SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

DIVIDED NATION – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:    It is rare that Republicans and Democrats agree on something. But the two battling factions do see eye to eye on one thing: They are troubled by stark political divides among Americans.  A Fox News poll finds that 78 percent of all U.S. voters are now either “extremely or very concerned” about the polarized nation; that includes 75 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats.  According to the poll data, only health care — which concerns 83 percent of the public — outranks political division on the national roster of worries.  Tied in third place, Americans fret about the opioid addiction crisis and the national economy; both issues concern 74 percent.  Next on the list: natural disasters (70 percent), followed by race relations (69 percent), gun laws, (69 percent) climate change (64 percent), sexual harassment (63 percent), illegal immigration (66 percent) and the Central America “caravan” (59 percent.)  I'm not so sure how useful this new Fox poll is.  It seems from the numbers that Americans are highly concerned about almost everything.  I suspect many numbers are just driven by the degree of coverage in the mainstream media.   Name recognition.

HE GETS IT RIGHT – FROM FOX:  A comedian who was born in the former Soviet Union said that when a British college asked him to sign an agreement stipulating that he could not transgress multiple factions of people with his jokes, he "felt right at home."  Tucker Carlson said Konstantin Kisin's case is another example of "free speech ebbing away on college campuses," adding that people are becoming "unable to take a joke."  A London-based School of African and Oriental Studies asked Kisin to sign a document that would ban him from joking about "racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-religion or anti-atheism."  "All jokes must be respectful and kind," Carlson said the document stipulated.  Kisin said, however, the situation is "an outlier" and that he is not usually required to curb his humor when performing.  An outlier now, common policy tomorrow.  A darkness is descending on colleges and universities throughout the West.  Britain is a particularly bad example.

ACTUALLY, A GOOD IDEA – FROM CBS LOCAL:   Millennials who feel they lack some basic life skills can now take "adulting" classes, which are expanding across the country. The classes teach life skills like cooking, budgeting and time management, CBS New York reports, and young adults are signing up for lessons in person and online.  Rachel Flehinger co-founded the aptly named Adulting School in Portland, Maine. This month, she is launching online classes geared toward millennials who want to learn how to sew on a button, understand modern art or even deal with love.  The course curriculum on love will include "how to have a relationship, how to talk to someone, conflict resolution — how not to fight," Flehinger said. It will even offer guidance on how to tell someone you love them.  Elena Toumaras, 29, is currently learning an adult skill she was never taught before – cooking. Toumaras is attending a cooking class in Queens to help fill a gap in her life skill knowledge.  "I was so used to -- when living at home -- my mom always cooking," she said. "Doing simple things now that I'm on my own, I'm struggling with it."  Good for them.  Learning basic life skills should be part of every education, and might even turn out to be more useful than attending anti-American rallies.

December 15, 2018