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BONUS: Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women.

Sexy Camille Kostek (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated:

Academy Awards Ratings Collapse

At Deadline Hollywood, Oscar Ratings Down Double Digits As Viewership Hits All-Time Low With 26.5 Million.

And Sabo below:

Oscar Ratings Down, Eye All-Time Low In Early Estimates https://t.co/e3G3f1anvs pic.twitter.com/SCg42pqjHN

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) March 5, 2018

THREE BILLBOARDS:https://t.co/6rUJDXFUQT

— unsavoryagents (@unsavoryagents) March 5, 2018

Two Op-Eds

From Andrew Klavan, at Pajamas, "Two Op-Eds Draw A Stark Portrait of Left vs. Right." (Via Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit.)

Europe Struggles with the Rise of Populist Nationalism

The tide of national populism doesn't seem to be ebbing.

At WaPo, "Italy election results highlight struggle to govern in Europe as populist forces rise":

Italy election results highlight struggle to govern in Europe as populist forces rise https://t.co/qiBctn6YWS

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 5, 2018

BERLIN — After voters from the snowy peaks of the Alps to the sunny shores of Sicily delivered a verdict so fractured and mysterious it could take months to sort out, the banner headline Monday in the venerable daily La Stampa captured the state of a nation that’s left no one in charge: “Ungovernable Italy.”

The same can increasingly be said for vast stretches of Europe.

Across the continent, a once-durable dichotomy is dissolving. Fueled by anger over immigration, a backlash against the European Union and resentment of an out-of-touch elite, anti-establishment parties are taking votes left, right and center from the traditional power players.

They generally aren’t winning enough support to govern. But they are claiming such a substantial share of the electorate that it has become all but impossible for the establishment to govern on its own. The result is a continent caught in a netherworld between a dying political order and a new one still taking root.

“This has been a post-ideological result, beyond the traditional left-right divide,” said Luigi Di Maio, whose populist Five Star Movement trounced its opponents to become Italy’s largest party on Monday.

Now the country has plunged into uncertainty.

“The traditional structures of political alignment in Europe are breaking down,” said Josef Janning, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “It started in the smaller countries. But now we see that it’s happening everywhere.”

Even in Germany, the ultimate postwar symbol of staid political stability.

As Italians were voting Sunday, Germans were learning they would finally have a government, a record five months after they went to the polls.

The establishment had hung on. But just barely, and with no evident enthusiasm, either from the voters or from the centrist politicians who will continue to lead the country even as the public increasingly gravitates to the margins.

A similar phenomenon can be seen in countries from east to west, north to south. It took the Dutch 208 days to form an ideologically messy four-way coalition last year after an election in which 13 parties won seats in the parliament.

The Czechs still do not have a functioning government after voting in October yielded an unwieldy parliament populated by anti-immigrant hard-liners, pro-market liberals, communists, and loose alliance of libertarians, anarchists and coders known as the Pirates.

The fragmentation of European politics takes what had been seen as one of the continent’s great strengths and turns it on its head. Unlike the United States and Britain, where winners take all, continental Europe primarily use proportional systems in which the full spectrum of popular opinion is represented in office.

That worked fairly well when the major parties captured some 80 or 90 percent of the vote, as they did in countries across Europe for decades after World War II.

But lately, the major parties have been downsized.

In Germany, the so-called “grand coalition” won just 53 percent of the vote — hardly grand. In Italy, neither of the two traditionally dominant centrist parties cracked 20 percent. A grand coalition is not even mathematically possible.

The trend has become self-reinforcing.

And the authors haven't even mentioned Austria yet, which has a "far-right" coalition now in power.

But keep reading.

Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea.

Local Snow-Lovers' Delight (VIDEO)

It's been cold weather around here this last few days, and that's great new for local resorts.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Lightning Deals

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How Progressives Win the Culture War

From David Brooks, at the New York Times:

What’s happening today is that certain ideas about gun rights, and maybe gun ownership itself, are being cast in the realm of the morally illegitimate and socially unacceptable https://t.co/2mXNbOi04X

— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) March 2, 2018

I wonder if I’m wrong on the subject of guns. I started this latest round of the debate with the presumption that supporters of moderate gun restrictions are popularly strong but legislatively weak. Since Sandy Hook in 2012, more than two dozen states have passed gun laws and almost all of those laws have LOOSENED gun restrictions. Roughly 360 gun bills have been introduced in Congress, and they have all failed but one, which also loosened gun use.

The blunt fact is that Republicans control most legislatures. To get anything passed, I thought, it would be necessary to separate some Republicans from the absolutist N.R.A. position. To do that you have to depolarize the issue: show gun owners some respect, put red state figures at the head and make the gun discussion look more like the opioid discussion. The tribalists in this country have little interest in the opioid issue. As a result, a lot of pragmatic things are being done across partisan lines.

The people pushing for gun restrictions have basically done the exact opposite of what I thought was wise. Instead of depolarizing the issue they have massively polarized it. The students from Parkland are being assisted by all the usual hyper-polarizing left-wing groups: Planned Parenthood, Move On and the Women’s March. The rhetoric has been extreme. Marco Rubio has been likened to a mass murderer while the N.R.A. has been called a terrorist organization.

The early results would seem to completely vindicate my position. The Florida Legislature turned aside gun restrictions. New gun measures in Congress have been quickly shelved. Democrats are more likely to lose House and Senate seats in the key 2018 pro-gun states. The losing streak continues.

Yet I have to admit that something bigger is going on. It could be that progressives understood something I didn’t. It could be that you can win more important victories through an aggressive cultural crusade than you can through legislation. Progressives could be on the verge of delegitimizing their foes, on guns but also much else, rendering them untouchable for anybody who wants to stay in polite society. That would produce social changes far vaster than limiting assault rifles...

More.

Trade War

I personally favor free trade, mainly because I studies lots and lots of economics in college and grad school and the evidence is overwhelming. Also because the 1930s. But I see President Trump's announcement of tariffs in the larger context of the populist revolt against the elites, elites who impose penalties and unpopular policies on the rubes. I can relate standing up for your own people when the rest of the world looks like it's going "pear-shaped," to borrow from Pat Condell.

In any case, at the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "In Retaliation for Trump's Plan, E.U. Leader Threatens Tariffs on Bourbon and Bluejeans."

And at Bloomberg:

Trump's steel tariff shakes global trade order, EU group warns https://t.co/JO1TCv1tmm pic.twitter.com/zmlGrECGPM

— Bloomberg (@business) March 2, 2018

Kim R. Holmes, The Closing of the Liberal Mind

Out in paperback, Kim R. Holmes, The Closing of the Liberal Mind: How Groupthink and Intolerance Define the Left.

Florida Shooter Nickolas Cruz Left 180 Rounds of Ammunition Inside the School Along With His Rifle (VIDEO)

Earlier entries on Parkland are here.

Release the Florida School Shooting Surveillance Video

From the irrepressible Michelle Malkin:

Open government isn’t just good government. It’s the public’s right.

In Florida, the Broward County Sheriff’s office and Broward County school district are fighting to keep exterior surveillance video from the day of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hidden from view. As journalists and citizens who’ve waged uphill battles against secrecy well know, government agencies too often invoke broad disclosure exemptions in the name of protecting public safety when they’re really just trying to protect their own jobs.

Feckless Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and media-luvin’ school Superintendent Robert Runcie are defendants in an open records lawsuit filed Tuesday by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald and CNN.

Here is the lawsuit petition...

Click through to read the petition and the rest of the post.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Tipped Off Illegal Aliens Ahead of ICE Enforcement

At the Washington Post, via Memeorandum, "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tipped off immigrants about ICE raid and isn't sorry she did."

And at Althouse.

More at the San Francisco Chronicle:

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be conducting an operation in the Bay Area in the next day or so.https://t.co/xcqWge3VRX

— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) February 25, 2018

Martin Meredith, Diamonds, Gold, and War

At Amazon, Martin Meredith, Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa.

By More Than 2-1 (63-29 Percent), Public Says Semi-Automatic Weapons Like the AR-15 Should Be Banned

From Susan Page, at USA Today, "Poll: Americans support tougher gun laws, don't expect Congress to act."

Just posted: President Trump's job-approval rating drops to a new low, 38%, in the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, and the intensity of feeling is hardening against him. https://t.co/h38qKTGlRs via @usatoday

— Susan Page (@SusanPage) February 25, 2018

The USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll of 1,000 registered voters nationwide, taken Tuesday through Saturday, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

On guns, a nation that is often divided on issues is remarkably united:

* By almost 2-1, 61%-33%, they say tightening gun-control laws and background checks would prevent more mass shootings in the United States.
* By more than 2-1, 63%-29%, they say semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15, used by the Florida shooter, should be banned.
* By more than 6-1, 76%-12%, they say people who have been treated for mental illness should be banned from owning a firearm.

Even gun owners are inclined to support those three measures. But a majority of Republicans say tighter gun laws wouldn't prevent more mass shootings, and they oppose banning semi-automatic weapons.

Easy test. Run on it. Every single one of you. Run. On. It. Dispense with the euphemisms. Primary everyone who won’t submit. https://t.co/Rdc2m4FnWd

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) February 26, 2018

Also, Republicans & @NRA say *real* agenda of gun control advocates is to ban all semi-automatic weapons. This is supposed to scare the public, but would it?

Majority favors the idea, 44% "very strongly" in new @YouGov @TheEconomist poll. https://t.co/HqldiyPZXk pic.twitter.com/QiCPCUpZnX

— Jonathan Cohn (@CitizenCohn) February 26, 2018

RUN. ON. IT.

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) February 26, 2018

James Damore at Portland State University

From Andy Ngo, at Quillette, "Damore, Diversity, and Disruption at PSU."

We invited @JamesADamore to speak about viewpoint diversity & his memo. Some were determined to shut us down. Full video: https://t.co/nmoWgMTmi7 #JamesDamorePSU pic.twitter.com/0BDdKf1K4a

— Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 26, 2018

No Party in Britain Speaks for, or Even Appeals to, the Working Class

At Spiked Online, "How the Working Class Was Shut Out of Politics."

The Homeless Are Not Who You Think They Are

Following-up, "Los Angeles' Homelessness Crisis is a National Disgrace."

At LAT, "Los Angeles' Homelessness Crisis is a National Disgrace."

"A city cannot say it’s full. The region must build denser and taller to make space for the people who are already here." https://t.co/rr3libu4xB

— L.A. Times Opinion (@latimesopinion) February 26, 2018

'Decolonizing' Everything

I tell you, I'm dealing with more and more of this kind of radical ideology even at my school, at the community college level.

It's unreal, frankly.

At the American Conservative, "The Censorious Left’s Latest Mania: ‘Decolonizing’ Everything":

Their obsession with destroying white, euro-centric ‘domination,’ wherever it may be, has become patronizing and authoritarian. https://t.co/RSesKUbLBk

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) February 24, 2018

At Northern Michigan University, students can discover how to “decolonize” their diet. That means learning “about where the common foods and ingredients come from, what a ‘decolonizing diet’ is, and how they can incorporate the diet into their daily lives.”

Meanwhile, the editors of the American Historical Review have announced plans to decolonize the journal and confront its “past lack of openness to scholars and scholarship due to race, color, creed, gender, sexuality, nationality and a host of other assigned characteristics.”

In the UK, London’s School of Oriental and African Studies has announced plans to “decolonize” its degree courses following high-profile student campaigns such as “Why is My Curriculum White?” that are critical of “the domination of white ‘Eurocentric’ writers and thinkers.” Last year, students at Reed College protested the Eurocentrism of their Introduction to Humanities course. At Yale University students petitioned for the removal of a course in Major English Poets that featured, surprisingly enough, mostly white men. Thanks to their efforts, that course has now been downgraded to optional.

The fight to decolonize Harvard led to the removal of the Royal family seal, for fear that it might “evoke associations with slavery.” At the University of Oxford a plaque honoring Cecil Rhodes, the British imperialist who established the Rhodes Scholarships, has been taken down. At Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, professors can take a course in decolonizing education in order to “understand indigenous perspectives in the history of colonization to contemporary realities in Canada.” All around the world, universities are decolonizing courses, buildings, libraries, and reading lists.

The drive to decolonize is not confined to academia. In the UK we have discussions about decolonizing health care, translation, and feminist art. There are campaigns to decolonize architecture in the United Arab Emirates, the media in New Zealand, design in Mexico, bookshelves in South Africa, and seemingly the whole of Alaska. Throughout the U.S. we’ve seen the removal of Confederate monuments. Clearly, we have many unresolved issues with the past. But too often the rush to decolonize evades a discussion of history and instead paints everything that happened before today as irredeemably racist and wicked—in need of obliteration rather than discussion.

Last year, the journal Third World Quarterly published an article in which Bruce Gilley set out “The Case for Colonialism.” Those who read the piece criticized it for shoddy scholarship and historical inaccuracies. But most of us will never know how it measured up, as the publication was soon withdrawn following threats to the journal’s editor. In the UK, Oxford University’s Professor Nigel Biggar wrote a newspaper article arguing that people should not “feel guilty about our colonial history,” and as a consequence received a critical letter from over 200 colleagues and scholars condemning him as “an apologist for colonialism.” Biggar said: “There is a view that people with views like mine are not to be reasoned with, but only to be silenced.”

Preventing all discussion of colonialism erases, rather than confronts, the past. Indeed, the logic of the decolonize movement is that colonialism is not a legacy of history but a malignant impact upon the present. This sleight of hand allows campaigners to equate past invasion, murder, oppression, and exploitation with being made to sit through a lecture on Kant or Shakespeare in an expensive and elite institution...

Sill more.