Swimsuits and other offenses

Richard Jack Rail  "The Miss America pageant announces it has dropped the swimsuit competition and will no longer judge on looks. Might as well just drop the competition altogether. While women may watch for the clothes, the jewelry, the makeup, the hair styles, men watch for the swimsuit competition.
. . . 

. . . " Rather than develop other sides of themselves, doing interesting things and becoming interesting as creative human beings -- a real form of beauty in itself -- they sink into self-pity and despair.

"And pettiness*. They don’t want anyone else enjoying, much less strutting, their fine, uh, assets. And not just petty, but spiteful. You don’t want to ogle me, you don’t get to ogle anybody. And not just spiteful, but downright hateful. We rid the West of the wolf whistle and we’ll make ogling against the law. Right now, we’ll take away your enjoyment; soon we’ll take your eyes."
*Note this does not say "prettiness"

There She Was    . . . "Miss America follows in the footsteps of Miss World. In 2013, the Miss World finale was held in Bali, Indonesia. In response to terrorist threats, the pageant canceled the swimsuit portion of the competition. To the astonishment of many, the Miss World people decided to make the swimsuit ban permanent the following year. I don’t think Miss World has been heard of since." . . .

Astonishing photos of the Normandy landings, June 1944

Argunners Magazine:  12 Amazing Aerial Photographs of D-Day

Then and now photos of SS-Sturmmann Otto Funk of the 12th SS Panzer Division in Normandy 
Sixteen to eighteen-year-old boys in the Hitler Youth Division already had the thousand-yard-stare from combat


Wrecked panzers in Normandy

Collecting the wreckage of battle:

Many tanks didn't make it to shore.

Unique photographic record of D-Day by Cambridgeshire veteran

Carter

ITV  "A D-Day veteran from St Ives in Cambridgeshire has his own unique record of the Allied landings in Normandy 70 years ago.

"When Sub Lieutenant Brian Carter from St Ives led his troops onto the beaches at the age of 19, he was carrying a camera and the pictures he took tell their own fascinating story."

D-Day 70 years on: The region remembers

I Have a Dream … About Gay Wedding Cakes

"Still, I believe the greatest insult black Americans have had to endure from liberals was when they called Bill Clinton the "first black president.' " 

Ann Coulter  "The Supreme Court's recent decision on whether a Christian baker can be forced to make a wedding cake for a gay marriage (no) arriving on the same day that Bill Clinton reared his syphilitic head on NBC's "Today" reminded me how liberals always use black people as props. 

"Midway through the last century, bedrock legal principles about property rights and freedom of association were abrogated to deal with a specific, intractable problem: We could not get Democrats to stop discriminating against blacks.

"So Republicans, with very little Democratic help, passed a slew of laws saying: No, even though you own that restaurant, you cannot discriminate against black customers. And no, even though we are a free people, you cannot refuse to associate with black people in your clubs, universities or sports teams.

"This should have been a one-time exception to the law for one specific group of people based on an emergency.

"But Democrats, never wild about freedom in the first place, saw "civil rights" as a great gig. Instead of civil rights being used to remedy historic injuries done to a specific group of people, they'd use "civil rights" as a false flag for all their pet projects.

"Just six years after passage of the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act, Democrats in New York had dropped black people from the equation and moved onto legalized abortion. State senator Manfred Ohrenstein of Manhattan explained why killing the unborn was a "right": "It was the end of the civil rights era, and we viewed [abortion] as a civil right."

"In the 1991 case Kreimer v. Morristown, a Carter-appointed federal district judge, H. Lee Sarokin, ruled that a public library's discrimination against smelly, frightening homeless people violated the equal protection clause because it had a "disparate impact" on people who refuse to bathe compared to those who bathe regularly. Three years later, President Clinton promoted him to an appellate judgeship. (The judge, not the homeless person.)" . . .

Normandy, 1944; then and now photos

The aftermath of D Day
6 Juin, 1944  Our previous emphases on Omaha Beach gave short shrift to the other landing sites. This should do a bit to fill in some of those gaps with photos. Click on some of the WW2 photos of a site and you will also see that location as it is today.  Don't you love stuff like that? TD

Omaha Beach - Vierville Draw
The beach depicted in "Saving Private Ryan".

This is the view from a post-war pier off of Vierville Draw. High tide is shown here, which is not historical. The date and time of the invasion was set for the lowest possible tide, so that German beach obstacle would all be above water and of little threat to the landing craft. At the time of the initial landings, about 6:30am, the waterline was approximately 300 to 400 yards out. The invasion plan was for Company C of the 2nd Rangers to land to the right of the draw in two LCAs. Company A of the 116th would land from six LCAs with three boats on either side of the draw. To the left of Co A, it was intended that Companies G, F, and E of the 116th would simultaneously land on the next mile of beach and advance inland along with Co A and the 743rd Tank Bn. In reality, poor visibility from brush fires (caused by the bombardment) along with strong currents took Companies G, F, and E far off course. Co E was a full mile off course and fought with the 1st Division. Companies F and G landed near Les Moulins Draw, the next beach exit. This left Co A, 116th and Co. C, 2nd Rangers to attack Vierville Draw alone. Bad luck continued as one of the six boats transporting Co A sprung a leak and sank, resulting in one man drowning and the rest of the men struggling to stay afloat before being rescued. The remaining five boats continued on and beached." . . .
Typos corrected, TD
Much more here.

California water update: No, Californians, you won't be fined $1,000 if you shower and do laundry the same day

Sacramento Bee   "No, Californians, it's not against the law to shower and do laundry on the same day — even though loud voices in the conservative blogosphere are claiming it is.

"Taking aim at two water-conservation laws signed last week by Gov. Jerry Brown, a conspiratorial far-right financial blog called Zero Hedge reported Sunday that Californians could be fined $1,000 a day if they bathe and wash their clothes on the same day.

""If you don't plan to comply it's going to be way cheaper to move," the blog post stated.

"The bogus information, which appears to have originated on a site called "The Organic Prepper," was widely disseminated on Twitter and Facebook, and cited by several conservative websites, including the Federalist Papers and Breitbart.

"Joe Walsh, a conservative radio host and former congressman with 139,000 Twitter followers, shared a link to the blog post Monday and added: "California is awful. Just awful."
                    Joe Walsh@WalshFreedom

How much is the fine if you dare to take a shower, do laundry, AND run your sprinklers all in the same day?
California is awful. Just awful. https://twitter.com/InezFeltscher/status/1003692481324740608 …

. . . 

Twitter Ads info and privacy

"Republican U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, didn't link to the post, but he expressed his frustration on his blog that Californians would face "draconian" showering and laundry restrictions because of "environmental extremists and the Democrats."

" 'Californians don't want to have to choose between doing their laundry and taking a shower," he said.

"Those claims, however, aren't true. The shower and laundry police won't be knocking on doors anytime soon.

"The two bills, AB 1668 and SB 606, set general guidelines for water agencies to follow in California's post-drought era.

"Water agencies will be encouraged to have their customers limit indoor water use to an average of 55 gallons a day per person, declining to 50 gallons by 2030.

"But that's just a target a water district will be asked to meet across its ratepayer base, as part of a broader "water budget" strategy.

"Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, author of AB 1668, accused Zero Hedge, Nunes and others of spreading "pure fiction.' "

It is within the parameters of what we expect from California. If a state elects people like Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris and a governor called "Moonbeam", the default opinion of that state would be scorn and ridicule.  The Tunnel Dweller.

Press in 2016: If Indicted, Hillary Could Pardon Herself

Don Surber  " 'If Hillary Is Indicted, President Clinton Could Pardon Herself and Congress Might be Helpless," Law and Crime reported on October 28, 2016.

"The piece came as Jimmy the Weasel Comey re-opened Hillarygate v7.0.

"Presidential pardoning is in the Constitution.

"Chris White wrote, "Based on the language of Article II, Section 2, the only limits placed on the power are that pardons may only be issued for federal offenses (not civil or state crimes), and a pardon cannot override the Congress’ impeachment power. Presidents have used this power to issue pardons in a wide range of matters throughout the country’s history. However, no president has ever attempted to pardon himself."

"Ah, but she could have been impeached and impeachment trumps pardon.

" 'In Clinton’s case, however, the conduct underlying this hypothetical indictment occurred prior to her taking office. The House of Representatives, as far back as 1873, has determined that a person cannot be impeached based on conduct prior to them holding office. In other words, House precedent says a President Hillary Clinton could not be impeached as president for crimes related to the e-mail server or the Clinton Foundation," White wrote.

"Hmm.

"The election occurred before Trump's presidency. This limits Mueller's witch hunt to anything post-inauguration.

"Bummer."

Bill Clinton tries a do-over as book publicity tour nightmare looms, helped by a late-night TV host

Thomas Lifson   'Last night with the help of Stephen Colbert, known for his vicious attacks on President Trump, Bill Clinton desperately tried to recover from his disastrous Today show interview peddling the thriller novel he purportedly "co-wrote" with James Patterson.  Colbert began the interview openly admitting his intent of helping Clinton out of the hole he has dug for himself, beginning the exchange with this statement:

I noticed you didn't enjoy that entire [Today show] interview. I want you to enjoy this one.

"I don't think Colbert's hopes were realized, but not for his lack of effort.  Clinton obviously realizes he has no way out from the trap that has sprung on him, now that #MeToo reigns on the left and he and Hillary are unable to deliver any power.  He is still blaming NBC ("They had to distill it, and it looked like it said I didn't apologize and had no intention to, and I was mad at me."), and the most he will say is that he already apologized: "But the important thing is that was a very painful thing that happened 20 years ago and I apologized to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family, to the American people.  I meant it then; I meant it now.  I have had to live with the consequences every day since.' " . . .

The Late Show

✔@colbertlateshow

TONIGHT: Stephen offers @BillClinton the opportunity for a do-over regarding a question he was asked in an interview earlier this week. #LSSC #BillClinton

Today, Al Gore still bristles when asked about his relationship with Hillary Clinton – who many characterized as Bill Clinton’s co-president, diminishing Gore’s role as veep.

NY Post  "Tipper Gore was more enraged about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky than even Hillary Clinton, according to a new book.

"“Tipper Gore was furious at Bill Clinton, angrier than Hillary Clinton was,” author Kate Andersen Brower told The Post. Her new book, “First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power,” comes out Tuesday. 

"With Lewinsky being the same age as the Gores’ eldest daughter, Karenna, Tipper “felt personally offended by the scandal,” said ex-Gore aide Jamal Simmons. The White House intern was 22 when the affair with Bill Clinton began.

“ 'In Gore’s case there’s no way he would have gotten to such a dark place if Tipper hasn’t been so mad,” another aide told the author.

"That “dark place” was Al Gore’s decision not to campaign with Bill Clinton during Gore’s 2000 run for the presidency, which – like Hillary Clinton – he lost because of the Electoral College math.

"Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, used her husband’s White House record to vault into a US Senate seat in 2000, representing New York, becoming the first first lady to ever hold elected office." . . .

#Spygate and Leftists' Lack of Patriotism

Leftist lies about the impact of Russia on the election and Trump's supposed collusion with Russia to steal the election have done far more damage to American's trust in our electoral process than anything the Russians actually did.  

Tom Trinko  "Leftists, despite their continual condemnation of America's values and their steadfast insistence that all international problems are due to America, become incensed if their patriotism is questioned.

"The reality is that all that matters to leftists is obtaining the power necessary to control the lives of all Americans.  If you doubt that leftists feel they have the right to control the rest of us, remember that when they have the chance, leftists are eager to tell us how much soda we can drink. 

. . . 

"One of the few actual events the leftists can point to is the leaking of the DNC emails.  The first thing to note is that we don't really know if the Russians were behind that.  The DNC refused to turn the targeted computer over to the FBI or the CIA, which means that claims by any government agency that the Russians were behind it are based on secondhand information.  Given the well established political bias of the FBI and the historical liberal bias of the CIA – the CIA is staffed mainly by graduates of liberal east-coast colleges – it's absurd to simply believe any claims by them when they couldn't conduct an independent forensic analysis on the targeted computer." . . .

The Trump-Mueller Show never ends

"Wrapping It Up" (so it is said).  "How long will the "Russian collusion" circus continue imploding before it reaches critical mass and leaves nothing but wreckage across the liberal D.C. landscape?

"At this point, no other outcome is conceivable.  Any hope that the investigation would land a glove on Donald Trump has been long abandoned by any rational onlooker.  This conclusion became inescapable when Robert Mueller humiliated himself in a court of law by attempting to indict individuals and companies that didn't exist (when life begins to look like metaphors, it's time to quit).  We can throw in the pitiful May 18 Washington Post op-ed by former agent Asha Rangappa claiming that the spies were emplaced in the Trump campaign to "protect" him.  (As an editor, I would have gone with a different title – something like "Please Don't Hit Us.")  The attempt to valorize Comey as a national hero through his book "Hustler's Honor," or whatever it was titled, fizzled out in the midst of a failed book tour." . . .

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