Americans' Mood Darkened by Widespread Anger, New WSJ/NBC News Poll Finds

This is a fascinating poll, particularly in light of this week's election results.

America is deeply polarized, and not just over economics and the elitist establishment. At root here is a massive cultural divide. We've literally become two Americas, with the left militantly anti-religious and collectivist, and mainstream Americans and conservatives alienated by the nation's cultural rot. Homosexuality, race and "social justice," and murderous open borders have pushed regular people to the edge. It's not good for the country, and frankly, it's not good for the Democrats.

At WSJ, "WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Anger at Political System":

GOP primary voters are overwhelmingly unsettled by societal changes transforming the country, new WSJ/NBC poll finds https://t.co/vqGlIRPhkT

— Capital Journal (@WSJPolitics) November 4, 2015

Amy West, a 61-year-old retired schoolteacher, traces her frustration with the rest of the country to a local fight banning prayer at area schools more than a decade ago. “I have to have the Bible in my life,” she said.

A Republican from Vilonia, Ark., she plans to support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in next year’s GOP presidential primary. She thinks he is best equipped to tackle her concerns, starting with the dwindling influence of religion in Americans’ daily lives.

Republican primary voters are overwhelmingly unsettled by societal changes transforming the country, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds, while Democratic primary voters describe themselves as proud that the country has moved further to protect the rights of minority groups and to accept gay marriage.

The results show that, in many ways, Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are being forced to tailor their messages for deeply disparate groups. If there is a unifying theme, it is anger at the political system, the Journal/NBC News poll suggests.

Some 71% of GOP primary voters agreed when asked whether they felt “out of place” in their own country and uneasy about widespread illegal immigration, the shrinking role of religion in public life and the growing acceptance of gay and lesbian rights. Among these GOP voters, 45% strongly agreed with that view, compared with just 12% among Democratic primary voters.

This sentiment is sending many GOP voters into the camps of candidates articulating their fears, including Mr. Cruz, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businessman Donald Trump, whose slogan is “Make America Great Again.”

By contrast, three of four Democrats voiced pride in how the country “continues to make progress as a tolerant nation” that has taken significant steps to protect the rights of African-Americans and same-sex couples, and to change how women are viewed. Some 45% of Democrats strongly held that belief, compared with 10% among Republican primary voters.

This trend helps explain former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emphasis on gay rights and support for other societal changes. She announced her support for same-sex marriage in March 2013.

“Candidates for both parties can win their respective primaries by appealing to progress on the Democratic side and unease on the Republican side,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, of Hart Research Associates, which conducts the Journal/NBC survey with Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican firm...

Keep reading.

Californians Less Safe After Passage of Proposition 47

Crime's going to be a major issue in 2016, one more plank in the left's platform of culture war against America.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Sheriff Jim McDonnell: Thanks to Prop. 47, Californians are less safe than they were a year ago":

One year ago today, California voters adopted Proposition 47, changing drug possession and five other nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors. Proposition 47 was supposed to ease pressure on California's overflowing prisons and jails and open up funds for rehabilitation programs, along with education and victim services. But the state funds that were earmarked won't arrive until August 2016. Crime is up in many California communities. Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell says Prop. 47, though well-intended, is to blame.

RTWT.

Lily Aldridge Wears the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra 2015 (VIDEO)

The 2015 fashion show is December 8th.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Lily Aldridge reveals $2-million Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra":

Talk about over-the-top underpinnings. Victoria’s Secret model Lily Aldridge revealed this year’s $2-million Fireworks Fantasy Bra at the company’s Third Street Promenade store in Santa Monica this week.

Crafted by the 125-year-old Geneva-based luxury jeweler Mouawad, the bejeweled brassiere, inspired by Victoria’s Secret's new Very Sexy Flirt demi bra, is encrusted with more than 6,500 precious stones, including diamonds, blue topaz, yellow sapphires and pink quartz, set in 18-karat gold, with a red garnet and blue topaz centerpiece. The bra comes with an equally spectacular coordinating belt that can be worn over any panty. Weighing in at a total of 1,300 carats, the set took nearly 700 hours to make.

In 1996, Claudia Schiffer debuted the very first, and least expensive, $1-million Fantasy Bra, while Gisele Bundchen modeled the most pricey version in 2000 — a $15-million satin bra embellished with more than 1,300 diamonds and rubies — so the 2015 design falls on the lower end of the price spectrum, historically speaking...

More at London's Daily Mail, "Ready for the catwalk! Lily Aldridge dazzles in stunning behind the scenes images from her Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra shoot."

Benjamin Golden, Fired Taco Bell Marketing Manager, Remorseful After Attacking Uber Driver (VIDEO)

Following-up from the other day, "Uber Driver Attacked by Drunk Passenger in Costa Mesa (VIDEO)."

The dude was fired by Taco Bell, and now he's remorseful?

Why Depraved Leftist Democrats Lost on Houston Transsexual Bathroom Ordinance (VIDEO)

From Kelsey Harkness, at the Daily Signal, "Why LGBT Advocates Think They Lost in Houston Election":

Failing to pass the Houston Equal Rights Protection Ordinance Tuesday night came as a blow to LGBT advocates, who have won recent victories at the U.S. Supreme Court and beyond.

“We are disappointed with today’s outcome,” said a coalition of partners that make up Houston Unites, the group behind the sexual orientation and gender identity measure. “We’ve learned some important lessons, as well.”

On Wednesday, members of the campaign and LGBT supporters shared some of those lessons, dissecting what went wrong in Houston, which voted for President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008, and how they can prevent it from happening again.

Here’s a brief recap.

The biggest hurdle LGBT groups say they failed to overcome was the branding of the Houston Equal Rights Protection Ordinance as “the bathroom bill.”

Dominic Holden, a BuzzFeed news reporter, spoke to people on the ground before the vote who appeared to be under the impression that bill was entirely about bathrooms.

“Bathrooms are the hot-ticket item—that’s what everybody is talking about,” Cory Alters, a Houston resident, told BuzzFeed. “I don’t want girls in my bathroom, and girls don’t want guys in their bathroom.”

The Houston Equal Rights Protection Ordinance (HERO) would have created legal protections in 15 categories. Sexual orientation and gender identity were two of those categories.

Opponents focused on that angle, branding HERO as a “bathroom bill.” Their fear was that the inclusion of sexual identity could allow persons with biological male bodies who identify as women to use women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-specific facilities, without having legally changed their names or undergone surgery or hormone treatment....

Similar to how LGBT analyzed why they lost, conservatives say they won by pushing both the “bathroom bill” narrative and connecting with “real people”—including minorities—on the ground...

Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, another group that’s been fighting the ordinance for the past 18 months called the outcome a “victory of common decency.” In an email to The Daily Signal, he said:

The victory of common decency in defeating this ordinance is a reminder to pastors across the country that together and united, our voices can make a difference, even when outnumbered by a massive propaganda campaign and vastly outspent. These ordinances that are part of a national campaign of the Human Rights Campaign in their attempt to force their radical anti-faith, anti-family, anti-freedom agenda on local communities can be defeated, so we hope this encourages pastors and citizens around the country.

Ultimately, the people in Houston decided against the measure by a 62-38 margin. That margin, supporters say, is an honest reflection of the city’s values...

Feminism: How a Privileged Elite Can Claim Permanent Victimhood

Here's Robert's book, Sex Trouble: Essays on Radical Feminism and the War Against Human Nature.

And at the Other McCain:

COLLEGE 2015: My Advice for Male Students https://t.co/B3AjGDXGrj @DateOffCampus @g56yu @instapundit @AsheSchow pic.twitter.com/YbVcuEYKCu

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) November 4, 2015

No matter how rich her parents are, no matter what the tuition was at her prestigious private prep school or how elite the university she attends, a feminist always believes she is a victim of male supremacy. She’s got a trust fund, a luxury car and spends her holidays at the family vacation home, but she knows she is oppressed by patriarchy, and that guy over there? The poor slob sweating his life away for an hourly wage? He is a beneficiary of male privilege, who oppresses her by his mere existence.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

If you reject these categorical claims — if do not view the world through feminist lenses — you are a misogynist, a sexist, a rape apologist...

Keep reading.

Democrats Brutal Shellacking 2015

I guess this would be Shellacking 3.0, after 2010 and 2014.

Even far-left WaPo blogger Greg Sargent can't disguise the damage to the Democrat brand, this late stage in the Obama administration trainwreck.

See, "A brutal reality check for the Democratic Party" (at Memeorandum):

The news that Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin snatched the Kentucky governor’s mansion away from Democrats is a particularly stark reminder of how deep a hole Democrats have dug for themselves at the state level, and of the consequences that could have for the long-term success of the liberal and Democratic agenda...

There's a bunch of bullshit filler and blah, blah about how great ObamaCare is in Kentucky, or something, and then he continues:

The broader point is that the Kentucky loss underscores once again that there are serious policy consequences to the profound deficit Democrats face on the level of the states. As I’ve reported, Democrats are well aware of this and are trying to something about it: it’s conceivable that by the end of this decade, the picture could look very different. But last night is a reminder of the stakes involved.

See the whole thing at Memeorandum.

Meanwhile, from Peter Suderman, at Reason, "Yesterday’s Election: A Challenge for Democrats—and a Crisis for Politics."

Matt Bevin Kentucky Victory Underscores Democrat Downfall Under Obama (VIDEO)

Following-up from this morning, "Conservatives Roll Up Huge Victories Across the Country."

Democrats are the biggest statist assholes. Losers and depraved statist assholes.

More, from Guy Benson, at Town Hall, via Memeorandum, "Analysis: Bevin Win in Kentucky Underscores Decimated Democratic Party Under Obama":

Last night's off-year elections produced a number of noteworthy outcomes, none larger than Republican Matt Bevin's upset victory in Kentucky's gubernatorial race. Bevin ran as a hard-charging outsider conservative, warts and all. Public polls gave his opponent, Democrat Jack Conway, a modest but stable lead throughout the race's home stretch, averaging out to a three-point Conway advantage in a three-way contest. They were off by double digits. Bevin won handily....

Bevin, boosted by a massive investment from national Republicans and help from his former nemisis Mitch McConnell, nationalized the race, tying Conway to President Obama at every opportunity -- on coal, on school choice, on social issues, and especially on Obamacare. Democrats have cited Kentucky as a model of the law's success, touting its functioning exchange, improved insured rate, and the unequivocal support of the state's term-limited governor. Here's the timeless advice he dispensed to his party as Kentuckians went to the polls yesterday:

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says Democrats will run on Obamacare in 2016 and “pound the Republicans into dust.”

Oops. Matt Bevin ran as an unflinching opponent of the promise-shattering, cost-increasing law, and pounded Beshear's would-be successor into dust. Democrats reacted by chalking their loss up to the "unexpected headwinds of Trump-mania," a hilarious piece of trolling. Also swept away by the anti-Obama current was a Democratic "rising star" seen by many as a viable challenger to Sen. Rand Paul. Oops, again. Bevin becomes just the second Republican governor of Kentucky in approximately four decades. His Lieutenant Governor, Jenean Hampton, is the first non-white politician ever elected to statewide office. A black woman. Elected by Republicans. With Bevin's victory, Republicans are now set to control 32 governorships, compared to Democrats' 17 (Alaska's independent governor was opposed by Republicans, but endorsed by Sarah Palin). Barack Obama has proven quite adept at getting himself elected, but has acted as a one-man wrecking ball to his party's electoral performance across all levels of government...

Click through for the whole thing, including embedded tweets.

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Bevin Wins – Reports of the death of the Tea Party prove greatly exaggerated" (via Memeorandum).

Politics Isn't Local Anymore

Postcards from the culture war.

From Noah Rothman, at Commentary:

Democrats who had hoped to witness some sign in last night’s off-year elections that the public had abandoned their antipathy toward the president’s party ahead of 2016 saw those hopes unceremoniously crushed. With only a few of exceptions limited to the Northeast and a handful of urban centers, Democratic candidates and liberal causes were again trounced at the polls.

In Virginia, Democrats had hoped to recapture control of the state Senate, but the GOP majority held. Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe’s aspirations to turn his state into a laboratory experiment in which every progressive social policy favored in Washington would be imposed on Old Dominion’s residents were dashed. In San Francisco, the city’s sheriff who had staked his career on defending his “sanctuary cities” policy, which came under fire following the murder of Kate Steinle by a Mexican illegal immigrant, lost his job. Ballot measures in Ohio and Houston, Texas, regarding legalized marijuana and transgendered bathrooms (which would allow all men dressed as women to access female-only restrooms), went down in flames. Perhaps the most fascinating and far-reaching result from last night was the election of conservative outsider candidate Matt Bevin as Kentucky’s governor...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "Houston's Transsexual Bathroom Ordinance Massively Repudiated at the Ballot Box."

(Be sure to watch the video above. It includes an advertisement produced by opponents of the transsexual bathroom ordinance.)

Houston's Transsexual Bathroom Ordinance Massively Repudiated at the Ballot Box

Radical leftists have gone into full psychiatric meltdown mode, even threatening opponents of the measure for harassment and intimidation.

At Twitchy, "Houston’s ‘bathroom ordinance’ is ‘absolutely crushed’ at ballot box, staining city’s reputation."

And at the Houston Chronicle, "Houston Equal Rights Ordinance fails by wide margin."

HOUSTON residents reject transgender bathroom redefinitions in referendum vote. https://t.co/kDuSLpy6Ec

— Vicki Mckenna (@VickiMcKenna) November 4, 2015

Supporters released a written statement Tuesday night: "We are disappointed with today's outcome, but our work to secure nondiscrimination protections for all hard-working Houstonians will continue. No one should have to live with the specter of discrimination hanging over them. Everyone should have the freedom to work hard, earn a decent living and provide for themselves and their families."

The ordinance bans discrimination based not just on gender identity and sexual orientation, but also 13 classes already protected under federal law: sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status.

Businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing and city contracting are all subject to the law and face up to $5,000 in fines for violations. Religious institutions, however, are exempt. The ordinance was in effect for only three months between extensive legal challenges.

City Council passed the law 11-6 in May last year, but conservative foes launched an effort to force a repeal referendum that spanned more than one year of legal challenges. In July, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the city to either repeal the law or place in the ballot. By a 12-5 vote, City Council opted for the latter, officially unleashing two dueling campaigns.

Political scientists expected the law to drive turnout, though without complete results it's not clear to what extent that has happened.  But in early voting, approximately 130,000 city voters cast ballots, more than doubling pre-election day turnout in Houston's last open-seat mayor's race six years ago...

Get Ready for Thanksgiving

At Amazon, Thanksgiving Store.

Conservatives Roll Up Huge Victories Across the Country

From Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "WASHINGTON POST: From coast to coast, conservatives score huge victories in off-year elections. “Even in San Francisco, the sheriff who steadfastly defended the city’s ‘sanctuary city’ policy went down”."

I'll have more. Last night was obviously a major preview of the 2016 election, which in addition to the economy, will no doubt be waged over the left's culture war on America.

More Evidence of the Toxic Environment on Many College Campuses Today

From Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, ANTISEMITISM EDITION: Israeli academic shouted down in lecture at University of Minnesota."

China Rolls Out First Large Passenger Jet (VIDEO)

This is interesting, at WSJ:

BEIJING—China’s first large passenger jet rolled off the assembly line on Monday after years of delays, bringing Beijing’s dream of developing a rival to Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE closer to reality.

Still, the single-aisle C919 airliner won’t be delivered to airlines for at least another three years, highlighting the difficulties China has faced in becoming a global player in aviation.

Developed by state-run Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac, the twin-engine jet was initially set for its first flight in 2014, ahead of commercial deliveries starting in 2016. Production setbacks forced Comac to repeatedly extend its deadlines. Company executives say flight testing should start next year, with deliveries expected in 2018 or 2019 at the earliest.

Comac hasn’t disclosed list prices for the C919.

Thousands of guests, including government officials and aerospace executives, witnessed the C919’s rollout at an assembly plant near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, according to Chinese state media.

As patriotic songs blared in a large hangar, the C919 prototype—decked out with white, blue and green Comac livery—emerged from behind red curtains under a banner that proclaimed “Dreams take flight” in Chinese, footage aired by state broadcaster China Central Television showed. The jet was then towed past guests before slowing to a stop just outside the hangar.

The 158-to-174 seater, designed in Shanghai but incorporating components sourced globally, relies on foreign technology, including avionics from Rockwell Collins Inc. and engines developed by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric Co. and the Snecma engine unit of France’s Safran SA. The jet is expected to undergo ground and flight tests spanning two to three years, before attaining certification from China’s civil-aviation regulator and entering commercial service.

China unveiled plans to develop the C919 in 2006 as part of a decadeslong effort to create an advanced aerospace sector capable of breaking the Airbus and Boeing duopoly. Coming after an abortive effort in the 1970s and early 1980s to develop a large commercial jetliner, the C919 was meant to help satisfy growing air-travel demand on the mainland, competing with the likes of Airbus’s A320 family and Boeing’s 737 series.

Airbus and Boeing, in separate emailed statements, congratulated Comac and welcomed competition from the Chinese aerospace firm, saying the aviation market is large enough to accommodate an additional manufacturer.

Airbus and Boeing, for their part, are seeking to shore up their market shares in China by building up an industrial footprint on the mainland, and developing new aircraft that can outperform coming Chinese rivals. Airbus assembles some A320s in the northeastern city of Tianjin, while Boeing in December announced plans for a 737 completion-and-delivery center in China, where aircraft will be painted and interiors installed.

Both companies also plan to widen the number of jets they make using carbon-fiber composite materials, which are lighter and considered more efficient. Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney said last year that Boeing was considering a new composite-materials aircraft that would replace its 737 Max in part because of potential competition from the C919...

More.

Teenagers Spend Average of 9 Hours Per Day Using Electronic Media (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Teens spend an average of 9 hours a day with media, survey finds":

Millennials might be obsessed with social media, but among teens, television is still king, according to a survey by Common Sense Media, an organization that monitors media use among young people.

Surveying 2,658 tweens and teens ages 8-18, the organization found that 58% of respondents said they watch television every day, while two-thirds of respondents said the same about listening to music. By contrast, 45% said they use social media every day, and only about a third of those social-media users said they liked it “a lot.”

In terms of video consumption, half of respondents said they watch a television program at the time it originally airs, while the rest is spent with DVDs, online video, or time-delayed viewing.

And while that’s a lot of screen time, Common Sense Media founder and chief executive James Steyer said the more concerning part is half the teens surveyed watched TV, sent text messages or consumed other forms of media while doing homework...

Also, "Here's what teens are really doing on their smartphones."

Embers of War

A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, from Professor Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam.

ONE OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED WORKS OF HISTORY IN RECENT YEARS — Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians • Winner of the American Library in Paris Book Award • Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award • Finalist for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature.

Demand for Books on Marxism Surges in Britain with Rise of Labour's Jeremy Corbyn (VIDEO)

Yeah, because no doubt all these leftist loons are running out to scoop up copies of Marx's Capital.

Oh brother.

Watch, at Russia Today, where else?

Leftist Humanities Professoriate Abandons and Excoriates Traditional Curriculum

Here's Heather Mac Donald, for Prager University.

The video reminds me of an earlier entry, "Increasingly Leftist Colleges Abandon Greats and Teach Garbage."

New ObamaCare Open Enrollment Begins with Surging Premiums and Deductibles (VIDEO)

At WSJ, "Next Enrollment Season for Affordable Care Act Kicks Off":

This year has been described as one of the most difficult yet for the health law because the administration is trying to get the holdouts—an estimated 10.5 million or so uninsured who qualify for coverage on the exchanges—to buy health plans. They are seeking to market the coverage as affordable, especially because about eight in 10 shoppers are expected to be eligible for tax credits that reduce their premium costs.

But overcoming their affordability concerns will be made more difficult by the rising cost of health care on the exchanges. An analysis of 2016 plan data released Friday by the administration show deductibles on the midtier silver plans will go up 8% to $6,480 for a family plan, according to HealthPocket.com, a company that compares health-insurance plans.

Premiums are going up for 2016. The second-lowest-cost midrange “silver plan”—a key metric for premiums around the country—will increase 7.5% on average across the roughly three dozen states that rely on HealthCare.gov, according to the administration.

Seven in 10 returning customers will be able to buy a plan for $75 a month or less in monthly premiums, according to Health and Human Services.

Independence Blue Cross brought out a tractor trailer dubbed “Independence Express” at a shopping center in suburban Philadelphia with licensed agents and computers on board. They also saw calls from consumers looking to re-enroll for coverage Sunday.

“We’re seeing a steady stream of traffic,” said Paula Sunshine, vice president of consumer sales at Independence Blue Cross. “People are very pleased with their rates.”

Saumya Narechania, national field director for Enroll America, said churches and temples in Cincinnati, Ohio, were enrolling consumers. At event in Charlotte, N.C., had one or two customers lined up before the sign-up assistance kicked off. More than 2,000 people have made appointments for in-person assistance in the next seven days, he said. The organization is a key supporter of the health law.

The administration’s goal is to have about 10 million people with paid up coverage on the state and federal exchanges by the end of 2016. That is lower than earlier projections. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office earlier this year estimated that at least 20 million people would buy policies under the law for 2016 coverage.

“Affordability is a big issue in terms of how people make decisions, and we’ll be focused on that,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell in a briefing Wednesday with reporters.

Some consumers remain concerned. Peter Wainwright, 63, who retired from a telecommunications job, is a returning customer. He and his wife don’t get a subsidy and pay about $2,230 a month, and the rate is increasing for 2016.

“I get no subsidy,” said Mr. Wainwright, of Half Moon Bay, Calif. “Everything has gone up.”

RTWT.

Paranoia and the Surveillance State

I'm generally not paranoid, but still.

Don't miss this chilling piece at the Atlantic, "If You’re Not Paranoid, You’re Crazy."

And flashback to last month, "Social Media Self-Defense."

Sacramento Florin High School Principal Body-Slammed Trying to Break-Up Fight (VIDEO)

Following-up from Sunday, "Sacramento Unified High School Teacher Suspended after Allegedly Wrestling Student in Classroom (VIDEO)."

This story's interesting because the student who caught the principal being body-slammed was suspended for taking a video and sending it viral. She'd win a First Amendment case, no doubt.

At the Sacramento Bee, "Florin High’s punishment of student whose video went viral draws free speech questions."

And at CBS News Sacramento:

Heidi Klum Transformed Herself Into 'Jessica Rabbit' for Halloween

When she transforms she really transforms.

Check it out.

On Twitter, here, here, and here.

Also at ABC News, "Heidi Klum's 2015 Halloween Costume Finally Revealed," and TMZ, "Heidi Klum Throws Model Halloween Party."

Sexy Halloween at the Playboy Mansion (VIDEO)

Scary and sexy.

Watch, "Let the Playmates Guide You Through Our 2015 Halloween Party at the Playboy Mansion."

Has Obama Set Loose a New Willie Horton?

Well, Democrat-leftists are the party of Willie Horton, so yeah.

At Politico, "Advocates on both sides of the sentencing reform movement are carefully watching the reentry of 6,000 federal prisoners released this weekend":

President Barack Obama is hoping there’s no Willie Horton among the 6,000 inmates being released early from federal prison.

Reducing the prison population is a key part of Obama’s push for criminal justice reform in his last year as president. He sees it as a way to repair broken communities and spare taxpayers the cost of housing low-level criminals. A bipartisan coalition in Congress is on board, too.

But the mass release set to be completed Monday will test the resolve of this new consensus heading into an election year. The infamous Willie Horton ad is on the minds of activists on both sides: They haven’t forgotten how the grainy, black-and-white mug shot of a bearded black man helped sink Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign. As Massachusetts governor, “he allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison,” said a voice-over, before describing how Horton kidnapped a couple and raped the woman while out on furlough.

The people released from Friday through Monday are not first-degree murderers — they’re low-level drug offenders, and almost a third are immigrants just headed for a different, predeportation detention — but opponents of sentencing reform are already looking for the next Horton.

“We’re fooling the public when we tell them we’re releasing nonviolent drug offenders,” said Steven Cook, head of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who says downward trends in crime are thanks to the current system of tough sentences...

This is not good. "Non-violent criminals" are a leftist media myth.

Crime's already going up with the Black Lives Matter's "Ferguson effect." It's going up more. A lot more.

Donald Trump to Negotiate Directly with Networks on Presidential Debates

Well, it least he's looking to negotiate directly, and frankly, I'll bet he does.

At WaPo, "Trump's campaign says he'll negotiate directly with TV networks on debates":

The format and content of upcoming Republican debates became increasingly uncertain on Monday after Donald Trump’s campaign said the real estate mogul would negotiate his terms directly with television executives instead of as part of a joint effort with his rivals.

The move by Trump, coming just hours after his and other campaigns huddled in a Washington suburb to craft a three-page letter of possible demands, thwarts an effort to find consensus after what most candidates agreed was a debacle hosted by CNBC last week.

As a celebrity billionaire who has been a leading factor in drawing record ratings, Trump has little interest in working to promote the wishes of his opponents, his allies said...

Smart.

I wouldn't be promoting the interest of my opponents either, especially Jeb Bush.

More (via Memeorandum).

Uber Driver Attacked by Drunk Passenger in Costa Mesa (VIDEO)

Gnarly.

At the Next Web, "Uber driver uploads video of him being beaten by passenger in California."

And at CBS News This Morning:

Owner of Orange County Register Files for Bankruptcy

These guys have had an absolutely bizarre business strategy, focusing heavily on print media, which is strange in this day and age, to say the least.

At the O.C. Register, "With bankruptcy filing, local group bids for ownership of Freedom Communications":

When [Aaron] Kushner and [Eric] Spitz took over in July 2012, they stunned an ailing and shrinking newspaper industry. Their bets were heavy on print products. They expanded newspaper sections, added magazines, bought The Press-Enterprise for $27 million in November 2013 and launched the Los Angeles Register in April 2014. In addition, they dramatically increased subscription costs, de-emphasized Web publishing and put up one of the industry’s hardest online paywalls.

Few of those strategies paid off. As losses mounted, the owners turned to layoffs, buyouts and staff furloughs in 2014. The Los Angeles Register folded after five months.

Mirman, a veteran casino marketing executive, took over day-to-day leadership on an interim basis in October 2014 and became the top executive of Freedom and the two newspapers six months later. He said what started as simply a financial fix-it job for him has morphed into a passion to create a profitable and sustainable news operation. He now lives in Irvine.

“I’ve caught the bug of what news journalism can do in its community,” Mirman said. “I’m very intrigued by translating what we do into a long-lasting business. There are ways to make money in new and innovative ways.”

The bankruptcy move is not without risks. Numerous business decisions require court approval. The company gains relief from paying creditors, but those same creditors can wield some power in the process. There’s no guarantee the so-called stalking horse bid by Mirman and his investment team – which includes Michael Harrah, owner of the Santa Ana-based development firm Caribou Industries – will win the bankruptcy auction, which may be held within 90 days. (Harrah purchased the Register’s Santa Ana headquarters in 2014.)

RTWT.

Hundreds Arrested at Electronic Music 'Raves' in Pomona and San Bernardino (VIDEO)

Media sources last night were reporting just over 200 hundred arrested. Now it's 500 arrested.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Nearly 500 arrested at electronic music festivals in Pomona, San Bernardino":

Nearly 500 people were arrested this weekend at two electronic music festivals in Pomona and San Bernardino, authorities said.

On Sunday, the second and final day of the Halloween-themed HARD Day of the Dead festival at the Pomona Fairplex, 162 people were arrested, according to figures released early Monday morning by the Pomona Police Department. An additional 148 people were arrested on Saturday.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

Authorities in San Bernardino arrested about 180 people at Escape: Psycho Circus, a two-day festival that began Friday at the National Orange Show Events Center.

At the Pomona rave, which featured headliners such as Skrillex, Deadmau5 and Hot Chip, most were arrested on charges of public intoxication, possession of illegal drugs or being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said in a statement. About 100 people were arrested on charges of carrying fake identification, authorities said...

More.

Republican Candidates Meet, Demanding Greater Control Over Presidential Debates (VIDEO)

This isn't as big of a mess as the left-wing media would like folks to believe, much less George Stephanopoulos, who interviews Reince Priebus at the clip below.

And at the New York Times, "Republican Campaigns Meet in an Effort to Alter Debates":

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The presidential candidates in the crowded Republican field finally can agree on at least one thing: just how frustrated they are with the debate process so far.

In a meeting here Sunday evening following the fallout from last week’s CNBC debate — in which the campaigns blamed both the Republican National Committee and the television network for what they said was an unfair debate — representatives of most of the campaigns met to discuss how to exert more influence over the process.

They emerged with a modest list of demands, including opening and closing statements of at least 30 seconds; “parity and integrity” on questions, meaning that all candidates would receive similarly substantive questions; no so-called lightning rounds; and approval of any graphics that are aired during the debate.

The campaign representatives also moved to take the Republican National Committee out of the debate negotiating process, calling for the campaigns to negotiate directly with the TV networks over format, and to receive information about the rules and criteria at least 30 days before each debate.

Ben Ginsberg, a top Republican lawyer and debate negotiator who was invited to serve as a facilitator at the meeting, is drafting a letter — without the R.N.C.’s input — that the campaigns plan to send to the networks within 48 hours. Mr. Ginsberg called the committee immediately after the meeting to convey the group’s next steps...

More.

The Ginsberg letter is at WaPo, via Memeorandum, "Read the letter that Ben Ginsberg drafted for the GOP summit."

They'd Be Shooting by Now

What would the Founding Fathers say about our current political crisis?

Again, I think Donald Trump's tapping into something deeply anti-establishment. See, "The Political Establishment's Terrified by Donald Trump's 'Tangible American Nationalism'."

Monica Crowley on Today’s Totalitarian Left

This is great!

Mark Tapson has an interview with the brilliant Monica Crowley, at FrontPage Magazine.

Her book's a freakin' classic, What the (Bleep) Just Happened . . . Again?: The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback.

America’s Shattered Postwar Order

Instapundit had this posted, and it looks good.

From James Piereson, Shattered Consensus: The Rise and Decline of America’s Postwar Political Order.

Special Operations at Amazon

Here, Books on Special Operations Forces.

And just out last month, Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win.

What 'Rape Culture' Really Means: Your Male Heterosexuality Is Problematic

From Robert Stacy McCain, at the Other McCain.

Donald Trump Slams Obama Over Ground Troops in Syria (VIDEO)

At CNN, via Memeorandum, "First on CNN: Trump slams Obama over ground troops in Syria."

Sacramento Unified High School Teacher Suspended after Allegedly Wrestling Student in Classroom (VIDEO)

Bizarre.

At the Sacramento Bee, "Police identify McClatchy High teacher arrested after allegedly wrestling student."

And at CBS News Sacramento:

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup..."

More at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – DNCBC Debate."

Cartoon Credit: A.F. Branco, "Democratic Communist or Democratic socialist, at this point what difference does it make."

Home & Garden Gift Guide for the Season

At Amazon, Shop Holiday Home & Garden Gift Guide - Seasonal Celebrator.

Bonus: Best Sellers in History.

Bernie Sanders Going Up in Iowa and New Hampshire with 60-Second Spot Targeted to Blacks (VIDEO)

He's making "overtures" to black Americans.

At WSJ, "Sanders Releasing 60-Second Ad in New Campaign Phase":

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is putting out his first ad of the 2016 campaign, a 60-second spot that highlights his biography and makes overtures to a constituency that he will need to beat frontrunner Hillary Clinton: African-Americans.

Mr. Sanders’s campaign is spending more than $2 million on the ad, which will air in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states that hold the first two contests of the primary campaign.

“Thousands of Americans have come out to see Bernie speak and we’ve seen a great response to his message,” Jeff Weaver, the Sanders campaign manager, said. “This ad marks the next phase of this campaign. We’re bringing that message directly to the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire.”

In national polls, Mr. Sanders is running second to Mrs. Clinton, who has been running television ads since the summer.

The Sanders ad, called “Real Change,” opens with pictures of a young Mr. Sanders: “The son of a Polish immigrant who grew up in a Brooklyn tenement.”

A female narrator says that “fighting justice and inequality” is Mr. Sanders’s overriding project. The ad shows a picture of Martin Luther King, with a caption that reads Mr. Sanders joined the March on Washington, where Mr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

At another point in the ad, Mr. Sanders is shown with his arm around an African-American supporter.

Polling shows Mrs. Clinton has a large advantage over Mr. Sanders among African-Americans, a core part of the Democratic base.

While Mr. Sanders is running a close race against Mrs. Clinton in two states that are largely white—Iowa and New Hampshire—polls show he trails badly in South Carolina, a state that holds the fourth contest of the primary season.

Blacks account for about half of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate...

More.

Peggy Noonan's New Book Out Tuesday

At Amazon, The Time of Our Lives: Collected Writings.

And she's interviewed at this morning's "Face the Nation":

Donald Trump Towers Over GOP Field in Latest IBD/TIPP Poll

At IBD, "Trump Leads GOP, Carson Stays Strong, Rubio 3rd: Poll" (via Conservative Tree-house):

After taking a battering in last month's poll, Donald Trump has re-emerged at the top of the Republican field in the latest IBD/TIPP poll.

Support for Trump among registered Republicans and those leaning Republican is 28%; support for Carson is 23%. Last month's poll had Carson up by 7 points over Trump.

Marco Rubio comes in third at 11%, the same as last month.

No other GOP candidate reached double digits. Support for Jeb Bush dropped two points to 6%; Carly Fiorina collapsed to 3% from last month's 9%. Ted Cruz held at 6%.

"Trump's support in the last poll suffered somewhat because of his nearly weeklong boycott of Fox News, which has since been lifted," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, which conducts the IBD/TIPP poll. "Carson has recently been under more scrutiny by both the media and other candidates."

Mayur added, "Though our latest poll shows Trump leading Carson, the poll's margin of error of +/- five points means that Trump and Carson are still running a close race."

That's evident from other polls. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows Carson in the lead by four points, while the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll has Trump up by three points. Several Iowa polls show Carson well ahead of Trump.

The RealClearPolitics average has Trump at 26.8% to Carson's 22%, with Trump down from his mid-September peak of 30.5%.

Interestingly, Carson does beat Trump among investors in the IBD/TIPP Poll — 27% to 24% — as well as among independents by 30% to 21%. Trump leads among men — 38% to Carson's 18%. Among women, it's Carson at 28% to 18% for Trump...

Keep reading.

Working Out with Playboy's Miss October 2015, Ana Cheri! (VIDEO)

This is great!

Halloween Used to Be for Kids

Heh, at Pajamas, "How Did Halloween Go From Being a Holiday for Kids to a Celebration of Adulthood?"

I tweeted, "Leftist narcissism and endless leftist adolescence?"

And Diana West tweeted me a link to her book, exclaiming, "of course!"

Heh, "#TheDeathoftheGrownUp, of course! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312340494?..."

Cal State Fullerton Math Professor Fights Mandatory Adoption of Department's Standard Alegbra Textbook

I saw something on this a week or two ago, but then forgot about it.

But the story's on the front page at the Sunday O.C. Register, "CSUF math professor in textbook battle draws support and opposition":

Support and opposition for @csuf math professor over textbook debate https://t.co/3lwIcwIm9e

— O.C. Register (@ocregister) October 31, 2015

When Alain Bourget went public with his textbook spat with Cal State Fullerton last week, he knew the risky move would set off a wave of backlash from his department.

What the associate math professor didn’t see coming was dozens of emails and phone calls from CSUF students and professors around the country – and a nationwide discussion about academic freedom and mounting textbook prices.

“This has been the toughest week of my life,” said Bourget, who was reprimanded by university officials after he assigned alternative textbooks instead of one co-authored by the university’s math department chair.

The case and the debate that ensued were brought to light by the Register this month.

The textbook Bourget refused to use was “Differential Equations and Linear Algebra,” written by Stephen W. Goode and Scott A. Annin, the chair and vice chair of the math department. In some form, the book has been the singular text for Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, also called Math 250B, for more than two decades. A new copy of the book costs $180 at the campus bookstore.

Bourget’s preferred teaching materials are “Introduction to Linear Algebra” by Gilbert Strang, which costs $76 new, and a free online publication, “Elementary Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems” by William F. Trench.

Bourget said he chose those books because they’re a better fit for his students and cheaper than the Goode-Annin book. He tried to get permission to use the alternative texts over the course of two years. After several meetings with his superiors and no resolution, Bourget assigned his preferred texts last spring.

Shortly after, CSUF officials issued a letter of reprimand against Bourget, saying he violated math department policy and orders from university officials. School leaders cited a 31-year-old policy that states Math 250B – which has multiple sections – will use a common text approved by the math department. It doesn’t spell out the book-adoption process, book title or author.

Bourget challenged the reprimand letter last week at a public hearing, making his case before a panel of his peers. The three-member panel will decide by Friday whether the reprimand stands.

During the hearing, Goode acknowledged that his text was never formally adopted by the math department as Math 250B’s common text until 2014. Bourget raised issues with Goode’s book in 2013.

The matter has created a divisive environment within the university.

Most of CSUF’s math instructors – save for two, one of whom is Bourget’s wife – stand behind Goode and Annin. They have posted signs stating “The Math Faculty Supports the CSUF Department of Mathematics” outside their offices.

Math faculty members argue that the Goode-Annin text was written with the CSUF student in mind and has been used for years without issue.

“The present text has been successfully used for over two decades with no complaints, so no review was needed outside of the professors teaching the course,” said Margaret L. Kidd, an associate math professor who joined the math department in 2003.

Bourget opponents say the Goode-Annin book can be rented at a cheaper price. A rented copy at the campus bookstore costs between $56 used and $76 new, according to the listed prices, and as low as $16 for a rented paperback and $74 for a rented e-textbook on Amazon. A rental of the hardcover Strang textbook costs about $20 through Amazon.

Bourget said that although renting is an option, most of his students don’t do it because they want to keep the textbook as a reference. He said the renting argument is an attempt to “divert the conversation.”

Still more.

U.S. to Send Special Forces to Syria (VIDEO)

A major development --- and an indication that the Obama White House is deeply worried about its foreign policy legacy. They lost Iraq. And the spillover's spreading across the Middle East.

NBC's Richard Engel reports at the video below.

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Deployment of up to 50 commandos would be first sustained U.S. ground presence in Syria":

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is sending special-operations forces to northeastern Syria, a shift in strategy that establishes the first sustained American military presence in the campaign against Islamic State in the war-ravaged country.

Up to 50 U.S. special-operations troops will assist Syrian rebel units spearheading what the Pentagon says would be a new military offensive against the militant group, marking a sharp escalation in the level of direct U.S. involvement on the ground inside Syria. The American forces are to link up with local forces in Kurdish-controlled territory whose mission will be to choke off supply lines to Islamic State militants in their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

The move marks a change for President Barrack Obama who had long promised not to send ground forces to Syria.

“They are not being deployed with a combat mission,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “The mission of our men and women on the ground has not changed.”

If the initial deployment bears fruit, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday that he would be open to deploying more forces.

“We are going to continue to innovate, to build on what works,” Mr. Carter told reporters on a military jet as it landed in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the first leg of a trip through Asia. “Our role fundamentally and the strategy is to enable local forces. But does that put U.S. forces in harm’s way? It does, no question about it.”

The first phase of the new campaign is expected to kick off with an operation in northern Syria as early as next week, officials said. U.S. drones and fighter planes will provide the Syrian fighters with air support.

The decision to send troops coincides with an administration shift on the fate of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in international talks under way in Vienna.

While U.S. officials once demanded Mr. Assad leave as part of any truce, they have signaled a willingness to let the dictator remain in power for several months or more during a political transition.

Under Mr. Obama’s new orders, the American commandos will operate in Syria under what the Pentagon calls an advise-and-assist mission, and will not accompany local forces on any of their operations “for the foreseeable future,” a senior U.S. defense official said.

But other defense officials said they couldn’t rule out the possibility that the forces would be pulled into occasional firefights with Islamic State military given their proximity to the confrontation line. The officials cited as an example last week’s raid in Iraq in which a U.S. commando was killed.

The decision to send ground forces to Syria drew criticism from some Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers charged that Mr. Obama was erring by putting U.S. military personnel in harm’s way, and others warned that the commitment was too small to make a difference.

“I firmly believe that the deployment of American ground forces in Syria is not the solution,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) said in a statement.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) called the decision “another tactical move in the absence of a comprehensive strategy for Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East that does nothing more than create the appearance of serious action.”

Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Mr. Obama has sought to keep U.S. ground forces out of the country, although the Pentagon has conducted a limited number of raids there using special-operations forces since mid-2014.

More.

Holiday Gifts in Hobby Trains

A great idea for Christmas, and it's not too early to start shopping.

At Amazon, Holiday Gifts in Hobby Trains.

BUMPED!

The Ghost Host Sophia Temperilli

She's on Twitter.

And at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Asheville, N.C.: The New, Hip Destination in the South?

I had no idea about Asheville when I visited a couple of years back, but I liked it.

And now here's this at WSJ, "Asheville: The South’s Insider Destination":

HENRY JAMES WASN’T much taken with Asheville, the small mountain town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The novelist spent a week there in 1905 as a guest at Biltmore, George Vanderbilt’s 250-room French Renaissance home. “It is a strange gorgeous colossus,” he wrote to Edith Wharton, “in a vast void of desolation.”

But Mr. James is one of the few who’ve had an unkind word to say about Asheville, one of America’s oldest holiday towns. It was a favorite of the Gilded Age glitterati, including Ms. Wharton, who arrived at Biltmore not long after Mr. James and dispatched a more enthusiastic letter (referencing a popular painting of the day) about the “divine landscape, ‘under a roof of blue Ionian weather.’ ”

Staring out the window of my friend Hap Endler’s snug Cessna on an impromptu aerial tour of Asheville and the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains, I found myself siding with Ms. Wharton. It was a pale blue September afternoon and we were flying over wave after wave of mountain tops covered in oak, maple and pine trees, a deep-green sea dappled in gold and red.

When we flew over Asheville, set squarely in the middle of the French Broad River Valley, I could see just a few tall buildings, most dating to the 1920s, sprout from the compact downtown. I could even make out the small, leafy squares where young buskers play their guitars and washboards on one corner, while a group of young homeless men panhandle for coffee on another. We were up too high to see the sign outside the Indian restaurant, Chai Pani, that reads “Namaste, Y’all,” but I knew that it was there: I’d seen it that morning on my way to the Early Girl Eatery, where a tattooed waiter in a cowboy shirt served me fried-green tomatoes over grits.

Hap and his wife, Julia Weatherford, live just outside of Asheville, in the town of Black Mountain. They’ve entertained me for years with stories about their colorful corner of Appalachia (where Julia, eager to dye her own yarn, bought a flock of sheep), but I had yet to see it for myself. Then, in September, Hap called to give me the latest. “Asheville is hopping. New breweries and restaurants are popping up like crazy and a bunch of hotels are under construction,” he said. Come on down. I’ll take you to President Obama’s favorite barbecue place.” How could I refuse?

Though the city and surrounding mountains have long been a top vacation destination for Southerners and have drawn luminaries from Albert Einstein to Willem de Kooning over the years, it’s only now starting to catch on with travelers outside of the South. A growing number of East and West Coasters are flying in to hike, fly fish and kayak and to lap up the beer (Asheville has 18 breweries and counting). They’re also coming for the restaurants, galleries and the music, all found in surprising abundance for a town smaller than Nantucket...

Hmm, maybe I'll plan a vacation out there with my wife. I stayed at the Grove Park Inn, which is quite famous, apparently.

Keep reading, in any case.

Playboy's Alyssa Arce, Miss July 2013, Carves Pumpkin (VIDEO)

Man, maybe she should be starring in a slasher flick.

That's a huge "carving" knife.

Watch, "Happy Halloween From Playboy! Let Miss July 2013 Alyssa Arce teach you a thing or two about how to really carve a pumpkin…with a very large knife. Don’t worry though — Alyssa would never hurt a fly. Or at least so we think."

Black Suspect Arrested in Spate of Arson Fires at Black Churches in St. Louis

Deray was tweeting #WhoIsBurningBlackChurches on October 22nd. He's not tweeting jack about the arsons now.

At Twitchy, "Narrative BUSTED! 35-year-old black male arrested for arson attacks at black churches in the St. Louis area."

Also at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Suspect charged with setting two in the string of seven St. Louis area church fires."

Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Downed Russian Passenger Jet in Egypt (VIDEO)

Well, I warned about conspiracy theories, although I was thinking of the Russian variety, suggesting for example that the U.S. and its "Zionist allies" brought down the plane.

Of course, we could see ISIS conspiracies, except that I don't doubt the Islamic State could bring down a jet liner. If pro-Russian rebels could bring down MH-17, there's no reason to belief ISIS couldn't do the same with Flight 7K9268.

Zero Hedge has the video, "ISIS Releases Video of Alleged Russian Airplane Mid-Air Exposion After It Claims Responsibility For Disaster."

And at the Times of Israel, "Islamic State in Egypt claims it brought down Russian plane; 224 dead: Terror group hails success, although Sinai officials say technical failure led to crash; Russia rejects claim."

A YouTube of the ISIS video is here.

Plus, lots of doubts about the theory, at the Guardian, "Russian plane crash: investigation into cause begins – as it happened."

And at Tornoto's National Post, "Russian Metrojet plane carrying 224 people crashed in Sinai province, Egypt says. There were no survivors."

Air France, Lufthansa Suspend Flights Over Sinai Pending Crash Probe

You think?

At the Times of Israel, "2 European carriers take safety precautions after IS claims responsibility for downing Russian plane with loss of 224 lives."

PREVIOUSLY: "Russian Jet Crashes in Egypt, Killing 224 People (VIDEO)."

High Bridge Arms, San Francisco's Last Remaining Gun Store, Forced to Go Out of Business (VIDEO)

A couple of thoughts.

First, leftists won't complain about a gun store going out of business, regulations or no regulations. Second, paradoxically, the main sponsor, County Supervisor Mark Farrell, is the author of the city's Laura’s Law, which would allow families, health professionals, and law enforcement to seek mandatory mental health treatment, through the courts, for individuals with dangerous psychiatric conditions. I fully support such legislation. So, it's too bad the city's going to demonize law-abiding gun owners, opening them up to harassment by leftist anti-gun nuts.

At Reason, "San Francisco Wanted Info on Gun Owners. This Gun Shop Refused." (VIDEO)

Hat Tip: Instapundit, "THE APPALLING REASON WHY SAN FRANCISCO’S LAST GUN SHOP CLOSED: High Bridge Arms, founded in the mid-1950s by Olympic shooter Bob Chow, shuts down rather than give local police its customer list."

Islamic State Beheading of Four Kurdish Peshmerga Soldiers (VIDEO)

At My Pet Jawa, "ISIS Murders Four Kurdish Soldiers in Revenge Video: 'Its a as gruesome a beheading as I've witnessed'"

And watch, with caution, at the Heavy, "WATCH: ISIS Beheads 4 Peshmerga Fighters."

Stopping the European Migrant Invasion

This is good, "How to Solve the European Migrant Crisis in 5 Steps":

Via Bare Naked Islam, "HUNGARIAN Prime Minister accuses George Soros of stoking the Muslim invasion to weaken Europe."

Russian Jet Crashes in Egypt, Killing 224 People (VIDEO)

Boy, you can bet there's going to be monstrous conspiracy theories.

At WSJ, "Russian Passenger Jet Crashes in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Killing 224 People":

A Russian passenger jet crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board, after losing contact with aviation authorities on Saturday.

Egyptian officials said the Airbus A321 jetliner, which was operated by Russian carrier Kogalymavia, was flying to St. Petersburg from Sharm El Sheikh, a resort town popular with Russian tourists, when it disappeared from radar screens.

Egypt’s flagship state-run newspaper, Al Ahram, quoted an Egyptian aviation official as saying the plane’s pilot had requested to land at the nearest airport after an unspecified mechanical problem shortly after taking off at 5:50 a.m. local time. The newspaper later cited another Egyptian aviation official as saying the pilot hadn’t made any distress calls or requests to land.

Egypt’s chief prosecutor said the cause of the crash was being investigated. He didn’t say whether terrorism was suspected.

Sinai Province, the Egyptian branch of Islamic State, claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but officials have cast doubt over whether the group has the capabilities to carry out such an attack. Islamic State and its affiliated groups have frequently made exaggerated claims.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to form a state commission to investigate the crash, the Kremlin said Saturday.

The Russian Embassy in Cairo said on its official Twitter account that all those on board were killed.

Mr. Putin “expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of those who died in the crash.”

The wreckage was located south of the city of Al Arish in the sparsely populated, mountainous north Sinai, according to the aviation authority. As many as 50 ambulances were dispatched, it said.

A spokesman for Egypt’s prime minister said 15 bodies had been recovered and sent to a morgue in Cairo, while investigators continued to search the crash site for evidence and victims. One of the black boxes, which record flight data and audio, was located and taken into the custody of the prosecutor general’s office, he said.

According to the spokesman, the passengers comprised 214 Russians and three Ukrainians, of which 138 were women, 62 men and 17 children. The count didn’t include the seven crew members.

According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Puchkov, Russia’s minister of civil defense, emergencies and disaster relief, was ordered to send aircraft to Egypt to aid in the recovery of the wreckage of the aircraft. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said five aircraft were flying to Egypt with first responders and forensic investigators on board. The ministry also set up a hot line to aid families of the victims.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in March warned U.S. airlines to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula below 26,000 feet. Airline routes traversing the region “are at risk from potential extremist attacks involving antiaircraft weapons,” the FAA said, including shorter-range, shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles. “Some of these weapons have the capability to target aircraft at high altitudes,” or when approaching or departing airports, the U.S. aviation regulator said, noting that an Egyptian military helicopter flying at lower altitudes had been downed by extremists using a missile...

More.

Also at Russia Today, "Bodies of 224 7K9268 crash victims delivered to Cairo morgue," and "Russian A321 fell 'almost vertically', technical fault behind crash."

Londonistan

I haven't been reading Melanie Phillips' commentaries much lately. She's certainly one of the best conservative commentators on Israel, terrorism, and related items, but she got attacked by leftists, had legal issues, and moderated her views as a result. The whole thing was kinda of sad. I think she even attacked Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, or some such thing. I'd have to Google it. Maybe later.

Still worth a read, whatever the case.

At Amazon, Londonistan.

Kristen Keogh's Got Your Halloween Forecast

From ABC News 10 San Diego:

Halloween Hotness

Following-up from this morning's entry, "Happy Halloween."

Here's spooky Rosie Jones, via Twitter.



More from last year, "ROSIE JONES TOPLESS IN LINGERIE PHOTOSHOOT FOR ZOO OCTOBER 2014."

Men's and Women's UGG Boots

At Amazon, UGG Men's Classic Short Boot, and UGG Australia Women's Classic Short Rustic Weave Sheepskin Boot.

Irvine Girl Gets Thumbs-Up from Katy Perry for 'Katy Perry' Costume (VIDEO)

Totally cool.

My wife watched this video and she's going, "Oh. My. God!"

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Mike Rowe: Slaves Are Not 'Hard Workers'

I have this on the sidebar links, but it's too good not to post to the front page.

Here's the "Dirty Jobs" guy, Mike Rowe, responding to the demented Melissa Harris-Perry and her comments about "hard work".

On Facebook, "'Hello Mr. Rowe! What's your take on MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry being offended by the phrase "hard worker"? How can such a label possibly be offensive to anyone?”":

First of all, slavery is not “hard work;” it’s forced labor. There’s a big difference. Likewise, slaves are not workers; they are by definition, property. They have no freedom, no hope, and no rights. Yes, they work hard, obviously. But there can be no “work ethic” among slaves, because the slave has no choice in the matter.

Workers on the other hand, have free will. They are free to work as hard as they wish. Or not. The choice is theirs. And their decision to work hard, or not, is not a function of compliance or coercion; it’s a reflection of character and ambition.

This business of conflating hard work with forced labor not only minimizes the importance of a decent work ethic, it diminishes the unspeakable horror of slavery. Unfortunately, people do this all the time. We routinely describe bosses as “slave-drivers,” and paychecks as “slave’s wages.” Melissa though, has come at it from the other side. She’s suggesting that because certain “hard workers” are not as prosperous as other “hard workers,” - like the people on her office wall - we should all be “super-careful” about overly-praising hard work.

I suspect this is because Melissa believes - as do many others - that success today is mostly a function of what she calls, “relative privilege.” This is fancy talk for the simple fact that life is unfair, and some people are born with more advantages than others. It's also a fine way to prepare the unsuspecting viewer for the extraordinary suggestion that slavery is proof-positive that hard work doesn’t pay off.

Priceless Halloween Ads Featuring Disabled Children

At Yahoo, "'Priceless' Target Ad Goes Viral for All the Right Reasons."

Hat Tip: Daily Signal, "Halloween Advertisements Featuring Disabled Children Go Viral."

Once Again, Arthur Brooks, The Conservative Heart

Following-up on my previous entry, "University Intellectuals Are Biased Against Conservative Viewpoints."

And ICMYMI, from July, The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America.

Also from the author, Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism.

University Intellectuals Are Biased Against Conservative Viewpoints

From Arthur Brooks, at the New York Times, "Academia’s Rejection of Diversity":

ONE of the great intellectual and moral epiphanies of our time is the realization that human diversity is a blessing. It has become conventional wisdom that being around those unlike ourselves makes us better people — and more productive to boot.

Scholarly studies have piled up showing that race and gender diversity in the workplace can increase creative thinking and improve performance. Meanwhile, excessive homogeneity can lead to stagnation and poor problem-solving.

Unfortunately, new research also shows that academia has itself stopped short in both the understanding and practice of true diversity — the diversity of ideas — and that the problem is taking a toll on the quality and accuracy of scholarly work. This year, a team of scholars from six universities studying ideological diversity in the behavioral sciences published a paper in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences that details a shocking level of political groupthink in academia. The authors show that for every politically conservative social psychologist in academia there are about 14 liberal social psychologists.

Why the imbalance? The researchers found evidence of discrimination and hostility within academia toward conservative researchers and their viewpoints. In one survey cited, 82 percent of social psychologists admitted they would be less likely to support hiring a conservative colleague than a liberal scholar with equivalent qualifications.

This has consequences well beyond fairness. It damages accuracy and quality. As the authors write, “Increased political diversity would improve social psychological science by reducing the impact of bias mechanisms such as confirmation bias, and by empowering dissenting minorities to improve the quality of the majority’s thinking.”

One of the study’s authors, Philip E. Tetlock of the University of Pennsylvania, put it to me more bluntly. Expecting trustworthy results on politically charged topics from an “ideologically incestuous community,” he explained, is “downright delusional.”

Well, the left is delusional, so there's that.

Hateful and closed-minded too. Good luck on turning things around.

But keep reading.

Happy Halloween

Have a great day!

GOP Candidates Plot to Dethrone RNC as Manager of Presidential Debates

It's a major development, especially if the candidates are able to cut through the RNC middleman and work straight with the networks to air the debates.

At Politico, "Exclusive: GOP campaigns plot revolt against RNC":

Republican presidential campaigns are planning to gather in Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening to plot how to alter their party’s messy debate process — and how to remove power from the hands of the Republican National Committee.

Not invited to the meeting: Anyone from the RNC, which many candidates have openly criticized in the hours since Wednesday’s CNBC debate in Boulder, Colorado — a chaotic, disorganized affair that was widely panned by political observers.

On Thursday, many of the campaigns told POLITICO that the RNC, which has taken a greater role in the 2016 debate process than in previous election cycles, had failed to take their concerns into account. It was time, top aides to at least half a dozen of the candidates agreed, to begin discussing among themselves how the next debates should be structured and not leave it up to the RNC and television networks.

The gathering is being organized by advisers to the campaigns of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham, according to multiple sources involved in the planning. Others who are expected to attend, organizers say, are representatives for Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum. The planners are also reaching out to other Republican candidates.

Spokespersons for the RNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment...

Jackie Johnson's Eve of Halloween Weather Forecast

Hey, El Niño can wait.

This weather is fantastic. Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Jeb Bush Seeks to Recover Momentum After Debate (VIDEO)

Good luck with that.

Jeb may be on the way out, or so they say.

At WSJ, "Former Florida governor stumps in New Hampshire, taps friends to join him on campaign trail":

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Republican Jeb Bush, a day after a widely panned presidential-debate appearance, stumped in the state on which he is increasingly pinning his White House bid next to a sign that said: “Jeb can fix it.”

The message was intended to suggest the former two-term governor of Florida can solve the nation’s problems. But the sign took on a double meaning Thursday as supporters fret about Mr. Bush’s ability to fix his own campaign, let alone America’s woes.

“Honestly, it’s frustrating,” said 39-year-old Zoe Daboul, who was among dozens of people at Mr. Bush’s speech in a small parking lot outside a sandwich shop. “He’s so intelligent and so capable, but on the big stages, it’s hard for that to show.”

The third nationally televised showdown, held in Boulder, Colo., left the crowded GOP primary race even more volatile than when the candidates lined up on the debate stage. It heightened pressure on Mr. Bush, a one-time front-runner, while boosting the candidacies of freshman Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.

With no lone winner, it sustained underdog candidates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. And the primary’s two leaders in the polls, real-estate tycoon Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, emerged largely unscathed.

Veterans of presidential campaigns said postdebate shifts, even if they are incremental, can make a difference if candidates can build on them.

“A debate is like one act of a nine-act play, so even if you do something remarkable, it doesn’t last and you have to do something to sustain that,” said Republican lobbyist Charlie Black, who has advised GOP nominees from John McCain to Mr. Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush, but hasn’t taken sides in the 2016 race.

Mr. Bush’s latest troubles began when his attack during the debate against his one-time ally, Mr. Rubio, backfired as the senator calmly and forcefully deflected criticism of his attendance record in the U.S. Senate by suggesting his rival was simply acting petty.

Mr. Rubio on Thursday reveled in favorable reviews of his debate performance, including his accusation that the media had become a Democratic super PAC, during appearances on a half-dozen television networks. Meanwhile, Mr. Bush spoke for only about eight minutes against the backdrop of the Piscataqua River and a collection of hay bales and lobster traps. He also was slated to attend a town-hall meeting in New London on Thursday night.

“It’s not about the big personalities on the stage,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s not about performance. It’s about leadership.”

Mr. Bush has been struggling for months to regain his front-runner status in the polls. Last week, his campaign announced across-the-board salary cuts and layoffs as staffers hunker down in the early-voting states.

The debate’s morning-after brought one gift that may be helpful in the Granite State: the endorsement of Judd Gregg, who served as U.S. senator and governor in New Hampshire. Mr. Gregg said Mr. Bush was the right choice because he can win, he is substantive and he can govern.

“Governing is not done from anger,” Mr. Gregg said in an implicit critique of some of Mr. Bush’s rivals. “You don’t stand in the corners and shout. You don’t accomplish anything doing that. Governing is done by working together in a system of checks and balances and leading.”

Still, Mr. Bush was forced to defend his candidacy from detractors who say his campaign is in trouble, or, as one reporter put it to him, “on life support.”

Still more.

CNBC's Republican Debate Was Total Trainwreck (VIDEO)

Howard Kurtz has the analysis, at Fox News:

Republican Candidates Brace for Volative November Campaign

At the Washington Post, "GOP contenders brace for volatile November after freewheeling debate":

The fight for the 2016 GOP nomination appears to be moving into a new, more fluid phase.

No longer is the question merely whether or how Donald Trump can be stopped.

The recent rise in the polls of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — Trump’s low-key stylistic opposite — has shown that the celebrity billionaire may not be the only one who can tap the appetite of many in the party’s angry base for an outsider.

And after Wednesday’s chaotic and freewheeling debate, there also is a new dynamic on the establishment side of the race.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s once-formidable campaign appears to be nearing a state of collapse, made worse by his flailing on the stage in Colorado.

That has provided an opening to his one-time ally, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is getting a new look from the party establishment — an ironic situation, given Rubio’s roots as an insurgent tea party favorite in 2010.

“Marco Rubio now has probably the best shot to emerge as the mainstream alternative to Trump and Carson,” said Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary for President George W. Bush.

More broadly, Fleischer, who is not committed to any of the 2016 candidates, predicted that the GOP is about to enter “a condensed version of where it was four years ago, where the party is volatile and shopping around.”

That could help Ted Cruz, who also made a strong showing in the debate. The firebrand Texas senator, widely despised by the Washington Republican hierarchy, is looking to nudge out Trump and Carson among voters who are looking for a candidate to supplant the old order.

“I don’t think the party is going to nominate anybody who has not been elected before,” said Stuart Stevens, who was a top strategist for 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Also likely to force some clarity in the coming weeks is the calendar. The first contest in Iowa is barely more than three months away...

More.