

This latest assault on Trump was sparked by a whistleblower alleging, albeit secondhand, that the president personally was pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden, a possible opponent next year. Turns out, the informant is a CIA employee, giving credence to a prescient 2017 warning from Sen. Chuck Schumer when Trump first criticized intelligence agencies.

“Let me tell you,” Schumer said, “You take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.”

Realistically, neither of these impeachment inquiries will accomplish anything. That is, beyond drowning out any other attempts at newsmaking to impress voters...

More.

Xi Jinping Jonesin' for Maoism

This is interesting.

From Elizabeth Economy, at Foreign Affairs, "China’s Neo-Maoist Moment: How Xi Jinping Is Using China’s Past to Accomplish What His Predecessors Could Not":

Read @LizEconomy on Xi Jinping’s transformative agenda in China—and the Maoist tactics he has used to advance it.https://t.co/mYUHn6Z83M

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) October 5, 2019

Few countries commemorate historical milestones with the zeal of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and 2019 offers a bonanza of celebratory opportunities: 40 years since Deng Xiaoping launched the economic reforms that opened China to the rest of the world; 40 years since China and the United States established diplomatic relations; and, on October 1, 70 years since the founding of the PRC. These events provide the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) opportunities to laud past achievements, legitimize the course it has set for the country, and rally support for challenges yet to come. And as Chinese President Xi Jinping surveys the country’s progress, he can point to any number of extraordinary economic, social, and geopolitical achievements.

Outside observers tend to credit the Deng-era reforms for China’s meteoric rise. But Xi and the rest of the Chinese leadership are more focused on the earliest years of the PRC—when Mao Zedong sat at the helm of the Communist Party. Like Mao, Xi has prioritized strengthening the party, inculcating collective socialist values, and rooting out nonbelievers. Like Mao, who invoked “domestic and foreign reactionaries” to build nationalist sentiment and solidify the party’s legitimacy, Xi has adopted a consistent refrain of unspecified but “ubiquitous” internal and external threats. And like Mao, Xi has encouraged the creation of a cult of personality around himself.

Yet Xi has revived the methods and symbols of Maoism not in service of a return to the past but in order to advance his own transformative agenda, one that seeks to ensure that all political, social, and economic activity within, and increasingly outside of, China serves the interests of the CCP. He is creating a model that reasserts the power of the Communist Party; progressively erases the distinction between public and private in both the political and economic spheres; and seeks to integrate foreign actors, including private businesses, more deeply into a system of CCP values and institutions. Xi also aspires to accomplish what Mao and his successors could not: to render irrelevant the political and physical boundaries separating Taiwan and Hong Kong from the mainland, and to offer China as a legitimate model for other countries disinclined toward liberal democracy.

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1949

Party ideology increasingly pervades everyday life in China, narrowing the space for the expression of alternative views. The government heavily censors the Internet; limits foreign television content; and has called for schools to be “strongholds of Party leadership,” punishing professors for using unapproved texts or “defaming the rule of the Communist Party.” At the same time, Xi’s contribution to CCP theory, known as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, is pumped relentlessly through the system: more than 100 institutes devoted to Xi Jinping Thought have sprung up over the past few years; a phone app, Study Strong Country, offers mandatory quizzes for party members on Xi’s thoughts and activities; and even college entrance exams now feature political questions tied to the leader’s campaigns and sayings—a practice, journalist Zheping Huang notes, that was popular during Mao’s tenure.

The CCP also seeks to shape the daily choices of its citizens, influencing their behavior to better reflect the interests of the party. One element of this enterprise is the social credit system, an ambitious experiment in social engineering designed to evaluate the trustworthiness of Chinese citizens and condition their behavior through punishments and rewards. Underway in more than 40 pilot programs throughout the country, the social credit system is slated to be rolled out nationally in 2020. As the China scholar Rogier Creemers has observed, this system is about “doing things that are right and incentivizing things that are right. But right is not something that people get to sort out for themselves. It doesn’t call upon individual moral autonomy, rather it calls upon obeisance to, and compliance with, a certain state-defined version of the good.”

In one pilot program in eastern China, for example, people receive points for donating bone marrow or performing other good deeds, but lose points for late payment of bills or traffic tickets. Other programs penalize citizens for participating in protests. While much of this tracking and accounting is done with technology, the CCP has also revived Mao-era tactics: paying elderly residents to report on the behavior of their neighbors, publicly celebrating model citizens while shaming those who fall short. As one government document noted, the objective of the social credit system is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.” It is a motto that can be taken literally: in 2017, more than six million Chinese were barred from air travel as a result of social credit misdeeds...

A nightmare, and this is the country with designs for regional, if not global, hegemony.

See previously, "China's Military Power."

Angry Joe Biden (VIDEO)

Boy, ask him about his influence peddling and does he really get pissed off.

https://t.co/Z2vEL3JckT

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 4, 2019

President Trump Warns Speaker Pelosi: White House Won't Cooperate Until Full House Votes on Impeachment

This is how it's done.

At the Epoch Times, "White House to Send Pelosi Letter Refusing Compliance With Demands Until Impeachment Inquiry Vote."

Hannity: Release the Biden-Ukraine Phone Transcript (VIDEO)

Hannity's on it:

Megan Parry's Friday Forecast

It's cooled down a bit.

Here's the wonderful Ms. Megan, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Happy Devin Brugman

She's still got it.

💚 happiest I’ve ever been 💚 pic.twitter.com/E4jFdDYnIt

— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) July 16, 2019

What Did Adam Schiff Know and When Did He Know It?

Here's the great Kim Strassel, at WSJ, "Schiff’s Shifty Timeline":

"The timeline of this orchestrated campaign is another knock to the legitimacy of the so-called impeachment inquiry."
https://t.co/FdwJ9kgtQh via @WSJ

— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) October 4, 2019

If the latest impeachment push continues to backfire, Democrats can thank their duplicitous House Intelligence chairman, Adam Schiff.

The New York Times reported this week that the “whistleblower” who set off the latest inquisition provided an “early warning” to Mr. Schiff’s committee that he or she was filing a complaint over Donald Trump’s July 25 call to Ukraine’s president. The media is now at pains to stress that whistleblowers do sometimes reach out to Congress, that all “procedures” were followed, and that what really matters is the accusation that Mr. Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.

Actually, it matters a great deal that Mr. Schiff knew about this early and withheld it deliberately from both the public and his House colleagues. He used his advance information to lay the groundwork steadily for later exploitation of the issue. He went so far as to charge the White House with a coverup—of a complaint he already knew about. The timeline of this orchestrated campaign is another knock to the legitimacy of the so-called impeachment inquiry. If the public can’t trust Mr. Schiff to be honest about the origins of his information, why should they trust his claim that the information itself is serious?

RTWT.

Burgess Owens: White Americans Don't Owe Me Anything (VIDEO)

This is great.

Owens is the author of Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps.

Katie Bell

I have no idea who this woman is, but some conservatives on Twitter have been retweeting her.

you can’t facetune videos pic.twitter.com/qvyuh95zYB

— Katie Bell🦋 (@katieeeeebell) August 16, 2019

who needs a hug? pic.twitter.com/UjQXPhrctn

— Katie Bell🦋 (@katieeeeebell) August 30, 2019

favorite rick and morty episode? pic.twitter.com/loCCbYlVzh

— Katie Bell🦋 (@katieeeeebell) September 12, 2019

caption this with the last text you sent pic.twitter.com/aQHpMPLjdZ

— Katie Bell🦋 (@katieeeeebell) September 19, 2019

Stacy Poole

Seen on Twitter:

[Update: You gotta click on the photos to see Ms. Stacy's humongous rack in all its glory.]

#staceypoole @duljc @buquet1000 @teo_campa @BabeDepository @Firehou94 @WCBeauty_ @LuckyDragon99 @Wildcard095 @viczokas @IrinnaMoris_Fan @TopGlamourbabes @JamesGlamfan @boobandboobs @adultmodels2018 @sexreims 📸 ⁦@OnlyAllSites⁩ pic.twitter.com/b76pEwPuNC

— Stacey Poole fan (@Stacey_poolefan) September 21, 2019

#StaceyPoole @MasturBabes @in_the_mancave @biencalmex @FaShaow @karlaclijster @jopower666 @breastlvr @nuffinbutgirls @weedod26 @bigboobsfansite @arg2012tumblr @nuffinbutgirls @angela_whitefan @sexreims 📸 ⁦@OnlyAllSites⁩ pic.twitter.com/RkLkmMhT0l

— Stacey Poole fan (@Stacey_poolefan) September 28, 2019

Democrats Will Destroy America’s Energy Sector … And Economy

At Issues & Insights:

Democrats’ Campaign Promise: We’ll Destroy America’s Energy Sector … And Economy https://t.co/iltNzul7Um pic.twitter.com/wE7A2oXz4b

— Issues & Insights (@InsightsIssues) September 30, 2019

China's Military Power

At the Los Angeles Times, "The military might showed off at China’s 70th anniversary parade moved some Chinese to tears. Here’s why."

And watch this astonishing video, seriously:

Here's Chinese military marketing that should raise the hair on the back of your necks as look a like US war ships and military ops and technology are stolen and operationalized.

Keep telling yourself trade deficits don't matter... as they steal our tech and we fund it. pic.twitter.com/cFjwTILnXW

— M. Zuhdi Jasser زهدي جاسر (@DrZuhdiJasser) September 30, 2019

Missouri Executes Russell Bucklew

I covered the Eighth Amendment in my classes today and shared this story with my students. From the piece:

Missouri executes killer despite concern about painful death https://t.co/617A1u8t3G pic.twitter.com/iYtaGMdsFc

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) October 2, 2019

Bucklew's girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, left him on Valentine's Day 1996. Over the next few weeks, according to court records, he harassed her, cut her with a knife and punched her in the face.

Ray feared for her life and the lives of her children, so she moved into the Cape Girardeau County mobile home that her new boyfriend, Michael Sanders, shared with his children.

On March 21, after stealing his nephew's car and taking two pistols, handcuffs and duct tape from his brother, Bucklew followed Ray to Sanders' home. Sanders confronted Bucklew with a shotgun inside the home. Bucklew fired two shots, one piercing Sanders' lung. He bled to death.

Bucklew then shot at Sanders' 6-year-old son and missed. Court records say he struck Ray in the face with the pistol, handcuffed her and dragged her to his car. He later raped Ray before heading north on Interstate 55.

A trooper spotted Bucklew's car and eventually became engaged in a gunfight near St. Louis. Both men were wounded. Bucklew later escaped from the Cape Girardeau County Jail. He attacked Ray's mother and her boyfriend with a hammer before being recaptured.

Pilate and another attorney for Bucklew, Jeremy Weis, said in a statement that Bucklew was remorseful for his crimes.

Morley Swingle, who was Cape Girardeau County prosecutor when the crimes occurred, said they were among the most heinous of his career.

"He is probably the most pure sociopath I ever prosecuted," Swingle said of Bucklew. "He was relentless in the way he came after his victims."

A human piece of garbage, the guy was on death row for 23 years. Boy, did he ever enjoy some due process, sheesh.

Five Observations on the Politics of Impeachment

From Sean Trende, at RCP:

Why no one should be confident about who will benefit from impeachment:https://t.co/6dt6Xsk9Ih

— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) October 2, 2019

Plus:

When reading impeachment polls, it is important to read the question wording carefully. That Monmouth poll that some see suggesting plurality support for impeachment is about an impeachment inquiry (q11X). Impeachment itself is at 44-52 (q4) for now.https://t.co/t2slQcAxxA

— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) October 2, 2019

Photo Shows Joe Biden Golfing with Top Ukraine Oil Executive in 2014

Yes, Joe and his son Hunter.

At the Washington Examiner, "Photo shows Joe and Hunter Biden golfing with Ukraine gas company executive in 2014."

LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH! pic.twitter.com/QQYTqG4KTt

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019

Biden's a liar.

See the Daily Beast, "Joe Biden: ‘I’ve Never Spoken to My Son About’ Ukraine Business Deals."

Actress Elizabeth Gillies

At Celeb Jihad, "ELIZABETH GILLIES BIG BOOBS ASSAULT."

Eady Van Acker

At Drunken Stepfather, "EADY VAN ACKER OF THE DAY":

Eady Van Acker literally only has 500 followers on Social Media.

You can google her to find her if you’re so inclined, I am not going to bother posting her links. I tried to make a rule years ago to not make fun of local everyday girls, even if they were doing their best to become a fame whore.

She's on Instagram.

Trump's Campaign Cashes In

Who didn't see this coming?

The Democrats are deranging themselves to political oblivion.

At LAT, "Trump’s reelection campaign cashes in on impeachment woes."

Teaching That America is Hopelessly Racist

A great piece, from Peter Wood, at Minding the Campus.

Fixing Congress?

I don't know if Congress needs fixing so much as parties need to win the majority to get anything done, and that's not mentioning that you'd better have a president of your party in the White House. If you get that, you'll have a fully functional Congress. Absent that, you'll get what we're having: lots of people unhappy at the slow pace of "progress" and continued moaning about the dysfunction of our government. Sounds like a never ending cycle.

In any case, an interesting piece, at Politico, "When Impeachment Meets a Broken Congress":

The most essential branch of the U.S. government is collapsing before our eyes — right as it faces a historic showdown https://t.co/6HBdUg46XO

— POLITICO (@politico) September 30, 2019

Even before getting into the weeds of its myriad other problems—poor staff retention, centralized decision-making, generational logjams—it’s not difficult to understand why the legislative branch is struggling to function. From the moment they launch their first campaigns, future members of Congress are entering into one giant warped incentive system that deters any meaningful challenge to The Way Things Work in Washington. Most members will profess to despise The Way Things Work in Washington, of course, especially when they first get here. But it tends to grow on them over time—not because it’s working, but because it’s comfortable. Where else can someone draw a salary of $174,000; have a staff of several dozen catering to their (and their family’s) every whim; enjoy special access to information and resources at the highest levels of government; forge lucrative relationships with people of immense power and influence; take taxpayer-funded jaunts to all corners of the country and the world; and command constant attention from the local and national media—all in exchange for producing little in the way of tangible outcomes?

None of this is to say that all members of Congress are bad people who are bad at what they do. To the contrary, many of them are fine people who came here for the right reasons. And some of them are really, really good at what they do, hustling 16 hours a day to deliver for their constituents. But even honorable people with honorable intentions look out for themselves, for their families, for their careers. Members of Congress are no exception. They have wonderfully important jobs. They don’t want to lose them.

Few people come to Congress wanting to be enforcers of the status quo. Every two years, Washington welcomes a new crop of wide-eyed, idealistic lawmakers who believe—really, truly believe—that they’ve been sent to shake things up in the nation’s capital. They are going to take the tough votes. They are going to stand up to the special interests. They are going to do what’s right by their constituents, even if that means getting the boot after one term.

Naturally, that sort of idealism doesn’t last. Once a member of Congress realizes he or she will never find a better job — and most of them know they will never find a better job — many will accept that some compromises are necessary to keep it. They adjust. They adapt. They play the game. They convince themselves that a mindless vote here, or a hurtful decision there, is worth it to sustain their career. They hang around long enough to amass more power, to win a chairmanship, to exert influence over certain issues, to cash out and take a life-changing paycheck from a lobbying firm, all the while believing their ends were justified by their means.

“I won’t miss a lot of things about this place,” Raul Labrador, an Idaho Republican who agitated constantly against his party’s leadership, said prior to his retirement last year. “I think some people lose their soul here. This is a place that sucks your soul. It takes everything from you.”

More at that top link.

U.S.-Mexico Border Barrier Proves Walls Work

The U.S. Border Patrol beefed up San Diego's border enforcement in the early 1990s, to rousing success. But now, as evidenced by this L.A. Times piece, you'd think it was all a failure. The story laments the "humanitarian" impact of actually reducing the flood of illegal aliens. (San Diego locals were stoked though, having gotten their neighborhoods back and not living in constant fear of crime and violence on their streets.)

Bottom line: Walls work and leftists don't like it.

Operation Gatekeeper at 25: Look back at the turning point that transformed the border https://t.co/ezRgFVsHby

— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) September 30, 2019

What John Durham Has Found May Be Quite Different From What Democrats Are Looking For

See former Attorney General Michael Mukasey's op-ed at the Wall Street Journal.

And Roger Simon has the breakdown, at Pajamas, "Mukasey Op-ed Should Strike Fear in Democrats."

Really worth a read. What U.S. Attorney John Durham has found on Ukraine may be quite different from what the Democrats are looking for, writes Michael B. Mukasey https://t.co/tqKwlmuhcF via @WSJ

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 30, 2019

Brad Ausmus Fired

I wasn't invested in Brad Ausmus either way, but seems to me he's getting a raw deal. It's not like the Angels were coming off a contending season in 2018 or anything. Mike Scioscia quit after more than a decade of mediocrity. (The Angels won the 2002 World Series.)

Anyway, it's hard out there, I guess.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels fire manager Brad Ausmus; Joe Maddon expresses interest in job."

Today, the Los Angeles Angels announced that Brad Ausmus will not return as manager in 2020. pic.twitter.com/XDGVCiG1gx

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 30, 2019

Jessica Simpson for Ladies' Night (PHOTOS)

At Drunken Stepfather, "JESSICA SIMPSON SKINNY TITS OF THE DAY."

NYC Ladies’ Night ✨ pic.twitter.com/OtVRMJFNu1

— Jessica Simpson (@JessicaSimpson) September 25, 2019

Natalie Portman at the 'Lucy in the Sky' Premiere

At Popoholic:

Natalie Portman Showing Off A Ton Of Her Sexy Braless Cleavage And Chest, Oh My! https://t.co/x3Ospj2dQl #NataliePortman #LucyInTheSky pic.twitter.com/3OsEsCx6Kp

— Popoholic (@Popoholic) September 27, 2019

Aaron Calvin 'is portraying himself as the victim here...'

Heh.

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "THE REPORTER FIRED IN THE “BUSCH LIGHT GUY” SCANDAL SAID HE FEELS “ABANDONED” BY THE DES MOINES REGISTER."

Previously, "Cowardly Aaron Calvin."

Laura Ingraham on Democrats' Impeachment Hysteria (VIDEO)

I don't watch Fox as much as I used to, but I did tune into Tucker, Hannity, and Ms. Laura this week.

It's positively sane compared to CNN, which I also watched. (I rarely ever watch MSNBC; the last time was when I tuned into Maddow the day the Mueller report dud landed, and I could barely sit through.)

Rafaella Consentino

At Drunken Stepfather, "RAFAELLA CONSENTINO OF THE DAY."

And the Fappening, "Rafaella Consentino Topless Photoset."

Jess Greenberg, 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' (VIDEO)

From three years ago, "Jess Greenberg, 'All Along the Watchtower' (VIDEO)."

And again, covering the Stones:

Cowardly Aaron Calvin

This started at the Des Moines Register, via Memeorandum, "Meet Carson King, the ‘Iowa Legend’ who's raised more than $1 million for charity off of a sign asking for beer money."

"Cancel culture" is the absolute worst, but this episode is diabolical.

At Twitchy:

ICYMI==> 'Cowardly': Des Moines Register reporter CALLED OUT for his own VILE tweets after milkshake ducking hero Carson King https://t.co/r65ojaeDZC

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 25, 2019

If journalist doesn’t use old posts to attack man going viral ~ $1M for charity, 4-6 doesn’t happen. Period. https://t.co/Yx4dap3FC8

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) September 25, 2019

Journalists & editors have a choice now: change how they approach these things or realize there are more of us than there are of them. It’s not hard.

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) September 25, 2019

Of maybe stop hiring 22 year old social justice political twigs with a privileged axe to grind.

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) September 25, 2019

The Cancel Culture is being lead by the media.

It's enabled by feckless corporations like @BuschBeer.

I find the companies that cave to this garbage even worse.

And for the people caught in the crosshairs: DON'T APOLOGIZE. Do not reward this malignant behavior.

— Melissa Mackenzie 🌐 (@MelissaTweets) September 25, 2019

You know what's worse than using a bad word at the age of 16?

RUINING SOMEONE'S LIFE.

— Melissa Mackenzie 🌐 (@MelissaTweets) September 25, 2019

Not a fan of journalists digging up viral celebrities' offensive high-school tweets.

The Des Moines Register did it to Carson King, the guy whose GameDay sign led to $1M raised for charity. Now it turns out the reporter has his own skeletons.

Unreal.https://t.co/go9C8VgqNI

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 25, 2019

4. If you’re going to pull up someone’s old tweets, write about them, and you have old racist tweets of your own, at least have the courage to take the heat, @aaronpcalvin.

Taking your account private is cowardly. pic.twitter.com/SdCEfg1A6Q

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 25, 2019

The Unbearable Whiteness of Climate Protest

These ghouls are truly the burden of our time.

A genuine scourge.

At Instapundit, "THE PRESS WAS ALWAYS CAREFUL TO DESCRIBE TEA PARTY RALLIES AS “OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE,” BUT NEVER DOES THAT WITH THE CLIMATE RALLIES THAT ARE FAR LESS DIVERSE."

AOC's 'Just Society'

Well, we already had the "Great Society," and it wasn't "just," apparently.

At NPR, "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants America to Talk About Poverty."

She's a bloody airhead.

I am proud to introduce #AJustSociety package today to begin the important work of building a more just and prosperous society.

You can read more about the legislation here: https://t.co/Cm7BdhFumU

— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) September 25, 2019

Big day!

We’re rolling out our next major project: A Just Society.

It’s a 6-piece suite:

1. Recognizing Poverty Act
2. Place to Prosper Act
3. Mercy in Re-Entry Act
4. Embrace Act
5. Uplift Our Workers Act
6. Ratify the UN Covenant on Economic, Social, & Cultural Rights

⬇️ https://t.co/nPhVxIy7fQ

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2019

Irving Kristol

This is really good.

At National Affairs:

Wonderful essay. Have a soft spot for Irving. He was kind to me when I was young, and his writings were always so reasonable. When he "became" a neo-conservative, it wasn't so much his thinking that changed but the culture around him. https://t.co/53gKgwsnqx via @NationalAffairs

— Bill McGurn (@wjmcgurn) September 24, 2019

Ashley James

At Drunken Stepfather, "ASHLEY JAMES BIG OF THE DAY."

El Camino Preview Trailer (VIDEO)

Previously, "El Camino."

It's gonna be great!

Hello old friend.#Pinkman2019 pic.twitter.com/CyKW8c4lox

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 23, 2019

The Golden Age of Television?

I didn't watch the Emmys --- I quit watching awards shows eons ago, and I frankly, it was mostly the Academy Awards for me in any case.

And apparently not that many tuned in.

That said, I agree with this Lorraine Ali piece below, at LAT. I just love the new era of TV. Streaming is the best. I'm on Netflix, but with all the new programming out across so many channels, I fear I'm missing out. Now that's something to be excited about, amid all the other stupid doomsday predictions everywhere of late.

#Emmys viewership falls under 7M for 1st time to all-time low – @DeadlineDominic reports https://t.co/VFeNXj19Rd pic.twitter.com/gsyRqclH6u

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) September 23, 2019

I miss the days when just about EVERYONE was watching the Emmys LIVE and chatting about it ...seemed so fun and happy and exciting...kinda crickets on here☹️

— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) September 23, 2019

See, "‘Fleabag.’ ‘Succession.’ ‘Pose.’ How the Emmys finally harnessed the power of ‘peak TV’":

The #Emmys telecast was proof of how far television has come creatively, socially and as an industry.

And if we’re to read anything else into the show, it’s that there’s plenty more change to come, writes @LorraineAli https://t.co/IeUxtF84Pw

— LAT Entertainment (@latimesent) September 23, 2019

Peak TV. Prestige programming. The platinum age of television.

Whatever we chose to call the tsunami of innovative series that have made watching too much television a respectable pastime, the Television Academy finally managed to wrap its arms around the multiplatform beast on Sunday during the 71st Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

From “Game of Thrones” to “Fleabag,” “Chernobyl” to “Ozark,” “Killing Eve” to “Pose,” the winners list produced during the three-hour Fox telecast was a testament to the diversity — in budget, subject matter, character and platform — that’s changed the very definition of television.

Case in point: Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s comedy “Fleabag,” about a woman’s dysfunctional relationship with her family, men and, yes, relationships. “This is getting ridiculous,” she said, somewhat stunned as she accepted the show’s fourth and biggest award of the night for comedy series.

In a huge upset, the cutting-edge artist also won the lead comedy actress Emmy over former favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus of HBO’s powerhouse “Veep” and last year’s victor, the beloved Rachel Brosnahan of Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Waller-Bridge also took home the prize for writing for a comedy series over strong competitors such as HBO’s “Barry.”

As television hurtles forward into what looks like another new phase of its endless new phases — get ready for streaming platforms Disney+, Apple TV+ and more to upend the game — it’s important to stop and savor the moment we’re in now. Sunday’s Emmys were the culmination of a creative renaissance that’s still so fast-moving we haven’t had the time to give it a name that sticks. But it’s made it so “Fleabag” and “Game of Thrones” occupy the same space, at least when it comes to industry respect and (respective) social media fervor.

Even Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas, who lost the comedy actor honor for his work in Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method” to “Barry’s” Bill Hader, appeared impressed by the sheer breadth of the material represented onstage Sunday.

When introducing the drama series award he described the nominees — “Better Call Saul,” “Bodyguard,” “Game of Thrones,” “Killing Eve,” “Ozark,” “Pose,” “Succession” and “This Is Us” — as “each being so different from the television we grew up on.”

It was not surprising that the night’s top honor went to “Game of Thrones.” What was unexpected? The last big water-cooler series didn’t sweep every drama category possible for its final, earth-scorching season.

Still, the ceremony was less about dancing on the graves of blockbusters such as “Game of Thrones” or “Veep,” which was also expected to win big in the comedy categories but came away empty-handed. It was more about celebrating the wide-open landscape that allowed for “Killing Eve” and “Pose” to even happen, and then for their leads — Jodie Comer and Billy Porter — to win the academy’s top drama honors.

The night belonged to high-budget productions as well as fringe efforts, familiar faces doing new things — including Jason Bateman, who won for his direction in “Ozark”— and new arrivals that have bent comedy and drama norms into pop art.

The ceremony itself was as loose and far-flung as the industry it was honoring. It was the first time the show went host-less since way back in 2003 when the big four networks still won all the top awards, and it would be another year before HBO’s “The Sopranos” took home cable’s first drama series Emmy.

The show was held together by a pastiche of personalities and TV ephemera that included Homer Simpson, masked singers and a tuxedo-clad Bryan Cranston introducing a year in television that looked markedly different than it did when “Breaking Bad” arrived over a decade ago.

“Television has never been bigger,” he said. “Television has never mattered more. And television has never been this damn good.”

Emotions ran high when Jharrel Jerome accepted the award for lead actor in a limited series for his performance in Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us.” The series followed the saga of black teens dubbed the Central Park Five by the media, who were wrongly accused and imprisoned for the brutal rape of a Central Park jogger.

Jerome, who played one of the accused, Korey Wise, in the series, dedicated the award to “the men that we know as the Exonerated Five.”

And all five men — Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana Jr. and Yusef Salaam — were in the audience, on their feet, hands in the air as if they’d been freed once again.

“Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage might have put it best when he accepted the Emmy for supporting actor in a drama. “Thank you. I have no idea what I’m about to say, but here we go. I count myself so fortunate to be a member of a community that is all about tolerance and diversity, because in no other place could I be standing on a stage like this,” he said, choking up...

Greta Thunberg, Abused and Exploited (VIDEO)

The video's genuinely hard to watch. I'm torn between contempt and compassion. She's been sold a damned bill of goods. A hoax handbag, and she's carrying it for all the cowards willing to hide behind a neurologically impaired child.

It's a shame all around. And frankly sad.

At AoSHQ, "Zealot Moppet Greta Thunberg Damns Adults as "Evil," Curses Alexandria Donkey-Chompers' Cowardly, Lethal Green New Deal."

And FWIW, at LAT, "Trump briefly attends U.N. climate summit; Greta Thunberg rails against ‘empty words’."

Greta Thunberg to world leaders at the U.N. climate summit: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words” https://t.co/vhK7qb7Dgb pic.twitter.com/kArrseEu9f

— TIME (@TIME) September 23, 2019

“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”My speech in UN General Assembly in print https://t.co/8wYyCa4H01

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 23, 2019

Telling children that our species is headed for imminent extinction is psychological abuse. Climate alarmists are child abusers. They aren't just wrong and stupid -- though they are those things -- they're also morally depraved.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 23, 2019

Not interested in seeing/hearing children used as political pawns while being labeled “political activists.” And if you peddle this kind of stuff, you should be deeply ashamed of yourself. Self-reflect. Seriously.

— Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) September 23, 2019

Teen suicide & anxiety disorders are through the roof. Constant fearmonging from adults is only making it worse. My latest for @Ricochet. https://t.co/aQtwkzXmry

— jon gabriel (@exjon) September 23, 2019

Keeley Hazell

At Celeb Jihad, "KEELEY HAZELL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION."

No one has looked me in the eyes all day. pic.twitter.com/UpUTGRsUUl

— Keeley Hazell (@keeleyscorner) May 3, 2019

Megan Parry's Tuesday Forecast

At ABC 10 News San Diego, the fabulous Ms. Megan:

Hannah Barron's Real Southern Accent (Plus Some Catfish)

Via the Other McCain:

If y'all want to hear a REAL Southern accent and see a BIG catfish, you need to watch this video. https://t.co/2gyt9HiLWU

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) September 22, 2019

Emilia Clarke

At the HBO Emmys after-party.

.@AmyKinLA has the touch. https://t.co/Qk6YaJQLKk

— Robert Lloyd (@LATimesTVLloyd) September 23, 2019

J.Lo in Slow Mo

Dang!

Walking to my Uber passing all the boys who bought me drinks all night pic.twitter.com/00omMKbmk3

— Chicks (@Chicks) September 20, 2019

The full video is here.

El Camino

This is gonna be killer.

This man I am standing with (Vince Gilligan) is the reason I have a career. I would follow this man into a fire. That’s how much I trust him. This man gave me a chance back when nobody else would. In weeks people will know our secrets that we keep. Here’s to many more secrets. pic.twitter.com/NlXskGvjLa

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 19, 2019

At the Hollywood Reporter, "'Breaking Bad' Returns: Aaron Paul and Vince Gilligan Take a TV Classic for a Spin in 'El Camino'."

Democrats Will Lie

A great post at Issues & Insights:

Dems Will Have To Lie About Their Agenda To Win, Poll Shows https://t.co/gC7eZKmDcL

— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) September 19, 2019

Related, at Twitchy:

‘Wheeee!’ Bernie Sanders announces what else will be paid off for you if he’s elected president https://t.co/P9uq1Vtb3N

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 21, 2019

Rhian

On Twitter:

Kalkan has my heart! ☀️💛 pic.twitter.com/JsqsvsSb8g

— Rhian Sugden (@Rhianmarie) September 18, 2019

And at Drunken Stepfather, "RHIAN SUGDEN FULLY NUDE PHOTOS LEAKED."

Joe Biden's Ukraine Scandal

Things are usually not what they appear to be as told by the leftist media.

Althouse has a big roundup, "'In his own words, with video cameras rolling, Biden described how he threatened Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in March 2016 that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees...'"

And the left's desperation is sickening, at WaPo, via Memeorandum, "Trump has done plenty to warrant impeachment. But the Ukraine allegations are over the top."

And polls show this is a losing issue for the idiot Dems.

At Politico, "Poll: Voters largely unswayed by House Dems’ push for impeachment."

USC Fights On

They really did. A great game last night at the Coliseum.

Here's Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "On improbable night, USC lives up to its motto and silences critics."

Plaschke: On improbable night, USC lives up to its motto and silence critics https://t.co/N1DyqTqqdh

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) September 21, 2019

Megan Parry's Saturday Forecast

Summer's almost over --- and it's cooling down.

Time for some heavier beers, lol.

Here's the sweetie Ms. Megan, for ABC News 10 San Diego: