Kelly Brook is Back in Lingerie

She's still fabulous!

Kelly Brook's Mark Hayman Photoshoot - https://t.co/YqSKlmjfr0 - pic.twitter.com/tv30UPNxka

— Taxi Driver (@TaxiDriverMovie) March 1, 2019

Grab a Copy Today @Fabulousmag pic.twitter.com/q6bYjnYDTa

— Kelly Brook (@IAMKELLYBROOK) February 24, 2019

Democrat Voters Conflicted on Who Can Beat President Trump

The California primary is one year from today, and the L.A. Times kicked off a year of campaign coverage with a special section today.

And from Janet Hook's piece, "Democrats, facing a big candidate field, ask: Who can beat Trump?":

Like the headline says: One year and counting. Check out a great package of stories about the Democratic race by @markzbarabak @hookjan @melmason @finneganLAT pic.twitter.com/aC980KV8Fa

— David Lauter (@DavidLauter) March 3, 2019

Biden and Beto, if they get into the 2020 race, embody totally different concepts of electability, of what it will take to beat Donald Trump https://t.co/Y8YWUzG7fO

— Janet Hook (@hookjan) March 1, 2019

Marcus Scott is looking for a Democratic presidential candidate who will be rude to Donald Trump. Kara LaMarche wants an upbeat, positive approach. Ben Dion wants a nominee with experience and gravitas. Linds Jakows has had it with older white men in power.

Those voters, like fellow Democrats across the country, seek very different things in the big and growing presidential candidate field. But they share one top priority: Picking a nominee who will beat President Trump in 2020.

A year from now, on March 3, 2020, candidates will be competing for primary votes in California and eight other states in the first day of multistate voting. By then, the candidates will have been tested in the four early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, where Democrats already have a curbside seat for the parade of candidates campaigning there.

Between now and then, much of the debate seems certain to focus on the elusive quality labeled “electability.”

Parties always want to win, of course, but Democratic loathing of Trump has pushed finding a winner way up the priority scale this year, recent polls show. Democratic voters say they’d prefer a candidate who can beat Trump to one who agrees with their position on any particular issue.

Voters, however, have widely varying views about what electable means in 2020. To some, it is code for a safe, cautious choice — a centrist white male who presumably can speak to swing voters. To other Democrats, that’s a recipe for killing off excitement within the party’s young, diverse, progressive base, which needs to be mobilized to win in 2020.

The contrasting ideas about electability will come sharply into focus in the coming weeks if two late entrants to the 2020 race come off the sidelines. If former Rep. Beto O’Rourke jumps in, the 46-year-old Texan will represent a bid for generational change that could mobilize new voters in a way supporters compare to Barack Obama.

If Vice President Joe Biden runs, he will likely lean heavily on the case that his long experience makes the 76-year-old the party’s safest bet to win the White House.

“I believe he is the only person who could take on Trump and beat him,” said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and longtime Biden backer. “We’re going to need someone who can motivate the middle-of-the-road voter.”

Other Democrats believe the party must put up a candidate better equipped than the former vice president to speak to and harness the energy of the younger generation of voters that helped deliver victory to the party in the 2018 midterm elections.

“I truly believe this great nation is ready for change,” said Robyn Joppy, a business consultant who heard Biden speak at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Washington, D.C. “I love him. But I think his time has come and gone.”

How many candidates will be in the field by the time actual voting starts is anybody’s guess. For now, 13 have joined the field or formed an exploratory committee. Half are senators — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

More candidates may soon get in the race, including former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, as well as Biden and O’Rourke.

The candidates are now pouring most of their effort into the four earliest-voting states. They face a daunting challenge when attention turns to California, because its large size gives a leg up to candidates who can afford television advertising.

Harris, Sanders and Biden, if he runs, could have an edge because they are already well known in the state. But because Democratic Party rules require all states to distribute their delegates proportionately, no candidate is likely to walk away with a lion’s share of California’s more than 400 convention delegates, the largest group from any state.

Most Democrats are highly confident of their ability to beat Trump in 2020, because of his low approval ratings and the high level of energy in their own ranks.

But a recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican firm, provides a warning against overconfidence on the part of Democrats. Nationally the poll found just 45% of respondents approved of the job Trump was doing. But he fared better — 50% approved of him — in 12 swing states important to his reelection (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin).

Some Democrats are skeptical about assessing candidates’ electability.

Gigi Hadid Sheer Camisole Top

At Drunken Stepfather, "GIGI HADID NIPPLE OF THE DAY":

Gigi Hadid isn’t hot, despite all the media attention she gets, but at least she doesn’t look like this sharp edged dude that her sister looks like…

All these girls are a lot of fucking hype wit very little substance…they don’t offer the world shit and when I see them with their face injections all these years after they started…still probably under 25 years old…representing a dark time in modeling and spokesmodeling…I can’t help but wonder why they look like they are in their mid 40s…

Heh.

Irish Model Laura O'Grady

At Drunken Stepfather, "LAURA O’GRADY PINK FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY OF THE DAY."

Victoria Justice Bikini Photos

At Hollywood Tuna, "More Victoria Justice and Her Hot Sister in Bikinis."

And on Twitter:

Bamboo rafting in Jamaica! Our guide Henry was the coolest & serenaded us w/ Bob Marley. Unforgettable day 😌 #fbf
📸: @themadisongrace pic.twitter.com/TuDm1So65c

— Victoria Justice (@VictoriaJustice) March 1, 2019

To the infinity pool & beyond!
Jamaica was a dream 💙🏝 #tbt pic.twitter.com/dXKzNCgPzV

— Victoria Justice (@VictoriaJustice) February 28, 2019

26.
Thank you all for the b day wishes. Seriously, I sincerely appreciate it more than you know. All my love ♥️ pic.twitter.com/HG4IgrQw8t

— Victoria Justice (@VictoriaJustice) February 19, 2019

Michelle Malkin at CPAC 2019 (VIDEO)

Leftist MSM outlets are aghast that Michelle Malkin would speak up for America, and especially for calling out the ghost of John McCain.

And see Michelle's comments at her blog, "CPAC at the Bridge."

Jennifer Delacruz's Rainy Saturday Forecast

I've missed blogging the lovely Ms. Jennifer.

Been busy with school and blogging's been light, but here's your beautiful weather lady.

More rain this weekend.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

Democrats' 'Bullet Train' Has Effed Up People's Lives

Fucking Democrats.

They destroy everything they touch.

At LAT, "In Central Valley towns, California’s bullet train isn’t an idea: ‘It’s people’s lives’":

In Central Valley towns, California’s bullet train isn’t an idea: ‘It’s people’s lives’ https://t.co/SIeEOsP90g pic.twitter.com/Vekgs3jrjB

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 2, 2019

When Annie Williams heard that California’s plan for high-speed rail had been scaled back to 119 miles through the Central Valley, her head jerked back.

“Merced to Bakersfield? The good Lord himself can’t make sense of that,” she said. “After all our tears and making peace?”

The recent debate surrounding California’s transit future has reverberated statewide. But here in the Central Valley, the upheaval — like the bullet train itself — is real. Houses have been boarded up, businesses moved, vineyards torn out, a highway realigned.

Giant concrete structures rise from orchards waiting to hold up tracks that now seem further from existence.

Fairmead, the community where Williams lives, is the likely place that will face the most immediate uncertainties. It is in the “Y,” the planned fork from which some trains were to hurtle south toward Los Angeles or north to Merced, and others were to veer west to the Bay Area.

There is no library or market or gas station here; only three buildings in the town of about 1,500, including the church, aren’t people’s homes. Sheds lean, grass grows through porch slats and rains leave deep puddles on dirt and gravel roads.

Williams, who gives her age as “upwards of 70,” said this is a place where people “work hard to have a place just to lay their heads and have been taking care of each other since nigh the beginning of time.”

An early proposed high-speed rail would have leveled a neighborhood, including Williams’ home. But that was before community organizers Vickie Ortiz and Barbara Nelson rallied their neighbors.

Their nonprofit organization, Friends of Fairmead, held so many meetings to lobby state representatives for a different route that the women started greeting the rail agency’s regional director with familiar hugs. After nearly a decade of negotiating, they felt they were a breath away from a route that would move the school, spare the church, preserve more houses and bring the town a much-needed community center.

Then in mid-January, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out plans to pull back on high-speed rail in the face of massive cost overruns.

“I think the community center is gone,” the lawyer for Friends of Fairmead said.

Ortiz is angry about all the years she watched people worry and fret about where they would go.

“I don’t want to talk political because I don’t do it very well,” Ortiz said. “But you know, you had a governor that was pushing-pushing-pushing for the high-speed train, and we started getting used to the idea that we can’t stop a train but maybe we can use it to help the community. But then you get another governor and he says: ‘No, I don’t want to do that anymore.’ My mouth was just open with shock.”

Nelson, however, said she felt relief.

Each week, she visits an elderly neighbor in the hospital who asks her the latest about whether the project will take her house.

“I’m going to tell her, ‘Sister Hughes, your house is safe.’ And we’ll find some other way to get our community center.”

Traveling south from Fairmead on California Route 99, there’s a stretch of highway through Fresno that’s smooth and new. Five bridges were torn down and rebuilt in order to move the road about 100 feet to make room for rail. The California Department of Transportation project cost about $290 million.

Along the Kings River, near the little town of Laton, the signs of coming bullet train infrastructure include felled orchards and giant earthen berms. (Local independent truck drivers got weeks of work hauling dirt for the project.)

Next to the Van Eyk family’s walnut grove, where crops once grew, is now a stretch of excavated earth marked by “No Trespassing” signs.

Randy Van Eyk was born and raised on a dairy farm outside of nearby Hanford. His wife, Anne, grew up in rural Northern California. They lived in the city of Visalia for 10 years, saving for a place like this — a big house on a country road where they live with their 7-year old daughter, Maddie, a Labrador retriever named Snickers and a giant cat.

Randy planted walnuts instead of more lucrative almonds, because he was 45 years old when they moved in and almonds need replanting every 20 years. He didn’t want to work that hard at 65. Walnut trees should outlive him.

“We figured this was our last stop unless Maddie put us in a home someday,” Anne said.

The first sign that high-speed rail might change that was a giant white X painted on the road near their mailbox.

They found other Xs at other intersections and drew a diagonal line that went through their frontyard .

Anne cried — and, she said, she never cries.

Her husband told her not to worry, that it would never really happen. But work crews arrived, neighbors moved and cranes dropped off giant pipes. In the end, they were the only residents on their road that didn’t have to sell property to the state.

“We’ll have people over, even from around here, and they’ll look around and say: “That’s from high-speed rail? You mean it’s real?’ People think it’s just some idea, something to fight about on the radio, but it’s people’s lives,” Randy said.

The argument for a high-speed train crossing the state was that it would bridge California’s inequalities.

Central Valley cities and towns have some of the most concentrated poverty in the state. The political vision was that it would connect them to the wealth and opportunities of the coast and bring higher paying jobs. It would cut down on the air pollution that gets trapped in the hot, flat valley.

Randy Van Eyk was opposed to the project because he thought it would bring wealthy tech workers who would displace farms and rural life. He also thought politicians would start the project and never finish, leaving the debris in the Central Valley.

“You see all the destruction?” he said. “People lost their homes and businesses. And for what?”

He said he has flashes of anger, but then looks around and takes a deep breath...

Likely Indictments Hang Over Benjamin Netanyahu and Imperil His Political Career

At LAT, "How will Netanyahu’s legal woes affect U.S.-Israeli relations and peace efforts?":

How will Netanyahu's legal woes affect U.S.-Israeli relations and peace efforts? https://t.co/xChELRpaGp

— L.A. Times World (@latimesworld) March 2, 2019

Even as likely indictments hang over Benjamin Netanyahu and imperil his political career, the embattled Israeli prime minister is receiving the enthusiastic endorsement of his good buddy and leader of the free world, Donald J. Trump.

“He has been a great prime minister,” President Trump said in Hanoi on Thursday after a nuclear summit with North Korea as plans to charge Netanyahu in three felony corruption cases were about to be announced in Jerusalem. “He's done a great job as prime minister. He's tough, he's smart, he's strong.”

Since becoming president more than two years ago, Trump has been a loyal, unquestioning ally of Netanyahu and his right-wing Israeli government. He has taken numerous steps in favor of Israel and promised to look out for Netanyahu’s interests as his son-in-law and other administration officials seek a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump has called that long-elusive goal the “ultimate deal.” But Netanyahu’s political and legal predicament has added even more complexity to what was already a tortured, long-shot process.

Netanyahu, who has dominated Israeli politics for more than a decade, also faces a tough reelection bid. He is running for a fourth consecutive term as head of the government in voting that takes place in 40 days, on April 9.

The fate of Netanyahu and the still-secret U.S.-crafted peace plan are in many ways intertwined. How he fares in the final weeks of the election campaign, whether his party continues to hold on to its lead or slips substantially, is likely to influence whether he welcomes a peace plan or turns his back on any such effort to appeal to his hard-line, ultra-hawkish base, Israeli and American political analysts say.

Trump handed the project of writing a peace plan to son-in-law Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, a former Trump Organization attorney named special envoy for the Middle East. The two this week ended a second tour through Persian Gulf states attempting to find support for their ideas, which some leaders in the region have rejected for appearing overly pro-Israeli, disregarding Palestinian demands.

Kushner said he would not make the plan public before the Israeli election. It could, however, be published in the postelection period, a frenzied time when, in Israel’s parliamentary system, political parties who have won seats make alliances in an attempt to form a government that selects the prime minister.

At that point, analysts said, Netanyahu could appeal to a broader group of politicians, insisting he was the best leader to make peace while not sacrificing Israel’s security or other interests.

“There is a devil’s theory that Kushner and company will try to do a rollout to help Bibi form a coalition,” said Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who teaches Middle East policy at Princeton University, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

Or, if it would help Netanyahu more, Kushner “is likely to tiptoe back to Washington so he does not hurt Bibi,” Kurtzer said.

If Netanyahu loses in the election, there may be pressure for the Trump administration to delay releasing the peace plan to another date, if ever, because of the uncertainty and especially if a center-left government takes over, said Ilan Goldenberg, a Middle East expert at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.

Yet if Netanyahu thinks his career depends on it, he could probably go harder right, Goldenberg and others said, which might render any peace plan dead on arrival because few governments and especially those in the Arab world would be willing to work with such a coalition.

Already, Netanyahu stunned many people in the U.S. and in Israel when he brought three extreme right-wing fringe parties into his coalition last week. One of the parties, Jewish Power, believes in Jewish supremacy and is led by disciples of Meir Kahane, the ultra-right-wing American-born rabbi who won a seat in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, before he was banned from politics in 1988 for advancing a racist agenda. He was assassinated two years later.

No criticism was forthcoming, however, from the Trump administration. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said that “we’re not about to get involved” in a democratic country’s election. Those statements came four days before Trump’s endorsement of the “tough, smart, strong” Netanyahu.

Prior to being formally indicted, Netanyahu is allowed to challenge the charges against him, which involve bribery and other corruption aimed at promoting his image and helping him hold on to power. If indicted, Netanyahu could continue to campaign, but whether he could serve effectively as prime minister remains unclear.

Initial polling after Atty. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Thursday was grim for Netanyahu and his Likud Party...

Joseph E. Stiglitz, People, Power, and Profits

Interesting.

Stiglitz is a major economist.

Out April 23rd. Pre-order at Amazon, Joseph E. Stiglitz, People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent.

Isabel Sawhill, The Forgotten Americans

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Isabel Sawhill, The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation.

Joan C. Williams, White Working Class

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Joan C. Williams, White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.

AOC Threatens to Put 'Moderate' House Democrats on a 'List'

Lol, this woman just won't quit, and I love it!

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL” CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: House Dems explode in recriminations as AOC threatens to put moderates on “a list”."

And on Twitter, walking it back?

I didn’t say that they were putting themselves on a list for primaries.

I said that by Dems distinguishing themselves by breaking off on procedural MTR votes, they were inadvertently making a list of targets for the GOP and for progressive advocates on their pro-ICE vote.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 1, 2019

Regime Change Wars Have Disastrous Consequences (VIDEO)

She sounds more like a Ron Paul Republican, lol.

But still, I like her. She's genuinely sincere and very attractive. I hope she gains a lot of traction in the primaries. It remains to be seen, but if she's not out in front at New Hampshire, then forget it. It's going to be a massive field of candidates.

#SayNoToWar pic.twitter.com/3sv7Takreb

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) March 1, 2019

Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens Are the New King and Queen of CPAC

Not everyone is thrilled about it, but what can you do? It's not like conservatives don't need some new leaders.

At the Daily Beast, "CPAC 2019: Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens Are the New King and Queen of the GOP Ball."

Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens took over #CPAC https://t.co/sR4AxmCQfZ

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 1, 2019

They’re young. She says that because they’re young. Not because they’re perfect Burkean conservatives. They’re young, they fight for America, and people like them promise us the future. #CPAC2019 🇺🇸 https://t.co/gVoy1u4pOa

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) March 1, 2019

Trump-Kim Summit Ends in Impasse and Uncertainty

At the Los Angeles Times, "Trump says he still trusts Kim, but needed to 'walk away' from a bad nuclear deal":

Cool front-page photo of #PresidentTrump returning to the White House on Thursday. @LATimes #KAG #ThankYouTrump 👍🇺🇸🙏😎🤙 ⁦@steph93065⁩ pic.twitter.com/JxRYfcSxk0

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) March 1, 2019

The collapse of President Trump’s summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un left confusion in its wake Thursday, with each side blaming the other and no clear path forward in the nuclear standoff.

As Trump flew home from Hanoi, site of the abbreviated gathering, a growing outcry erupted in the United States over Trump’s defense of Kim in the 2017 death of American college student Otto Warmbier, whose family said he suffered brutal torture while imprisoned in North Korea.

But despite the president returning empty-handed, Trump’s political allies praised what they called his acumen in walking away rather than accepting a bad deal, and some analysts cited early signs that North Korea still wanted to keep open the lines of communication.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took to the Senate floor to declare that Trump had made the right call.

“High-level diplomacy can carry high-level risks, but the president is to be commended for walking away when it became clear insufficient progress had been made on denuclearization,” McConnell said.

Trump cut short his summit with Kim earlier Thursday, rejecting the North Korean leader’s offer to dismantle a major nuclear complex in exchange for the removal of U.S.-led economic sanctions.

Trump said that the U.S. wanted more concessions from Kim and that talks would continue. But the president wouldn’t commit to holding a third summit after two high-profile meetings have failed to produce a concrete agreement on rolling back Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

“Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said at a news conference in the Vietnamese capital before departing for Washington on Air Force One. “This was one of those times.”

Less than 12 hours later, a North Korean official took the rare step of holding a news conference to tell reporters: Kim made a “realistic proposal,” and it was the U.S. that was obstinate in its demands.

In a Hanoi hotel lobby after midnight, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said North Korea had proposed dismantling its main nuclear complex and permanently halting all nuclear and long-range missile testing in exchange for a partial lifting of sanctions, but the U.S. was “not ready to accept our proposal.”

“Our principal stand will remain invariable and our proposal will never be changed,” he said.

“This proposal was the biggest denuclearization measure we can take at the present stage in relation to the current level of confidence between the DPRK and the United States,” Ri said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In response to Ri's comments, a senior U.S. official said early Friday that while the North Korean delegation did not seek the lifting of all sanctions, it wanted to remove enough to gut the "maximum pressure" campaign of squeezing the country’s economy. The relaxation of sanctions would have freed government funds for more weapons development, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with State Department rules for speaking about negotiations.

"So to give many, many billions of dollars in sanctions relief would in effect put us in a position of subsidizing the ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction in North Korea," the administration official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. "Now, they didn’t ask us to do that, but that is effectively the choice that we were presented with. "

As Trump flew home via Alaska, where he briefly addressed troops during a refueling stop at Elmendorf Air Force Base, even some supporters expressed dismay over Trump’s about-face on Warmbier, the 22-year-old who was held for 17 months by North Korea and died shortly after being returned home in a vegetative state.

At the time, the president decried Pyongyang’s “cruel dictatorship,” and had the student’s parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, as guests at his 2018 State of the Union address...

'Walk This Way'

From yesterday morning's drive-time, at 93.1 Jack FM, "Walk This Way" (Run DMC cover).

It's Still Rock & Roll To Me
Billy Joel
9:16am

Hold Me Now
Thompson Twins
9:11am

Take Me Out
Franz Ferdinand
9:07am

Little Red Corvette
PRINCE
9:02am

Landslide
Fleetwood Mac
8:52am

I Ran
Flock Of Seagulls
8:48am

Like A Stone
Audioslave
8:43am

Bette Davis Eyes
Kim Carnes
8:39am

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
8:34am

Walk This Way
Run-D.M.C.
8:22am

Islamist Democrat Rashida Tlaib Calls Out Rep. Mark Meadows for Bringing 'Black Friend' to Committee Hearing (VIDEO)

Following-up from last night, "Michael Cohen's Opening Statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform (VIDEO)."

Background at the Daily Beast, FWIW, "Cohen Hearing Explodes After Rashida Tlaib Calls Out Mark Meadows’ ‘Black Friend’ Stunt."

And the videos:

Michael Cohen's Opening Statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform (VIDEO)

I was teaching all morning and early afternoon, and didn't get a chance to watch live.

Here's the video in any case. I'm going to watch it and have more to say later.

Via CNN:



Also at Memeorandum, "Michael Cohen's Testimony: Live Updates."

'You Got Lucky'

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, at 93.1 Jack FM, from last night while out with my older son.

"You Got Lucky."

Hold The Line
Toto
8:14pm

Still Haven't Found What...
U2
8:10pm

Safety Dance
Men Without Hats
8:05pm

Black Hole Sun
Soundgarden
8:02pm

In The Air Tonight
Phil Collins
7:49pm

Beverly Hills
Weezer
7:46pm

Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Queen
7:43pm

Let's Dance
David Bowie
7:39pm

Whatever It Takes
Imagine Dragons
7:36pm

You Got Lucky
Tom Petty
7:32pm