New Political Reality for France

At Der Spiegel, where the staff there is sweating it, lol.

See, "Macron vs. Le Pen: A New Political Reality for France."

Macron vs. Le Pen: A New Political Reality for France https://t.co/fMLuVVjRSj pic.twitter.com/CSIEbPDLrP

— SPIEGEL English (@SPIEGEL_English) April 24, 2017

Kole Calhoun Breaks Through

He broke through his streak of no extra base-hits, at Arlington today, via LAT below.

But look at this beauty of a throw to home. The man's a machine in right field, and in fact is a Golden Glove winner:

Kole's got a cannon. @Angels pic.twitter.com/cXD5PgcQN1

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) April 30, 2017

Angels' Kole Calhoun breaks through https://t.co/nnuHJmOqAP

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) May 1, 2017

ICYMI: Jeffrey Ostler, The Lakotas and the Black Hills

At Amazon, Jeffrey Ostler, The Lakotas and the Black Hills: The Struggle for Sacred Ground.

Jennifer Delacruz's Continued Warm Forecast

What a beautiful day today! It was 85 in Lake Forest this afternoon, when I boogied down to El Conejito's for a burrito and cerveza.

When the weather gets like this, I don't want to go to work. It reminds me of the long Santa Barbara summers I had, while preparing for my qualifying exams, lying out by the pool, as if it was paradise.

It's been just wonderful these past few days.

And here's the wonderful Jennifer Delacruz, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

New York Times 'Slammed' with Cancellations Over Bret Stephens Op-Ed

At Twitchy:

ICYMI --> New York Times ‘slammed’ with cancellations as punishment for climate change heresy https://t.co/LB2e6RrocM

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 30, 2017

It was a perfectly reasonable op-ed:

That this quiet, measured Bret Stephens column caused such an uproar is hilarious. https://t.co/luAgIdlTSw

— Charles Murray (@charlesmurray) April 30, 2017

Reminds, if you haven't yet, be sure to pick up your copy of Robert Zubrin's, Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism.

#BretStephens pic.twitter.com/EthcpFe6P6

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 1, 2017

Kelly Monaco at the Daytime Emmys

The Daytime Emmy Awards show is streaming live right now.

I'm watching baseball, actually, although I just couldn't resist posting this photo of Kelly Monaco.

Wow!

It's gotta be 90 degrees at the show, so certainly this is appropriate evening attire, thank goodness!

Kelly Monaco being interviewed via @soapcentral #DaytimeEmmys #GH pic.twitter.com/ZEpLWJmtHP

— fyeahsoaps (@fyeahsoaps) April 30, 2017

Democrats Turn to Bernie Sanders to Rebuild the Party

So how's that working out? Not too well, if recent controversies are any measure.

Remember last week? Here, "Bernie Sanders Wants Democrats to Focus on Economic Populism, Not Social Justice Cultural Marxism (VIDEO)."

Well, then, check out WaPo, and this David Weigel piece that came out just when Bernie and the DNC chair got embroiled in this populism vs. culture debate.

See, "Democrats turn to Sanders and his star power to rebuild the party":

NEW: Democrats turn to @BernieSanders and his star power to rebuild the party, via @daveweigel https://t.co/43G6Tp93zF

— Ed O'Keefe (@edatpost) April 19, 2017

LOUISVILLE — Earlier this week, before heading downstairs to speak to nearly 3,000 Ken­tuckians, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reminisced about his 2016 presidential campaign. After he had gained steam, and his rallies had become arena-size events, he was struck by the difference between his crowds and those at Democratic Party fundraisers.

“We’d have a rally with five or ten thousand young people out, a great deal of energy,” Sanders said between bites of a steak sandwich. “Then I’d walk into a room and there’d be a thousand people from the Democratic Party. You were in two different worlds — one full of energy, one full of idealism. And the other, full of good people — I don’t mean to put them down — who are the bedrock of the Democratic Party.”

At that moment, Sanders was on the second day of a week-long, cross-country speaking tour with Democratic National Committee Chairman Thomas Perez. The DNC was picking up half the bill for the 12-seat chartered plane as well as the venues, including the downtown Louisville Palace.

As Sanders spoke, Perez was a block away, meeting with party leaders who — like most Democratic leaders — had backed Hillary Clinton for president. Later that evening, they would take a stage and praise Sanders, who is not a Democrat, for reinvigorating their party. A chairman who defeated Sanders’s preferred candidate to run the DNC was now touring as his opening act.

“Our values are aligned on so many of the critical issues that confront the nation and the Democratic Party,” Perez said in an interview. “When people actually look at the platform of the Democratic Party — they’ll say, ‘We need community college!’ — well, look at the platform. When they say, ‘We need a $15 minimum wage’ — look at the platform.”

The first 24 hours of the tour revealed both the strength and the seams in the strategy. It began in Portland, Maine, on Monday evening, where a crowd wrapped around the State Theatre to see the “Come Together, Fight Back” tour. Maine’s Democratic Party leaders flitted through the crowds with clipboards, encouraging fans of Sanders to sign up.

They had competition. A group of rogue “Berniecrats” had brought clipboards of their own, with petitions encouraging the senator to run for president in 2020 as an independent. When the rally began, a mention of Perez was met with boos audible over mild applause; the loudest heckling came from a man whose T-shirt declared his support for the Green Party.

Once onstage, Perez described his Democratic Party as a vessel for activists, with a platform they could love. It was activists, he said, who stopped the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. It was activists who had passed a ­minimum-wage hike, which Maine’s Republican governor had halted.

“In these first 100 days, the most remarkable thing is not what Donald Trump did — the most remarkable thing is what you did across the county,” Perez said.

The chairman left the stage, and a disembodied announcer introduced Sanders. This time, there were no boos; over 48 minutes, Sanders mentioned Perez’s DNC only once...

More.

Nina Agdal Bikini Workout on Instagram (VIDEO)

She's freakin' amazing.

Via Sports Illustrated:

Bikinis. Beaches. Burpees...? #MondayMotivation https://t.co/eloK2T7tyf pic.twitter.com/efg6pbQynO

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) April 24, 2017

President Trump Signs Executive Order on Offshore Drilling; Leftists Go Nuts

This will affect California, and I'm for it, of course.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Trump order could open California waters to oil drilling."

Trump signs offshore drilling order that may open coast waters https://t.co/fCBCufamNI pic.twitter.com/igmZ5iuXRa

— SFGate (@SFGate) April 28, 2017

Also, at LAT, "Trump's directive on offshore drilling will face solid resistance in California," and "Santa Barbarans are angered by Trump's order that could lead to new offshore drilling."

Anaheim Ducks Fall 0-2 Behind Edmonton Oilers

I'm just not into hockey, which to me is a Canadian sport that somehow invaded America, taking hostage American citizens who don't know they've been abducted into an alien ritual.

I used to have Canadian roommates from Calgary, and we used to watch the Flames. I visited Calgary, to spend six weeks with my best friend at the time, in 1984.

I still hate hockey, lol.

But everybody's wearing Ducks shirts and jerseys, and mounting fluttering window flags on their cars.

So, what the heck? Any hockey fans reading this blog?

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ducks fall into 0-2 hole at home with 2-1 loss to Oilers."

From colleague @curtiszupke: Ducks fall into 0-2 hole at home with 2-1 loss to Oilers https://t.co/k0JKWzN8XV

— Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) April 29, 2017

Tania the Satellite Uplink Lady

Here's my friend Skye in Philadelphia (Tania Gail).

Loving the KU band satellite uplink :) I want one!!! 😄@cbs3_wx @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/PStvZlPwpo

— Tania Gail (@TaniaGailPhotos) April 24, 2017

Baby Hippo Fiona

A great story, but notice how all the animal keepers are like granola-crunching enviro-leftists. It's like a religion to these people. Your commitment is to the god of nature. The hippo is divine, a child of the supreme being, Gaia, in this case.

At USA Today:

Baby hippo's keepers learn to live with bruises https://t.co/54OIPyk3Dv

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 30, 2017

President Trump's First 100 Days

From Marc Thiessen, at WaPo, "Forget the critics, Mr. President. Your first 100 days have been just fine":

Every 5-4 decision for next 3 decades that goes conservatives’ way is one of Trumps “First 100 Days” accomplishments https://t.co/rJ0m5pEkXX

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) April 24, 2017

Despite the best efforts of the White House “PR apparatus” to sell the president’s first 100 days as a success, the New York Times declared in an editorial, the new administration has, in fact, been plagued by “many missteps” including a “bungled sales job” on his first major legislative initiative and a “snakebit” confirmation process, all of which have produced “a flurry of articles bemoaning the lack of focus in the White House.” The first 100 days, the Times declared, is a period the president “might prefer to forget.”

The president in question is not Donald Trump. This is how, in April 1993, the Times described the first 100 days of Bill Clinton’s presidency. But not to worry, the Times reassured its readers: “It’s still early, and a hundred days don’t really mean very much.”

The Times is right: The first 100 days really don’t mean very much at all.

Right now, the Trump White House appears to be in a panic over the approaching milestone, looking desperately for last-minute accomplishments. It is pushing the House to vote this week on repealing Obamacare, and it is risking a government shutdown in an effort to make Democrats pay for a border wall with Mexico, instead of just passing a straight extension of current funding levels. And the president announced (to the apparent surprise of his own staff) that he would unveil his tax reform plan on Wednesday, before it is fully baked.

To which I say: Mr. President, slow down. There’s no rush. Ignore the critics. You’re doing just fine.

Trump has accomplished something more significant in his first 100 days than any president in recent memory has done: the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Trump’s predecessors’ early achievements were fleeting. President Barack Obama’s stimulus (with its false promise of “shovel-ready” jobs) is long forgotten. George W. Bush’s tax cuts were not signed until June and were partially repealed by his successor. But Trump’s success in placing the 49-year-old Gorsuch on the Supreme Court will affect the direction of our country for a generation. Indeed, Trump can count every 5-4 decision over the next three decades that goes conservatives’ way as one of his “First 100 Days” accomplishments. No other modern president can claim to have had that kind of lasting impact in so short a time...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "Donald Trump's First 100 Days" (featuring Salena Zito).

Jennifer Delacruz's Sunny, Breezy, but Cooler Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, back for the weekend forecasts, at ABC News 10 San Diego.

Complaints Ignored Before Jailbreak at the O.C. Jail

At the Los Angeles Times, "O.C. deputies complained of lax policies before 2016 jail escape, but they were ignored, grand jury finds":

O.C. deputies complained of lax policies before the 2016 jail escape, but they were ignored, grand jury finds https://t.co/uUOu73oreF pic.twitter.com/MFWvatjNJ0

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 29, 2017

Deputies at the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana had long complained of flawed inmate monitoring procedures that allowed three men to escape from the facility last year, but nothing was done to correct the problem, according to a report released by the Orange County Grand Jury this week.

The scathing study listed failures by officials that contributed to the escape, which made national headlines and became a major embarrassment for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The grand jury cited a flawed inmate counting procedure, the failure of deputies to remove jerry-built tents around the escapees’ bunks that may have concealed their activites and inadequate monitoring of the jail’s plumbing system, which the inmates used to gain access to the roof, as major factors in the escape.

A lack of surveillance cameras and lighting in the plumbing tunnels and on the roof, which the inmates rappelled down from before, were also cited as problematic in the report.

Deputies failed to catch on to an escape plot even though the report found it likely took months of planning and would have involved loud sawing and cutting as the prisoners worked to gain access to the plumbing tunnels.

Authorities have said that Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong were able to obtain a cutting tool and saw through several layers of metal and rebar when they broke out of the jail in January 2016, sparking a statewide manhunt that lasted nearly a week, according to the report.

Jail staff did not become aware of the escape until 15 hours after the trio climbed to the roof of the jail and fled, a time lapse that likely helped the fugitives stay well ahead of their pursuers. The men had been jailed on charges including attempted murder and torture.

“After conducting a comprehensive study, problems with both supervision and training became obvious,” the report read. “Lack of compliance with existing policies and procedures by various [Orange County Sheriff’s Department] personnel at all levels was the primary factor responsible for the escape.”

The inmates took a cab driver hostage and traveled as far north as the Bay Area. Their escape plot began unraveling days later, police say, when Duong rejected Nayeri’s plan to kill their hostage and fled to a San Jose motel with the cab driver.

Duong drove back to Orange County and surrendered to authorities on Jan. 29. Nayeri and Tieu were arrested in San Francisco the next day. The men are due in court for preliminary hearings in June, records show...

Brazen AF.

But keep reading.

And flashback to last year, "Experts Question Detention and Security Protocols at Orange County Jail."

Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land

At Amazon, Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth.

Eric Jay Dolin, Fur, Fortune, and Empire

At Amazon, Eric Jay Dolin, Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America.

Today's Deals

Thanks for your support.

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.

BONUS: Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815.

Geoffrey Perret, There's a War to Be Won

*BUMPED.*

Here's another great book dealing with the WWII era.

At Amazon, Geoffrey Perret, There's a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II.

The L.A. Riots 25 Years Later

At the Los Angeles Times, "Twenty five years later, how did the riots transform L.A.? And has the city changed enough?"