Miltary Strike Against Syria (VIDEO)

Following-up, "U.S. Launches Tomahawk Missile Strike After Syria Chemical Weapons Attack (VIDEO)."

I was watching "The Exorcist" and flipped over to CBS when it was done. I tripped out at the headline of the military strike against Syria. It all happened so fast, literally within 24 hours from President Trump's comments about "crossing so many lines" yesterday.

Watch:

James J. Rawls, Indians of California

I thought I'd post this one before I started in on all the radical leftist "genocide" tomes.

This looks very good and balanced. I'm ordering a copy.

At Amazon, James J. Rawls, Indians of California: The Changing Image.

U.S. Launches Tomahawk Missile Strike After Syria Chemical Weapons Attack (VIDEO)

Oh boy.

That's a pretty quick turnaround from yesterday's comments about "crossing so many lines."

I like it. This president shows resolve and dispatch. It was literally a surprise attack. Members of Trump's own administration didn't even know beforehand. And striking so quickly sends all kinds of messages, to Assad and Kim Jong Un, as well as Vladmir Putin and Xi Jinping. A new sheriff's in town. The U.S. will not hesitate to act when "vital interests" are at stake, as President Trump made clear in his comment today in the strike.

In any case, at the Guardian U.K., "US strikes Syrian airfield in first direct military action against Assad: Dozens of Tomahawk missiles have been launched at a government airfield in the wake of the Syrian leader’s use of chemical weapons against civilians."

And at USA Today, "U.S. launches cruise missile strike on Syria after chemical weapons attack":

WASHINGTON — "No child of God should ever suffer" the horror of the chemical weapons attack Syria launched on its own people, President Trump said Thursday, as he announced a cruise missile strike against Syria.

Trump ordered the strike against Syria early Friday local time in retaliation for the chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people on Tuesday, he said.

The attack, the first conventional assault on another country ordered by Trump, comes a day after he declared that the chemical weapons assault had “crossed many, many lines,” including the deaths of 27 children.

From his resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump said Syrian President Bashar Assad "launched a horrible chemical attack on innocent civilians using a deadly nerve agent. Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered at this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

"Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the Untied States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump said.

Years of previous attempts to change Assad's behavior had failed, Trump said.

The 59 missiles, fired from the destroyers USS Porter and Ross in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, struck the airfield where the Syria based the warplanes used in the chemical attack, according to Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The missiles destroyed aircraft, hardened hangars, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems and radar at the Shayrat Airfield.

The chemicals used in the attack on April 4 were also stored at the base, Davis said. The missile strike was designed to deter Syria from mounting another chemical attack...

More.

Devin Nunes Still a Hero in California's Central Valley

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes will step down from the House Russia investigation, but he's still a hero in the Central Valley.

At LAT, "Washington may be shaking its head, but Devin Nunes is still a hometown hero":

Devin Nunes takes himself out of Russia investigation, at least temporarily. A look at his two worlds: https://t.co/tJKGYsOFj7

— Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) April 6, 2017

At home, Devin Nunes remains what he has always been, an auspiciously successful man who rose swiftly to unexpected heights, a man high school teachers point to when they tell kids in this often-overlooked place what is possible in this world.

Outside the farming community southeast of Fresno that has sustained him and his family for generations, though, many see the 14-year Republican congressman very differently — as a national symbol of political bungling or worse.

The House investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which he heads, has stalemated. A senator from his party has acidly compared him to Inspector Clouseau, the bumbling French detective from the “Pink Panther” movies. Democratic leaders have accused him of working with the White House to divert attention from the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to derail Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. In much of official Washington, the mention of Nunes’ name prompts dismissive shakes of the head.

The two views of Nunes are impossible to reconcile, not that many in his district are trying to. In a region where troubles often take the form of drought or pestilence, his longtime constituents greet Nunes’ difficulties with a shrug, their faith in him undiminished...

More.

Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War

This is the one to read for understanding the origins of World War One.

At Amazon, Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War.

Justus D. Doenecke, Nothing Less Than War

Well, this one is timely, considering.

At Amazon, Justus D. Doenecke, Nothing Less Than War: A New History of America's Entry into World War I.

One Hundred Years Ago Today: U.S. Entered World War I

There's some argument that the U.S. should have stayed out of WWI, perhaps to the effect that if we stayed home, the rest of the 20th century would have turned out differently (and better).

Frankly, looked at in balance-of-power terms, it was sooner or later. We went to Europe in 1917, but counterfactually, had the Western Allies failed to stop Imperial Germany in 1919, it was just a matter of time. Indeed, the rise of German power made U.S. intervention on the European continent inevitable, and with it the rise of U.S. hegemonic status.

On Twitter:

The first world war helped shape modern America. Why is it so forgotten? https://t.co/ThfuJB4xwT

— The Guardian (@guardian) April 6, 2017

100 years ago today #Congress declared war on Germany and formally entered #WWI #WW1CentetnnialKC

— WW1 Centennial (@WW1CC) April 6, 2017

The 100th anniversary of U.S. involvement in WWI will be officially commemorated in Kansas City, Mo. #WorldWarOne https://t.co/soBsoavR8V pic.twitter.com/XsFd9Rh7qn

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 6, 2017

Advertisements for Pamela Geller's AFDI Banned by San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (VIDEO)

At Pamela's, "VIDEO: Pamela Geller on ABC News: San Francisco BANS Free Speech on Buses, Subways."

And at Truth Revolt, "San Francisco Bans Political Ads on Transit After Conservative Group Submits Pro-Trump Ad."

And watch here, on YouTube, "Pamela Geller on ABC News."

Stacey L. Smith, Freedom's Frontier

As noted, I think leftist scholars throw the term "genocide" around rather loosely, especially with respect to American Indians, and in particular California's indigenous population. I'll post more on that later.

Meanwhile, at Amazon, Stacey L. Smith, Freedom's Frontier: California and the Struggle over Unfree Labor, Emancipation, and Reconstruction.

Daniel K. Richter, The Ordeal of the Longhouse

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Daniel K. Richter, The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization.

Jackie Johnson's Sunny and Warm Forecast

It's been really warm. My kid got a little sunburn while out today cruising around with his friend.

It's nice though. I'm not complaining.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jackie with the forecast, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Tess Jantschek Playboy Pictorial (VIDEO)

At Fashion Mag, "Tess Jantschek by Dove Shore from Playboy (March / April 2017)."



BONUS: At E! Online, "Hugh Hefner's Son Shares an Update on His Dad's Health and Putting Nudity Back in Playboy."

Albert L. Hurtado, Indian Survival on the California Frontier

* BUMPED.*

I'm seeing some interesting books on California's indigenous peoples. I'll be posting some of them.

Meanwhile, at Amazon, Albert L. Hurtado, Indian Survival on the California Frontier.

ADDED: I'm still looking to post more on California Indians, but so much of the work is about the alleged "genocide" of the state's natives that I'm hesitant. (Many tribes remain in California, of course, although the Gold Rush periods was known for its savagery and ethnic cleansing, no doubt. Stay tuned.).

President Trump Says Chemical Weapons Attack Changed His View of Syria (VIDEO)

And this just days after Secretary of State Tillerson sought to rehabilitate Bashir Assad.

We've been escalating in Iraq and Syria in any case. I'm interested to see how things play out now, like the buzz of a more legitimate hard-power case for regime change in Damascus. That's something a lot of Trump supporters opposed during the campaign. Not sure what the political upside would be if Trump's looking to hang onto his hardcore base of supporters. I don't think they're primarily neoconservatives.

In any case, at the Washington Post, "Trump condemns chemical attack as his U.N. ambassador assails Russia’s role":

A chemical attack in Syria that killed scores of civilians, including children, “crossed a lot of lines for me,” President Trump said Wednesday, adding that he is now responsible for trying to end a grinding conflict he blamed his predecessor for prolonging.

Unlike his U.N. envoy, Trump did not mention Russia and its culpability for backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government blamed the chemical release on rebel forces.

“When you kill innocent children, innocent babies — babies! — little babies,” Trump said, “that crosses many, many lines. Beyond a red line, many, many lines.”

He suggested that the attack Tuesday had changed his mind about his approach to the conflict and confronting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but he did not give any specifics.

“I like to think of myself as a very flexible person,” Trump said during a Rose Garden news conference with visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II.

“And I will tell you that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me, big impact. That was a horrible, horrible thing,” Trump said. “I’ve been watching it and seeing it, and it doesn’t get any worse than that.”

Trump said the grinding Syrian conflict, in its seventh year, “is now my responsibility,” but repeated campaign-trail criticism of the Obama administration for threatening military action and then backing off.

“We have a big problem. We have somebody that is not doing the right thing. And that’s going to be my responsibility,” Trump said. “But I’ll tell you, that responsibility could’ve made, been made, a lot easier if it was handled years ago.”

Earlier Wednesday, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley assailed Russia in blunt terms for protecting the Syrian government, saying that Moscow is callously ignoring civilian deaths...

More.

Advertisers Bail on Bill O'Reilly (VIDEO)

A lot of companies have yanked their ads. This is serious business.

Funny, too, because you'd find the same kind of allegations at all of these companies, that is, if the New York Times would invest in exposing them like they have Fox News.

In any case, at LAT, "Advertisers bail from 'O'Reilly Factor' following payments to settle sexual harassment claims."

And from CBS Evening News last night:



PREVIOUSLY: "Bill O'Reilly Thrives at Fox News (VIDEO)."

Pepsi Apologizes for Trivializing Black Lives Matter

Actually, this is so stupid I'd have hoped Kendall Jenner would've avoided it, but then, perhaps she should get props for helping SJW activism look so lame.

At the New York Times, "Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter."

"Pepsi also apologized on Wednesday to Ms. Jenner" Ridiculous. No one forced her to be in the ad https://t.co/4S2H2b7ZSf

— Emily Parker (@emilydparker) April 5, 2017

The video's still available on YouTube, "Kendall Jenner for PEPSI Commercial."

And at Twitchy, "Bad taste? Kendall Jenner’s new Pepsi ad pisses off a lot of people...",  and "Did Pepsi’s apology for now-pulled Kendall Jenner ad only make things worse?"

Paris Jackson Perky Pokies Braless

At the Sunday Express U.K., "Paris Jackson flashes NIPPLE PIERCINGS as she goes braless during birthday celebrations."

Harriette Harper Wet White T-Shirt at Tenerife Holiday

At the Mirror U.K., "Harriette Harper flashing bare boobs at the pool in wet t-shirt."

ICYMI: Anne F. Hyde, Empires, Nations, and Families

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Anne F. Hyde, Empires, Nations, and Families: A New History of the North American West, 1800-1860.

Bianca Balti Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

She's lovely --- and the Rookie of the Year!

New Kate Hudson Bikini Pics

At the Sun U.K., "HUD-SUN, SEA AND SAND: Kate Hudson shows off natural beauty as she goes make-up free in string bikini and takes a dip on holiday with her kids - Hollywood actress unwinds in tropical Hawaii."

Kate Hudson shows off natural beauty as she goes make-up free in string bikini and takes a dip on holiday with her… https://t.co/GnNosA9A2R

— The Sun Showbiz (@TheSunShowbiz) April 5, 2017

BONUS: At Drunken Stepfather, "BELLA THORNE POSTS A BIKINI PICTURE OF THE DAY."

Shop Men's Accessories

At Amazon, 70% Off or More on Men's Accessories.

BONUS: From Helen Smith, Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters.

John J. Miller, The Unmaking of Americans

Cited by Steven Camarota in his Foreign Affairs essay I posted here.

At Amazon, John J. Miller, The Unmaking of Americans: How Multiculturalism Has Undermined the Assimilation Ethic.

The Truly Lethal F-22/F-15C Combination

Interesting piece, from Dave Majumdar, at the National Interest, "America's F-15 and F-22 Stealth Raptor: The Ultimate Combination?"

The latest by @DaveMajumdar: https://t.co/XbKO2MQ948

— National Interest (@TheNatlInterest) April 5, 2017

Joe Arpaio's Tent City for Illegal Aliens in Pink Underwear Closed Down (VIDEO)

Well, I for one will miss Joe Arpaio.

At the Arizona Republic, "Tent City, infamous home of inmates who wear pink underwear and major piece of Arpaio's legacy, is closing."

The Case Against Immigration

From Steven Camarota, Director of Research for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), at Foreign Affairs, "Why the United States Should Look Out for Itself."

Hat Tip: Instapundit, "I’M SURPRISED TO SEE THIS IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS."

So am I.

Liz Habib

She's loves taking selfies.

Good Day LA!! Hello Good Morning pic.twitter.com/IwQeVVb7Zm

— Liz Habib (@LizHabib) April 5, 2017

ADDED: Here's a long video with Ms. Habib, "Why I cancelled a trip to the Côte d'Azur-- BIG opportunity on Good Day LA!!"

The Sovietization of American Politics

It's Wretchard, at Pajamas, "Checkmate":

The Sovietization of Washington politics is nearly complete. Strong arm rule, political surveillance and the show trial threatens to replace the orderly alternation at power which characterized elective government. Watching the Beltway is now disturbingly like watching an unfolding power struggle at the Kremlin. Richard Arenberg writing in the Hill asks: "is there any hope of pulling out of the "nuclear option" death spiral before the Senate inflicts permanent damage upon itself and the Supreme Court?" There's growing concern the acrimony will permanently poison the atmosphere by locking both parties into a cycle of retaliation...

Everything is polarized. There's no giving in. There's no compromise. Fuck your partisan enemies. And who can blame Trump and the Republicans? Frankly, fighting back is why people voted for Trump.

Keep reading. (Via Stephan Green, at Instapundit.)

German Foreign Exchange Student Lorraine Gilles

Nice nanny.

At London's Daily Mail, "Mel B and Stephen Belafonte's German nanny pictured."

Mel B claims her estranged husband Stephen Belafonte got the nanny PREGNANT https://t.co/vA7AEnmXxq pic.twitter.com/obatuwYyIv

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) April 5, 2017

Who Asked Susan Rice to Unmask Those Names?

Following-up, "Susan Rice Unmasked as Top Obama Aide Who Sought Surveillance Reports on Trump Transition Team (VIDEO)," and "Obama Flunky Susan Rice Denies 'Inappropriately Unmasking' Trump Transition Team (VIDEO)."

Here's Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "Obama’s national security advisor is a liar -- and possibly a felon":

Former President Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice asked for the names of Trump transition officials to be unmasked and made public in raw intelligence files, according to media reports, a move apparently carried out to harm the incoming Trump administration.

As recently as March 22, Rice denied knowing anything about the intelligence reports. In an appearance on “PBS Newshour,” she said pretty definitely, “I know nothing about this.” The new news reports paint Rice as a liar.

The evidence we know about in the Trump-Russia saga so far seems to be pointing at Obama.

Adam Housley of Fox News reports:

The unmasked names, of people associated with Donald Trump, were then sent to all those at the National Security Council, some at the Defense Department, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan – essentially, the officials at the top, including former Rice deputy Ben Rhodes.

The names were part of incidental electronic surveillance of candidate and President-elect Trump and people close to him, including family members, for up to a year before he took office.

The spreading of the unmasked names was carried out for “political purposes that have nothing to do with national security” or foreign intelligence, Housley said. "It had everything to do with hurting and embarrassing Trump and his team," he said, citing his sources.

What is incidental collection, by the way?

Incidental collection “happens when an individual is in contact with the target of surveillance,” or is communicating “about” the target, according to Robyn Greene. “So if Bob were being targeted for surveillance and Alice called or emailed Bob, Alice’s communications with him would be collected incidentally.”

In this example, “if Bob is targeted for surveillance and Alice contacts him during that surveillance, resulting in the incidental collection of her communications with him, her name should be redacted or ‘masked’ unless leaving it unredacted provides foreign intelligence value.” Masking is done to protect U.S. persons (i.e. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, etc.) who get inadvertently caught up in the electronic dragnet from being falsely accused of crimes or otherwise improper behavior.

If a National Security Agency analyst “believes Alice’s communications may contain evidence of any crime, the NSA can share those communications with law enforcement or other relevant agencies … even if the crimes are completely unrelated to the purpose for surveilling Bob’s communications, or to foreign intelligence or national security investigations.”

According to former Obama State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, “if the intelligence community professionals decide that there’s some value, national security, foreign policy or otherwise in unmasking someone, they will grant those requests,”

Assuming these news reports about data that supposedly was incidentally collected are accurate, they raise a multitude of new questions about the ongoing scandal concerning alleged collaboration between the Trump team and Russia.

We still don’t know who asked then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice to unmask those names – or if she acted on her own initiative. But the most likely culprit has to be President Obama himself, along with those in his inner circle such as his Islamist CIA director John Brennan and his slimy national-security aide Ben Rhodes.

But whoever did the deed, it appears someone used America’s taxpayer-funded national security apparatus to engage in likely unlawful espionage against an opposition presidential campaign, an incoming administration, and that administration’s transition team. It’s the stuff of banana republics, which makes sense, because Obama spent eight long, lawless years trying to turn the United States into precisely that...

Keep reading.

Lawrence Culver, The Frontier of Leisure

I mentioned I'd be posting more on the California frontier, but I was thinking more along 19th century lines, heh.

But you gotta love this one, from Lawrence Culver, The Frontier of Leisure: Southern California and the Shaping of Modern America.

Southern California has long been promoted as the playground of the world, the home of resort-style living, backyard swimming pools, and year-round suntans. Tracing the history of Southern California from the late nineteenth century through the late twentieth century, The Frontier of Leisure reveals how this region did much more than just create lavish resorts like Santa Catalina Island and Palm Springs -- it literally remade American attitudes towards leisure. Lawrence Culver shows how this "culture of leisure" gradually took hold with an increasingly broad group of Americans, and ultimately manifested itself in suburban developments throughout the Sunbelt and across the United States. He further shows that as Southern Californians promoted resort-style living, they also encouraged people to turn inward, away from public spaces and toward their private homes and communities. Impressively researched, a fascinating and lively read, this finely nuanced history connects Southern Californian recreation and leisure to larger historical themes, including regional development, architecture and urban planning, race relations, Indian policy, politics, suburbanization, and changing perceptions of nature.

Obama Flunky Susan Rice Denies 'Inappropriately Unmasking' Trump Transition Team (VIDEO)

She's vile.

And she's a bald-faced liar.

At the Hill, "Rice denies Obama administration inappropriately unmasked Trump team."

Here's the interview, with Andrea Mitchell, at MSNBC this afternoon:



PREVIOUSLY: "Susan Rice Unmasked as Top Obama Aide Who Sought Surveillance Reports on Trump Transition Team (VIDEO)."

Will Bagley, With Golden Visions Bright Before Them

At Amazon, Will Bagley, With Golden Visions Bright Before Them: Trails to the Mining West, 1849–1852.

Robert J. Utley, Wanted

I finished Robert J. Utley's, The Indian Frontier, a couple of weeks ago.

It turns out he published a biography of Billy the Kid in 2015, and it comes highly recommended.

At Amazon, Wanted: The Outlaw Lives of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly.

Ryan Blacketter's Raft of Great Books

Blacketter's "raft of books" is the lifeboat, so to speak, on which he escapes the brain-dead politics of the literary campus left.

It's an interesting piece, and a warning for those who think they can navigate far-left campus political correctness.

At Quillette:

"It’s a rare English department that respects great books and authors." https://t.co/Z6Q6ild3yV

— Quillette Magazine (@QuilletteM) April 4, 2017

Susan Rice Unmasked as Top Obama Aide Who Sought Surveillance Reports on Trump Transition Team (VIDEO)

CNN's running interference for the Democrats, at the video below. But the latest revelation of Obama administration surveillance, and "unmasking" of Trump transition team members, blows the lid off the left's Russian-meddling election scam and further vindicates President Trump's allegations of the Obama regime's wiretapping. .

At WSJ, via Memeorandum, "Susan Rice Unmasked" (and Ruth King):

Susan Rice sought the name of at least one Trump official in intelligence reports: https://t.co/txUIgCElLY

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) April 4, 2017

Well, what do you know. On the matter of who “unmasked” the names of Trump transition officials in U.S. intelligence reports, we now have one answer: Susan Rice, Barack Obama’s national security adviser.

A U.S. intelligence official confirms to us the bombshell news, first reported Monday by Bloomberg, that Ms. Rice requested the name of at least one Trump transition official listed in an intelligence report in the months between Election Day and Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Ms. Rice received summaries of U.S. eavesdropping either when foreign officials were discussing the Trump team, or when foreign officials were conversing with a Trump transition member. The surveillance was legally authorized, but the identities of U.S. citizens are typically masked so they cannot be known outside intelligence circles. Ms. Rice asked for and learned the identity of the Trump official, whose name hasn’t been publicly disclosed and our source declined to share.

Our source did confirm that Ms. Rice also examined dozens of other intelligence summaries that technically masked Trump official identities but were written in such a way as to make obvious who those officials were. This means that the masking was essentially meaningless. All this is highly unusual—and troubling. Unmasking does occur, but it is typically done by intelligence or law-enforcement officials engaged in antiterror or espionage investigations. Ms. Rice would have had no obvious need to unmask Trump campaign officials other than political curiosity.

We’re told by a source who has seen the unmasked documents that they included political information about the Trump transition team’s meetings and policy intentions. We are also told that none of these documents had anything to do with Russia or the FBI investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. While we don’t know if Ms. Rice requested these dozens of reports, we are told that they were only distributed to a select group of recipients—conveniently including Ms. Rice.

All of this helps to explain the actions in the last week of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, the one official in Washington who seems interested in pursuing the evidence of politicized surveillance. Mr. Nunes was roundly criticized by Democrats and the media last week for publicly revealing at least one instance of Obama White House unmasking, albeit without disclosing any names.

Now we know he is onto something. And we know that Mr. Nunes had to go to the White House to verify his information because the records containing Ms. Rice’s unmasking request are held at the National Security Council...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel."

Out Today: Laura Kipnis, Unwanted Advances

Following-up from March 28th, "In the Mail: Laura Kipnis, Unwanted Advances."

I'm nearly 100 pages into this book, and it's good.

My only issue with it -- and it's a serious issue --- is that Kipnis insists that the left's Title IX totalitarianism isn't "ideological." She refers to the left's anti-rape jihad on campus as a function of an allegedly hysterical, polarized political environment, said to be productive of schizophrenic college policies on sexual assault.

Frankly, that's much too loose in terms of political responsibility, but it can't be otherwise for Kipnis, since she's desperate to cling to her bona fides as a self-described "far-left feminist." (She'd do well to read Kim Holmes' recent book, which places the left's current campus turmoil firmly in the trenches of radical ideological trends going back to at least the 1960s.)

That said, the volume's a worthwhile read that deserves a spot on the shelf of anyone seriously concerned about the denial of basic due process at America's colleges and universities.

At Amazon, Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus.

Kendall Jenner as Marilyn Monroe for Love Magazine (VIDEO)

She's so lovely.

Candice Jackson Appointed to Lead the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights

In terms of power, controlling the executive branch bureaucracy's up there with holding the majority on the Supreme Court.

It's going to take a while to clean out Obama's treasonous deep state, but the extremely politicized "Office for Civil Rights" at the Department of Education (in charge of Title IX regulations) is an excellent place to start.

At Instapundit, "SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD APPOINTMENT TO ME":

Report: New Head of Federal Anti-Rape Agency Is a ‘Libertarian Feminist’ and Clinton Critic; Candice Jackson will allegedly become deputy secretary at the Office for Civil Rights. “A conservative legal activist known for defending the women who accused President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment has been tapped to head the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on a temporary basis. OCR is the agency that regulates Title IX compliance, and is responsible for the recent effort to compel schools to police sexual assault internally.”

Save Big on Major League Baseball Collectibles and Memorabilia

At Amazon, Shop Our Deal of the Day.

And ICYMI, John Florio, One Nation Under Baseball: How the 1960s Collided with the National Pastime.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Cancels Australia Visit Over 'Security Concerns' (VIDEO)

In other words, she got death threats.

Apparently, these were specific and credible.

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "WHITE SUPREMACY: YOU’RE REALLY DOING IT WRONG! Ayaan Hirsi Ali cancels Oz visit after being threatened, called 'white supremacist(!)'."

And watch, at the Rebel:

Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel

From Eli Lake, at Bloomberg:

#BetYouDidntExpect #SusanRice Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel President Trump is right again and again🙂👍 pic.twitter.com/YD02Z0rkNk

— CindyForTrump (@immigrant_legal) April 3, 2017

White House lawyers last month learned that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The pattern of Rice's requests was discovered in a National Security Council review of the government's policy on "unmasking" the identities of individuals in the U.S. who are not targets of electronic eavesdropping, but whose communications are collected incidentally. Normally those names are redacted from summaries of monitored conversations and appear in reports as something like "U.S. Person One."

The National Security Council's senior director for intelligence, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, was conducting the review, according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. In February Cohen-Watnick discovered Rice's multiple requests to unmask U.S. persons in intelligence reports that related to Trump transition activities. He brought this to the attention of the White House General Counsel's office, who reviewed more of Rice's requests and instructed him to end his own research into the unmasking policy.

The intelligence reports were summaries of monitored conversations -- primarily between foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but also in some cases direct contact between members of the Trump team and monitored foreign officials. One U.S. official familiar with the reports said they contained valuable political information on the Trump transition such as whom the Trump team was meeting, the views of Trump associates on foreign policy matters and plans for the incoming administration...

Keep reading.

Richard Slotkin, Regeneration Through Violence

*BUMPED.*

I love this guy's books.

At Amazon, Richard Slotkin, Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600–1860.

And ICYMI, The Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization, 1800–1890.

The Trump-Hate Weather Vane

It's Olivia Nuzzi.

I tweeted her a while back, asking why she left the Daily Beast. But she didn't respond. Oh well.

At the New Yorker, "Will Anti-Trump Fury Help Flip the Electoral Map for Democrats?":

Will fury and heaps of Democratic cash be enough to get political neophyte Jon Ossoff elected to Congress? https://t.co/yJ3GTKyYKP

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) April 3, 2017

In all senses, the sun was shining on Jon Ossoff. It was early in the evening on a Sunday in late March, and the suddenly very visible 30-year-old Democratic candidate in the first competitive special congressional election of the Trump era was riding shotgun in a sooty-black Chrysler Sebring, hunched over a paper plate of cheese and crackers, while a member of his staff steered toward the next fund-raiser through the hills of suburban Atlanta. The back of the car was piled high with half a dozen Nike shoe boxes, a stuffed owl, and a reporter. Between bites, Ossoff stared ahead at the road, indulging in long pauses as he considered what to say about his new life as the luckiest young man in American politics. “There’s nothing that I would love more than a freewheeling conversation about political philosophy,” he said. “But I’m cautious because, as you know, the knives are out right now.”

That is not exactly how things appeared to most observers of this breakneck two-month campaign to fill the House seat vacated by Tom Price, the new secretary of Health and Human Services. Outside of the Sebring motorcade, Ossoff looks like the poster boy of the resistance, the grassroots opposition to both President Donald Trump and the wave of nationalism that installed him in office. He is a relative neophyte running 20 points ahead of a divided Republican field in a congressional district that hasn’t been blue since Jimmy Carter, also a Georgian, was president; an anonymous congressional aide turned documentary-film producer made into a national political figure mostly by love from readers of the Daily Kos; a pleasant, generic hipster-technocrat vessel into which an entire nation of angry Democrats has poured its electoral hopes (not to mention its millions of dollars — literally millions, a wild haul for a first-time nobody in a two-month race).

In this brave new post-2016 world, the Ossoff campaign is an experiment of sorts, a Trump-backlash trial balloon that might — on April 18, when the first round of voting is held, or on June 20, when the likely runoff will be completed — tell us just how much the president has reshaped the electoral map. It may also tell us that Democrats will have to do a whole lot more than just ride the wave of Trump hate to have a real chance of puncturing House Republicans’ red wall in 2018. Which is where Tom Perez, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, tends to come down. “Our mistakes, I think, were not just in 2016,” he told me, sketching out his vision for how the party might win back control of the federal government. “Our mistakes were a number of years in the making. We ignored too many voters. We got away from a 50-state strategy. And we took too many people for granted.” Now, Perez said, he’s focused on making up for lost time, which includes plans to channel resources into Georgia’s Sixth District. “We’re going to work hard down there,” he said, “because underdogs win.”

By March, anti-Trump enthusiasm and the national spotlight had made the Ossoff campaign look considerably less underdog-y; most recent polls put him at 40 percent, within striking distance of a majority (which would win him the seat outright and allow him to avoid a runoff in which a Republican candidate could consolidate conservative voters). The Atlanta suburbs seemed so upended by the race it almost didn’t feel like the South at all; traveling from Trump’s Washington, D.C., to what Ossoff hopes will soon become his Georgia seat is like walking out of the Gathering of Juggalos and into the Metropolitan Opera. “He’s our hope,” Carol Finkelstein, a 71-year-old from Sandy Springs, told me in her placid living room on a recent Saturday, just before Ossoff took to the carpet to address her neighbors. “He can’t stop a runaway train, but I’m hoping he can at least be a voice of reason.” Nearby, Barbara Brown, a 93-year-old who’s also committed to voting for Ossoff, was less diplomatic. “I’m an Independent,” she told me. “My husband was the Republican, but we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Well, this oughta be interesting.

Keep reading.

RELATED: Here's the gag me factor to this race, celebrity carpetbaggers flooding suburban Atlanta. At the AJC, "CELEBRITIES AND POLITICS: Alyssa Milano and Christopher Gorham stump for 6th District candidate Jon Ossoff."

Rita Ora Upskirt

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

She's a smokin' hot woman.

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

'One Nation Under Baseball'

Just out from John Florio, at Amazon, One Nation Under Baseball: How the 1960s Collided with the National Pastime.

Hat Tip: the New York Times.

Stories about free agency, rubbing mud and a pitcher whose name was a lot cooler than yours https://t.co/wm9kz0CDf8

— New York Times Books (@nytimesbooks) April 2, 2017

Julie Henderson Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

She's a sweetie.

Give it up for Sports Illustrated this year, man. They've gone above and beyond the call of babe-blogging duty, lol.

Being Well-Informed on the Reality of Global Jihad is 'Islamophobic'

Pfft.

"Islamphobia" is a meaningless term invented solely to stifle criticism of Islam.

People who read the news are more likely to be Islamophobic, study finds https://t.co/OXUcOIP9eM

— The Independent (@Independent) April 3, 2017

A Final Test for Gonzaga

The moment you've all been waiting for, 6:00pm tonight (Pacific time), on CBS.

Despite a small-conference pedigree, Gonzaga has proven it belongs on NCAA's biggest stage, @marcatracy writes https://t.co/ITleDr7bRY pic.twitter.com/4rWhw6JHn9

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 3, 2017

George Ciccariello-Maher on Tucker Carlson's Show (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Tucker Carlson, Fox News' Unlikely Star."

The Tuck's been hammering leftists on the show, which is one of the reasons for its popularity.

And George Ciccariello-Maher is a literal caricature of the America-hating leftist. He's an idiot, lol.



PREVIOUSLY: "George Ciccariello-Maher."

Tucker Carlson, Fox News' Unlikely Star

I've never cared that much for the guy, but this is a good read. Very sympathetic profile. I like the Tuck a little more now, actually.

At the New Yorker:

Tucker Carlson’s Fighting Words: #TheTuck https://t.co/OO74o7j3mj pic.twitter.com/xqArObuvCe

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 3, 2017

Ned Blackhawk, Violence Over the Land

I've got a lot on my list, but this book crops up a lot in all my reading, blogging, and research.

At Amazon, Ned Blackhawk, Violence Over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West.

Hey Republicans, Would You Hump This Woman?

Well, as a married man I'd have to respond in the negative, but if I was single, hmm?

It's Karley Sciortino, via the Other McCain, and on Twitter:

The more important question is, "Would a Republican f--k her?" https://t.co/jBXsS8vqKu pic.twitter.com/KrroVgaYtt

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) April 2, 2017

So proud to have @Slutever's Karley Sciortino as a #MaisonClose Muse ! https://t.co/yI65cPA6bA pic.twitter.com/Ga4PUI60CW

— Maison Close (@Maison_Close_) March 9, 2017

Suspect in Atlanta Freeway Collapse Was Smoking Crack as Fire Broke Out (VIDEO)

At the Other McCain, "Police Say Crackhead Started Fire That Destroyed I-85 Overpass in Atlanta."

And from Dana Loesch on Twitter, as well as ABC News below:

Oh my: "Homeless man was 'smoking crack under overpass when he started blaze' that destroyed Atlanta interstate” https://t.co/mmgpu7SbME

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 3, 2017

Giles Milton, Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Hey, one more for the road!

At Amazon, Giles Milton, Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat.

Tom Clavin, Dodge City

I'm just seeing this one right now!

This is great!

At Amazon, Tom Clavin, Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West.

Frank McDonough, The Gestapo

Historian Dagmar Herzog reviews Norman Ohler's, Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich, at today's New York Times book review. (She's highly critical, arguing that the focus on drug abuse throughout the regime serves as an excuse and distraction for the Nazis' larger crimes).

Also, at Thomas Anthony DiMaggio's letter to the book review editor, is the citation for Frank McDonough's, The Gestapo: The Myth and Reality of Hitler's Secret Police, which I didn't know of.

That reminds me of the classic book, from Heinz Höhne, The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS.

Man Dives in the Water to Retrieve His Hat at Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego, Drowns (VIDEO)

Oh man.

That's not what you want.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man drowns after jumping off San Diego pier to retrieve items thrown into ocean."

Well, the report indicates that search and rescue efforts were hampered by "8-foot-high waves and thick seaweed," so what can you do?

The Cultural Roots of Campus Rage

The Wall Street Journal has pretty much eliminated access through Google search, which is why I don't link them much any more. They've really "built the wall," the subscription paywall, heh.

But Instapundit's block-quoted most of Jonathan Haidt's op-ed, so this is worth posting.

See, "JONATHAN HAIDT ON THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF CAMPUS RAGE":

At the very moment where higher education is in trouble, it is dominated by a mindset that sets it in opposition to the mainstream culture. This will end well:

“People are sick and tired of being called racist for innocent things they’ve said or done,” Mr. Haidt observes. “The response to being called a racist unfairly is never to say, ‘Gee, what did I do that led to me being called this? I should be more careful.’ The response is almost always, ‘[Expletive] you!’ ”

He offers this real-world example: “I think that the ‘deplorables’ comment could well have changed the course of human history.”

I certainly hope so.

RTWT.

What's Next for Women?

More endless identity politics, for one thing.

From far-left Tina Brown, CEO of "Women in the World," a far-left feminist production of the New York Times, "After a Historic March, What’s Next for Women?":

What's next for the women's movement after a historic march in January? A return to some of its broader issues: https://t.co/saIYyyqD1g

— Tina Brown (@TinaBrownLM) March 31, 2017

Hillary Clinton's loss was a "wake up call for feminism," says @WomenintheWorld founder, Tina Brown https://t.co/P1aK4nCe3b pic.twitter.com/YBN319q8Ul

— CNN (@CNN) April 2, 2017

Last week, we were treated to a news photo that will live in infamy: two dozen white male Republican congressmen (and zero women) around a White House conference table talking about dumping maternity and newborn care as part of their replacement for the Obama health care law.

It instantly went viral: “A rare look inside the GOP’s women’s health caucus,” tweeted Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington State.

Seven days later, the infamy was compounded when Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate that would allow states to defund Planned Parenthood.

Since the heyday of the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s, American women have assumed they were on a rocket to a future of assured gender equality. But even as individual women continued to break records and barriers in recent years, the engine began to stall.

Pay inequity festers. The rolling scandals at Uber remind us that the frat clubs of Silicon Valley are often rife with sexual harassment.

Women in the military are beleaguered by so-called revenge porn and sexual assault.

The United States still ranks with Swaziland, Lesotho and Papua New Guinea as the last countries on earth, “advanced” or not, that don’t mandate paid maternity leave.

In corporations, it’s turned out that the trouble isn’t the glass ceiling; it’s the sticky floor.

Male chief executives of Fortune 500 companies brag at Davos, Switzerland, about their healthy pipeline of women headed for the C-suite. (But the boast is undermined by statistics that show a paltry 4 percent of Fortune 500 companies have women in the top job.)

And a woman who commanded nearly three million more votes than her opponent did not become president...

Oh boy, where to begin?

Well, start with "pay inequity," which is a myth.

And of course the rampant "sexual harassment" we're seeing is found almost exclusively at far-left business concerns such as Uber. Why won't progressives clean up their own messes before foisting off all this bullshit on the rest of the public? And so no one wonders why "a woman who commanded nearly three million votes" failed to win the presidency. People see through the leftist cant.

In any case, more at that top link, if you can stomach it.

Newlyweds Hold Wedding Reception at In-N-Out

That is the best!

At ABC 15 News Phoenix:

Newlywed couple holds wedding reception at In-n-Out in California.https://t.co/MXpyp7xZlE #abc15 pic.twitter.com/6xyvZM0ZbM

— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) April 2, 2017

Kathryn Gin Lum, Damned Nation

Well, I think we've all feared going to hell at one point or another.

This looks interesting.

At Amazon, Kathryn Gin Lum, Damned Nation: Hell in America from the Revolution to Reconstruction.

'Few families, of course, are as wealthy as the Rockefellers...'

Well, that's for sure.

An interesting piece, at NYT, "Giving Like a Rockefeller, Even if You're Not Super-Rich."

What we can learn about the power of philanthropy from the Rockefeller family https://t.co/eKUjEKUSor

— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) March 31, 2017

The story talks about David Rockefeller's grandson, Michael Quattrone (pictured), who manages the David Rockefeller Fund. The senior Rockeffer is said to have given away at least $2 billion to charity in his lifetime, and philanthropy's become the raison d'être of the entire family. The younger members of the family convinced some of the family's biggest charitable funds (they are numerous, apparently) to divest from fossil fuels, the irony of which just kills me.

In any cast, it's a good read.

Alex Tizon Has Died: Seattle Times Reporter Won Pulitzer for Investigation Into Federally-Sponsored Housing Programs for American Indians

I saw this at the New York Times, "Alex Tizon wrote about Native Americans and won a Pulitzer. Then he wrote about himself."

Then I checked Google, and I'm glad I did.

At the Seattle Times, "Alex Tizon, former Seattle Times reporter who won Pulitzer Prize, dies at 57":

Alex Tizon, former Seattle Times reporter who won Pulitzer Prize, dies at 57 https://t.co/4LItq8rXRl

— Times Watchdog (@STWatchdog) March 26, 2017

Alex Tizon, a journalist and professor who won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting while at The Seattle Times and spent decades exposing untold stories of marginalized communities, has died at age 57.

Mr. Tizon died unexpectedly Thursday, of natural causes, at his home in Eugene, Oregon, according to his family and the University of Oregon, where he was working as an assistant professor of journalism.

Mr. Tizon was one of three Seattle Times reporters to win the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, for stories that exposed widespread corruption and inequalities in the federally sponsored housing program for Native Americans. The series, which documented how billions of dollars in taxpayer funds were helping wealthy people across the country live in mansions while tribes were housed in decrepit shacks, inspired reforms to the program.

Friends, colleagues and family members said Mr. Tizon was known as a deep listener who preferred to dive headfirst into complicated, long-form stories that are becoming rarer in today’s fast-paced media cycle. An introvert who spent hours alone brooding over deep issues like the meaning of his life, he would often take on seemingly simple stories and come back with complicated tales about humanity.

“He was very curious about other people — and learning about other people helped him learn about himself,” said his wife, Melissa Tizon. “That’s what journalism did for him. His whole life quest was about trying to understand who he was, as an immigrant growing up in a largely white community.”

Born in the Philippines, Mr. Tizon immigrated to Seattle with his family when he was 5 years old and bounced around the country before he settled back here.

He spent 17 years at The Seattle Times before becoming the Seattle bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times from 2003 to 2008. He also contributed to publications like Newsweek and programs such as “60 Minutes.”

He then spent two years in Manila, where he helped track efforts by the government to eliminate poverty in poor communities, and taught workshops in far-flung locales like Romania. And he wrote a memoir, “Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self,” about the challenges of being an Asian-American man in the United States.

He turned to teaching in 2011, but his passion for writing still burned.

A year ago, he revived a story he began working on at the Los Angeles Times a decade before, about an Alaskan family whose son had disappeared. People go missing there all the time — about 3,000 a year at one point — but in the remote corner of the world, it garners little attention or news coverage.

The family had learned that authorities had found remains that might provide closure to their grief. Mr. Tizon flew to the tiny town to write a lengthy magazine piece for The Atlantic on the family’s struggles and the broader phenomenon of why so many people vanish in that state.

Those who worked with Mr. Tizon said the story was emblematic of his career — the way he spent so much time deeply reporting the piece, and the fact that he chose a topic that others in the media likely would have ignored.

“He had a real interest in marginal characters and people who had not been in the spotlight,” said his editor on The Atlantic piece, Denise Wills. “He almost became a member of the extended family for these people.”

In an interview last year, Mr. Tizon told the Harvard journalism program: “The stories I work on, especially for any length of time, do tend to become personal to me.”

Jacqui Banaszynski, a University of Missouri journalism professor who was Mr. Tizon’s editor for two years at The Seattle Times, echoed others who said his death was a loss to the journalism community. She recalled Mr. Tizon as “an almost philosopher essayist” in his approach, and that the paper would send him on stories that were complex and needed to be told at a deeper level than the standard news story...

Still more.

Bill O'Reilly Thrives at Fox News (VIDEO)

I've watched O'Reilly now for years. When I first started watching him regularly, at least ten years ago, I was mindful of the stereotypes, from critics both right and left: You know, how he's a blowhard, and not really conservative, and all that.

That's all true, of course, But he's a patriot who works hard. He loves the country and he models our values, especially individualism and fairness. I suspect he actually has sexually harassed women at some point. He's an old school kind of a guy, and some of the old school brusque "locker room" kind of banter and being is bound to slip out once in a while. He's wealthy, though, so million dollar payouts here and there, without conceding allegations, just make problems go away.

 In any case, at the New York Times, "Bill O'Reilly Thrives at Fox News, Even as Harassment Settlements Add Up." (At Memeorandum.)

About $13 million has been paid out over the years to address complaints from women about Mr. O’Reilly’s behavior. He denies the claims have merit.

For nearly two decades, Bill O’Reilly has been Fox News’s top asset, building the No. 1 program in cable news for a network that has pulled in billions of dollars in revenues for its parent company, 21st Century Fox.

Behind the scenes, the company has repeatedly stood by Mr. O’Reilly as he faced a series of allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior.

An investigation by The New York Times has found a total of five women who have received payouts from either Mr. O’Reilly or the company in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him. The agreements totaled about $13 million.

Two settlements came after the network’s former chairman, Roger Ailes, was dismissed last summer in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, when the company said it did not tolerate behavior that “disrespects women or contributes to an uncomfortable work environment.”

The women who made allegations against Mr. O’Reilly either worked for him or appeared on his show. They have complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating, according to documents and interviews.

The reporting suggests a pattern: As an influential figure in the newsroom, Mr. O’Reilly would create a bond with some women by offering advice and promising to help them professionally. He then would pursue sexual relationships with them, causing some to fear that if they rebuffed him, their careers would stall.

Of the five settlements, two were previously known — one for about $9 million in 2004 with a producer, and another struck last year with a former on-air personality, which The Times reported on in January. The Times has learned new details related to those cases...

That "on-air personality" is Juliet Huddy, who's no longer with the network.

But keep reading.

David Roberts, Once They Moved Like the Wind

I love the title of this book.

At Amazon, David Roberts, Once They Moved Like the Wind: Cochise, Geronimo, and the Apache Wars.

David M. Wrobel, Global West, American Frontier

Another excellent-looking book.

At Amazon, David M. Wrobel, Global West, American Frontier: Travel, Empire, and Exceptionalism from Manifest Destiny to the Great Depression.

Pat Condell Slams Patronizing Idiot Leftist Elites, Losers of the Brexit Vote (VIDEO)

So good.

So bloody good, as always.

Max Boot, Pseudo-Conservative Blogger at Foreign Policy, Making Outrageous Claim That the Entire Republican Party Has Been Taken Over by Racist Fringe

I gave up on Boot last year, when he published his notorious screed at the L.A. Times, about changing his party registration after Donald Trump won the GOP nomination.

He still blogs at Commentary as well, which is one reason I don't read the magazine as much as I used to. (That, and Noah Rothman, who I like, turned into some kind of angry, middle-aged, and very unpleasant curmudgeon.)

In any case, from Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "Max Boot's 'GOP is the White Nationalist Party' Smear."

Can't Get Over How Much Ivanka Looks Like Her Mom in This Photo

Here's the story, at NYT, "Ivanka Trump, Shifting Plans, Will Become a Federal Employee."

It's just the resemblance to her mom Ivana is uncanny.

Ivanka Trump is becoming an official government employee, joining her husband in serving as an unpaid adviser. https://t.co/HEcwwVh4ZE pic.twitter.com/p8VsiI2Whu

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) March 29, 2017

Heitkamp and Manchin Will Vote for Gorsuch

That's 54 votes for Gorsuch, counting the 52 seat GOP majority in the Senate.

Can Mitch McConnell round up another six seats?

At Instapundit.

I will vote for Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's my full statement: pic.twitter.com/pDdhde7mGF

— Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (@SenatorHeitkamp) March 30, 2017

Atlanta's Interstate Collapse: I-85 Closed After Fire; Traffic Congestion Headache Could Last Months (VIDEO)

Althouse has it, with all kinds of local links, "The I-85 bridge fire disaster."

It's lucky no one was killed, and I mean a freakin' miracle.

I watched earlier on CBS This Morning:

U.S. Military Escalation, Off the Radar

Following-up from last night, "U.S. War Footprint Grows in Middle East, With No Endgame in Sight."

At the Los Angeles Times, "Trump administration stops disclosing troop deployments in Iraq and Syria."

US won't announce or confirm info about troop numbers in Iraq & Syria "in order to maintain tactical surprise." https://t.co/CqMaoksRHO

— W.J. Hennigan (@wjhenn) March 31, 2017

Abigail Ratchford, Quiet in the Library

Well, we haven't visited with this young lady for a while. She's been keeping busy.

On Twitter:

Quiet in the library ; ) 📚 pic.twitter.com/7AxgubwLOn

— Abigail Ratchford (@AbiRatchford) March 29, 2017

Holy grail 👄 pic.twitter.com/GCAOQCNm8n

— Abigail Ratchford (@AbiRatchford) March 28, 2017

Shop Electronics, Computers, and Accessories

At Amazon, Computers and Accessories, Tablets, Laptops.

And, Get 30% or More Off on Selected External Hard Drives.

Plus, Shop Office Products and Supplies.

Also, Computer Games and Accessories.

BONUS: Adam Alter, Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.

U.S. War Footprint Grows in Middle East, With No Endgame in Sight

Well, I think the endgame is the annihilation of the Islamic State, but how and when that's going to happen is another story.

At the New York Times:

The U.S. military is becoming more involved in a string of complex wars in the Middle East https://t.co/P6gACx0M7d

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 30, 2017

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States launched more airstrikes in Yemen this month than during all of last year. In Syria, it has airlifted local forces to front-line positions and has been accused of killing civilians in airstrikes. In Iraq, American troops and aircraft are central in supporting an urban offensive in Mosul, where airstrikes killed scores of people on March 17.

Two months after the inauguration of President Trump, indications are mounting that the United States military is deepening its involvement in a string of complex wars in the Middle East that lack clear endgames.

Rather than representing any formal new Trump doctrine on military action, however, American officials say that what is happening is a shift in military decision-making that began under President Barack Obama. On display are some of the first indications of how complicated military operations are continuing under a president who has vowed to make the military “fight to win.”

In an interview on Wednesday, Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of United States Central Command, said the new procedures made it easier for commanders in the field to call in airstrikes without waiting for permission from more senior officers.

“We recognized the nature of the fight was going to change and that we had to ensure that authorities were down to the right level and that we empowered the on-scene commander,” General Votel said. He was speaking specifically about discussions that he said began in November about how the fights in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State were reaching critical phases in Mosul and Raqqa.

Concerns about the recent accusations of civilian casualties are bringing some of these details to light. But some of the shifts have also involved small increases in the deployment and use of American forces or, in Yemen, resuming aid to allies that had previously been suspended.

And they coincide with the settling in of a president who has vowed to intensify the fight against extremists abroad, and whose budgetary and rhetorical priorities have indicated a military-first approach even as he has proposed cuts in diplomatic spending...

The massive recent civilian causalities are extremely regrettable, and totally unacceptable. Otherwise, I'm really liking the growing footprint.

'Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball...'

From Monday afternoon's drive-time, at the Sound L.A., the Who, "Pinball Wizard":

In Your Eyes
Peter Gabriel
4:56 PM

Barracuda
Heart
4:51 PM

Walking On the Moon
The Police
4:46 PM

She's Not There
Santana
4:37 PM

My Sharona
The Knack
4:32 PM

Paint It Black
The Rolling Stones
4:28 PM

Blinded By the Light
Manfred Mann
4:21 PM

Kashmir
Led Zeppelin
4:13 PM

Burning Down the House
Talking Heads
4:09 PM

Low Rider
War
4:06 PM

Shake It Up
The Cars
4:03 PM

Have a Cigar
Pink Floyd
3:57 PM

I Won't Back Down
Tom Petty
3:55 PM

Pinball Wizard
The Who
3:52 PM

Who's Crying Now
Journey

Susan Sleeper-Smith, et al., Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians

I'm noticing this book especially because it's recent, just published in 2015.

And available at Amazon, Susan Sleeper-Smith, et al., Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians.

Whiteclay, Nebraska, Beer Portal to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

It's a tragic beer portal.

And interestingly, articles like this one, as true and tragic as they are, tend to perpetuate Native American stereotypes. Devon Mihesuah's work attempts to dispel such stereotypes, while others have argued that the reservation experience is the template for understanding the structural epistemology of American Indians.

In any case, at the New York Times, "Nebraska May Stanch One Town’s Flow of Beer to Its Vulnerable Neighbors":

A Nebraska town seems to exist only to sell beer to people like Tyrell Ringing Shield. https://t.co/cFpc1pVfm8 pic.twitter.com/cObFS4bgRo

— NYT National News (@NYTNational) March 26, 2017

WHITECLAY, Neb. — This town is a rural skid row, with only a dozen residents, a street strewn with debris, four ramshackle liquor stores and little else. It seems to exist only to sell beer to people like Tyrell Ringing Shield, a grandmother with silver streaks in her hair.

On a recent morning, she had hitched a ride from her home in South Dakota, just steps across the state line. There, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, alcohol is forbidden. In Whiteclay, though, it reigns supreme.

“You visit, you talk, you laugh, you drink,” said Ms. Ringing Shield, 57, as she stood on the sidewalk with friends, chain-smoked Montclair cigarettes and recounted her struggles with alcoholism, diabetes and cirrhosis. “It makes you forget.”

Now many residents of Nebraska and South Dakota are pushing for the liquor stores of Whiteclay to be shut, disgusted by the easy access to alcohol the stores provide to a people who have fought addiction for generations. The Nebraska authorities, in turn, have tightened scrutiny of the stores, which sell millions of cans of beer and malt liquor annually. Last year, for the first time, the state liquor commission ordered the stores’ six owners to reapply for their liquor licenses.

The fate of the stores could be decided next month, when the three-member commission holds hearings in Lincoln, the state capital.

The issue has left people in South Dakota and Nebraska deeply divided. Most agree that alcohol abuse on the reservation is an entrenched problem, but they are unsure of the solution — and who is responsible.

The grim scene in Whiteclay has scarcely changed for decades. Particularly in the warmer months, Native Americans can be seen openly drinking beer in town, often passed out on the ground, disheveled and ill. Many who come to Whiteclay from the reservation spend the night sleeping on mattresses in vacant lots or fields.

Even under the chill of winter, people huddle outside the liquor stores, silver beer cans poking from coat pockets. The street, busy with traffic from customers, is littered with empty bottles and scraps of discarded clothing.

“It promotes so much misery, that little town,” said Andrea Two Bulls, 56, a Native American on Pine Ridge, who added that she hoped the state would revoke the licenses. “My brother used to go to Whiteclay all the time, and we’d have to go look for him. People sit and drink until they pass out. They just succumb.”

Over the decades, there have been frequent protests outside the stores. Lawsuits against the retailers and beer distributors have been filed. Boycotts of brewers that sell to the stores have begun with enthusiasm. All those efforts have sputtered, though, and little has changed...

More.

Bill O'Reilly Apologizes for 'James Brown Wig' (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Maxine Waters and the 'James Brown Wig' (VIDEO)."

Watch, at Fox News, "A Congresswoman Attacks President Trump."

Maxine Waters and the 'James Brown Wig' (VIDEO)

Here's another faux racist incident, featuring another far-left nutjob, Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles.

Apparently O'Reilly's apologized, but he shouldn't have had to. It's not racist to make a funny remark about someone's wig. And it is a "James Brown wig." He's absolutely right.

This is leftist thought control at its finest (or worst, depending on your perspective).

At USA Today, via Memeorandum, "Rep. Maxine Waters claps back at Bill O'Reilly after hair insult."

Linked there is Refinery 29 (more nutjobs), "This Is Why #BlackWomenAtWork Has Gone Viral."

Hannah Smothers, Feminist Psycho

These people are seriously weird.

And notice the woman's selfie with feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

At the Other McCain, "Feminist @HannahSmothers_ Confirms the Worst Stereotypes of Feminism."

Far-Left Nutjobs Chained Themselves to Plane at Stansted Airport to Thwart Deportation Flight

Well, I'm literally shaking my head at this.

At the Telegraph U.K., "Three held at Stansted Airport after deportation protesters lock themselves to plane."

There's a Facebook page, apparently, named "Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants."

These people are psycho.

More at Huck Magazine (whatever that is):

BREAKING: Activists are blockading Stansted runway to stop a mass deportation flight to Nigeria & Ghana taking off. https://t.co/9fSNOt2IJ3 pic.twitter.com/Dz7lqH3vmQ

— Michael Segalov (@MikeSegalov) March 28, 2017

Indonesian Man Swallowed by Python

Make that one hungry python. Damn!

At USA Today, "Indonesian farmer swallowed whole by 23-foot-long python."

A missing Indonesian man was found inside a massive python on the island of Sulawesi. https://t.co/fdfp0Yzt9X

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 29, 2017

CAUTION: It's pretty disturbing to watch.

Black Leftist April Ryan Shaking Her Head at Press Secretary Sean Spicer (VIDEO)

Spicer just mention she's shaking her head and all of a sudden this turns into a brutal racial beating, or something. It's like we're back at Selma.

At WaPo, via Memeorandum, "April Ryan on Sean Spicer's insulting behavior: 'I'll be back'."