USC Finishes Season 9-3 After Horrendous Start (VIDEO)

Heh.

I wrote about the horrendous start back in September, "Lane Kiffin's Revenge: Alabama Beats USC 52-6 in Season Opener."

It wouldn't be so lopsided if the teams were to meet again today. USC's now got one of the hottest programs in the country, having won their last 8 starts, culminating with a crushing victory over Notre Dame yesterday.

And last night I was rooting for Utah over Colorado so SC would win the division. They still have a chance to go to the Rose Bowl, depending on how things shake out elsewhere. And what would the New Year be without SC in the Rose Bowl?

At LAT, "USC beats Notre Dame for eighth win in a row but will not play for Pac-12 title":

After he hurdled Notre Dame’s last defender, Adoree’ Jackson had enough time as he raced down the sideline to contemplate his touchdown celebration.

It was Jackson’s third score in USC’s 45-27 win over Notre Dame on Saturday. What was the best way to mark both USC’s stunning turnaround, from a 1-3 record to one of the hottest teams in the nation at 9-3, and the best performance of Jackson’s magnificent USC career: Front flip? Or Heisman pose?

“I told them I was going to do a front flip and then do the Heisman pose,” Jackson said. “But I was so tired from the kickoff return.”

As Jackson was celebrating (he went with the Heisman pose) a sizeable portion of the fans in attendance turned their energies to more important proceedings.

And that is how a “Let’s go Utah!” chant broke out at the Coliseum, for what was probably the first time.

To win the Pac-12 South Division, USC still needed help. Utah would kick off against Colorado shortly after the game’s end. If Utah defeated Colorado, USC would win the division.

USC’s players filed out of the locker room and marched through a postgame spread quickly after the game. Then they rushed through the rain, clutching their taco bowls, to pack into dorm rooms and apartments to watch, with disappointment, as Colorado fended off Utah, 27-22.

The outcome didn’t eliminate USC from the Rose Bowl, but it did make its path more complicated. Washington, the North Division champion, is a contender for the College Football Playoff. Colorado, the South winner, is more of a longshot.

If the Pac-12 champion reaches the playoff, the Rose Bowl would select the next best Pac-12 team, most likely based on CFP ranking. Washington was ranked No. 5, Colorado No. 9 and USC No. 12 before this weekend’s games.

Some players were keeping expectations in check.

“I think we’re going to San Antonio” for the Alamo Bowl, receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “But I think the Rose Bowl, we worked so hard and we deserve it.”

The Cotton Bowl also remains an option if the Trojans ascend high enough in the rankings to earn an at-large bid.

Any of the possible destinations seemed like fantasy after September, when USC began its season 1-3, shackled with two Pac-12 losses in two tries.

Saturday evidenced the team’s evolution...

More.

Harry Stein, No Matter What...They'll Call This Book Racist

Heh.

It's a good time to break this book out again — or to put on your Christmas gift-giving list!

At Amazon, Harry Stein, No Matter What...They'll Call This Book Racist: How our Fear of Talking Honestly About Race Hurts Us All.

BONUS: ICYMI, Jamie Glazov, United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror.

Record High Polarization

At Gallup:

Record-High 77% of Americans Perceive Nation as Divided... https://t.co/AdzpqZ119S pic.twitter.com/4aXy8k6KWb

— GallupNews (@GallupNews) November 21, 2016

Apocalyptic Thought in the Age of Trump

I like this piece, from Alison McQueen, at Foreign Affairs, "The Dangers of a Doom and Gloom Mindset":

Although it seems that Trump is edging the world toward catastrophe, it's important not to be too apocalyptic. https://t.co/54ssKVOQgA

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) November 27, 2016

The third response [to the election of Donald Trump] is a full-throated embrace of the apocalyptic worldview—one that divides the world into good and evil, vilifies opponents, and pushes the battle for ultimate justice to its violent consummation. This cosmic vision animated the European wars of religion. Today, its main champion is ISIS.

It is wise to note that we have already witnessed a similar level of polarization during the U.S. presidential campaign, as both nominees attacked each other using apocalyptic rhetoric. At a rally in Ocala, Florida, Trump told his supporters, “The election of Hillary Clinton would lead, in my opinion, to the almost total destruction of our country as we know it.” In Palm Beach, he called the election “a moment of reckoning” and “a crossroads in the history of our civilization.”

Clinton and her supporters met these bleak prophecies with their own messages of doom. Clinton concluded a New York Times Magazine interview with an ominous warning, “I’m the last thing standing between you and the apocalypse.” And Slate.com maintained a “Trump Apocalypse Watch,” which used a scale of one to four horsemen to indicate the likelihood of a Trump presidency and, by extension (and only half-jokingly), the end of the world. As the campaign drew to its bitter finale, the media played on the drama. “The end is near,” announced TIME Magazine in a headline that was both reassuring and ominous.

But if both sides fail to back down from this apocalyptic standoff, we can expect deepening polarization, mutual obstruction, and the embrace of more extreme policies and tactics. When one’s opponent poses an apocalyptic threat, almost anything goes.

That is why it is vitally important that we change our mindset. We shouldn’t see Trump’s victory as a harbinger of the apocalypse. Those who oppose Trump would do better to see it as a tragedy. A tragic worldview takes its bearings from the likes of the playwright Sophocles, the historian Thucydides, the theologian St. Augustine, and the political thinker Max Weber. Despite their deep differences, these thinkers recognize the difficulty of reaching settled solutions to our deepest disagreements. They see the dangers of both hubristic certainty and passive resignation.

Further, the tragic worldview does not deny the stakes of politics, or the reality of what can be accomplished. Instead, it calls upon us to return again and again to the work of politics—what Weber called the “strong and slow boring through hard boards.” For some, like Senate Democrats and Republicans who opposed Trump, this work will involve difficult and sometimes repugnant compromises. For others, such as governors and state legislators, city police departments, and citizens, the work of politics will call for resistance and protest.

We must arm ourselves, “with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all hopes,” as Weber once counseled. “This is necessary right now, or else men will not be able to attain even that which is possible today.” The tragic worldview is not a popular one. Its insistence on seeing the world as resistant to progress, unresponsive to virtuous intentions, and capricious in its rewards for goodness does not offer much consolation. But it may be the best hope.

Heh. How Leftists Respond to People Who Voted for Donald Trump

Heh.

I meant to post this earlier. So hilarious.

pic.twitter.com/6FFZdYjR0p

— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) November 19, 2016

Kellyanne Conway Unloads on Mitt Romney — Trump Supporters 'Feel Betrayed' (VIDEO)

She's told Donald Trump how she feels about it, so it's up to the PEOTUS.

I'm for John Bolton, who's actually a real diplomat. Besides, who more to piss off the radical left than Bolton, heh?

At Politico, "Conway unloads on Romney" (at Memeorandum).

Conway: Trump backers feel "betrayed" he is considering Romney for secretary of state https://t.co/BNYC8ijfEL https://t.co/efBPUXbUd8

— CNN (@CNN) November 27, 2016

BONUS: At Althouse, "Kellyanne Conway's almost-perfect go-to answer for anything."

Leftists Still Foaming at the Mouth Almost a Month Later

It's going to be a long four years, which I hope will be long eight years, heh.

From the letters at USA Today:

Almost a month after, leftists still foaming at the mouth: America is not great: Second Look https://t.co/dsLVmVDVNW @PatriarchTree

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 27, 2016

The Electoral College was created by our elitist Founding Fathers who did not think the common man had the wisdom to vote. And now Americans are stuck with a misogynist, racist, ignorant, bigoted money grubber as president.

Therefore, I hope for the failure of Trump and his administration. I applaud any individuals who try to bring it down. He will never be my president or the president of fair-minded Americans. The idea that Trump will be president makes me ashamed to be an American.

Reba Shimansky
New York

President Barack Obama's Statement on the Death of Fidel Castro

Is this even surprising.
O's so bad even left-wing journalists have excoriated him.

On Twitter:

Obama's statement on Fidel is so anodyne that it sanitizes his atrocities and terrible place in history pic.twitter.com/jeDhI9sDbS

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 26, 2016

And see Gateway Pundit, "Compare and Contrast: DONALD TRUMP vs OBAMA on Tyrant Fidel Castro’s Death."

Emily Ratajkowski in Mexico — NSFW

At the Mirror U.K., "Emily Ratajkowski flaunts her EXTREME curves as she goes topless to entertain friends with impromptu beach dance."

And at Barstool Sports, "Emily Ratajkowski Went Topless In Cancun and It Is Probably Not Safe for Your Workplace."

Definitely not safe for work.

Humberto Fontova, The Longest Romance

Now we're getting somewhere.

I think folks'll be just fine reading Humberto Fontova.

At Amazon, The Longest Romance: The Mainstream Media and Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro jailed political prisoners at a higher rate than Stalin during the Great Terror. He murdered more Cubans in his first three years in power than Hitler murdered Germans during his first six. Alone among world leaders, Castro came to within inches of igniting a global nuclear holocaust.

But you would never guess any of that from reading the mainstream American media. Instead we hear fawning accounts of Castro liberating Cuba from the clutches of U.S. robber-barons and bestowing world-class healthcare and education on his downtrodden citizens. “Propaganda is vital—the heart of our struggle,” Castro wrote in 1955. Today, the concept is as valid to the Cuban regime as ever.

History records few propaganda campaigns as phenomenally successful or enduring as Castro and Che’s. The Longest Romance exposes the full scope of this deception; it documents the complicity of major U.S. media players in spreading Castro’s propaganda and in coloring the world’s view of his totalitarian regime. Castro’s cachet as a celebrity icon of anti-Americanism has always overshadowed his record as a warmonger, racist, sexist, Stalinist, and godfather of modern terrorism. The Longest Romance uncovers this shameful history and names its major accomplices.

#TrudeauEulogies: Twitter Goes Nuts Over Canadian Prime Minister's #FidelCastro Comments

Just crazy.

I mean, really crazy stuff.

At Blazing Cat Fur, plus some:

Justin Trudeau’s statement on Fidel Castro’s death a revisionist embarrassment https://t.co/w7e3sI9sOP pic.twitter.com/05LBfmzfZO

— Blazing CatFur (@Blazingcatfur) November 26, 2016

History's greatest monsters are given loving Canadian-style send-offs in these #TrudeauEulogies https://t.co/iTULrwK80E

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 26, 2016

.@Blazingcatfur Twitter goes nuts over Canadian PM's #FidelCastro comments. #TrudeauEulogies https://t.co/DbgZidlzNc

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 27, 2016

Fidel Castro's Death Confirms the Depravity of the Left

From Lloyd Billingsley, at FrontPage Magazine, "Pig Latin Perishes at Last":

In Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Vincent Canby of the New York Times noted in his review of Nestor Almendros’ Improper Conduct, “playwrights, doctors, poets and painters as well as more ordinary folk such as tour guides and hairdressers, a number of whom spent time in one or more of the country’s forced-labor camps.”

And as the late Susan Sontag observed: “The discovery that homosexuals were being persecuted in Cuba shows, I think, how much the left needs to evolve.”

More than three decades later, the response to the death of Fidel Castro confirms that the left has not evolved at all, and may even be worse than during the dictator’s heyday. As Paul Hollander showed in Political Pilgrims, that was about as bad as it gets.

“Fidel sits on the side of a tank rumbling into Havana on New Year’s day,” wrote New Left icon Abbie Hoffman. “He laughs joyously and pinches a few rumps. . . Fidel lets the gun drop to the ground, slaps his thigh and stands erect. He is like a mighty penis coming to life, and when he is tall and straight, the crowd immediately is transformed.”

For American leftist writer and academic Saul Landau, Fidel Castro was “a man who has been steeped in democracy,” and “a humble man.” For Angela Davis, American academic and Communist Party candidate for vice-president in 1980 and 1984, “Fidel was their leader, but most of all he was also their brother in the largest sense of the word.” And so on, to a pitch of absurdity perhaps best captured by Norman Mailer, who said of Castro:

“You were the first and greatest hero to appear in the world since the Second World War, the answer to the argument of commissars and statesmen that revolutions cannot last, that they turn corrupt or total or eat their own.” Castro did all that, and more, but on his exit, more than 60 years too late, the left cut loose a torrent of hagiography.

British Labour Party boss Jeremy Corbyn said Castro “will be remembered both as an internationalist and a champion of social justice.” He did have “flaws” but Corbyn did not elaborate.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Fidel Castro was a “remarkable leader,” who “made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation.” He was also “a controversial figure,” but the prime minister, son of pro-Castro prime minister Pierre Trudeau, did not say what might have caused the controversy.

Former Soviet boss Mikhail Gorbachev said Castro “strengthened his country at the time of the toughest American blockade” and led his county “onto the road of independent development.” For Chinese president Xi Jinping, “dear comrade and true friend” Fidel Castro made “immortal contributions to the development of socialism around the world.”

Likewise, for French president Francois Hollande, Fidel Castro “represented, for Cubans, pride in rejecting external domination.” Vladimir Putin, called Castro, “a wise and strong person,” an “inspiring example for all countries and peoples,” and a “sincere and reliable friend of Russia.”

President Obama, who like those Olympic referees in 1972 put time back on the clock for the Castro dictatorship, recalled, “the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation.” The U.S. president also hailed “the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.” Muslim leaders were also fond of the man.

In 2006, the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan wrote to Fidel Castro:

“I firmly believe that Allah (God) has chosen you and the Cuban people to begin this process of servicing human needs, thus setting the stage for all people of goodwill to emulate this mode of service to others.”

In 2014 Farrakhan said: “Fidel Castro made solidarity among the peoples the reason of his existence.” In similar style in 1992, Iranian Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khameini said “it is his personality to believe and rely on people.”

The apologists might have consulted the various Amnesty International reports, which hardly capture the full picture. With no apology to Francois Hollande, Fidel Castro allowed the Soviet Union to impose complete domination of Cuba. That helped Fidel Castro drive a prosperous nation to sub-Haiti levels of poverty. His repression was such that Cubans flee at the first opportunity, leaving everything behind, at great risk to their own lives. That is why the Straits of Florida have become a graveyard without crosses...

Keep reading.

Image Credit: Bosch Fawstin.

Jill Stein Praises Fidel Castro: 'A symbol of the struggle for justice...'

I'm rolling my eyes.

But see Instapundit, "COMMIES GONNA PRAISE COMMIES."

Fidel Castro was a symbol of the struggle for justice in the shadow of empire. Presente!

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 27, 2016

PREVIOUSLY: "Jamie Glazov, United in Hate."

Julia Cooke, The Other Side of Paradise

One thing I'm not seeing today: Up-to-date biographies of Fidel Castro. The one's that are being touted are literally decades old, like Tad Szulc's, Fidel: A Critical Portrait (1986), and Robert Quirk's, Fidel Castro (1993).

I'll keep looking.

Meanwhile, here's Julia Cooke, The Other Side of Paradise: Life in the New Cuba. (The book's got very nice review, and it came out just a couple of years ago.)

Added: Don't forget Ann Louise Bardach, Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington.

Hillary Clinton Campaign to Participate in State Recount Efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania

At Bloomberg, "Clinton Campaign Will Participate in Stein's State Recounts."

The headline now reads, "Clinton Recount Plan Draws Sore Loser Jibe From Team Trump":

Donald Trump refused to say that he’d respect the results of this election. By doing that, he’s threatening our democracy.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 21, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s campaign will participate in vote recounts of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan if they take place, drawing a rebuke from Donald Trump’s team that the Democrat is being a “sore loser” and part of a “ridiculous” effort.

If Green Party candidate Jill Stein initiates recounts in those states as she intends, the Clinton campaign “will participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides,” Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias said Saturday in a post on the blogging website Medium.com. He added that he doesn’t expect the action to overturn Trumps election.

Trump focused on Stein, not Clinton, in a response. “The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, ‘We must accept this result and then look to the future,”’ he said in a statement.

Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager and is now a senior adviser, was less conciliatory. “What a pack of sore losers,” she said in a statement. “After asking Mr. Trump and his team a million times on the trail, ‘Will HE accept the election results?’ it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can’t accept reality.”

“Rather than adhere to the tradition of graciously conceding and wishing the winner well, they’ve opted to waste millions of dollars and dismiss the democratic process. The people have spoken. Time to listen up. #YesYourPresident,” Conway said...

Yeah, sore loses and hypocrites.

Now it's Hillary Clinton who's a threat to our democracy.

Read Babalú Blog for Best Castro Coverage

I probably should've been linking Babalú more frequently over the years, but it's never too late.

See, "A death worth celebrating: Cuba’s ‘Beast of Birán,’ dictator Fidel Castro, finally dead at 90."

Scroll around here.

And see Val Prieto on Twitter.



Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Amazon Fire 7" Tablet Hot Discount Today: $33.33

Here, Amazon Black Friday 2016 Tablet Deals and Discounts.

This is it, Fire Tablet, 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers, Black.

More, Amazon Basics - Electronics.

Also, Deals in Computer Accessories.

And, Save on Camera Cases and Bags.

BONUS: Shop Carhartt Jackets.

Ann Louise Bardach, Without Fidel

I'm looking around for some of the best biographies of Fidel.

This one looks like a good place to start. I love the title.

At Amazon, Ann Louise Bardach, Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington.

Mayra Veronica Cuban Rule 5

Heh.

She's spicy Cuban hot, lol.

Hat Tip: Twitter.

Also on Instagram.

What a babe!

Castro's Obituary at the Miami Herald

I'll start this one after I've finished NYT's, heh.

Read the Miami Herald obit. It's a tour de force. https://t.co/M31cj8E0Nw

— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) November 26, 2016