Stanford's Amazing Christian McCaffrey

From Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "Stanford's Christian McCaffrey shows the rest of the country what it missed":

You believe it now, America?

Do you finally believe this country's best college football player is the one who lost the Heisman Trophy?

Do you finally believe this country's most breathtaking college football player is the one with an ordinary build, from a brainy school, with a teenage slouch and a child-like smile?

While he was sprinting, you were sleeping. While he was making history in Palo Alto, you were paying attention to Tuscaloosa. While he was breaking records, you were buying into stereotypes.

But surely now you see, you must see, after 102-year-old Granddaddy jumped out of his chair Friday afternoon, threw open the doors to his sun-kissed Pasadena bungalow, and introduced him.

America, the Rose Bowl would like you to meet Christian McCaffrey.

Yeah, that was him, No. 5, green grass stains streaking down the side of his white uniform, black headband bunched on his brown hair, Rose Bowl history in his shoes.

Yep, that was the Stanford running back who juked and zagged and darted around television screens like a distressed bug in leading the Cardinal to a dominating 45-16 win over alleged Big Ten power Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

"Like somebody you create in a video game," Cardinal receiver Francis Owusu said...

Keep reading.

Stanford scored on the first freakin' play. They were up 21-0 before my football party got settled over at my grad school buddy's mom's house, where we watched the game. It was pretty-mind-boggling.

Threat of Jihad Attacks Brings Highest Security in History of Rose Parade

Following-up from the other day, "Authorities Say Police Officers to Carry Bigger Guns at Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Festivities (VIDEO)."

At LAT, "San Bernardino attack casts shadow over Rose Parade; heavy security evident":

The Rose Parade got underway Friday amid tightened security and in the shadow of a terrorist attack less than a month ago that left 14 dead in San Bernardino.

Law enforcement officials increased security for this year's parade but stressed there was no specific threat against the event.

"We do have strong visible presence. There is plenty of security," said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez on Friday morning. "We have state, federal and local officers all along the route. There are bomb-sniffing canines, rapid response teams and other less visible resources ready for anything."

Some parade-goers said the extra measures made a difference to them.

As Sanchez spoke a federal agent stood near a stand with a bomb-sniffing dog.

"It is nice to see the dogs," said Tom Kotter with his wife, Margie, from Cincinnati, who were attending their first parade. "It is reassuring. Obviously security is tight. How far is San Bernardino, like 50 miles?"

Elsewhere in Pasadena, people said the San Bernardino shootings were on their minds.

Angela Brown aimed to cash in on Rose Parade all-nighters with an eye-catching hand-painted wooden sign propped up in front of her home near the corner of East Colorado Boulevard and North Bonnie Avenue, an ideal spot to watch the floats drive past. Illuminated with a blinking light, the sign was hard to miss: "Parking $25. DUI $10,000."

But by 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, only one visitor had taken her up on the offer to park their car in Brown's front yard.

"A year ago, I was sold out by 1 p.m. with 10 cars in my yard," said Brown, 40, a veterinary technician. "This year, business is eerily dead, and I think I know why."

"People are afraid -- not of the cold or the traffic or of the trouble finding a place to park near the parade route," she said. "They are afraid of a cocktail of horrible stuff having to do with the terrorist attack in San Bernardino. People are wondering if it is safe or not to come to the Tournament of Roses this year. That's sad."

Gazing at the unusually light crowds on the sidewalk along Colorado Boulevard, she added, "This is most bizarre: there's almost nobody here."

A block away, Valerie Cheng, who has attended all but one Rose Parade over the last 30 years, leaned back in a folding chair and said, "Things are definitely different this year."

"There aren't as many people leaning on their car horns on Colorado Boulevard," she said. "And there aren't as many kids tossing marshmallows and tortillas filled with shaving cream at passing cars."

"It might be because of the terrorist attack," she said. "But, then again, it might be because there's no local team playing in the Rose Bowl this year."

Wrapped in blankets and wearing a heavy overcoat, nearby spectator Chuck Rasmussen, of La Jara, Colo., was more blunt.

"There are a third fewer people along this stretch of the parade than last year," said Rasmussen, a retired high school teacher, who traveled to Pasadena via Amtrak. "It's clearly because people are afraid of terrorism."

"While I was en route on the train, passing through San Bernardino, the terrorist attack did cross my mind," he said. "Gazing out the window, I thought, 'This is where it happened -- and it's not that far from Pasadena.'"

"But then I came to a decision: I'm not going to let it deter me," he said. "The Tournament of Roses is a great American institution."

No sooner had he arrived at the parade route than Rasmussen's wife called with pressing questions...

More.

Hottest Instagram Babes of 2015 (VIDEO)

Watch, at Playboy, "Here Are the Hottest Women on Instagram of 2015."

Global Protests After Execution of Shiite Cleric in Saudi Arabia (VIDEO)

Shiite? Sunni?

Maybe they'll all just murder each other and the world will be better off?

At the Hill, via Memeorandum, "Global outcry after Saudi Arabia executes Shi'ite cleric, 46 others."

And the New York Times, "Iranian Protesters Ransack Saudi Embassy After Execution of Shiite Cleric."

College Football National Playoffs Blowouts

The national title game's going to be an epic match up. Indeed, Clemson and Alabama may very well be the genuine top two teams in the country. But their playoff games certainly didn't force them to test their mettle. What a bunch of blowouts.

From Jon Solomon, at CBS Sports, "College football's New Year's Six bowls continue to disappoint":

.@jillylove I was saying that after yesterday's blowouts. #RoseBowl

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2016

For the second straight year, college football's New Year's Six bowl games were a total bore. This time, they were also a historic bore.

The six highest-profile bowls -- the Orange and Cotton for the national semifinals, and the Peach, Rose, Fiesta and Sugar -- were decided by an average margin of 24.2 points. That's the widest margin in one season for the biggest bowls during the College Football Playoff and BCS eras. Last year, the first New Year's Snooze -- er, New Year's Six -- games were decided by 18.2 points. That doesn't even count Ohio State's 22-point win over Oregon for the national championship.

Five of the nine most lopsided major bowl games since 2008 have occurred in the first two years of the New Year's Six: Ole Miss 48, Oklahoma State 20; Stanford 45, Iowa 16; Alabama 38, Michigan State 0; TCU 42, Ole Miss 3; Oregon 59, Florida State 20.

These are supposed to be the best bowl games?

ESPN's viewership naturally took a hit. TV ratings for the first New Year's Eve semifinals were a disaster with ratings of 9.9 and 9.7 compared to 15.5 and 15.3 last season on Jan. 1. The CFP was banking on overall higher New Year's Six numbers with the semifinals on New Year's Eve.

"Having the semifinals on New Year's Eve will be a real shot in the arm for those (TV) windows," CFP executive director Bill Hancock predicted last month. "The New Year's Day games are going to do great as always."

On Saturday, ESPN said the 7.1 overnight rating average for the New Year's Six was down 13 percent from last season's 8.2. The network said the four bowls not designated for a semifinal (Peach, Fiesta, Rose and Sugar) averaged a 5.8 overnight rating, up 26 percent from the four bowls that were not semifinals a year earlier.

The Rose Bowl's 7.9 overnight rating for the Stanford-Iowa blowout is the game's lowest on record dating to at least 1983, according to records kept by the Football Bowl Association. The previous low for the Rose was a 9.4 for a tight Stanford-Wisconsin game in 2013...

Bunch of ratings statistics, etc., and then:

Why is this happening? Frankly, a lot of it is cyclical (think of years when the Super Bowl has routs) and the random unpredictability of bowl games after a long layoff. You never know who's motivated, who's injured, who's tired, and who's looking ahead to the NFL. When the CFP Selection Committee revealed these matchups on Dec. 6, some of the New Year's Six games were regarded as fairly attractive pairings.

Keep in mind, some of these matchups are out of the committee's hands. The Sugar Bowl rout saw the SEC's No. 2 team (Ole Miss) beat essentially the Big 12's No. 4 team (Oklahoma State) due to Big 12 tiebreaker rules.

Another factor perhaps impacting the committee: Large conferences with unbalanced divisions and schedules. Look at the Rose Bowl. In hindsight, a Rose Bowl between Stanford and Ohio State could have been outstanding if the committee had ranked the Buckeyes ahead of Iowa.

The Hawkeyes played in the weaker Big Ten division without facing Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan in the regular season. CFP committee chairman Jeff Long said Iowa finished ahead of Ohio State by proving more in a Big Ten Championship Game loss to Michigan State than the Hawkeyes had shown in their previous body of work up to that date.

The New Year's Six blowouts can also be explained by the thin margin between wins and losses we saw in this regular season...

Still more.

And see Adam Rittenberg, at ESPN, "The six lessons we learned from the New Year's Six bowls."

10 Violent Koran Verses and the Terror They Spawned

At Blazing Cat Fur.

And watch, at Rebel Media, "Gavin McInnes talks to expert Robert Spencer about the 10 most violent verses in the Koran."

Rose Parade Skywriters Also Smeared Trump as a 'Fascist Dictator'

Following-up from yesterday, "Trump's Not 'Disgusting' — What's Disgusting is for Leftists to Exploit New Year's to Smear GOP Frontrunner (VIDEO)."

There's more photos at SB Nation, including a picture of the "fascist dictator" smear. See, "Someone is skywriting anti-Donald Trump messages above the Rose Parade." (Via Memeorandum.)

.@iowahawkblog not sure where you're sitting, but new writing: "Trump Is Delusional. Trump Is A Fascist Dictator." pic.twitter.com/szkRrISBJD

— Jeff H (@j_hauser9) January 1, 2016

Also blogging, Ed Driscoll at Instapundit, "POLITICIZING THE ROSE BOWL GAME: “Meet the man behind the ‘Trump is disgusting’ skywriting,” according to CBS."

And Diana West, "Marco Rubio Campaign Donor Behind Anti-Trump Writing In the Sky at Rose Bowl."

And see, at Big Government, "Exclusive — Anti-Trump Air Campaign Donor Stan Pate Denies Connections to 2016 Republicans: ‘This Is All Me’."

Of course he'd deny it. These are leftist attacks. And the link to Marco Rubio's campaign is sickening.

It's Stan Pate, identified at the CBS News report, "Meet the man behind the "Trump is disgusting" skywriting."

Like I said previously, these folks can expect blowback, and it's coming.

Drug Prices Leave Even Insured, Affluent Struggling

I'm counting my blessings, I guess. So far most of my meds have been covered. And my family's too.

At WSJ, "Patients Struggle With High Drug Prices":

BELLEVILLE, Ill.— Jacqueline Racener ’s doctor prescribed a new leukemia drug for her last winter that promised to roll back the cancer in her blood with only moderate side effects.

Then she found out how much it would cost her: nearly $8,000 for a full year, even after Medicare picked up most of the tab.

“There’s no way I could do that,” Ms. Racener says. “It was just prohibitive.” Worried about depleting her limited savings, Ms. Racener, a 76-year-old legal secretary, decided to take the risk and not fill her prescription.

The pharmaceutical industry, after a long drought, has begun to produce more innovative treatments for serious diseases that can extend life and often have fewer side effects than older treatments. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved 41 new drugs, the most in nearly two decades.

The catch is their cost. Recent treatments for hepatitis C, cancer and multiple sclerosis that cost from $50,000 annually to well over $100,000 helped drive up total U.S. prescription-drug spending 12.2% in 2014, five times the prior year’s growth rate, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. High drug prices can translate to patient costs of thousands of dollars a year. Out-of-pocket prescription-drug costs rose 2.7% in 2014, according to CMS.

For many of the poorest Americans, medicines are covered by government programs or financial-assistance funds paid for by drug companies.

For those in the middle class, it is a different story. Though many patients can get their out-of-pocket costs paid by drug companies or drug-company-funded foundations, some patients make too much money to qualify for assistance. Others are unaware the programs exist. Medicare patients, who represent nearly a third of U.S. retail drug spending, can’t receive direct aid from drug companies.

The upshot is even patients with insurance and comfortable incomes are sometimes forced to make hard choices—tapping savings, taking on new debt or even forgoing treatment.

“Drugs are so expensive that once they flow through our ragtag insurance system, we have patients who can’t afford them, or they can barely afford them, so they’re not getting therapies,” said Peter Bach, a physician and health-policy researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

A quarter of U.S. prescription-drug users said it was difficult to afford them, in an August survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In another survey, published in the journal Lancet Haematology in September, 10% of insured U.S. patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma said they had stopped taking a cancer drug because of its cost.

A look at how patients are coping with the cost of the medicine prescribed for Ms. Racener, called Imbruvica, illustrates the issues...

Not sure how to solve this problem, but it's obviously lame that Medicare prohibits recipients from receiving prescription help from drug manufacturers. Seems like government always makes these problems worse.

Continue reading.

Donald Trump Featured al-Shabaab Propaganda Video

At ABC News, via Memeornandum, "Al-Shabaab Releases Recruitment Video Featuring Donald Trump."

Used Bookstores Making Comeback in the Age of Amazon

Well, I love used bookstores, obviously. Indeed, I had a nice shopping session over at the Bookman in Orange on New Year's Eve, heh.

At the Washington Post, "In the age of Amazon, used bookstores are making an unlikely comeback":

Early next month, Pablo Sierra is opening a used bookstore in Northwest Washington — an unlikely bet in the digital age made even more inconceivable, given that his only experience with books is reading them.

“I guess it is pretty crazy,” Sierra said, echoing an observation shared by some of his friends.

Or maybe not. Sierra, like ­other book lovers, has read articles about slowing e-book sales and watched as independent bookstores such as Politics and Prose thrive, catering to readers who value bookish places as cultural hubs and still think the best reading device is paper.

Used bookstores, with their quintessential quirkiness, eclectic inventory and cheap prices, find themselves in the catbird seat as the pendulum eases back toward print. In many cities, that’s a de facto position: They’re the only book outlets left.

While there are no industry statistics on used-book sales, many stores that survived the initial digital carnage say their sales are rising.

“It gets better and better every year,” said Susan Burwell, the co-owner of Reston’s Used Book Shop, the only used-bookstore left for an intellectually diverse Northern Virginia city of nearly 60,000 people.

Riverby Books D.C., a used-bookstore on Capitol Hill, closed last year after owner Steve Cymrot was hit by a truck and killed. His son Paul reopened the store in the fall — and didn’t hesitate. “The business side of it never gave us a moment’s pause,” he said. “We’ve never had better business.”

And it’s a business with good economics. Used bookstores can beat Amazon and other online booksellers on price, offering shoppers both a browsing experience and a money-saving one. Also, profit margins on used books are better than new ones — so good that many indies are adding used sections.

Sensing a good deal, entrepreneurs are jumping in...

More.

Convenience, low prices, and if you can get a cup of latte while you're at it, you're in heaven, lol.

Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards

It was their last Rose Parade broadcast for KTLA, after so many years.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Review: Eubanks and Edwards, a Rose Parade tradition we hate to see go":

A half-hour into the 127th Rose Parade, KTLA co-host and New Year's Day icon Bob Eubanks was waxing rhapsodic about the American saddle horse.

Used to draw a Yellowstone tour bus that Scripps Miramar Ranch had sent to the parade to honor the first national park, these horses are, apparently, born with three gaits and taught two more, which Eubanks was just about to explain when longtime co-host Stephanie Edwards broke in.

“Are the three gaits anything like the three types of glue used to put petals on the floats?” she asked, inserting her own famously favorite bit of parade trivia into the commentary.

“OMG,” Eubanks sighed, with his equally signature disdain for the glue.

Edwards then went on to point out some of “our helpful Honda” friends in the crowd, causing Eubanks to gripe: “You interrupted me! I was talking about these horses, they were so beautiful.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said brightly, “you go right on.”

“Aw, they’re gone,” he sighed.

The exchange lasted just a few seconds and as the camera panned from the parade to the commentator’s booth, the two nudged each other and laughed.

“We’ve been fighting for years folks,” Eubanks said, “and it, well, it won’t stop.”

Except, alas, it will.

Jan. 1 marked the last Eubanks and Edwards Rose Parade. The two are retiring after more than 30 years of describing the magic of celery seeds and white coconut sparkles, of exclaiming over the glory of the floats and the hazards of the route, of identifying the various veterans, celebrities and notables waving to the crowds and explaining to national audiences the charms of “really neat” towns like Sierra Madre and Glendale.

We have a year to prepare ourselves, but it probably isn’t enough...

More.

And see, "Rose Parade hosts Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards prepare to banter one last time."

They're both married, but their broadcast relationship is like a second marriage. I would always turn to Channel 5 KTLA to watch the parade, especially because they'd rebroadcast it all day long, and you wouldn't have to wake up at 8:00am to tune in, heh.

They're irreplaceable, but then, all things come to an end at some point, and change is good.

Investors Have Low Hopes for 2016

Well, that's not very encouraging.

At WSJ, "After a Tumultuous 2015, Investors Have Low Expectations for Markets":

After a year of disappointment in everything from U.S. stocks to emerging markets and junk bonds, investors are approaching 2016 with low expectations.

Some see the past year as a bad omen. Two major stock indexes posted their first annual decline since the financial crisis, while energy prices fell even further. Emerging markets and junk bonds also struggled.

Others view the pullback as a sensible breather for some markets after years of strong gains.

While large gains were common as markets recovered in the years after the 2008 financial crisis, many investors say such returns are growing harder to come by, and expect slim gains at best this year.

“You have to be very muted in your expectations,” said Margie Patel, senior portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Funds who said she expects mid-single percentage-point gains in major U.S. stock indexes this year.

“It’s pretty hard to point to a sector or an industry where you could say, well, that’s going to grow very, very rapidly,” she said, adding that there are “not a lot of things to get enthusiastic about, and a long list of things to be worried about.”

As the year neared an end, a fierce selloff hit junk bonds in December, while U.S. government bond yields rose only modestly despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark interest rate in December, showing investors weren’t ready to retreat from relatively safe government bonds.

For the U.S., 2015’s rough results stood in contrast to three stellar years. After rising 46% from 2012 through 2014, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.2% last year. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%.

While most Wall Street equity strategists still expect gains for U.S. stocks this year, they also once again expect higher levels of volatility than in years past...

More.

I guess even Apple lost market value in 2015, so it's down all around.

Rowland Heights Killings (VIDEO)

What's interesting is that the son was arrested after killing his father. Wasn't it self-defense? I mean, if he was right there, perhaps the father was about to kill him too.

In any case, at KTLA News 5 Los Angeles, via Memeorandum, "Son, 33, Fatally Shoots Father Who Killed 3 People in Rowland Heights: Sheriff's Department."

And at LAT, "Sheriff's officials: Four dead in Rowland Heights shooting, including gunman shot by son."

And watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Man, 54, Shoots and Kills 3 People Inside His Home Before His Son Fatally Shoots Him."

This is a great Robert Stacy McCain post on Alabama's Crimson Tide, heh.

I think I learned more about Robert Stacy McCain from this post than I did by spending almost 36 hours with him back in 2010.

At the Other McCain, "Did I Forget to Mention #RollTide?"

Did I Forget to Mention #RollTide? Actually, no, I don't think you did, lol! https://t.co/qRXcWLtcfn via @RSMcCain

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 2, 2016

#RollTide @RSMcCain pic.twitter.com/OMsQiDLHXv

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 1, 2016

Coney Island Polar Bear Club

Actually, in Southern California today, at least by Noontime, you could've have gone for a nice dip in the ocean no problem.

Maybe not in New York, though.

Watch, at CBS News 2 News York, "Polar Bears Take the Plunge."

And at the New York Times, "Despite a Warmer Winter, Annual Polar Bear Club Swim Still Chills."

Trump's Not 'Disgusting' — What's Disgusting is for Leftists to Exploit New Year's to Smear GOP Frontrunner (VIDEO)

I was at the Rose Parade this morning.

It's the first time I've ever attended (after all these years, seriously), and I guarantee you the last thing I would've imagined is that I'd be writing this post after a long day of New Year's celebrations. Seems to me the Rose Parade should be relatively politics-free. Sure, it's an old-fashioned cowboy-themed marching-band shindig, but jeez, you think leftists might eschew freakin' skywriting aircraft to smear Donald Trump?

We'd been there for, I guess, about an hour, and all of a sudden all the folks next to me start "oohing" and "awing" while turning around, looking up at the sky. The sun was to our backs so I was basically blinded, but I see the planes skywriting "America is Great." My first thought, since the sun was lined up exactly behind the skywriting, was that the message read "Make America Great Again." But as I looked more closely, I see the planes continue skywriting, streaking the message "Trump is Disgusting" right after "America is Great." So, obviously, some idiot leftists thought they'd be cute and use the New Year's Day setting to score political points, attacking Donald Trump as a "fascist" and a "dictator." I kid you not.

Frankly, I was disgusted.

And I'll tell you, there were a lot of Latinos on the street, and it seemed to me the reception was mixed. Sure, a few people guffawed and hurrahed at the message, but for the most part folks turned back around toward Colorado Boulevard and tried to enjoy their family time amid the festivities. Really, isn't that what it's all about? For us all to be Americans together, for at least one non-partisan day out of the year?

I guess not. Because as soon as we got back to my buddy's house after Pasadena, and we put on KTLA 5 to watch the reruns of the parade, I checked Twitter and Tabitha Bliss was tweeting the big political story of the day, "Skywriters have message for Trump at Rose Parade."

I don't know who paid for the skywriters, but when I find out they're going to be hating life for the rest of this year, because I'm going to make it my business to delegitimize these losers if it's the last thing I do. (ADDED: If it turns out to be Marco Rubio backers, then well, I've really lost my appetite for the Cuban GOP senator from Florida. Talk about blowback.)

In any case, the Hill has the story, via Memeorandum, "Skywriting above Rose Parade: ‘Trump is disgusting’."



Again, I'm really disgusted at this. Bad timing. Bad politics. Bad blood.

Heading Out to the Rose Parade

My young son and I are heading out to Pasadena. One of my old grad school buddies has a parking spot along the parade route, or so I'm told, heh.

Check my Twitter feed for live updates in a couple of hours or so.

And then more blogging later tonight!

Islamic State Supporter Charged with Plotting New Year's Eve Terror Attack in New York (VIDEO)

The security preparation are so high this year that the terrorists would have to be the most brilliant ever to pull something off.

At CBS News New York, "FBI: Man Plotted NYE Attack."

And at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "Rochester man linked to ISIS planned New Year's Eve attack on bar, feds say."

Munich Train Stations Evacuated Over Terror Threat (VIDEO)

At the Telegraph UK, "Munich terror alert: Two railway stations 'evacuated' as German police warn of threat by Islamic State suicide bombers."

Kindle Book Deals Up to 85% Off

At Amazon, Shop - Kindle Book Deals.

And from Victor Davis Hanson, The Decline and Fall of California: From Decadence to Destruction.

BONUS: Mexifornia: a State of Becoming.

Battle Against Islamic State is Redrawing the Map of the Middle East

From Liz Sly, at WaPo, "How the battle against the Islamic State is redrawing the map of the Middle East":

AMIRIYAT FALLUJAH, Iraq — Along the vast, zigzagging perimeter of the Islamic State’s self-styled state, the militants are steadily being pushed back as the forces­ ranged against them gain in strength.

In the process, new borders are being drawn, new fiefdoms are being carved out and the seeds of potential new conflicts are being sown.

A war seen by the United States as primarily aimed at preventing future terrorist attacks in America is being prosecuted for very different reasons by the diverse assortment of Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni fighters battling in both Iraq and Syria, often in pursuit of competing agendas that work to subvert the goal of defeating the militants.

In northern Iraq and Syria, Kurds are busily carving out the borders to new Kurdish enclaves. Shiite militias, now the most powerful force in Iraq, are extending their reach deep into traditionally Sunni areas of northern Iraq. The Syrian government is focusing its energies on reclaiming land seized by its opponents during the five-year-old rebellion against it, while deeply divided Syrian rebels in turn are fighting a two-front war to hold their ground against both the government and the Islamic State.

In this fragmented landscape, the Islamic State is but one of a multitude of groups competing for territory and dominance over the collapsed nation states of Iraq and Syria — a symptom as much as a cause of the scramble for power unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the 2011 revolt in Syria.

The Islamic State may or may not be vanquished soon — and a string of defeats inflicted in recent months in northeastern Syria, northern Iraq and most recently Ramadi have raised hopes that its demise may be closer than had been thought.

But already it is becoming clear that victory over the militants won’t end the bloodshed in the region, said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“There is little thought being given to the morning after, and the morning after is going to be as bloody, as chaotic and as destabilizing as the situation we are seeing now,” he said. “The heart of the Middle East has changed. The fragile state system is no longer there.”

Along some of the war’s front lines, the ways in which the battle against the Islamic State is redrawing the map of the Middle East — perhaps irrevocably — come sharply into focus...

Keep reading.

No. 1 Clemson Beats Oklahoma to Advance to National Championship Game

It wasn't even close.

At WSJ, "No. 1 Clemson Beats Oklahoma, 37-17, in Orange Bowl":

Clemson out scores Oklahoma 21-0 in 2nd half to win the #CapitalOneOrangeBowl and move on to National Championship. pic.twitter.com/14EgHTGFki

— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) January 1, 2016

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.--So much for Clemsoning.

The Tigers are headed to the national championship game.

Deshaun Watson turned in another stellar two-way performance, running for one touchdown, passing for another and accounting for 332 yards to lead top-ranked Clemson to a 37-17 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.

Clemson (14-0) dominated the second half and shut down Oklahoma’s high-scoring offense, which had averaged 52 points over its last seven contests. The Sooners (11-2) actually came into the game as favorites, but the Tigers showed their perfect record was no fluke.

Until this season, the Tigers were known for such inexplicable disappointments that a term was coined for it--Clemsoning.

With one more win, they’ll be known as something else.

National champions...

More.

Ferguson Effect: Violent Crime Surged 20 Percent in Los Angeles in 2015 (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Crime in Los Angeles rose in all categories in 2015, LAPD says":

For the first time in more than a decade, all categories of crime rose across Los Angeles in 2015 as police struggled to get control of the problem, according to LAPD data.

Violent crime in L.A. climbed 19.9% and property crime increased 10.3% through Dec. 26 compared with the same period last year, according to the police data. It marked the second year in a row that violent crime rose, but the first time since 2003 that both violent and property crime rose.

The increases follow more than a decade of steep declines in crime, particularly in homicides. Police officials said the recent upswings should be viewed in that larger context.

“We ask people to keep this in perspective,” said Assistant Chief Michel Moore, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department's crime-tracking unit. “The city is not on fire, the city is not falling into the ocean.”

Still, the increases have sparked concern in neighborhoods across the city, including Southside areas that have seen jumps in gang-related homicides as well as more affluent areas where residents have complained about thefts and car break-ins...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "Leftists and Their Media Lackeys Have Launched Campaign to Deny the 'Ferguson Effect'."

'People were shoving each other down the stairs and climbing over each other...'

Update on the Dubai high-rise fire, at London's Daily Mail, "Panic in Dubai as inferno rips though 63-storey hotel... but fails to halt New Year firework celebrations just 500 yards away."

Video at CNN, "People evacuate hotel fire."

PREVIOUSLY: "Massive Fire Engulfs Luxury Hotel in Downtown Dubai (VIDEO)."

Prison: A Sure Cure for 'Affluenza' (VIDEO)

From Debra Saunders, at RCP:

In 2013, Americans learned about a new epidemic -- affluenza. As psychologist G. Dick Miller explained the phenomenon, children of wealthy parents are taught not the golden rule but "we have the gold, we make the rules." The unsympathetic carrier of the affliction -- Ethan Couch, Miller's client, then 16 -- pleaded guilty in 2013 to manslaughter charges after he killed four innocent people in a drunken driving accident. Prosecutors recommended that Couch serve 20 years in prison. The sentencing judge said she was not moved by the "affluenza" defense, but nonetheless, she chose to sentence the son of privilege to 10 years of drug- and alcohol-free probation, as well as a stint in a rehabilitation center.

"You're basically saying that bad character is a defense or at least a mitigation to a criminal case," said Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.

The lesson of the success of the "affluenza" defense is: If you think you have so much money that the law does not apply to you, you may be right.

Sometime after Couch emerged from a pricey Southern California rehab clinic known for offering equine therapy, yoga and martial arts instruction, Couch and his mother, Tonya, 48, headed to Mexico, whence young Couch missed a Dec. 10 appointment with his probation officer.

The pair took off after a video that showed young Couch playing beer pong went viral; drinking is a violation of his probation terms. Bristling at the young man's light sentence for an offense that left four dead, prosecutors have been trying to move Couch's case to the adult criminal justice system, where probation violations invite tougher consequences, when he turns 19 in April. So the Couches went for the border -- after they threw themselves a going-away party.

This week, Mexican authorities detained mother and son -- who had changed their appearance. Whereas Ethan Couch may have to do up to four months for violating juvenile probation when he is returned to Texas, Tonya Couch faces two to 10 years if convicted on a felony charge of hindering apprehension.

The Couch family's arrogance is so offensive that most readers, no doubt, are rooting for the harshest sentence possible for mother and son. Ethan's defense team flaunted its belief that the poor little rich kid shouldn't have to go to prison because he was a poor little rich kid. Few would call the outcome justice...

More.

And at LAT, "Texas 'affluenza' teen is fighting deportation from Mexico; mother arrives in L.A.," and "'Affluenza' teen and his mom were tripped up in Mexico by ordering pizza, officials say."

Concealed Carry Permit Inquiries Surge After #SanBernardino Attacks (VIDEO)

Remember, from a couple of weeks ago, "Surge in Gun Sales in Southern California (VIDEO)."

Now, even as leftists push more and more restrictions on firearms, folks want to be able to carry.

Watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Concealed Carry Permit Inquiries Jump In Wake of San Bernardino Terror Attack."

ICYMI, New Year, New You

At Amazon.

Have fun tonight everybody!

BONUS: Worth a read, now more than ever, from Samuel Huntington, Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity.

'American politics is outrunning the pundit class, which has lost a lot of ground tripped up on the delusion that this can't be serious...'

Nate Cohn, at the New York Times, tries desperately to smear Donald Trump's voting coalition as "racist." See, "Donald Trump’s Strongest Supporters: A Certain Kind of Democrat."

There's really no evidence for this, beyond correlating the geographic location of Trump's supporters with people who searched for "racial slurs and racist jokes" on Google. Seriously.

Althouse takes him to task:

Much of this article strains to find racial material, dragging in evidence of the Google searches in various areas. Maybe you can tell where the racists are by where people search for racial epithets, and then maybe Trump supporters in the same area are the same people who did the searches. Cohn concedes that this evidence is weak, but it's not so weak that he doesn't bother with it.

What stands out to me after reading the whole article, however, is that Trump obviously has a lot of support among a wide range of people, including many that you wouldn't expect if you've been relying on mainstream media for information: women, well-educated people, Hispanics. There needs to be much more serious analysis of what is going on. American politics is outrunning the pundit class, which has lost a lot of ground tripped up on the delusion that this can't be serious.

I think those "certain kind of Democrats" are the regular racist Democrats of the old-line Dixiecrat coalition. You know, the Dylann Roofs of the contemporary racist progressive voter base. Maybe those folks are really going to go for Trump. There's just little evidence here that regular non-Democrats are racist, despite Cohn's best efforts.

More, "Dylann Roof, Southern Democrat Throwback, is Drug-Addled 'Wannabe Emo Anarchist' with Androgynous Haircut."

Dow Jones Posts Annual Loss for First Time Since 2008

Well, my 457B no doubt took a hit, and I've been unable to contribute to my Roth IRA for a few years now, so I'm not going to sweat it.

At WSJ, "Dow Industrials Post First Annual Loss Since 2008":

U.S. stocks posted their worst annual performance since 2008, closing out a rocky year that tempered investors’ expectations for gains in 2016.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a basket of 30 stocks, lost 2.2% in 2015, while the broader S&P 500 fell 0.7%.

The S&P’s loss ended three years of double-digit gains for the index, but was far from the nearly 40% dive it took in 2008.

The year wasn’t grim across the board. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5.7%. Netflix and Amazon.com, the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 in percentage terms, rose 134% and 118%, respectively. The consumer discretionary sector, which includes stocks such as Starbucks and Expedia, led the S&P 500 with an 8.4% gain.

But broadly, the market struggled. While an extended slump in commodity prices helped drag the stock market into negative territory this year, six of the 10 sectors​in the S&P 500 ​posted losses.

“I see more headwinds than I do favorable factors” next year, said Keith Bliss, senior vice president at brokerage Cuttone & Co.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 179 points, or 1%, to 17425. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%. The index was up 0.2% for the year as of Wednesday’s close, but this session’s drop tipped it back into negative territory for 2015. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%.

Despite the trouble in energy companies, shares in Europe mostly performed well in 2015, but many investors had expected sharper gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 6.8% this year. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index ended up 9.4% in a roller-coaster year in which the index plunged over 40% in late August...

More.

Jose Sandoval Opazo, Carnival Cruise Line Electrician, Dies in Bloody Elevator Accident (VIDEO)

With that much blood, I have no doubt the dude was beheaded somehow while working on the elevator.

At Maxim, "BLOOD CRUISE: A CARNIVAL CRUISE TRAGEDY RIGHT OUT OF 'THE SHINING'."

And at WFTX FOX 4 Fort Myers, "SWFL couple shows video of 'bloody mystery' on Carnival Cruise ship."

Also at the Orlando Sentinel, "Warning: Graphic Video - Report: Couple witness grisly death scene on Carnival Ecstasy."

It's definitely bloody, so watch with caution.

Massive Fire Engulfs Luxury Hotel in Downtown Dubai (VIDEO)

Lots of news about the fire on Twitter.

And watch, via AP:

Huge Ben Carson Campaign Shakeup as Top Staffers Quit (VIDEO)

At this point the campaign's a vanity project for Dr. Carson. I'm never liked him that much. He leaves me cold. He's boring as hell, and frankly he's not too bright.

In any case, actually three top staffers have resigned, per Jennifer Jacobs at the Des Moines Register.

See, "Campaign shake-up: Three top aides for Ben Carson resign."

And watch, at CNN, "Ben Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett and communications director Doug Watts have resigned, the campaign confirmed Thursday."

Lily Aldridge for Vogue España

Okay, here's this year's Woman of the Year runner-up, for Vogue Spain:

El look de @LilyAldridge, 'cover girl' de #VogueEnero. Chica chica boom boom! https://t.co/fyJkwgcriz pic.twitter.com/ful0aYyVu4

— Vogue España (@VogueSpain) December 29, 2015

And on Instagram.

So, Kendall Jenner Kicked off the LOVE Advent 2015 Calendar (VIDEO)

I mentioned last night that I needed to go back to the beginning of the series.

So, here we go: "Day 1 - Kendall Jenner by Doug Inglish (LOVE Advent 2015)."

Nina Agdal: American Power's Woman of the Year for 2015

I almost forgot about AmPow's Woman of the Year — again!

Heh, I think I need to put more thought into it ahead of time.

Last year I picked Anais Zanotti at the spur of the moment. Emily Ratajkowski won the award for 2013, and Kate Upton was the inaugural Woman of the Year back in 2012.

Actually, it was Nina Agdal who reminded me of the award, so what the heck? I'm going with the Danish beauty as the Woman of the Year for 2015!

I was just noticing how freakin' shapely she is at that Sports Illustrated video. She's got more curves than Lily Aldridge, who's definitely a close runner-up for this year. But it's a spur of the moment thing, so better luck next year Lily!

In any case, here's Ms. Agdal at WWTDD Drunken Stepfather, "Nina Agdal Topless."

More at Elle, "NINA AGDAL: 'IT'S NOT EASY TO BE A BUTT ROLE MODEL'."

Also, at Sports Illustrated, "Nina Agdal still can't find her pants...and we're not complaining."

Good morning @Angels! Ill be at @NewEraCap shop at Angel’s Stadium monday! Throwing out the first pitch of the game👍 pic.twitter.com/SXLK540atU

— Nina Agdal (@NinaAgdal) August 15, 2015

BONUS: "Interview with Nina Agdal, Lily Aldridge, and Chrissy Teigen (VIDEO)."

Nina Agdal's One Super-Cool Danish Babe (VIDEO)

She's got curves!

Obama Administration's Espionage Against Israel Should Be Major Scandal

Following-up, "Obama Administration Spied on Israel — And Members of Congress, Pro-Israel Interest Groups as Well."

At the New York Post, "Why Team Obama’s Israel spying should be a major scandal":

No one should be in the least bit surprised that the United States and Israel continue to spy on each other, despite being longtime close allies.

Israel’s strategic position in the world’s most volatile region pretty much guarantees that. So does Jerusalem’s dependence on continued US support and goodwill.

But news that the Obama administration targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for continued close electronic surveillance — even as it curbed it for other friendly leaders — still is pretty startling.

As is The Wall Street Journal’s disclosure that the sweep included conversations with US Jewish groups and members of Congress.

The last is especially critical: Careful rules govern how the National Security Agency can handle such intercepted conversations, and it’s not clear they were followed.

But it’s also significant that Team Obama apparently had no problem with spying on Americans engaged in legitimate political activity — in this case, trying to block the president’s dubious nuclear deal with Iran.

The White House took pains not to leave a paper trail. As one senior official told the Journal: “We didn’t say, ‘Do it.’ We didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it’.”

Still more.

Plausible deniability.

This administration just reeks criminality.

Authorities Say Police Officers to Carry Bigger Guns at Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Festivities (VIDEO)

Well, we've got seemingly unprecedented anti-terror preparations taking place all over world, so why would Pasadena be any different.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Hannah Ferguson for LOVE Advent 2015 (VIDEO)

I need to go back and watch these videos from the beginning of the series, man!

Watch, "Hannah Ferguson (LOVE Advent 2015)."

PREVIOUSLY: "Route 66 Outtakes - Hannah Ferguson Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015 (VIDEO)."

New Year’s Terror Threats Spur Responses Across Europe (VIDEO)

Well, it's not just Brussels and Ankara.

Imagine the security preparations in Paris this weekend.

At WSJ, "New Year’s Terror Threats Spur Responses in Turkey and Belgium":

Turkish authorities arrested two suspected Islamic State extremists allegedly planning to kill revelers during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Ankara, and Belgium canceled the main fireworks display in Brussels, amid a heightened state of alert over possible Islamic State attacks around the holidays.

Turkish officials said counterterrorism police found a suicide vest and a backpack filled with explosives and ball bearings when the two men were taken into custody in a low-income neighborhood in the capital, Ankara.

Turkish media outlets published photos of the explosives purportedly seized in the raid, and said the men were planning to target popular shopping and restaurant districts in the city.

The end-of-the-year fireworks in Belgium were canceled a day before two members of a Belgian motorcycle group charged with plotting an attack at Brussels’ Grand Place were due to appear in court.

Belgian police said they had found Islamic State propaganda in the one of the raids earlier this week that led to the arrest of the two men. According to a person familiar with the investigation, the two men are members of the motorcycle group Kamikaze Riders, which is known to include people of various religions.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, appearing on RTBF, the Belgian national broadcaster, said the celebration was canceled in light of “a possible and credible threat.”

“In this uncertain situation, when investigations are under way and information arrives practically every hour...it seems to me the decision was correct and well-founded and I am in full agreement with it,” he said.

The two men were charged Tuesday with plotting to attack police and military personnel during end-of-year holiday celebrations in Brussels’ Grand Place.

The fireworks display was scheduled to be held at another nearby center-city site, De Brouckère.

According to a person familiar with the investigation, the two men are members of the motorcycle group Kamikaze Riders, which is known to include people of various religions.

A Belgian judge on Thursday will rule on whether the two men will continue to be detained. Xavier Carrette, a lawyer for one of the accused, Mohamed Karay, said his client denied the charges. He said Mr. Karay had no criminal record and wasn’t radicalized.

The lawyer for the other man, accused of being the ringleader of the alleged plot, couldn’t be identified. That individual has been charged with both plotting a terror attack and recruiting people into a terrorist group.

Belgian police launched two fresh raids Wednesday in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, taking in one man in connection to the investigation into the Paris attacks.

Turkish authorities recently stepped up their own counterterrorism operations in advance of year-end celebrations by mounting a series of raids across the country and detaining scores of people trying to enter Turkey from Syria.

New Year’s celebrations in Turkey are frowned upon by some conservative Muslims who see it as a Christian tradition.

A few dozen protesters gathered on Wednesday to object to New Year festivities in Istanbul, where malls and shops feature animated Santa Claus figurines singing Christmas songs, illuminated Christmas trees and other holiday decorations that some Turks have embraced to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

The intensifying international fight against Islamic State, combined with the Turkish government’s deepening fight with Kurdish insurgents, has created more concern in the country about rising security risks.

Last week, Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for firing several mortars at Istanbul’s second-largest airport, an attack that killed one woman. The separatists threatened to carry out more attacks on civilian targets if the Turkish government doesn’t ease up on its continuing military operations against Kurdish insurgents in southeastern Turkey...

More at that top link.

And ICYMI, "Brussels Cancels New Year's Festivities: Reports."

Obama Administration Spied on Israel — And Members of Congress, Pro-Israel Interest Groups as Well

I mean if this kind of completely underhanded (and illegal) espionage of our purported allies were taking place during the Watergate era, it'd be right up there with the break-in at the DNC headquarters. It's not so much that we're spied on our only consolidated democratic ally in the Middle East, but that the Obama White House deployed bureaucratic legerdemain to establish plausible deniability. Obama set himself up to blame the NSA if anything went wrong, and this is two years after pledging to curtail spying on America's strategic partners.

And don't forget to add in the extra bonus of spying on Members of Congress and pro-Israel lobbying groups.

Man, this is really something else.

At the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Spy Net on Israel Snares Congress" (via AoSHQ):

i'm sure everyone knows this but this Obama-spies-on-US-congressmen story is breathtaking https://t.co/K83Dadh4Pu

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) December 30, 2015

Hey if a president knowingly spies on foreign allies, after promising not to, AND Congress -- We're just livin' in a YOLO Nation, right?

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) December 30, 2015

Obama's going to be SO MAD when he reads about his own actions in the papers

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) December 30, 2015

NSA’s targeting of Israeli leaders swept up the content of private conversations with U.S. lawmakers.

President Barack Obama announced two years ago he would curtail eavesdropping on friendly heads of state after the world learned the reach of long-secret U.S. surveillance programs.

But behind the scenes, the White House decided to keep certain allies under close watch, current and former U.S. officials said. Topping the list was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The U.S., pursuing a nuclear arms agreement with Iran at the time, captured communications between Mr. Netanyahu and his aides that inflamed mistrust between the two countries and planted a political minefield at home when Mr. Netanyahu later took his campaign against the deal to Capitol Hill.

The National Security Agency’s targeting of Israeli leaders and officials also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups. That raised fears—an “Oh-s— moment,” one senior U.S. official said—that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress.

White House officials believed the intercepted information could be valuable to counter Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign. They also recognized that asking for it was politically risky. So, wary of a paper trail stemming from a request, the White House let the NSA decide what to share and what to withhold, officials said. “We didn’t say, ‘Do it,’ ” a senior U.S. official said. “We didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it.’ ”

Stepped-up NSA eavesdropping revealed to the White House how Mr. Netanyahu and his advisers had leaked details of the U.S.-Iran negotiations—learned through Israeli spying operations—to undermine the talks; coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts.

Before former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed much of the agency’s spying operations in 2013, there was little worry in the administration about the monitoring of friendly heads of state because it was such a closely held secret. After the revelations and a White House review, Mr. Obama announced in a January 2014 speech he would curb such eavesdropping.

In closed-door debate, the Obama administration weighed which allied leaders belonged on a so-called protected list, shielding them from NSA snooping. French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders made the list, but the administration permitted the NSA to target the leaders’ top advisers, current and former U.S. officials said. Other allies were excluded from the protected list, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of NATO ally Turkey, which allowed the NSA to spy on their communications at the discretion of top officials.

Privately, Mr. Obama maintained the monitoring of Mr. Netanyahu on the grounds that it served a “compelling national security purpose,” according to current and former U.S. officials. Mr. Obama mentioned the exception in his speech but kept secret the leaders it would apply to.

Israeli, German and French government officials declined to comment on NSA activities. Turkish officials didn’t respond to requests Tuesday for comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the NSA declined to comment on communications provided to the White House.

This account, stretching over two terms of the Obama administration, is based on interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials and reveals for the first time the extent of American spying on the Israeli prime minister...

More.

And see Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Obama Crosses a Line on Spying":

#Obama crosses a line on #spying. https://t.co/A5MOx2yTzu pic.twitter.com/bjj63DqGfC

— Jonathan S. Tobin (@TobinCommentary) December 30, 2015

Let’s specify that it must be understood that in the real world all nations probably spy on each other. That includes friends. Moreover, the generally very close relations between the U.S. and Israeli security establishments does not preclude them from seeking to gain more information than might be shared in the course of normal diplomatic intercourse. In the past, there have been documented cases of the U.S. spying on Israel. On the other hand, the Pollard affair demonstrated an instance in which some Israeli spooks and their political masters had the bad judgment to not only spy on the U.S. but to employ an unstable American Jew. That mistake has wrongly allowed anti-Semites within the U.S. government to wrongly place loyal American Jews under suspicion.

But the endless, eternal struggle for more intelligence that all spies wage against each other has become something very different under the Obama administration. The report about its anti-Israel activity makes plain that surveillance of Israel has gone beyond the routine hunger for extra tidbits of information that had not been previously shared by the allies. What has been going on is more like a campaign that was driven primarily by political motives more than ones rooted in security.

The Obama administration wasn’t content to merely debate the Israelis and the majority of Americans that opposed the Iran nuclear deal. The president and his foreign policy team were actively spying on them in a way that reflected more than ordinary curiosity about an ally. The information it sought and gathered actually had nothing to do with Israeli or American security. Rather it was conducting political espionage aimed at monitoring normal diplomatic conduct and legitimate political activity being conducted by American citizens and members of Congress that opposed the president’s détente with Iran.

The irony here is of Olympic in proportions. Rather than using its resources on legitimate security risks or even on sources of vital information relating to the defense of the homeland or our allies, the NSA was basically acting as an arm of the White House’s political operations ferreting out information about lobbying efforts of those opposed to the Iran deal.

That netted the administration some juicy tidbits about conversations between former Speaker of the House John Boehner and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer that led to an invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress (so much for the administration’s expressions of shock and surprise about the alleged breach of protocol by the Israelis!). While the Israeli decision to accept that offer was politically debatable, it was not a matter of national security one way or the other. Nor were any of the sessions that were apparently bugged involving Israelis, American supporters of Israel and members of Congress.

Leaving aside ethics and the law, this spying activity was largely pointless. It’s not as if anyone in Washington was in any doubt about Israeli displeasure with the president’s betrayal of the security interests of both nations in his pursuit of appeasement of Tehran. Everything they learned about opposition to the Iran deal by spying was already being talked of openly by all concerned. Using the NSA in this manner wasn’t just morally dubious; it was a waste of precious intelligence resources.

Nor can we be reassured by what the Journal tells us the NSA did to keep limits on the spying it was doing use the measures. Removing “trash talk” by members of Congress directed at the president from the transcripts it provided the White House was nice, but it didn’t address the basic problem of the executive branch spying on the legislature’s normal conduct of business.

Complicating this affair were the administration’s worries about Israeli efforts to find out what was going on between the U.S. and Iran in the nuclear talks. Apparently the White House’s greatest fear was that the Israelis would tell Congress what the president and his foreign policy team were giving away in the course of those negotiations.

In the end, Obama got his nuclear deal with Iran via concessions and even was able to implement it despite the opposition of the majority of the House and Senate as well as the American people. The spying on Israel didn’t help, but it did further undermine the already fragile trust between the Jewish state and its one superpower ally.

What comes through loud and clear from all of this is that the Obama administration is more worried about letting either its allies or the representatives of the American people know about its conduct toward Iran than they were about the nuclear threat. That meant using the NSA in a manner for which it was not intended: to spy not just on foreign friends but on American citizens and members of Congress...

Still more.

Save Up to 70% Off on Clothing, Shoes, and More

At Amazon, Select Fashion Up to 70% Off.

Plus, from John Sedgwick, War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Duel That Stunned the Nation.

And from Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton.

BONUS: From Lynne Cheney, James Madison: A Life Reconsidered.

Donald Trump Hits Hillary Clinton Over Husband Bill's Sexual Predation (VIDEO)

From Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "Playing the 'Bill card' against Hillary":

It's what she gets for playing the 'war on women card' against Trump.

Hillary Clinton stepped in it big time. Trotting out the “war on women” card that she has played so effectively, she charged Donald Trump with sexism.

But Trump, unlike other Republican candidates in the past, wasn’t having any of it. He fired back, on Twitter, ”If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women's card on me, she's wrong!”

And boom! The issue switched to President Clinton’s record, turning him from a campaign asset to a campaign liability. As the only president to be impeached over sexual harassment (technically, for lying about sexual harassment), and as a political figure who has faced numerous accusations of rape and sexual abuse, Bill Clinton isn’t a good choice for feminist standard-bearer. Worse yet, bringing up Bill’s misbehavior also brings up Hillary’s role in covering for his abuses, and in attacking and humiliating his accusers.

Even The Washington Post’sRuth Marcus concluded that Trump was right, and that Bill’s awful record with women is "fair game.”

The former president, Marcus noted, has a real problem. “ 'Sexism' isn’t the precise word for his predatory behavior toward women or his inexcusable relationship with a 22-year-old intern. Yet in the larger scheme of things, Bill Clinton’s conduct toward women is far worse than any of the offensive things that Trump has said. Trump has smeared women because of their looks. Clinton has preyed on them, and in a workplace setting where he was by far the superior. That is uncomfortable for Clinton supporters but it is unavoidably true.”

Yes, and it’s a pretty ugly story. As The New York Times' Maureen Dowd wrote, feminism died when Hillary and other top Democratic women circled the wagons around Bill and attacked his accusers:

“Feminism died in 1998 when Hillary allowed henchlings and Democrats to demonize Monica (Lewinsky) as an unbalanced stalker, and when Gloria Steinem defended Mr. Clinton against Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones by saying he had merely made clumsy passes, then accepted rejection, so there was no sexual harassment involved. As to his dallying with an emotionally immature (22-year-old), Ms. Steinem noted, ‘Welcome sexual behavior is about as relevant to sexual harassment as borrowing a car is to stealing one.’ ”

Steinem must not have attended any human resources lectures lately...

God, this is the juiciest campaign ever, lol.

You gotta love Trump, which is why the left's gotta hate him, heh.

Still more.

Donald Trump Announces Big Advertising Blitz for Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina (VIDEO)

At the New York Times, "Donald Trump Announces Plan for TV Ads, With a Big Uncertainty":

Donald J. Trump scored another first in the 2016 presidential race on Tuesday evening — he held a news conference aboard his private jet just before a rally in Iowa, to announce he is about to spend heavily on the campaign.

How heavily? It’ll be huge, Mr. Trump assured reporters, saying he will spend $2 million a week in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina on television ads.

Whether that meant in each state, or $2 million over all in the three, was unclear. But the distinction is significant; $2 million a week per state would be saturation level, and virtually impossible in New Hampshire, where the airwaves are already cluttered.

But $2 million a week in the three is a moderate-level advertising buy for a candidate and is about what most of the other candidates are spending. Candidates pay substantially lower rates than “super PACs” do for their airtime.

Still, Mr. Trump has yet to reserve the television time, according to two independent media buyers. His media-buying firm, Strategic Media, placed time for the radio buy that Mr. Trump did in the three states earlier this year.

It’s not clear what Mr. Trump is waiting for in terms of his ad buy. But the suspense he has managed to generate over whether he will commit to a fairly basic campaign function has dominated the campaign for the last day...

More at that top link.

Olga Ogneva for Playboy Ukraine

At Playboy Plus, "Ukrainian beauty Olga Ogneva lets it snow in this wonderfully hot set from photographer Viktor Krasnov."

Hat Tip: Egotastic!, "OLGA OGNEVA TOPLESS AND CHILLY FOR PLAYBOY UKRAINE."

Mathilde Frachon Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Casting Call (VIDEO)

Boy, can't wait for the 2016 edition to come out. They've got some freakin' lookers this year!

Marcel Hirscher Nearly Hit by Drone During World Cup Alpine Skiing Event (VIDEO)

Watch, via the BBC, "Drone narrowly misses skier Marcel Hirscher during slalom race."

And ESPN reports on the predictable response, "Drone to be banned..."

Donald Trump Slams New Hampshire Union-Leader (VIDEO)

Hadas Gold had this at Politico a couple of days ago, "Trump: Union Leader publisher a 'lowlife'."

And the front-page editorial at the Union-Leader, "Joseph W. McQuaid: Trump campaign insults NH voters' intelligence."

Plus, here's Heather Nauert with Mary Katharine Ham:

WATCH: Striking Video of Flooding In North of England

Heh.

Included is the guy getting rescued after refusing to leave his Land Rover. The water was already gurgling up over the windshield. Rescuers pop off the sun roof and pull the bloody bugger out!



PREVIOUSLY: "David Cameron Defends Flood Record as Northern England Is Drenched (VIDEO)."

Brussels Cancels New Year's Festivities: Reports

Jesus, the freakin' terrorists have won.

Man. *SMH*

At Sky News:

AFP: The Mayor of #Brussels says the city's new year's festivities and fireworks have been cancelled over a #terror threat

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) December 30, 2015

All New Year's Eve events cancelled in Brussels due to terror threat - 50,000 people had been expected to attend https://t.co/E2Lhw0uNX5

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 30, 2015

As I was saying earlier, they've got it bad over there. Really bad. See, "Two Suspects Arrested in Belgium in 'Paris-Style' Terror Plot for New Year's Eve (VIDEO)."

Baby Tastes Bacon for the First Time (VIDEO)

Heh.

Watch, "Baby filmed by parents as he tastes bacon for the first time - his reaction is amazing."

Hat Tip: Robert Stacy McCain:

The meaning of life. https://t.co/pjxuWvpZVV

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) December 30, 2015

'Apocalypse Store' Offers Essential Survival Goods to Survive Doomsday (VIDEO)

This reminds me of the post I wrote right after Obama's inauguration, "Worst Case Scenario? Preparing for Anarchy in America."

There's probably more of a worst case scenario today than there was back in 2009, heh.

Via Russia Toay (who else?):

Donald Trump Spokeswoman Katrina Pierson Wears Bullet Necklace on CNN (VIDEO)

Heh.

You gotta love this woman.

Watch: "Trump Spox Who Wore Bullet Necklace During Interview: ‘Maybe I’ll Wear a Fetus Next Time’."

Also at the Mirror UK, "Donald Trump spokesperson who wore bullet necklace says 'next time I'll wear a fetus'."

On cue, leftists freak out, at Gawker, for example, "Completely stable Donald Trump spokesperson wears necklace made from real bullets on CNN."

This lady's the best!

The liberals freaking out about my accessories are sexist. They only approve of women in pant suits and jackets. Oh, and tampon earrings.

— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) December 30, 2015

House Democrats Move to Criminalize Criticism of Islam

From Robert Spencer, at FrontPage Magazine:

December 17, 2015 ought henceforth to be a date which will live in infamy, as that was the day that some of the leading Democrats in the House of Representatives came out in favor of the destruction of the First Amendment. Sponsored by among others, Muslim Congressmen Keith Ellison and Andre Carson, as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton, Loretta Sanchez, Charles Rangel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Kennedy, Al Green, Judy Chu, Debbie Dingell, Niki Tsongas, John Conyers, José Serrano, Hank Johnson, and many others, House Resolution 569 condemns “violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States.” The Resolution has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

That’s right: “violence, bigotry and hateful rhetoric.” The implications of those five words will fly by most people who read them, and the mainstream media, of course, will do nothing to elucidate them. But what H. Res. 569 does is conflate violence -- attacks on innocent civilians, which have no justification under any circumstances – with “bigotry” and “hateful rhetoric,” which are identified on the basis of subjective judgments. The inclusion of condemnations of “bigotry” and “hateful rhetoric” in this Resolution, while appearing to be high-minded, take on an ominous character when one recalls the fact that for years, Ellison, Carson, and his allies (including groups such as the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR) have been smearing any and all honest examination of how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to incite hatred and violence as “bigotry” and “hateful rhetoric.” This Resolution is using the specter of violence against Muslims to try to quash legitimate research into the motives and goals of those who have vowed to destroy us, which will have the effect of allowing the jihad to advance unimpeded and unopposed...

More at that top link.

And this repulsive, un-American bill is here, "House Democrats Introduce Legislation Condemning Anti-Muslim Bigotry."

10 Factors That Will Probably Determine the White House Winner Next Year

Enough with all the political speculation, here's some real political science prognostication!

From Larry Sabato et al., at Sabato's Crystal Ball, "10 Factors That Will Determine the Next President":

Here’s a thought experiment: What if Republicans nominated the 2012 version of Mitt Romney — same fundraising, same baggage, same everything — at their 2016 convention? What sort of odds would that candidate have in 2016?

We suspect the candidate would be a small favorite at the start of the campaign. He would be running against a Democrat who lacked the power of incumbency, and he would be competing in an environment where the public was ready for a change: The most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that about three-quarters of those surveyed wanted the next president to take a different approach to governing than President Obama, similar to how the public felt about how George W. Bush’s successor should act at a similar point in the 2008 campaign. It’s hard to precisely quantify, but there’s a generic desire for change that hampers a party the longer it stays in the White House. To satisfy that general feeling, a generic Republican might do the trick, which is why we cite Romney circa 2012 as an example of what could/should be enough to win the White House: A candidate who is largely average could flip a few percentage points of the national vote from the 2012 results, which is all it will take for the Republicans to win.

However, it’s quite unclear that the Republicans will produce a candidate of even the quality of Romney. After 2012, the party took a hard look at its inadequacies, producing a report that suggested the party needed to do more to reach out to nonwhite voters. Donald Trump, the GOP’s current polling leader, is not helping on that front. The Republican leadership is worried.

What follows is an exploration of 10 factors that will probably determine the White House winner next year. Some of these — many of them, in fact — suggest that the GOP should be seen as a narrow favorite. But a few factors, combined with the live possibility that the next Republican nominee will make Mitt Romney look like Ronald Reagan, indicate to us that, as we turn the page from 2015 to 2016, that the 2016 general election is still a coin flip...

Keep reading for the 10 factors.

I hope Trump's the nominee, mainly because he's so unlike Mitt Romney, particularly in that the latter might have won in 2012 if he'd have adopted some of the former's pugnacity. Conservatives need a fighter, and while Trump's not really conservative, he's definitely fighting on those issues really dear to the conservative base. I mean, Diana West is a movement conservative, as is Ann Coulter, and they see Trump as a savior. [And I forget to mention Phyllis Schlafly --- Phyllis freakin' Schlafly!] Even Michelle Malkin, who's gone a few rounds with Trump (rather nasty rounds, in fact), concedes that she'd vote for Trump if he became the nominee, primarily because he'd indeed fight to reverse the diabolical damage leftists have inflicted on this country.

See also, "Voters Seek Vengeance Against Obama's 'Fundamental Transformation of America' (VIDEO)."

Two Suspects Arrested in Belgium in 'Paris-Style' Terror Plot for New Year's Eve (VIDEO)

At the Telegraph UK, "Belgian bikers arrested over 'plot for Paris-style attacks at New Year'."

And at WSJ, "Belgian Police Arrest Two on Terrorism Charges":

BRUSSELS—Belgian authorities said Tuesday they arrested two people on terrorism charges and broke up a plan for attacks during the holiday period, underlining fears of further mayhem in a Europe still unsettled over Islamic State’s deadly attacks in Paris last month.

Police seized Islamic State propaganda and military-style clothing but no explosives or arms in a series of raids Sunday and Monday in Brussels, Liège and the Flanders region of Belgium, prosecutors said.

The arrests were made amid stepped-up antiterrorism operations by Belgian authorities in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, which were planned by a Belgian national and carried out by a team that included several others with ties to Belgium, including the fugitive Salah Abdeslam, a French citizen who was born and lived in Brussels.

Belgium has conducted dozens of raids, questioned scores of people, and arrested nine people in connection with those attacks.

Belgian federal prosecutors said they hadn’t identified links between those investigations and the two new arrests, but said their continuing investigation would be looking for any connections.

Among the intended targets were the Grand Place, the Belgian capital’s central square and site of its largest Christmas market, and a nearby police station, according to a person briefed on the investigations.

The Grand Place, a Unesco heritage site and Brussels’ most important tourist site, was constructed in the 15th and 16th centuries and then rebuilt after being largely flattened in a 1695 bombardment by the French army.

Parts of the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are also scheduled to take place in the area. Authorities said they didn’t have information about a specific date for the attacks.

Few details of the arrests or investigation were released, but prosecutors said there was a serious indication of planned terror attacks at several prominent locations in Brussels. Six people were initially detained in a series of raids in the capital and elsewhere in Belgium, but only two were arrested and charged...

More.

Yeah, they've gotta keep the lid on in Belgium. They've got it bad. See, "Bad Brussels' Sprouts: Belgium Has Become Center of European Terror."