Alexandra Fuller, Quiet Until the Thaw

At Amazon, Alexandra Fuller, Quiet Until the Thaw: A Novel.

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

At Amazon, Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony

At Amazon, Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).

Shop Today's Deals

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

See especially, Ninja Coffee Bar Brewer with Glass Carafe (CF080Z).

Also, Valvoline 5W-30 MaxLife High Mileage Motor Oil - 5qt (782256).

More, Evocrest Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles - Collapsible, Shock Absorbent, Ultra Lightweight Hiking Walking Sticks - Quick Locks, Cork Handle - All Terrain Accessories Included.

Plus, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.

And, Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, 16.9 oz Bottle, 35 count.

Still more, Samsung Gear VR - Virtual Reality Headset (U.S. Version with Warranty).

Here, LG Electronics OLED55C7P 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV (2017 Model).

More here, Signature Trail Mix, Peanuts, M and M Candies, Raisins, Almonds and Cashews, 4 Pound.

BONUS: Roxanne Gay, An Untamed State.

St. Louis Protests After Acquittal of Officer Jason Stockley

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Heated protests follow Stockley acquittal," and "2 officers injured by thrown bricks in Central West End, mayor's home damaged by protesters."

The mayor's home wtf?

This is war people. This is freakin' war.

Stunned Brooke Baldwin Ends Segment After Clay Travis Says He Believes in 'First Amendment and Boobs' (VIDEO)

At Althouse, "'I believe in only 2 things completely: the First Amendment and boobs'."

And at Memeorandum.

'Iron Man'

From yesterday morning's drive-time, at the Sound L.A.

Here's Black Sabbath, "Iron Man":

Upon hearing the main guitar riff for the first time, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne remarked that it sounded "like a big iron bloke walking about". The title became "Iron Man", with Geezer Butler writing the lyrics around the title.

Butler wrote the lyrics as the story of a man who time travels into the future, and sees the apocalypse. In the process of returning to the present, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field. He is rendered mute, unable verbally to warn people of his time in the future and of the impending destruction. His attempts to communicate are ignored and mocked. This causes Iron Man to become angry, and drives his revenge on mankind, causing the destruction seen in his vision.

*****

It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)
The Rolling Stones
8:36 AM

Saturday In the Park (Remastered)
Chicago
8:32 AM

Tom Sawyer
Rush
8:28 AM

Fame (2016 Remastered Version)
David Bowie
8:24 AM

Rock'n Me
Steve Miller Band
8:21 AM

Houses of the Holy
Led Zeppelin
8:17 AM

Twilight Zone
Golden Earring
8:09 AM

Iron Man
Black Sabbath
8:03 AM

Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison
8:00 AM

L.A. Woman
The Doors
7:54 AM

Jeremy Rabkin and John Yoo, Striking Power

Just out yesterday, at Amazon, Jeremy Rabkin and John Yoo, Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War.

Teflon Don

This has to infuriate leftists.

I love it!

At Politico, "Teflon Don confounds Democrats":

Democrats have attacked the president every which way, but polling and focus groups show none of it's working.

Democrats tried attacking Donald Trump as unfit for the presidency. They’ve made the case that he’s ineffective, pointing to his failure to sign a single major piece of legislation into law after eight months in the job. They’ve argued that Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself and that his campaign was in cahoots with Russia.

None of it is working.

Data from a range of focus groups and internal polls in swing states paint a difficult picture for the Democratic Party heading into the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election. It suggests that Democrats are naive if they believe Trump’s historically low approval numbers mean a landslide is coming. The party is defending 10 Senate seats in states that Trump won and needs to flip 24 House seats to take control of that chamber.
The research, conducted by private firms and for Democratic campaign arms, is rarely made public but was described to POLITICO in interviews with a dozen top operatives who’ve been analyzing the results coming in.

“If that’s the attitude that’s driving the Democratic Party, we’re going to drive right into the ocean,” said Anson Kaye, a strategist at media firm GMMB who worked on the Obama and Clinton campaigns and is in conversations with potential clients for next year.

Worse news, they worry: Many of the ideas party leaders have latched onto in an attempt to appeal to their lost voters — free college tuition, raising the minimum wage to $15, even Medicare for all — test poorly among voters outside the base. The people in these polls and focus groups tend to see those proposals as empty promises, at best.

Pollsters are shocked by how many voters describe themselves as “exhausted” by the constant chaos surrounding Trump, and they find that there’s strong support for a Congress that provides a check on him rather than voting for his agenda most of the time. But he is still viewed as an outsider shaking up the system, which people in the various surveys say they like, and which Democrats don’t stack up well against.

“People do think he’s bringing about change, so it’s hard to say he hasn’t kept his promises,” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.

In focus groups, most participants say they’re still impressed with Trump’s business background and tend to give him credit for the improving economy. The window is closing, but they’re still inclined to give him a chance to succeed.

More than that, no single Democratic attack on the president is sticking — not on his temperament, his lack of accomplishments or the deals he’s touted that have turned out to be less than advertised, like the president’s claim that he would keep Carrier from shutting down its Indianapolis plant and moving production to Mexico.

Voters are also generally unimpressed by claims that Trump exaggerates or lies, and they don’t see the ongoing Russia investigation adding up to much.

“There are a number of things that are raising questions in voters’ minds against him,” said Matt Canter, who’s been conducting focus groups for Global Strategy Group in swing states. “They’re all raising questions, but we still have to weave it into one succinct narrative about his presidency.”

Stop, Democratic operatives urge voters, assuming that what they think is morally right is the best politics. A case in point is Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville. The president’s equivocation on neo-Nazis was not as much of a political problem as his opponents want to believe, Democratic operatives say, and shifting the debate to whether or not to remove Confederate monuments largely worked for him...

Keep reading.

Lara Stone Cowgirl

At Egotastic!, "Lara Stone Topless Cowgirl."

Rita Ora Upskirt Encore

At Taxi Driver, "Rita Ora White Pantie Upskirt."

BONUS: "Rita Ora is Topless on New 'Lui' Cover."

Joanna Krupa Body Paint for PETA

She goes all out for PETA, heh.

At WWTDD, "Joanna Krupa Goes Pussy for PETA."

Dodgers' Epic Season Collapse

At LAT, "How did Dodgers go from possibly the best of all time to, right now, the worst team in the majors?":

How did the Dodgers go from possibly the best of all time to, right now, the worst team in the majors? https://t.co/FAnNoG7vfO pic.twitter.com/8agq2oTLUi

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 12, 2017

The first loss felt innocuous. On Aug. 26, a crisp, clear evening out at Chavez Ravine, there was no way Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could have foreseen the avalanche awaiting his team.

After getting shut out by the Milwaukee Brewers, Roberts wore a smile as he pulled up a chair at his postgame news conference.

“You’re going to have those nights,” he said. “We’ve got a good club.”

At that moment, the start of one of the worst stretches in franchise history, Roberts and the Dodgers stood atop the baseball world. The team had already won 91 games — the same number it won in all of 2016 — with a month remaining in the season. Their lead in the National League West was 20 games, and the primary concern was keeping the regulars fresh and settling the roster for an October playoff run.

The team entertained thoughts about making history: Challenging the major league record of 116 wins in the regular season, then snapping a 28-season World Series drought in October.

The best team in baseball. The sobriquet fit. Those were the 2017 Dodgers, the purported team of a lifetime, a group assembled by a high-powered front office, supported with the sport’s largest payroll, aided by strategic innovations, infused with a rare combination of stardom and depth, and imbued with a flair for the dramatic. No lead felt safe when the Dodgers came to the plate. Anything seemed possible.

Everything, except for what happened next. By losing 10 in a row and 15 of 16 heading into Monday night’s game at San Francisco, the Dodgers shattered the confidence of a fan base wary after four consecutive early playoff exits.

The pitchers have been pummeled. The offense has been silent. Yu Darvish and Curtis Granderson, the two stars acquired by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in July and August, have flopped. The losing has become constant, a counterpoint to a summer in which the team appeared incapable of it. And the Dodgers have three weeks to resurrect their morale.

With no answers in sight, fans have cast about for solutions. The explanations vary from the illogical (Roberts juggles his lineup too often) to the inconsequential (the arrival of Granderson hurt the team’s chemistry) to the supernatural (the team was cursed by a Sports Illustrated cover proclaiming “Best. Team. Ever?”).

The actual answer is something that cannot be solved by a ritual burning of a magazine or a campfire “Kumbaya” to build unity or a tough-love speech by a manager. The Dodgers have foundered because of diminished performances from the players they relied upon during their historic summer.

“It’s past the point of anger and frustration now,” All-Star shortstop Corey Seager said Sunday afternoon. “We have to go out and play better.”

The skid occurred in stages, building from a nuisance into a puzzle into a source of full-blown dread for fans and a source of lost sleep for team officials. Sometimes at night, Roberts joked over the weekend, he looks up at the ceiling and reminds himself what his team’s record is. He did not always sound this downtrodden.

After the fifth loss, on Aug. 31, which completed a three-game sweep by Arizona in Phoenix, Roberts offered perspective. The Dodgers had not experienced a three-game losing streak all summer. He was disappointed in his starting pitchers, but all teams, he reasoned, go through times like this. “We just have to turn the page,” he said.

After the eighth loss in nine games, Roberts looked resolute. The Dodgers had dropped three of four to the woeful San Diego Padres, but the manager crossed his arms and declined to overreact. “I can assure you, this won’t break us,” he said.

After the 12th loss in 13 games, Roberts bumped into a reporter outside the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. The losing had gotten so contagious, even ace Clayton Kershaw was affected. Following another sweep by Arizona, Kershaw got pummeled by Colorado. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Roberts said...

More.

Also, "Dodgers skip the champagne after their playoff-clinching victory they didn't know about."

Vast New Intelligence Haul Fuels Next Phase of Fight Against Islamic State

At LAT:

Vast new intelligence haul fuels the next phase of the fight against Islamic State https://t.co/LZIYajfG6K pic.twitter.com/I5x8Y9WM7p

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 11, 2017

Today's Deals

I'm late to this. These Deal of the Day offers end at Midnight.

At Amazon, New deals. Every day. Shop our Deal of the Day.

And see especially, Drill America DWD29J-CO-PC Qualtech 29 Piece Cobalt Steel Jobber Length Drill Bit Set in Plastic Case, Gold Oxide Finish, Round Shank, Spiral Flute, 135 Degrees Split Point, 1/16" to 1/2" Size.

More, Coleman Performance Cooler, 48-Quart.

And, GSI Outdoors - Pinnacle Camper, Nesting Cook Set, Superior Backcountry Cookware Since 1985.

Also, GSI Outdoors 74340 Pivot Tongs $8.29.

Here, OFF! Deep Woods Insect Repellent 6 ounce (Pack of 2).

Still more, LG Electronics 55UJ6300 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model).

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

Plus, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.

BONUS: Gail Z. Martin, The Summoner (Chronicles of the Necromancer, Book 1).

Lindsey Pelas Full Motion

On Twitter:

👙 The incredible Lindsey Pelas in glorious full motion. Hit ❤️ if you'd love to wake up to this sight every morning 😮 #sexy #model #dance pic.twitter.com/PjBY9LJun7

— Man On (@ManOnToday) August 13, 2017

A Trump Presidency Damage Report

I don't think these leftist outlets are getting it. They're a major part of the reason why we got Trump. Frankly, this kinda stuff is only boosting his reelection chances.

See, for example, Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The First White President."

Look for our latest issue online Tuesday, featuring cover stories from @jacklgoldsmith @EliotACohen and @tanehisicoates pic.twitter.com/JdffSeEtdk

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) September 8, 2017

Mexican Pride!

From Lauren Southern:

Posting this here cause FB banned me for 3 days over it 😂 pic.twitter.com/3voHZdHEtL

— Lauren Southern (@Lauren_Southern) September 10, 2017

Erin Heatherton

She's spectacular.

Erin Heatherton always knows how to make us laugh! https://t.co/hTltsQh6p3 pic.twitter.com/nfaz68CgrN

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) September 10, 2017

Dana Loesch

You should check her out, at DanaRadio.com.

Live now! In your market or stream at https://t.co/AI5fToPM2X. #DanaRadio pic.twitter.com/9v6yrfU9oV

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 11, 2017