SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

FASCINATING CASE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:  The Supreme Court announced Friday it will grant an expedited hearing on the Trump administration’s request to add a question concerning citizenship to the 2020 census.  The justices set oral argument for February, converting what had been a narrow request involving one part of the case into a full grant of review.  At stake is one of President Trump’s key goals — asking people to disclose their citizenship when they take part in the 2020 count.  Anti-Trump state attorneys general and immigrant-rights groups sued to stop the question, arguing it will scare immigrants, both legal and illegal, away from taking part in the census, skewing the count. That, they say, will mean some states won’t get the congressional representation nor federal money they are entitled to.  A federal judge in New York has ruled that asking the question isn’t inherently illegal — indeed, it was part of censuses up to 1950, and is still asked by the Census Bureau to some smaller sample sizes. But the judge questioned the motives of the Trump administration in asking it.  Seems to me that asking if someone is a citizen is a key part of any census.  Common sense, please.

I CANNOT WAIT (YES I CAN) – FROM DEADLINE.COM:   Bull star Michael Weatherly and NCIS: Los Angeles co-star Eric Christian Olsen have teamed up to produce First Lady, a provocative drama, which has been put in development at CBS.  Written/executive produced by Jessica Grasl (Designated Survivor), First Lady centers around the beloved First Lady of the United States, who, determined to reclaim her life, does the unthinkable – she divorces her husband while he’s still in office and uses her prominence to become an advocate for truth and justice by revitalizing her career as an investigative journalist.  I'd like to know what "truth and justice" they're talking about.  In Hollywood, that's usually code language for the left-wing line.

SMART WORKERS – FROM METRO:   Quite a large number of British workers reckon a robot could make better business decisions than their own flesh-and-blood boss.  That’s according to a new report that found one in three (34%) of employees believe a robot would be better if it had access to the right business intelligence.  The annual survey, called the Advanced Trends Report, is the third commissioned by British software and services company Advanced. The company asked over 1,000 professionals in UK organisations and found that only 35% of managing directors are said to be driving technology change.   Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents said they would be happy to work alongside robotic technology if it meant less manual processes.  The future workplace.  I hope the robots will tell good jokes.

November 16, 2018