Sunday, January 13, 2019

Democrats Look to Clamp Down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (VIDEO)

Norms? What norms?

Well, she didn't get an assignment to the Ways and Means Committee, but she won't stop shaking things up on the Hill.

Wait 'till next year. If she backs primary challenges against centrist Democrat incumbents, you know she's going all out to overturn the entire centrist-seniority system in the House.

At Politico, "Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez: The effort is part carrot, part stick. But it's far from clear the anti-establishment political novice can be made to play ball":

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already making enemies in the House Democratic Caucus — and some of its members are mounting an operation to bring the anti-establishment, democratic socialist with 2.2 million Twitter followers into the fold.

The effort, described by nearly 20 lawmakers and aides, is part carrot, part stick: Some lawmakers with ties to Ocasio-Cortez are hoping to coax her into using her star power to unite Democrats and turn her fire on Republicans. Others simultaneously warn Ocasio-Cortez is destined for a lonely, ineffectual career in Congress if she continues to treat her own party as the enemy.

“I’m sure Ms. Cortez means well, but there’s almost an outstanding rule: Don’t attack your own people,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). “We just don’t need sniping in our Democratic Caucus.”

Incumbent Democrats are most annoyed by Ocasio-Cortez’s threat to back primary opponents against members of their ranks she deems too moderate. But their frustration goes beyond that: Democratic leaders are upset that she railed against their new set of House rules on Twitter the first week of the new Congress. Rank and file are peeved that there’s a grassroots movement to try to win her a top committee post they feel she doesn’t deserve.

Even some progressives who admire AOC, as she’s nicknamed, told POLITICO that they worry she’s not using her notoriety effectively.

“She needs to decide: Does she want to be an effective legislator or just continue being a Twitter star?” said one House Democrat who’s in lockstep with Ocasio Cortez’s ideology. “There’s a difference between being an activist and a lawmaker in Congress.”

It’s an open question whether Ocasio-Cortez can be checked. She’s barely been in Congress a week and is better known than almost any other House member other than Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis. A media throng follows her every move, and she can command a national audience practically at will.

None of that came playing by the usual rules: Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to take on her party establishment with unconventional guerrilla tactics is what got her here. It’s earned her icon status on the progressive left, it’s where the 29-year-old freshman derives her power — and, by every indication, it’s how she thinks she can pull the Democratic Party in her direction.

The Freedom Caucus didn’t win many popularity contests in Congress the past four years, but it’s hard to dispute the hard-liners’ success dragging the GOP to the right.

Still, fellow Democrats are giving it their best, or planning to in the near future.

So far, most of them have kept their criticism of Ocasio-Cortez private, fearful she’ll sic her massive following on them by firing off a tweet. But a few are engaging with her in the hopes she’ll opt for a different M.O., especially when it comes to trying to take out Democrats in primaries.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) is playing a key role. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez knocked off a longtime Democratic incumbent to win her seat, and they share Puerto Rican roots.

In private conversations with Ocasio-Cortez over the past few months, Velázquez counseled Ocasio-Cortez against targeting her Democratic colleagues in future elections. The two had a “long, long conversation” about the dynamics of Congress and Washington, and how there shouldn’t be a “litmus test” for every district, Velázquez said in a recent interview.

After she defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley in shocking fashion last year, Ocasio-Cortez supported primary challengers to Democratic Reps. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, William Lacy Clay of Missouri and Mike Capuano of Massachusetts.

Only Capuano lost. But Velázquez told Ocasio-Cortez she should think twice in the future before backing primaries against her colleagues. Murphy, the first Vietnamese woman elected to Congress, represents a swing district and could lose her seat if she’s forced to move left in a primary, Velázquez said during the talk...

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

And at Theo's, "Cartoon Roundup..."

And at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – That Was Then."



Danielle Gersh's Sunday Forecast

Here's the fabulous Ms. Danielle, "Increasing cloud cover and colder temperatures expected Sunday before several storms move into the Southland this week..."



PG&E Prepares for Bankruptcy

This is big! At LAT, "PG&E may notify its employees this week of potential bankruptcy."


Bella Thorne Promotes 'F*** Me' Lip Stain (VIDEO)

She's still crazy, heh.




Rams Bring Back Football Glory Days to Los Angeles

It's Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "Rams’ glory days, and a city’s Super Bowl dreams, return in win over Dallas Cowboys":


After more than two decades of midwinter silence, a city’s football soul came alive again, cutting through the winter chill with a roar that shook the Coliseum down to its soggy ankles.

The Rams are 60 minutes from a Super Bowl.

In only their third season back, the city’s prodigal football sons brought winning playoff football home again, delighting awed witnesses with a frenetic, fireworks-blasting feast.

The Rams are one win from a Super Bowl.

In the greatest, latest football game played around here in many seasons, the Rams spent more than three hours on a soggy field Saturday giving thousands of yellow flag-waving fans a refresher course in January greatness.

This is what a playoff victory looks like. This is how a team survives football’s toughest tournament. This is how the Super Bowl becomes close enough to touch.

“This,” tackle Rob Havenstein said, “was electric.”

This was the Rams’ 30-22 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in a divisional playoff game that sent them to the NFC championship game next week in one of two places.

If the New Orleans Saints defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Rams will take their toughness to the Big Easy. If the Eagles win, the conference title game will be back in the Coliseum, and won’t that be a hoot?

The winner of that championship game goes to the Super Bowl. Of course that’s how this works, but it never hurts to remind everyone because it’s been a while.

No matter who they play next week, I’m picking the Rams because, as a crowd delightfully dominated by the locals Saturday night, they are once again the Rams.

“That’s a big-time win for us,” coach Sean McVay said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

With a soggy field underneath them from the day’s early rains, with lingering smoke above their helmets from the midgame pyrotechnics, the Rams appeared in the Coliseum as if ghosts from the recent past.

They gained 459 total yards. They rushed for 273 of those yards. They didn’t commit a turnover. They barely made any mistakes. And they held the Cowboys’ great Ezekiel Elliott to 47 yards rushing.

“Our focus was to shut him down,” said Ndamukong Suh, who didn’t need to say anything else.

This was the team that started the season 11-1, not the team that finished it 2-2.

This was the Jared Goff who dominated defenses early, not the one who struggled late. He completed only 15 of 28 passes for 186 yards but managed the game to near perfection.

“This week was a big game, but next week will be a big game as well,” the ever-circumspect quarterback said...
More.

And from former L.A.T. sports reporter Lindsey Thiry, not at ESPN:


Ben Winters, Golden State

Well, this one ought to be really interesting.

At Amazon, Ben Winters, Golden State.

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling novelist Ben H. Winters comes a mind-bending novel set in a world governed by absolute truth, where lies are as dangerous as murder.

In a strange alternate society that values law and truth above all else, Laszlo Ratesic is a nineteen-year veteran of the Speculative Service. He lives in the Golden State, a nation standing where California once did, a place where like-minded Americans retreated after the erosion of truth and the spread of lies made public life and governance impossible.

In the Golden State, knowingly contradicting the truth is the greatest crime--and stopping those crimes is Laz's job. In its service, he is one of the few individuals permitted to harbor untruths, to "speculate" on what might have happened.

But the Golden State is less a paradise than its name might suggest. To monitor, verify, and enforce the truth requires a veritable panopticon of surveillance and recording. And when those in control of the facts twist them for nefarious means, the Speculators are the only ones with the power to fight back.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Evelyn Taft's Sunday Forecast

The fabulous Ms. Evelyn is back!

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



Jenna Dewan for Women's Health Magazine (PHOTOS)

This is from last year, but it's nice.

At TMZ, "JENNA DEWAN: NAKED & NOT AFRAID OF HER NEW SINGLE LIFE --- Roaming Hottie Goes Fully Nude for Women's Health Magazine (PHOTOS)."


Friday, January 11, 2019

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Lilly Rose Depp

She's just a sweet little thing.

At Drunken Stepfather, "Lily Rose Depp in a Bra of the Day."

And at Too Fab, "Lily-Rose Depp Goes Topless, Poses with Pam Anderson and Talks 'Twilight' with Kristen Stewart."


Cormac McCarthy, The Road

*BUMPED.*

A truly astonishing novel, better than Blood Meridian even.

At Amazon, Cormac McCarthy, The Road.



Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Today's Deals

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Save on our top deals every day.

See especially, Garden of Life Multivitamin for Men - Vitamin Code Men's Raw Whole Food Vitamin Supplement with Probiotics, Vegetarian, 240 Capsules, and Garden of Life Multivitamin for Women - Vitamin Code 50 & Wiser Women's Raw Whole Food Vitamin Supplement with Probiotics, Vegetarian, 240 Capsules.

Plus, AOMAIS Sport II Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speakers 4.0 Waterproof IPX7, 20W Bass Sound, Stereo Pairing, Durable Design Backyard, Outdoors, Travel, Pool, Home Party (Orange).

More, Holy Stone HS190 Foldable Mini Nano RC Drone for Kids Gift Portable Pocket Quadcopter with Altitude Hold 3D Flips and Headless M, and Holy Stone F181C RC Quadcopter Drone with HD Camera RTF 4 Channel 2.4GHz 6-Gyro with Altitude Hold Function,Headless Mode and One Key Return Home, Color Black.

Also, Smith & Wesson SWA24S 7.1in Stainless Steel Folding Knife with 3.1in Clip Point Serrated Blade and Aluminum Handle for Outdoor Tactical Survival and Everyday Carry.

And, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder, Double Rich Chocolate, 5 Pound.

More here, Horny Goat Weed Herbal Complex Extract for Men & Women - Ginseng, 100% Maca Root Tongkat Ali Powder - 60 1000mg Optimum Dosage Capsules | Energy, Stamina...by Natures Design.

More, Toshiba Vinyl Record Player Turntable: 12” 3-Speed Bluetooth Turntables - Stereo Shelf Speakers, Encoder.

BONUS: William Styron, Sophie's Choice.

How the Pursuit of Fame is Warping American Society

A really good piece, from John Hawkins, at Pajamas, "The Fame Trap: How the Pursuit of Fame Is Warping American Society":

“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” – Andy Warhol

Fame used to be quite the rare commodity if only because there were fewer ways to become famous in the first place. Radio really started to take off in the 1920s, half of all American families acquired a TV in 1955, and the internet only started to be widely used in the early '90s. Facebook came along in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. In 1991, there were 90 adult magazines in America. Today, there are millions of porn websites. The first UFC was in 1993. Amazon sells roughly 15 million regular books per year and another 22 million on Kindle. Amazon did not exist in 1993.

Because of the vast number of websites on the internet looking for something to cover, the almost inexhaustible number of large niches out there, and the nature of social media, fame seems closer than ever for most people and for that reason, more people than ever seem to be seeking it.

We have reality TV shows, where unstable, explosive people are put together and the rest of us “oooh and aaah” at the crazy things they do. Are you good at a video game? Well, there are plenty of people like you with hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitch and YouTube. Some people even go pro. There are also more than a few attractive women putting up pictures of themselves on Instagram looking sexy and getting contributions towards, well, whatever it is they do on Patreon. YouTube also has plenty of personalities making big bucks playing a role. Some of the numbers are just staggering.

WHAT GIRLS THINK ON THEIR FIRST PERIOD: 4.9 million views

I only ate LUNCHABLES for 24 hours: 2.5 million views

LOGAN PAUL - WHY 2018 WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT YEAR OF MY LIFE: 5.7 million views

RATING YOUTUBER APOLOGY VIDEOS 12 million views

Incidentally, the #1 channel on YouTube, PewDiePie, has 80 million subscribers. That’s greater than the population of the entire United States in 1900.

Of course, when you are talking about micro-doses of fame, they’re even easier to get.

Go scream at Ted Cruz and his wife while they’re having dinner and you can guarantee that tens of millions of people will see it. Tell a sad story about how someone didn’t tip you or a fast-food worker was mean to you and you can make headlines all over the country. Say something witty or maybe even not all that witty and if it catches the eye of someone famous and he retweets it, you may get tens of thousands of new followers and hundreds of thousands of likes. Candace Owens’ entire career on the Right is built on the fact that Kanye West liked what she was tweeting. And there are more than a few people with 50,000+ followers because Donald Trump retweeted them. Get enough Instagram or Twitter followers and you get treated like you’re important. Are you famous if you have 50,000 or 100,000 people following you on some social network? Not really, but the level of validation must feel like it. Then, there’s Joe and Jill Average's Facebook page. Here’s the best selfie they took out by the lake. It only took them 17 tries to get that shot. Here they are on a trip to Las Vegas, beside a pretty girl, making a goofy face at a statue.

You might argue that once you’re getting down to this level, people are chasing validation more than fame, but it’s not that different. They’re creating a brand that they hope will get as many people as possible to respond positively to them instead of showing their real life.

Of course, that’s not the only way we change our lives for fame. Those of us who have been around the internet for a while can remember when trolling was considered something unusual done by misanthropes living in their moms’ basements. Today, trolling is commonplace and is done by everyone from the president of the United States on down. Why? Because if you want that fame and attention, one of the best ways to get it is to find a popular post and post something that will irritate most of the people reading it. Then you’ll get lots of hate and aggravate lots of people, but you also may get new followers along with lots of likes and shares.

Not every person chasing that fame is inauthentic, bad or doing something wrong; nor is fame in and of itself a bad thing. But, what is chasing that fame turning us into as a society? What happens when hundreds of millions of people are looking to feel special for a little while as the likes, follows, and shares roll in or alternately, among the more dedicated, looking for a way to get their name in the news?

How many women do you think grew up dreaming of dressing in lingerie and offering lewds on Patreon to entice horny losers to give them money? How many people are wasting their lives on social media? I ask that as I just noticed a reply from someone on Twitter who has done 134K tweets with only 2,868 followers. What could she have done with that time if she had applied it to something meaningful in her life? That applies to what most of us are doing on social media. How much of Twitter is just people being deliberately cruel to other people or saying crazy things to get likes, shares and followers? 25 percent? 40 percent? 50 percent?
Keep reading.

Reading that line about lewd photos offered for money on Patreon, I just noticed that Bridget Phetasy's deleted her Twitter account. (She's still on Patreon, though.) I thought her breast photos were kind of weird, actually, and I certainly didn't think she was conservative, although a lot of folks on Twitter did.

In any case, I've posted 174 thousand tweets on that stupid website, although I'd argue that I've also been able to do "something meaningful" in my life, heh. In 2018, for example, I posted just 1,578 blog posts at American Power (check the sidebar). I spent much more time reading than ever, and I've been more involved as a father and a husband. Besides, as I mentioned the other day, I'm looking to spend less time on the Twitter hate-dump in 2019. All the best people are being deplatformed, and more and more I see people complaining that it's all hate all the time.

So, it's not quantity but quality. Thanks for tuning in folks. I'll still be on Twitter, because I use it as a news feed. But I'm not too worried about "validation," since it's mostly narcissists and haters on the platform nowadays anyway. (There are still some real good people using Twitter, of course, but the cost/benefit analysis is hard to justify anymore, FWIW.)

See Helen Pluckrose, for a case in point:


Jennifer Lopez for Harper's Bazaar (PHOTOS)

At Drunken Stepfather, "JENNIFER LOPEZ SLUTTY FOR HARPERS BAZAAR OF THE DAY."

And on Twitter:


Jennifer Delacruz's Midweek Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:



Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi Become Instant Memes with Democrat Response to President Trump's Border Wall Address (VIDEO)

Robert Stacy McCain has the analysis, "Schumer and Pelosi Own the Shutdown Even as They Try to Blame Trump."

And at Instapundit, "STEPHEN GREEN: “The content of the speech reminds me of Bill Clinton, in that it’s smartly triangulated and far more reasonable than his critics tried to make you expect.”

It really was instant meme town last night --- Schumer and Pelosi looked terrible!

The meme's were practically writing themselves! See Twitchy:



Emily Miller had some of the best tweets analyzing the optics (although not included at Twitchy):




And here's the full video, for the lolz:



Eminem's Daughter Hailie Scott Posts Bikini Photo on Instagram

At People:


Also, at GCeleb, "Eminem’s Daughter Does The Instagram Bikini Thing Too."

And, at the Mirror U.K.:


Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Yellow Vest Update

Clarie Berlinski rattled off a long thread last night on the violence of the yellow vest protesters.

They're anarcho-nihilists, basically, and Berlinski's mad because she thinks Macron's a pussy, he's caving to the street scum, and his political cowardice will strengthen the "far right." So, she calls for more authoritarian responses to the protests as a way to prevent "real" right-wing authoritarians from coming to power.



And some of the things that have been happening this last weekend, although given Ms. Claire's animated exasperation, I doubt media reports can replace being on the ground in Paris and watching local media coverage in real time:

At the Local (France), "VIDEO: Protesters attack French ministry with forklift truck."

More:




Facebook, Twitter Work With Conservatives to Manage Political Speech on Their Platforms

This is interesting.


A Year of Shunning and Lawsuits at a Canadian University

It's Lindsay Shepherd, at Quillette, "Thoughtcrime and Punishment."

Her story is familiar, but I hadn't heard about her being shunned in her last semester or so of graduate school, which would violate all kinds of civil rights regulations if professors did this on my campus:


...in another one of my courses, our last three classes (which were to consist of graduate student presentations) were nominally “cancelled.” In fact, they went on behind closed doors: The professor changed the program structure, so that students could invite whoever they wanted to attend their own class presentations—which effectively meant that every other student in the class attended everyone else’s presentations, with me being excluded from all of them. This was a way of shunning me—singling me out so that I would miss the opportunity to learn from and discuss the presentations of my colleagues...
RTWT.

George Packer, The Unwinding

At Amazon, George Packer, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America.



Jennifer Delacruz's Tuesday Forecast

It's been mild this week, thankfully. I was freezing last week out in Yucca Valley, sheesh.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer with today's forecast.



Taylor Swift at the Golden Globe After-Party (PHOTOS)

She's nice.


Bikini Roundup

At Egotastic!, "Weekend Bikini Roundup: Ridiculously Sexy Model Bods in Beautiful Bikinis to Start the Year."

Izabel Goulart is unbelievably hot, dang!

Barbara Palvin Starts the Year (VIDEO)

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:



Monday, January 7, 2019

Federico Finchelstein, From Fascism to Populism in History

Hmm, this looks worth a look.

At Amazon, Federico Finchelstein, From Fascism to Populism in History.



Mark Lilla, The Shipwrecked Mind

Following up, "How to Write About the Right."

At Amazon, Mark Lilla, The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction.



Megan Parry's Monday Forecast

At ABC News 10 San Diego:



How to Write About the Right

Leftists will always characterize and attack the new populist-nationalist right as racist and xenophobic. That's a given. It's political correctness on steroids and the left's given assumption is one of the very fault-lines of the new politics of identity across the world.

For me, when someone calls me racist I blow it off and throw it back in their faces. Play by the left's rules. They hate that and it confounds and flusters them.

In any case, Professor Mark Lilla had a nice piece at the New York Review in December, "Two Roads for the New French Right." It elicited the typical Pavlovian attacks from the left. See, "How to Write About the Right: An Exchange."


And Lilla's response:
Writing about the political right has never been harder. Different kinds of right-wing ideologies and political formations are proliferating and shaking liberal governments around the world, as Greil Marcus points out. This makes it difficult to keep track of all the developments, distinguish them, and establish the connections between them. At the same time, liberal and left forces that want to resist these developments are increasingly hostile to learning anything that does not conform to their settled ideas about the right. A misplaced wokeness works like Ambien, dulling our curiosity and willingness to engage, and thrusting us into an intellectual twilight where the only thing we see is the familiar specter of white supremacy...
Keep reading.

Julia Roberts Rebuffs Politics on the Red Carpet

Good for her.

She looked spectacular, and I didn't watch the show. I hate the leftist politics. It should be about the art, not the leftist virtue signalling.

(See "Moral Preening, Identity Politics Win Big at Golden Globes.")


Anne Claire Bousquet.

At Drunken Stepfather, "ANNE-CLAIRE BOUSQUET SAYS SHE’S A MODEL, SO HERE ARE HER TITS OF THE DAY."

(More photos: "Anne-Claire Bousquet shot in the French Riviera, in Le Pradet, France by Guillaume Gaubert.")

BONUS: "GOLDEN GLOBES ROUNDUP OF THE DAY."

Brazil's Primal Scream for Freedom

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady, at WSJ, "Brazil's Primal Scream":

In the days after Jair Bolsonaro won the October runoff contest to become president-elect of Brazil, I received some notable mail from supporters offended by the negative media coverage of their choice for a new chief executive.

A letter from a man in São Paulo, who described himself as “a gay person,” read: For the “first time in my life I voted [with conviction] . . . on both the first and the second round. I woke up 6AM on two cold Sundays happily doing it. I voted for Bolsonaro emotionally and with gratitude in my heart.”

Behind the emotion there was reason. This is “the first time a government [will provide] freedom of market and freedom of choice to us. . . . By that I mean understanding that’s what people want and realizing that’s what will drive the economic direction in this new administration.”

On Tuesday the center-right Mr. Bolsonaro became Brazil’s 36th president. As I read inauguration coverage here in the south of the country I wondered if the new president grasps the soaring expectations he has created. Brazil has let go a primal scream for freedom.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s critics claim that his “right wing” views, shaped by his experience in the military, will put Brazil’s liberal democracy at risk. In the lead-up to the vote, this media hysteria reached a fevered pitch.

It hasn’t diminished. But it has lost its force, in part because it has exposed the bias of the chattering classes, at home and abroad. Brazilians rightly ask where these champions of democracy were when the Workers’ Party governments of former Presidents Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva and Dilma Rousseff were financing the Cuban military dictatorship and its satellite Venezuela.

Brazil’s institutions have matured in the 30-plus years since the end of its own military government. This has been a democratic process, driven by civil society’s thirst for pluralism, tolerance and self-government.

The judiciary and federal law enforcement are increasingly independent. Proof of progress is the federal investigation dubbed Operation Car Wash, which exposed the corruption of a range of powerful business executives and high-ranking politicians in a landmark bribery case. So blind was Lady Justice that even the popular Mr. da Silva couldn’t escape responsibility for his role in the scheme. He’s now in jail.

The same institutions are more than likely to check a power-hungry president on the right. It won’t take as long either. The establishment fawned over Lula. Mr. Bolsonaro will be on a short leash.

The legitimate concern is whether the new president can deliver on his promises to better protect human life and to shrink a monster state that devours dreams.

The São Paulo letter-writer put it bluntly: “Socialism just didn’t work out around here.” Another letter came from a man in Europe who had emigrated seven years ago because Brazil was a dead end.
Still more.


Sunday, January 6, 2019

Danielle Gersh's Weekend Forecast

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle from last night. We had some storm and flood warnings for early this morning.


The Virtue of Nationalism

Yoram Hazony's book is available at Amazon, The Virtue of Nationalism.

And at Prager University:



The Character That Matters

I really like Roger Kimball, although sometimes American Greatness grates.

In any case, an excellent piece.

RTWT:


Democrats Best Hope

In my classes, I argued throughout 2018 that Joe Biden would be a formidable, if not the best, challenger to President Trump in 2020. That's the case Biden's himself is making.

He's smart. Old. But smart.

And we'll see if he runs. That more than just about any of the identity politics candidates will it interesting.

At NYT:


Crazy Backflips

Seen earlier:


Tucker Carlson's Populist-Nationalist Monologue Draws Response (VIDEO)

Abby Hunstman and Conor Friedersdorf were among some of the prominent responses. Video below:




Saturday, January 5, 2019

R.O. Kwon, The Incendiaries

This one looks worth a try.

At Amazon, R.O. Kwon, The Incendiaries: A Novel.



Friday, January 4, 2019

Rashida Tlaib, New Muslim Democrat in Congress, Vows to 'Impeach the Motherf—er!' (VIDEO)

Video at CBS News 4 Boston, "Rep. Rashida Tlaib Not Apologizing After Call Trump an Expletive."

And from Vodka Pundit, at Instapundit, "GREAT MOMENTS IN TOTAL LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS: New Muslim Congresswoman Vows to ‘Impeach the Motherf**ker!’."

Senior Dems, now the majority leadership in Congress, were not pleased. There goes the impeachment messaging, oops!

At Politico, "Dems livid after Tlaib vows to ‘impeach the motherf—er’: Party leaders fear such explosive talk only gives ammunition to the GOP":

House Democrats are furious that an incoming freshman’s expletive-riddled statement about impeaching Donald Trump has suddenly upended their carefully crafted rhetoric on their plans to take on the president.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats have long argued that impeachment is a last resort that would come at the end of exhaustive oversight and investigations. But on the second day of the new Congress, the news was jammed with talk of Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who told a crowd of progressive activists Thursday night that “we’re gonna impeach the motherf---er.”

Rank-and-file Democrats, immediately fearful of the damage the comment could cause, unloaded on their new colleague Friday morning. Republicans, they argued, would hold it up as proof that Democrats are playing politics rather than pursuing genuine oversight of the president — even if the GOP never showed interest in investigating Trump scandals while it was in power.

“Mueller hasn’t even produced his report yet!” said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. “People should cool their jets a little bit, let the prosecutors do their job and finish the investigation.”

“Inappropriate,” added Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.). “As elected officials I think we should be expected to set a high bar… It’s not helpful.”

Even Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who introduced an impeachment resolution earlier this week, was shocked. His eyes bulged in disbelief when a reporter read him Tlaib’s comments and he was speechless for several seconds.

After he regained his composure, Sherman said that kind of language is detrimental to the cause: “That’s not language I would use … I think the office of the presidency should be treated with respect.”

Party elders also sought to calm talk of impeachment without criticizing Tlaib directly. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the new chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, called Talib’s comments “inappropriate” and said, “We need to be patient.”

“You can’t accomplish very much of anything unless you have civility and show respect for your colleagues,” Cummings said. “Those kind of comments do not take us in the right direction.”

Pelosi said while she didn’t agree with the language, she also didn’t think anyone “should make a big deal” about the expletive, noting the president is also known for having a foul mouth sometimes.

“I'm not in the censorship business. I don't like that language, I wouldn't use that language, but I wouldn't establish language standards for my colleagues,” Pelosi said during an MSNBC town hall Friday morning.

She added that impeachment is “very divisive“ and shouldn’t be taken “without the facts.”

Meanwhile, Republicans were already seizing on the comment to accuse Democrats of showing their true goal — removing Trump from office...

Lisa Delpit, 'Multiplication Is for White People'

At Amazon, Lisa Delpit, 'Multiplication Is for White People': Raising Expectations for Other People's Children.



Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well

At Amazon, Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism.



Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory

At Amazon, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (Third Edition).



Jennifer Delacruz's Weekend Forecast

Clear and cool today, very cold overnight, but rain likely for the weekend.

Here's the fabulous Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:



Alexis Ren Thong Bikini

At Drunken Stepfather, "Alexis Ren Still in a Thong of the Day."

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Freezing, Blustery Southern California Weather (VIDEO)

This is new, these "hard freeze" warnings.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



Mitt Romney Interview with CNN's Jake Tapper (VIDEO)

Folks are pretty pissed off at Romney, who hasn't even been sworn in yet.

He had an op-ed up at WaPo yesterday, supposedly "scorching" President Trump. Maybe if Romney "scorched" the Democrats like he scorches Trump people wouldn't be so angry?

See, "Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation."


And at CNN tonight (I watched it):



Spending Less Time on Twitter

I generally don't make New Year's resolutions, because like most everybody else, I can't keep them.

I should try, though, to spend less time on Twitter.

The problem is that I really do use the platform as my primary source of news.

It's weird, but it's almost like reading the newspaper in the morning used to be (in the old days, especially before the web). I wake up and grab my phone, which might be 7 or 8 in the morning, but by then it's almost Noon in D.C., the center of all political happenings. I follow a lot of journalists, and all their tweets of current news get me caught up with the big stories.

Frankly, breaking news is on the platform. Happens all the time.

So, how do I break up with Twitter, at least a little bit, when I need some outlet for current, breaking news? I need news as part of my job, as part of my professional life as a professor of political science.

How do I break up, like Allie Beth Stuckey pledges she'll break up in 2019?



It's hard.

I haven't mentioned it, but I was locked out of Twitter for 12 hours last month because I tweeted Robert Stacy McCain's post stating "Jonathan Yaniv is Not a Woman."

(See also, Julie Bindel, "Meghan Murphy, Twitter and the new trans misogyny.")

It's ridiculous.

Not only is Twitter a hate dumb, it's an Orwellian thought-crimes nightmare of Silicon Valley tech-sector censorship.

I would say, "Who needs it?"

But I do, otherwise I'd have bailed out long ago.

In any case, I will be limiting my time on Twitter as much as I can.

If anything I should be blogging more, putting up more original essays and linking to the considerable amount of really excellent old school blogging content that's still out there.

I'll try to do that.

Thanks for reading for the new year, 2019!

I'll of course be posting a lot on books and my Amazon sales, because it's fun. But I want to do more old fashioned blogging, with original content and really excellent link-arounds.

More later.
Thanks again!

Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name

At Amazon, Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II.



Ariela J. Gross, What Blood Won't Tell

Ariela J. Gross, What Blood Won't Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America.


Graham Greene, The Quiet American

*BUMPED.*I

'm just seeing that this book is something of a collector's item.

An older used Bantam paperback is going for more than a brand new Penguin classics edition.

At Amazon, the Bantam paperback, Graham Greene, The Quiet American.

And the Penguin classic is here.



Joachim Fest, Hitler

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Joachim C. Fest, Hitler.



Amid Shutdown, Toilets Overflow at Joshua Tree National Monument

The Los Angeles Times had a piece the other day touting the free admission to Joshua Tree, and now, not so much.

See, "Amid government shutdown, Joshua Tree campgrounds will close as toilets near capacity":

The fun is over at Joshua Tree National Park. Blame feces.

Campgrounds at the park will close at noon Wednesday, park officials said, citing health and safety concerns over the park’s vault toilets, which are near capacity.

Park visitor centers, flush toilets, water-filling stations and dump stations are all closed because of the federal government’s partial shutdown. Vault toilets — the waterless bathrooms in which visitors can relieve themselves into a sealed container that is buried underground — had remained open. But with no workers to pump out the waste, those are being closed now as well.

But the park left the main gates open and let cars stream in for free, as there are no government employees to charge the typical $30-a-car entrance fee.

Some rangers remained to patrol the 1,235-square-mile park, a popular winter destination for hikers and rock climbers.

Park officials said Monday in a news release that human waste in public areas, off-road driving and other infractions are becoming a problem as the government shutdown drags on.

The park’s restrooms and visitor centers have been closed and trash collection suspended since the partial shutdown began Dec. 22, but the park itself remains open.

At Joshua Tree, the Indian Cove and Black Rock campgrounds will be open for day use only, from sunrise to sunset. Rattlesnake Canyon will be closed to reduce the number of search and rescue events for rangers already spread thin, park officials said.

Some local volunteers have been doing their part to clean up the park and restock toilets.

“I want to extend a sincere thanks to local businesses, volunteer groups and tribal members who have done their best to assist in picking up litter and helping maintain campgrounds,” park Supt. David Smith said in a statement. “This is no reflection on their efforts and the park is very fortunate to have a community that exhibits the kind of care and concern witnessed over the last week.”

The lack of restrooms has been an issue at other national parks as well.

Yosemite National Park visitors using the side of the road as a toilet have prompted the park to close two campgrounds and a popular redwood grove for public safety reasons.

The park’s restrooms and visitor centers have been closed and trash collection suspended since the shutdown began, but the park itself remains open...
More.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Out in Paper: Neal Stephenson, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Neal Stephenson, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel.



Mackenzie Maynard's Wednesday Forecast

It's really cold.

I'm visiting in Yucca Valley and it's been in the 30s in the daytime, sheesh.

Here's the lovely new lady, Ms. Mackenzie, at ABC News 10 San Diego:



Sarah Churchwell, Behold, America

At Amazon, Sarah Churchwell, Behold, America: The Entangled History of 'America First' and 'the American Dream'.



President Trump Still Committed to Syria Withdrawal

At LAT, "Trump still committed to Syria troop withdrawal, despite mixed signals":


President Trump’s already confusing policies toward Syria have become even more difficult to parse, both in Washington and in the region convulsed by nearly eight years of civil war, after a flurry of contradictory statements over the last 72 hours.

On Sunday, Trump met with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a vocal critic of the president’s plan to pull troops out of Syria. After the meeting, Graham said he “felt a lot better” about the situation, describing the withdrawal plan as being “in a pause situation.”

Graham later outlined three conditions he said Trump had set down for a full withdrawal: permanent destruction of the Islamic State militants; protection for Syria’s Kurds, whose militias have been the main U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State; and curbs on Iran. Those requirements would be extremely difficult to meet.

On Monday, Trump tweeted praise for himself, claiming he should be getting more plaudits for the decision to pull out — a move that has spooked Republican foreign policy hawks and prompted Defense Secretary James N. Mattis’ sudden resignation.

In his tweets, the president alluded for the first time to a timetable that could be slower than the 30-day withdrawal he first suggested.

“If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero,” Trump wrote, referring to Islamic State.

“ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants......”

According to multiple administration officials, however, neither Graham’s comments nor Trump’s tweet mean that the president is abandoning his plan to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria.

What remains unsettled is how and when the withdrawal will take place, matters that national security advisor John R. Bolton will take up with the leaders of Israel and Turkey when he travels to the region for meetings this week. The administration’s special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, is scheduled to accompany Bolton.

In the region, meanwhile, all the warring factions already have begun repositioning themselves for a Syria without the United States — while keeping an eye on the mixed signals from Washington.

Iran, which sees Syria as a crucial link to its allies in Lebanon, stands to gain from having U.S. forces out of the area. Its officials expressed satisfaction with Trump’s move.

A U.S. withdrawal will lead to “strengthening stability in the region,” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the Iranian armed forces chief of staff, said.

“America's withdrawal from Syrian territories is a humiliating retreat for Washington, which had put its forces in Syria without the permission of its government or people,” he said.

“Americans cause chaos everywhere they go,” he added.

By contrast, America’s main ally in the Syrian fighting, the Kurdish militia groups, have much to fear.

Under U.S. protection, the Kurds have carved out a de facto state covering a large swath of northern and eastern Syria, territory that includes roughly 90% of the country's gas as well as essential water and hydroelectric resources.

But they fear attack from Turkey, which is also a U.S. ally, but which sees the Kurds as a national security threat because of the large Kurdish minority in its territory.

The Kurdish areas are now under threat from all sides, which has caused Kurdish militia leaders to move closer to Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, who is allied with Iran and Russia and whose forces the U.S. has fought.

Protecting the Kurds has been a chief concern for U.S. military officials and for Graham.

After his meeting Sunday, Graham suggested that Trump would slow down the withdrawal to make sure the Kurds were not harmed.

“I think we’re in a pause situation where we are reevaluating what’s the best way to achieve the president’s objective of having people pay more and do more,” Graham said, referring to Trump’s call for Middle Eastern countries to pay the cost of rebuilding Syria after nearly a decade of war...
Still more.