Robyn Lawley Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

Nice.

Death Toll from Montecito Mudslides Rises to 20

This is from yesterday's paper, too true, "Hope fades for those still buried by Montecito mudslide."

And from just a little while ago, at LAT, "Death toll from Montecito mudslides climbs to 20, as authorities continue search for the missing":

The death toll in the Montecito mudslides climbed to 20 on Sunday, as officials continued to work to clear the mud and debris-strewn 101 Freeway, which has been closed indefinitely.

The body of the latest victim, who has not been identified, was discovered as authorities continued to search for several people still missing from the deluge, officials said. At least four other people are still unaccounted for.

On Saturday, search and rescue crews recovered the body of Morgan Corey, 25, who was found in debris near Olive Mill Road about 9 a.m., officials said.

At an afternoon news conference at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Eric Peterson spoke about the difficulties and challenges faced by emergency responders in their search for survivors.

"I have felt the heartbreak of knowing that even with all of your skill and all of your training and all of your planning, you couldn't save everybody," he said. "No one could have planned for the size and scope of what a 200-year storm immediately following our largest wildfire could bring."

A candlelight vigil for the victims of the mudslide is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday in the sunken gardens area outside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

CalTrans crews continued to work Sunday to clear a two-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway in Montecito that was initially expected to re-open Monday. But officials said cleaning up one part of the freeway at Olive Mill Road was proving especially difficult.

Aided by private contractors and the Army Corps of Engineers, crews have been working around the clock to clear the freeway, a major north south artery that carries about 100,000 vehicles through the Central Coast each day.

The cleanup is focused on what CalTrans calls "dewatering" — using pumps to suck up the mud and rainwater. Once all the mud and debris is removed, the pavement and overpasses must be evaluated for structural safety, and then signs and guardrails reinstalled and lines repainted.

"It's really an overwhelming situation, and we don't want to give an estimate that isn't accurate," said Colin Jones, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation, said about the freeway re-opening.

In addition to the 101, many local roads are blocked. Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy said the big push on Saturday was to clean roads in the Santa Barbara and Montecito areas in order to improve vehicular access.

"As it stands, we're still having to go in on foot in many areas," he said.

State Route 192, which cuts across the foothills, is also unsafe in places, and officials are trying to establish an alternative route as soon as possible.

With the 101 closed, hundreds of people have taken to traveling the coast by boat. Two sightseeing companies, Island Packers in Ventura and Condor Express in Santa Barbara, have worked together to turn their vessels into a ferry service between the cities.

Tickets on the Condor Express, a 75-foot catamaran that normally takes tourists whale watching, were in high demand last week, with many trips packed with the maximum 127 passengers, assistant manager Katie Fitts said.

The 90-minute trip over the water was significantly shorter than the more than four-hour detour on the 5 Freeway, and ferry passengers included firefighters, city workers and medical personnel from Cottage Hospital, she said.

"There are people trying to get to their families that have been struck by this tragedy and people trying to get to work … surgeons and nurses," Fitts said...

More at that top link.

New History of the Ukrainian Famine

This is Sophie Pinkham's review of Anne Applebaum's Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine. It's really good, dang!

(Pinkham's the author of Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine.)

At the Nation, "The Candle of Memory":

In 1928, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union had a food problem. Because of policies that gave farmers little incentive to sell their grain, the state could no longer feed the urban population. Stalin became convinced that counterrevolutionary “kulaks”—a mostly imaginary class of fat-cat capitalist peasants—were hoarding grain. He ordered requisitions that angered the peasants and discouraged production, leading to further grain shortages, which in turn were followed by even more requisitions. Stalin had quickly made his own suspicions come true: Peasants began to hoard and hide grain—in protest and as a means of survival.

In response to this crisis, the Communist Party’s Central Committee decided to collectivize agriculture in 1929. Collective farms were to function like state-owned agricultural factories, with peasant farmers transmogrified into workers. The fantasy was that scientific innovations would vastly improve productivity, providing bountiful food for the cities, with plenty left over to export in exchange for the hard currency needed for rapid industrialization.

Though some high-ranking members of the party (notably Nikolai Bukharin) opposed forced collectivization, Stalin chose to employ the most coercive and violent methods available to him. He began by having millions of “kulaks” deported to distant collective farms, depriving them of the ties to community that would aid them in a rebellion. Many peasants chose to destroy their crops and slaughter their livestock rather than turn them over to the state; some of the more religious ones came to believe that the Soviet Antichrist was ringing in the end of the world. Others, more accurately, saw collectivization as a form of “second serfdom.” Peasants lynched and murdered Soviet officials and volunteers in charge of collectivization.

The result of Stalin’s policies was a man-made famine of terrifying scale. By the spring of 1932, peasants in the grain-growing districts of Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, the Volga region, and western Siberia were starving. Applebaum draws on oral testimonies and memoirs that offer a vivid look into the transformations wrought by famine. One Ukrainian survivor described his brother as “alive but completely swollen, his body shining as if it were made of glass.” An activist from Russia remembered Ukrainian children looking “all alike: their heads like heavy kernels, their necks skinny as a stork’s…the skin itself like yellow gauze stretched over their skeletons.” Some parents abandoned or even killed their children, unable to bear watching them starve to death. There were instances of cannibalism, usually necrophagia. Though this horror was the result of Soviet policy, the police arrested those who succumbed to it. Applebaum quotes a Polish woman who wrote in her gulag memoir about being transferred to a prison island populated by “Ukrainian cannibals”:

They described how their children died of hunger, and how they themselves, very close to starvation, cooked the corpses of their own children and ate them. This happened when they were in a state of shock caused by hunger. Later, when they came to understand what had happened, they lost their minds.

People died in the streets, and no one had the strength to bury them. Peasants were forbidden to enter the cities in search of food, and the areas most affected, including Ukraine, were closed off. Policemen and party activists searched village households and confiscated any remaining animals or food they saw, even crusts of bread. Harsh penalties—execution or 10 years’ hard labor—were imposed for any kind of theft. By the end of 1932, less than six months after the new law had been passed, 4,500 people had been executed for violating it, and more than 100,000 had received 10-year sentences.

Party members, ordinary people, and cultural figures like the author Mikhail Sholokhov wrote to Stalin, describing the horrendous situation and imploring him to help. Moscow party boss Martemyan Ryutin released an opposition platform denouncing the Soviet leader and aggressively criticizing coercive collectivization and the anti-kulak terror; he and his family were soon arrested and executed. Members of the Ukrainian Communist Party pleaded with Stalin to lower the quotas and provide food aid; some quit in protest. Many paid for these protests with their lives, and others committed suicide.

In May of 1933, the Soviet authorities finally approved substantial food aid, sent in workers to help bring in the harvest, stopped the arrests of peasants (in part because the prisons and camps were overflowing), and ended the policy of food confiscation. Grain quotas were reduced. But the damage done was almost unimaginable: Between 1931 and 1934, at least 5 million people starved to death across the Soviet Union...

RTWT.

CNN's Alisyn Camerota Starts Bawling on Live TV During Coverage of President Trump's Comments (VIDEO)

I guess tears-on-demand is one of the more genuine measures of leftist virtue signalling. (*SMH.*)

Jennifer Delacruz's Sunday Weather

It was 19 degrees at game time in Pittsburgh this morning, but it's sure nice in Southern California.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer from last night:

Britney Spears Yellow Bikini on Vacation in Hawaii (PHOTOS)

At Egotastic!:

It may not have polkadots but we still love @britneyspears's itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow bikini.
More pics: https://t.co/TEduhK4MIx pic.twitter.com/2k9h3O49M8

— Egotastic! (@egotastic) January 11, 2018

Doutzen Kroes on Vacation

At Taxi Driver, "Doutzen Kroes Caught Topless on Vacation."

Those sneaky paparazzi photographer, heh.

BONUS: From Christmas 2016:

Merry Xmas to you!#Xmas #DoutzenStories #hunkemöller pic.twitter.com/veMhB8W2mO

— Doutzen Kroes (@Doutzen) December 24, 2016

Blanca Blanco Hits the Beach in Malibu

At London's Daily Mail, "Topless in Malibu: Sizzling Blanca Blanco has nip slip as she hits the beach in nothing more than bold red jacket and underwear."

BONUS: At Fox News, "Blanca Blanco responds to criticism after ignoring all-black dress code at #GoldenGlobes: 'Shaming is part of the problem'."

REPORT: President Trump Lawyer Allegedly Paid $130,000 to Silence Former Porn Star Stormy Daniels Over Sexual Encounter; Daniels Denies

Isn't this where it's all headed, really?

I mean, how many Hollywood moguls, movie stars, and film icons have to be thrown under the #MeToo bus before the biggest prize is captured? I mean, c'mon, we learned a week or so ago that Democrat operatives were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to accusers of the president. Now we have a top-tier media report alleging that porn stars were paid off for their silence? And you've got a smiling photo with President Trump and the former adult star Ms. Stormy?

Oh boy, it's been a busy news day.

Stormy Daniels denies the allegations, at least according to this screen-cap of a letter on Twitter and as reported at the New York Post:

Stormy Daniels herself denies this story, but we can't expect the mainstream media or the twits on liberal twitter to spend 2 seconds fact checking something. pic.twitter.com/jHaXuZex2G

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) January 12, 2018

JUST IN: Trump team paid porn star $130K to keep quiet about extramarital affair https://t.co/dRplGULnzv

— New York Post (@nypost) January 12, 2018

And see WSJ, "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence" (and Memeorandum):

A former porn star reached a $130,000 deal just before the 2016 election to stay silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trumphttps://t.co/uztUVwrPAm

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 12, 2018

A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Cohen, who spent nearly a decade as a top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged payment to the woman, Stephanie Clifford, in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Cohen, these people said.

Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Mr. Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, these people said. Mr. Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.

Mr. Trump faced other allegations during his campaign of inappropriate behavior with women, and vehemently denied them. In this matter, there is no allegation of a nonconsensual interaction.

“These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election,” a White House official said, responding to the allegation of a sexual encounter involving Mr. Trump and Ms. Clifford. The official declined to respond to questions about an agreement with Ms. Clifford. It isn’t known whether Mr. Trump was aware of any agreement or payment involving her.

In a statement, Mr. Cohen didn’t address the $130,000 payment but said of the alleged sexual encounter that “President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels.”

Mr. Cohen added in the statement, addressed to The Wall Street Journal: “This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client. You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011.”

The Journal previously reported that Ms. Clifford, 38 years old, had been in talks with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the fall of 2016 about an appearance to discuss Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. In that article, the Journal reported the company that owns the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model three months before the election for her story of an affair a decade earlier with the Republican presidential nominee, which the tabloid newspaper didn’t publish. The company said she was paid to write fitness columns and appear on magazine covers.

Mr. Cohen also sent a two-paragraph statement by email addressed “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” and signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying that she had a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Mr. Trump.

“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the statement said.

Ms. Clifford didn’t respond to multiple emails seeking comment.

After the agreement, Ms. Clifford’s camp complained the payment wasn’t being made quickly enough and threatened to cancel the deal, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

The payment was made to Ms. Clifford through her lawyer in the matter, Keith Davidson, with funds sent to Mr. Davidson’s client-trust account at City National Bank in Los Angeles, according to the people.

“I previously represented Ms. Daniels,” Mr. Davidson said, referring to Ms. Clifford’s stage name. “Attorney-client privilege prohibits me from commenting on my clients’ legal matters.”

A spokeswoman for City National Bank declined to comment.

The agreement with Ms. Clifford came as the Trump campaign confronted allegations from numerous women who described unwanted sexual advances and alleged assaults by Mr. Trump...

Still more.

The 'Lowest Day' of Trump's Presidency (VIDEO)

It's Lou Dobbs and Ann Coulter, two of the right-wing media's biggest anti-immigration hardliners. (Remember Dobbs was fired from CNN for his comments on illegal immigrants.)

I mentioned the other night that folks like Michelle Malkin and Laura Ingraham weren't going to let the president slide on amnesty, and Coulter's arguing for the death of this presidency, right now. Watch:

CNN Talking Heads Have Completely Lost It Over President Trump's 'Shithole Countries'

I've blogged this story already, "President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'," and "African Nations Angry as President Trump Disses 'Shithole Countries' (VIDEO)."

Just now I checked CNN's YouTube page to see if any of their people were actually saying "shithole countries" on the air last night. So far I've only seen Anderson Cooper use the word (at the video below), although I did catch Ana Navarro literally lose her shit over the president's "shithole" remarks.

This is unreal.

At the link, "Navarro: No other way to interpret Trump's comments." (She's wearing an "I Am An Immigrant" t-shirt on the air as well, which of course provides BIG credibility to her vicious unhinged rant, sheesh.)

And watch Mr. Anderson practically start bawling on air, signalling his virtue about how he just loves all those poor Haitians down there. (*Eye-rolls.*)

Rhian Sugden for Obsessive Lingerie

On Twitter:

New campaign and catalogue shot for Obsessive Lingerie....

Here’s to another year in Poland! 👏🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/oGDXDjK4lM

— Rhian Sugden (@Rhianmarie) January 12, 2018

African Nations Angry as President Trump Disses 'Shithole Countries' (VIDEO)

Following-up, "President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'."

At CBS This Morning, Debora Patta, in Johannesburg, South Africa, refers to "expletive" countries.

President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'

I don't know sometimes. All the problems in the world and the biggest political blowout is whether or not the president actually said "shithole countries."

I broke my boycott of television news this morning, as I was getting my son ready for school at 7:00am, and tuned into CBS This Morning. They led with it, although they would not say "shithole" on the air, with the generic "expletive" countries used in instead. Hilariously, though, now the Washington Post is having to defend itself for actually using "shithole" in it's coverage.

I guarantee you the president knows what he's doing. Stable genius indeed.

At WaPo, via Memeorandum, "Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries in Oval Office meeting."

And at the New York Times, "Trump Alarms Lawmakers With Disparaging Words for Haiti and Africa."

Trump lashed out at Haitian and African immigrants in WH mtg w lawmakers on DACA, asking why US should take people from "shithole countries." WH isn't denying it https://t.co/gxWNsn8pHv

— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) January 11, 2018

Handcuffed Lucy

Yum Lucy Pinder!

Happy Friday @skywest6365 @buquet1000 @Stacey_poolefan @HollyIndoFan_ @teo_campa @RhianSFans @LucyMichelleGLM @LucyPinderFan2 @Cdric91 @aaronmatthewf @curvyonly @CatchHD @BabeDepository @Wildcard095 @Page3Classics @LuckyDragon99 @ds_161_4 @nuffinbutgirls @bigboobsfansite pic.twitter.com/riNOU4EuIo

— World Class Beauty (@LoveLucyP) November 24, 2017

Drunken Steplinks

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

Also, at Director Blue, "Larwyn's Linx: The DOJ and FBI Worked With Fusion GPS on “Operation Trump”."

And at Maggie's Farm, "Friday morning links."

BONUS: At the Other McCain, "Democrats Love ‘S***hole’ Countries, and They Want America to Become One."

pic.twitter.com/IWX1OxJKih

— 🔥Perfect² Hotties🔥 (@nyxxxguy2) December 18, 2017

'Darkest Hour'

Well, I kept my promise and bumped out for a bit to take in "The Darkest Hour." I'm delightfully pleased. It's far from the greatest or near greatest war (or war-ish) film, but next to Daniel Day Lewis in "Lincoln," it's the best biographical portrait of a democratic leader ever.

I read a half dozen reviews right now, and you can check Google yourself if you wish. Here's the New York Times' rather harsh take, "Review: ‘Darkest Hour,’ or the Great Man Theory of History (and Acting)," and Kenneth Turan's, at the Los Angeles Times, "Gary Oldman's bulldog performance as Winston Churchill lifts Joe Wright's overwrought directing in 'Darkest Hour'."

I definitely recommend it. Indeed, a day of great movie-watching would be to watch this one right after "Dunkirk." I love the populist moral clarity here, which is what A.O. Scott at NYT attacks. Indeed, I mostly go to the flicks for exactly this heroic patriotic fare.

Today's Deals

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

See especially, Precor EFX 222 Energy Series Elliptical Cross Trainer.

Also, Gnarly Nutrition Whey Sports Protein - All Natural New Zealand Grass Fed Whey Protein (Chiseled Chocolate).

More, Odoland Snow Ski Goggles S2 Double Lens Anti-fog Windproof UV400 Eyewear - Skiing, Snowboarding, Motorcycle Cycling and Snowmobile Winter Outdoor Sports Protective Glasses.

And, Davenport Leather Backpack.

Plus, UGG Women's Classic Cuff Short Winter Boot.

Still more, Ray-Ban Men's 0RB4165 Justin Sunglasses.

Here, CLIF BAR - Energy Bar - Blueberry Crisp - (2.4-Ounce Protein Bar, 12 Count).

Finally, Samsung Curved 55" 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model) - UN55MU6500 w/ TV Cut The Cord Bundle Includes, Durable HDTV & FM Antenna, 2x 6ft. High Speed HDMI Cable & Screen Cleaner for LED TVs.

BONUS: Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream.

Arctic Doomsday Bunker

I need a doomsday bunker to survive the radical leftist apocalypse in California, sheesh.

At the Daily Mirror U.K.:

Arctic doomsday bunker holds the keys to human survival against warshttps://t.co/ynZmyd0fWe pic.twitter.com/8VKXA8ulPJ

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) January 8, 2018

Kendall Jenner for Harper's Bazaar

She's a sensation.

.@KendallJenner opens up about pushing boundaries and what inspires her in an interview with @Caradelevingne for our February issue: https://t.co/TSwbhlvIq1 pic.twitter.com/5tzGM4u1vr

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) January 11, 2018

"I like people who push the limits of what's expected." —@KendallJenner https://t.co/ll18cV90oi

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) January 11, 2018