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OCTOBER 15,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

HORRIBLE – A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT IS MURDERED – FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL:   British police on Friday night declared the killing of MP David Amess earlier in the day a terrorist incident.“Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon formally declared the incident as terrorism,” police said in a statement.  “The early investigation has revealed a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism.”  The Times reported that the suspected killer was a Muslim man aged 25, believed to be of Somali descent. Multiple UK media outlets reported that the man is believed to be a British national.  Police said officers were “currently carrying out searches at two addresses in the London area and these are ongoing.” But “it is believed that [the suspect] acted alone, and we are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident at this time.”  The long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, an attack that united Britain’s fractious politicians in shock and sorrow.  The leftist British press tried mightily in the hours after the assassination to avoid using "terrorist," or even suggesting it.  But even the BBC had to finally admit the truth.  There is legitimate worry both in Britain and the United States that this event could presage other attacks on public officials.  I'm not so sure the entire story of this latest outrage will ever be known.  Those who probe for all the facts will no doubt be accused of Islamophobia.

October 15, 2021       Permalink 

NOW,  IS THIS A GENUINE INSURRECTION, OR SOME WEAK IMPOSTOR? – OVERNIGHT:  There has been a bit of bother in Washington.  Some people were deeply upset about the impending end of the world – Thursday I believe – and got a bit out of hand.  From Fox:  

Dozens of activists protesting fossil fuel projects were arrested Thursday after they staged a sit-in at the Interior Department, a move which led to "multiple injuries" and one officer being transported to a hospital.

Demanding that President Biden declare climate change an emergency, People vs. Fossil Fuels, the group responsible for the protest, organized a week-long series of demonstrations against the president as he approves different fossil fuel projects.

Following the protest, Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz released a statement through a series of tweets.

"Early this afternoon, a group of protestors entered the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior Building," Schwartz said. "Federal Protective Service personnel responded to the area to mitigate the situation. Multiple injuries were sustained by security personnel, and one officer has been transported to a nearby hospital. Medics representing both the Department and the protesters were present."

Schwartz also noted that Interior Sec. Deb Haaland was not in Washington during the protest and insisted that leadership at the department "believes strongly in respecting and upholding the right to free speech and peaceful protest."

According to video footage from the Washington Post's Ellie Silverman, activists could be seen climbing up doors and pushing officers back as they tried to force their way into the Interior Department.

Andy Ngô, a conservative journalist who often covers events related to Antifa, shared one of Silverman's videos. He described the scene at the federal building as "reminiscent of Jan. 6," noting that officers were forced to draw their tasers as "extreme environmentalist protesters" attempted to make their way inside.

Event organizers allege that "police tased and hit multiple people with batons" and "55 people were arrested and taken away to DC Metro police stations."

"Police acted aggressively with the water protectors and indigenous leaders, tasing at least two people and hitting others with batons," the group claimed. "An independent indigenous media person was assaulted by the police and had his equipment broken."

Fox News reached out to the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and received the following statement:
"Yesterday, officers from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service (FPS) responded to a demonstration at the Stewart L. Udall Building. FPS is committed to the safety of demonstrators participating in lawful protests and fully supports the peaceful expression of all people. FPS will continue to pursue our mission of ensuring the safety and security of federal employees and facilities, consistent with the law."

In the statement, FPS also offered appreciation for U.S. Park Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Department who assisted in efforts "to detain, prosecute or take action against anyone who caused harm and attempted to disrupt the business of the federal government yesterday."

COMMENT:  Watch this story disappear.  There'll be no hearings, no use of "insurrection," although some crackpot might try to blame the mob scene on Trump, who, of course, always gives secret orders.  If it gets out beyond Fox News that some of the peaceful demonstrates weren't peaceful, the backup crew of the Washington press will run interviews with the peacemakers in which they'll claim they were attacked by the police, who should be defunded and their children taken away from them.  Dr. Fauci will be made available for comment.

October 15, 2021       Permalink 

OCTOBER 14,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

YOUR EDUCATION DOLLARS AT WORK – FROM LEGAL INSURRECTION:  It looks like not all colleges are worried about finances due to the pandemic. Do you think this was just an impulse purchase?  The College Fix reports:  Rutgers University’s football team may be on a three game losing streak, but its players can sleep easy thanks to a $12,400 napping machine.  At the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Rutgers declared a fiscal emergency and aimed to reduce the budgetary shortfall. The Athletics Department, though, continued spending money largely uninterrupted — purchasing everything from a $12,400 power nap machine, to $470 laser pointers for the football coaches, to a car service for a single track athlete totaling $4,400.

The napZZZ Sport Pod “features a spacious interior with the ability to fully recline,” according to the company’s website. The public New Jersey university said it bypassed the bidding process because napZZZ is the only company that manufactures a sleeping pod for 7-foot tall, 250-pound athletes.  It’s not just sleepy athletes who will benefit from the athletic department’s spending habits — students who want to browse Instagram instead of watching Rutgers get blown-out can get on the WiFi inside the football stadium.  The paper identified other expenditures such as “$385,914 paid in May to SHI International Corp., the corporate sponsor of Rutgers football, to install wifi service in the student section of SHI stadium,” “$2,500 paid to K Sound LLC on Oct. 13, 2020 for generating fake crowd noise for a football team practice” and almost “$4,400 on June 14 for car service for a lone track athlete.”  Look, you gotta have fake crowd noise during practice.  How else can you play the game?  And maybe they can use the fake crowd noise to drown out the anti-American professors.  Sometimes colleges come up with useful stuff.

October 14, 2021       Permalink 

ARE AMERICANS GOING BACK TO THEIR GREAT POLITICAL TRADITIONS? – OVERNIGHT:  The Gallup organization suggests that they might be.  From Gallup: 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans have shifted back to favoring a more hands-off approach for government in addressing the nation's problems after a rare endorsement of a more active role last year. Currently, 52% say the government is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses, while 43% want the government to do more to solve the country's problems. In contrast, a record-high 54% of U.S. adults last year said the government should do more to solve problems.

Gallup's question on the proper government role is asked as part of its annual Governance survey, conducted Sept. 1-17 this year. The shift toward favoring a more active government role in 2020 was seen among Democrats and independents but not Republicans -- likely a response to the coronavirus pandemic and in particular to then-President Donald Trump's approach to handling it. Trump generally opposed government efforts designed to slow the spread of the virus, such as face mask requirements and business and school closures.

Last year marked only the second time in Gallup's 29-year trend that at least half of Americans endorsed an active role for the government on this item. The other pro-government response came in the weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks amid heightened concern about terrorism and a surge in trust in government.

All party groups are less likely now than a year ago to favor a more active government role, but independents' opinions have changed the most. In 2020, 56% of independents wanted the government to do more to solve problems, compared with 38% now. Independents are even less inclined to want a more active government role today than they were in 2019 before the pandemic began, when 45% held that view. The same is true of Republicans, whose opinions did not show meaningful change last year.

Americans' preference for a limited government role is also evident when they are asked to consider the trade-offs between taxes and government services. Given a choice, half of Americans say they prefer fewer government services and lower taxes, while 19% want higher taxes and more services. Twenty-nine percent want taxes and services as they are now.

In the five times Gallup has asked this question since 1993, the preference for lower taxes and fewer services has consistently prevailed, held either by pluralities or majorities of Americans, including a high of 56% in 2011. Only as many as 25%, in 2019, have said they wanted higher taxes and more services.

Gallup did not ask this "taxes versus government services" question last year, so it is not possible to know how opinions on the issue might have changed in a year when Americans said they wanted government to do more to solve the nation's problems.

Currently, 77% of Republicans prefer fewer services and lower taxes, while 15% want no change and 7% prefer higher taxes and more services. Half of independents prefer lower taxes and fewer services, while 33% want to keep taxes and services where they are now and 16% want increases in both.

Democrats are mostly split between wanting more services and more taxes (37%) and keeping taxes and services where they are now (40%). Nineteen percent of Democrats prefer lower taxes and fewer services.

COMMENT:  Things are heading in our direction, but we must never let up in our efforts.  Always run as if you're 20 points behind.  Our side can take Congress next year, but only if we are relentless, remembering that we will have the media against us, and that the opposition will be extremely well financed.

But it's good to see public opinion moving with us.  Read the rest of the piece.

October 14,  2021     Permalink