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

GO AWAY, GO AWAY – FROM ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:  Bill Clinton has landed a major TV series deal.  The former president and bestselling author James Patterson have selected Showtime to adapt their upcoming thriller, The President Is Missing.  The novel, set to be published in 2018, tells the story of a sitting U.S. president’s mysterious disappearance with the level of detail that only someone who has held the highest office can know.  The president is missing because the first lady, whose name is Hillary, has locked him in the White House basement and is running the country.

FADING – FROM REUTERS:  Time Inc (TIME.N) said on Friday it was looking to sell several assets, including Time Inc UK, and warned it experienced more-than-anticipated softness in both print and advertising revenue during the current quarter.  The publisher, which said in April that it would not sell itself, said assets identified for sale include Time Customer Service and a majority stake in the Essence magazine.  The assets marked for divestitures represent about $488 million, or 17 percent of total revenue for the 12-months ended June 30, the company said.  A sale may be announced as early as the fourth quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday. bit.ly/2xkudm5.  The internet and the 24-hour TV news cycle have, for many people, rendered weekly or monthly magazines obsolete, and expensive.  I still think they have value, but the public increasingly disagrees. TIME was once a mighty empire, and the Time-Life Building in New York a center of power.  A sad fadeout.

THE INSANITY OF SOME EDUCATORS – FROM FOX:  A patriotic parent in Mesa, Ariz., got her fourth-grade child moved to a different class after finding out the teacher had students recite a gender-neutral version of the Declaration of Independence.  Parent Elizabeth Vaillencourt, whose child attends Salk Elementary School, shared a photo on Facebook, showing the unidentified teacher displayed a copy of the declaration in the classroom, with "all men are created equal" changed to "all humans are created equal," KGUN-TV reported.  After Vaillencourt spoke with school officials, her child was moved to a different class. But school officials told her that her social media post had "hurt the teacher's feelings," the television station reported. Vaillencourt told the station that the school superintendent’s office informed her that the teacher’s actions were against school policy.  A teacher should never change an original document.  That is academic malpractice.  The proper approach is to teach from the original, and then perhaps open a discussion on whether a change would be made if the document were written today.

September 22, 2017