SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:01 P.M. ET:

NFL APPEASEMENT CONTINUES – FROM THE HILL:  NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been named a finalist for an award honoring players for their community service work.  Kaepernick and four other players were announced as finalists for the NFL Players Association’s (NFLPA) Byron “Whizzer” White Community MVP award, according to NBC Sports.  The free agent quarterback pledged $1 million to various charitable organizations during the 2016 season. He won the NFLPA’s “Community MVP” award during Week 1 of the 2017 season after donating $100,000 to four charities and holding a back-to-school backpack giveaway in New York City.   He also originated the practice of "taking a knee" during the national anthem.  The practice has resulted in a decline of respect for the NFL, and much lower television ratings. 

FRENCH GUY TO VISIT – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   President Donald Trump plans to use the annual billionaires gathering at Davos to extend special hospitality to French President Emmanuel Macron by inviting him to a state visit to the U.S.  Trump has hosted numerous foreign leaders but has yet to host an official state visit.  He expressed deep appreciation for the red carpet treatment Macron showed him on a visit to France on a visit pegged to Bastille Day. They viewed the Bastille Day parade together and dined with their spouses, First Lady Melania Trump and French First Lady Brigitte Macron, in the Eiffel Tower. The White House would not officially confirm reports about the planned invitation.   'We don't have an announcement to make at this time,' an official told CNN.  However, as France 24 noted, Trump didn't get the honor of a state dinner at Elysee Palace.   It's interesting that Britain will not receive the first state dinner, something of a snub.  Trump has an awkward relationship with the current British government, even though it is conservative.

THE NEWEST VERSION – FROM FOX:  Dire warnings of underwater cities and drowning polar bears are less likely to pan out than once thought.  That’s an upshot of a new study in the journal Nature by top climate scientists, including a lead author of U.N. climate estimates.  The study’s conclusion says it is “renewing hope that we may yet be able to avoid global warming exceeding [3.6 °F].”  For the last 25 years, the UN has had the same prediction of the impact of carbon dioxide: That will warm the Earth by between 2.7 – 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit if emissions continue at the current rate and levels end up at double the pre-industrial level.  But the latest study uses a new method to determine that the actual likely range of warming would be narrower: between 4 – 6.1°F. The study finds just a 1% chance of an increase over 8.1°F degrees.
Past models have over-predicted warming. A 2013 study in the journal Nature Climate Change found that out of 117 climate predictions made in the 1990's, three were roughly accurate and 114 overestimated warming.  Maybe we're finally getting to the truth.  I wonder if the media will report it.

January 23, 2018