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

AH, THE GOOD OLD DAYS – FROM CBS LOCAL:   BERKELEY, Calif. (CBS SF/AP) — Protesters armed with bricks and fireworks mounted an assault on the building hosting a speech by polarizing Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos Wednesday night, forcing the event’s cancellation.  Several injuries have been reported and at least four banks have been vandalized after demonstrators marched away from the scene of a violent protest at the canceled speaking event by controversial far-right writer and speaker Yiannopoulos on the University of California at Berkeley campus. UC Berkeley officials said the protest was infiltrated by vandals.  Yiannopoulos was making the last stop of a tour aimed at defying what he calls an epidemic of political correctness on college campuses.  With masked activists joining the already large group of protesters gathered in the area between Sather Gate and the north end of Telegraph Avenue as night fell, campus police were holding their positions near the entrance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building hosting the event.  As the gathered crowd got more agitated, masked “black bloc” activists began hurling projectiles including bricks, lit fireworks and rocks at the building and police.  I'm sure many of you watched the action live on either CNN or Fox.  Right back to the 1960s.  What those juvenile delinquents don't realize is that their behavior simply strengthens President Trump.  I'd like to know if anyone will be expelled.  Probably not.

MAJOR STEP IN TRENDINESS – FROM BREITBART:   State-owned company Lernia on Tuesday launched a campaign to replace the standard form of Swedish with one that’s more inclusive of migrants.
The ‘new standard Swedish’, developed in collaboration with linguist Mikael Parkvall, mixes together accents and dialects that are commonly spoken in Sweden.  According to the staffing and training company, the new dialect better reflects Sweden in 2017 and the company hopes it will replace the neutral form of Swedish in recorded messages and on answering machines.  Training Manager at Lernia, Ina Tzacheva, told Östra Småland News there’s a labour shortage in Sweden and Europe and so it’s important that people with non-standard accents don’t feel excluded from the jobs market.  Expressing concern that some people are being excluded from work because of the way they speak, she told the newspaper: “We want to focus on how a person’s accent is not reflective of their skills and expertise … We cannot exclude people just because they do not speak in the same way as we do.”  So,if you want to be hip, just sprinkle your speech with trendy lines like, "Kill all the infidels, and have a nice day."  Your Ivy League friends will be impressed.

DOING IT RIGHT – FROM AP:   DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) -- Assuming the somber duties of commander in chief, President Donald Trump made an unannounced trip Wednesday to honor the returning remains of a U.S. Navy SEAL killed in a weekend raid in Yemen.  Chief Special Warfare Operator William "Ryan" Owens, a 36-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, was the first known U.S. combat casualty since Trump took office less than two weeks ago. More than half a dozen militant suspects were also killed in the raid on an al-Qaida compound and three other U.S. service members were wounded...Trump's trip to Delaware's Dover Air Base was shrouded in secrecy. The president and his daughter, Ivanka, departed the White House in the presidential helicopter with their destination unannounced. A small group of journalists traveled with Trump on the condition that the visit was not reported until his arrival.  Marine One landed at Dover shortly before a C-17 believed to be carrying Owens' remains touched down. The president met with Owens family during a two-hour visit to the base. The sailor's family had requested that Trump's visit and the return of Owens' remains be private.  Whether you like Trump or not, he has restored the traditional presidential respect for the armed forces, and for that we should thank him.

February 1, 2017