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Because it was Christmas Eve, we're combining last night's usual Angel's Corner posting with the upcoming Sunday edition, to be published Sunday night.

DECEMBER 25,  2014

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

RESPONSIBLE GUY – The black mayor of Berkeley, Missouri, where a black teen was killed by a white officer several nights ago, isn't providing any fodder for Al Sharpton.  From CBS:  "BERKELEY, Mo. (KMOX) – Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins is hoping to avert the kind of street violence that he saw in neighboring Ferguson just a few months ago.  This comes after another black teen was killed by a white police officer – the difference is that the suspect reportedly aimed a gun at the officer first.  Hoskins says from what he’s seen on the surveillance tape, this is not a repeat of Ferguson, and the officer was justified.
He says the surveillance video from the Mobil on the Run gas station is strong preliminary evidence that the Berkeley officer fired in self-defense after a gun was pointed at him."  Admirable behavior that probably will end the mayor's political career.

IT CONTINUES – More arrests in New York of those who threaten cops.  From Reuters:  "(Reuters) - Two more men have been arrested for threatening New York police, including one who called the precinct headquarters of two officers killed as they sat in their patrol car and asked to speak to one of them, a police spokesman said on Thursday.  The arrests bring to six the number of those detained for threats against the New York Police Department since officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot on Saturday by a gunman seeking revenge for unarmed black men killed by police."  The fear of copycat killings continues.  There are several stories out there about the police finding arsenals in the homes of some of those arrested for threatening cops.  We're sure Al Sharpton will calm the situation.

START THINKING – From London's Daily Mail:  "A new research study suggests that just thinking of exercising can have the same effects as actually hitting the gym, officials say.  A recent study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology found that simply imagining exercise can tone muscle, delay atrophy, and even make your muscles stronger. Researchers at Ohio University, according to the Breitbart News Network, conducted an experiment using two sets of 'healthy individuals.'  The researchers wrapped the wrists of one of the sets in a cast and gave them instructions to sit still for 11 minutes, five days a week, for four weeks, and 'perform mental imagery of strong muscle contractions,' -- or, imagine exercising. The other set were not given any instruction.  The results illustrated that the body and mind are more intertwined than we thought.
At the end of the four weeks, the participants who engaged in the 'mental exercise' were twice as strong as those who didn't, Breitbart reports.  Additionally, those participants had a stronger brain because the exercises created stronger neuromuscular pathways."  Great news for the couch potato "community."  But I'd like to see this verified.

December 25, 2014       Permalink 

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 12:06 P.M. ET:  We in New York have periodically suffered from the nuttiness of weird leftist judges.  Now we have another, and in the midst of unprecedented agitation against the police, she is doing real damage.  And she is acting despite repeated warnings from the administrators of her own court.  From the New York Post: 

She keeps turning ’em loose.

A day after freeing a gang member who posted an anti-cop death threat online, a Brooklyn judge ignored the admonishment of a court boss — and sprung a man who allegedly punched a police officer and threatened to kill his colleagues, The Post has learned.

Criminal Court Judge Laura Johnson blatantly disregarded an Office of Court Administration boss who said she “should be setting an example to the public that threatening or assaulting police officers isn’t an acceptable thing,” a courthouse source said.

The admonishment came in the wake of Saturday’s execution-style slayings of two NYPD cops as they sat in a patrol car in Brooklyn.

“The court administrator told her she exercised poor judgment, and that she had a case on later that night, and that she should exercise better judgment in that case,” the source said.

“It was a stern conversation,” the source added. “And she totally ignored it.”

On Tuesday night, Johnson released Travis Maye, 26, without bail following his arrest in a violent melee with cops earlier that day.

According to court records, Maye took swings at cops at Flatbush Avenue and Prospect Place at around 1:35 a.m., socking one officer in the eye and sending him to the hospital.

After being pepper-sprayed, stunned with a Taser and put in handcuffs, Maye, 26, ranted at the cops that he would “find out where you live” and “get you,” court papers say.

“You will die!” he allegedly ranted.

Johnson, a former high-ranking Legal Aid lawyer, was appointed to the bench by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Her term expires next Wednesday, and Mayor de Blasio is “considering” her reappointment, a City Hall official said.

COMMENT:  The police unions should publicize this case widely, and make clear their passionate opposition to this clown being reappointed.  It should be a test case to be used to judge the current, blundering mayor.

December 25, 2014       Permalink

LIES ABOUT THE POLICE – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:  I'm glad to see there's a major pushback against the lies being told about the police.  Led by figures like Rudy Giuliani of New York, the pushback seeks to correct the record and put it in context.

Everyone agrees that there are some bad cops.  But the wild charges and exaggerations of recent days, many instigated by old red groups, are doing enormous harm to police morale and police/community relations.  Inevitably, they will have their impact on the effectiveness of the police.  From Rich Lowry at the New York Post: 

As Heather Mac Donald of City Journal writes: “Criminologists have spent decades trying to prove that the overrepresentation of blacks and Hispanic in prison demonstrates that the criminal justice system is racist. And each time they fail. Even the most left-wing academics have been forced to admit that crime, not race, determines criminal justice outcomes.”

Police go where the crime is, and at considerable risk to themselves.

Surely, if their own comfort and safety were all that mattered to them, they would spend all their time patrolling the poshest neighborhoods in America.

Police critics have taken Ferguson and Garner and have woven them into a narrative of reckless disregard for the lives of blacks.

After the grand jury declined to indict in the Garner case, Mayor de Blasio referred to a “profound” crisis.

The numbers suggest the opposite: As crime has declined — thanks, in part, to rigorous policing — police interactions with the public have declined and have involved fewer instances of the use of force.

Our national conversation has been a national fever. Now, perhaps it will break.

The next lines refer to the son of one of the assassinated police officers:

As Jaden Ramos, the 13-year-old son of Rafael Ramos, wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post about his dad:

“Everyone says they hate cops but they are the people that they call for help.”

There is more wisdom in that simple statement than in most of the cable chatter, protest chants and op-eds written in the wake of Ferguson and the Garner case.

If we really want to reduce tensions between the community and men like Officer Rafael Ramos, it is imperative, first, to stop lying about the police.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  Read the whole piece.  The shooting of a black teenager by a white officer in a Missouri town a few nights ago was well handled by the town's black mayor, who refused to be dragged into cop bashing.  Thank you, sir.

December 25, 2014       Permalink

BEING CHRISTIAN IN BAGHDAD – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:   It is a terrible time for Christians in Baghdad.  The Islamic State is breathing down their necks.  From Breitbart:

(Reuters) – Baghdad’s embattled Christian community worshipped defiantly Wednesday night at Christmas Eve mass.

The pews filled at Baghdad’s Sacred Heart church, as people remembered the darkest year in memory.

Blast walls shielded the church and seven policeman flanked the outside of the house of worship, in an indication of the government’s fear of an attack on the religious groups by jihadists who consider them non-believers.

The congregation sang in unison: “Praise Jesus, our Lord. Oh praise him” as incense burnt in the darkened church.

The worshippers paid tribute to the thousands of Christians displaced this summer in northern Iraq when Islamic State seized the city of Mosul in June and in August pushed on toward Iraqi Kurdistan, over-running Christian towns on the Nineveh plain.

“The recent conditions have left us with a bit of sadness for our brethren, be they Christian or non-Christian, those who were displaced and harmed,” Father Thair Abdul Masih told Reuters.

“Christianity is the religion of peace and we pray for these people to return to their homes. We pray for all evil to vanish,” he said.

Some had personal stories of those displaced this summer in northern Iraq, who have scattered to Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey and Lebanon.

“They live in misery… yet we still exchange blessings and congratulations of Christmas and the New Year,” said Fadi Rafaat, 27, an assistant to the priest. “We celebrate the happiness of Christmas, but deep inside we carry the sadness of Iraq.”

COMMENT:  Obama should lead a major international effort focusing on the persecution of Christians in the Mideast.  He won't, of course.  Not unless there is a real uproar among Christians in the West, and their allies.  That is long overdue.

December 25,  2014     Permalink

DECEMBER 24,  2014

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

RELIGIOUS FOLKS HAPPIER – From Breitbart:  "A strong correlation exists between religiosity and personal happiness, according to a new study by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.  The study found that people who attend religious services on a weekly basis are nearly twice as likely to describe themselves as 'very happy' (45%) than people who never attend (28%). Conversely, those who never worship are twice as likely to say they are 'very unhappy' (4%) as those who attend services weekly (2%).  Building on prior research, this broad survey of American adults comprised a representative sample of 15,738 Americans between the ages of 18 and 60."  I have no special knowledge of the subject, but I've seen similar results before. 

WONDERFUL – from the Deseret News:  "FOUNTAIN GREEN, Sanpete County — With Old Glory leading the way, hundreds of people crowded onto Main Street Tuesday night for Fountain Green's first Christmas light parade, organized especially for little Addie Fausett.  The 6-year-old girl with a terminal brain disease enjoyed the festivities with her mother and sisters — the culmination of a month of love, showered on her family, that has touched everyone in the community.  'I think it has changed the way people think about Christmas in this little town,' said resident Nathan Beck."  Very much the right spirit.

CHRISTMAS IN ISRAEL – From the Jerusalem Post:  "Christians in Israel and the PA began to celebrate Christmas on Wednesday, along with some 70,000 Christian visitors who have come for the festivities.  The foci of the celebrations are in Nazareth and Bethlehem, the hometown and birthplace, respectively, of Jesus.  On Wednesday, the traditional Christmas parade was staged in Nazareth, and at the conclusion there was a firework display, sponsored by the Tourism Ministry, to mark the opening of the Christmas celebrations."  Christians are being persecuted in many countries of the Mideast, Israel not included, and yet there is a remarkable silence about their plight.  The people who are the first to scream "Islamophobia" have no interest in Christians (and of course Jews) being chased from nations and communities in the region.  The Pope has spoken out vigorously, but he is one of the few. 

December 24,  2014     Permalink

LET'S NOT FORGET THE REST OF THE WORLD – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:   There have been some disturbing terror-style incidents in France, and France has responded, although the official position of the government is weak.  From Breitbart: 

More than 1,000 soldiers have been deployed on the streets of France for Christmas after a spate of suspected festive-season terrorist attacks across the nation have left many French citizens critical of the government’s denialism, and fearful of increasing violence.

The move stands in contrast to the official line of the French government that the attacks, in which the assailants were reported in all cases to have shouted the Arabic salutation “Allahu Akbar” as they commenced their rampages, had nothing to do with terrorism, and were completely unrelated. The government has come under fire from opposition parties for its denial of a terrorism link, with French social media users reportedly cheering on the straight-talking rejection by the Front National (FN).

The Times reports the comments of FN deputy leader Florian Philippot which have apparently got social media users excited: “This is obviously terrorism… I wish they would stop playing politics and ideology, telling us that there are systematically isolated acts by disturbed people”. France has the largest Muslim population of any Western European nation, and the FN believes the government is reluctant to say anything that could antagonise the millions of Muslims settled in the country.

COMMENT:  Well, our government described the Fort Hood terror massacre as "workplace violence," so France isn't alone in its fiction.

December 24, 2014       Permalink

WAVE OF THE FUTURE – AT 10:10 A.M. ET:  Florida soars as New York continues to sink.  From the Census Bureau: 

By adding an average of 803 new residents each day between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, Florida passed New York to become the nation’s third most populous state, according to U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates released today. Florida’s population grew by 293,000 over this period, reaching 19.9 million. The population of New York increased by 51,000 to 19.7 million.

California remained the nation’s most populous state in 2014, with 38.8 million residents, followed by Texas, at 27.0 million. Although the list of the 10 most populous states overall was unchanged, two other states did change positions, as North Carolina moved past Michigan to take the ninth spot.

Another milestone took place in Georgia (ranked 8th), which saw its population surpass 10 million for the first time.

North Dakota was the nation’s fastest-growing state over the last year. Its population increased 2.2 percent, followed by the 1.7 percent growth in Nevada and Texas. Each of the 10 fastest-growing states was in the South or West with the exception of North Dakota.

Six states lost population between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014: Illinois (9,972 or -0.08 percent), West Virginia (3,269 or -0.18 percent), Connecticut (2,664 or -0.07 percent), New Mexico (1,323 or -0.06 percent, Alaska (527 or -0.07 percent) and Vermont (293 or -0.05 percent).

COMMENT:  With the exception of California, it appears that the red states are gaining.  Our job is to keep them red.  California used to be a red state, but population changes and an odd political climate has turned Ronald Reagan's state into a dependable Democratic constituency, and a major drag on our side in presidential elections.

December 24, 2014        Permalink

OH THESE PETTY CRIMES; HOW ANNOYING – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  A bit of bother for an Obama nomination.  Can't anyone have a little defect?  From Fox:   

The Obama administration's nominee for a senior legal position at the Pentagon is one of the congressional staffers accused by Republicans and intelligence officials of stealing classified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, Fox News has learned -- and the controversy could imperil her shot at a major career promotion.

Sources on Capitol Hill and in the intelligence community say Alissa Starzak, a majority staffer on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) who has been nominated for the position of general counsel to the U.S. Army, is one of two SSCI employees accused by the panel's Republicans, and by career intelligence officers, of having "stolen" the so-called Panetta Review: a classified study of the agency's treatment of detainees prepared by former CIA Director Leon Panetta.

Starzak is a former assistant general counsel for CIA and, more recently, a deputy general counsel at the Defense Department for legislative affairs. She was nominated for the Army's general counsel position in July of this year. With an eye on the clock, as the Senate prepares to revert to Republican control early next year, the Armed Services Committee approved Starzak's nomination -- without a recorded vote -- on Dec. 9. But the nomination expired a week later, and must now be re-submitted to the committee, with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as its likely chairman, in the next session of Congress.

A spokesperson for McCain said he is traveling and could not be reached for comment on whether he would support Starzak's nomination going forward.

COMMENT:  Stand up, John.  Make it clear that people with major clouds over their heads aren't going to get the rubber stamp.

December 24, 2014       Permalink

A NEW CASE – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  Missouri again, near Ferguson.  Let's see where this one goes.  Details are just coming in.  From Reuters:

(Reuters) - An 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by police late on Tuesday at a gas station in a St. Louis suburb near where unarmed teen Michael Brown was killed by a white officer in August, police and local media said.

A video feed showed the gas station cordoned off by yellow tape and guarded by police, some in helmets and carrying riot shields, with bystanders shouting at them in a tense standoff.

The shooting of Brown in the summer, and the decision not to prosecute the officer involved, set off demonstrations across the country. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported that some 60 people had gathered at the scene of Tuesday's incident and that at least three were arrested.

Images and video footage showed a flash, a loud bang and smoke filling an area near the gas pumps, but it was not clear whether they were caused by bystanders or the police. Local broadcaster KSDK reported people hurled rocks and bricks toward police.

Police said the man who was killed had pointed a handgun at an officer who was conducting a "routine business check" and had approached two men outside the gas station after 11 p.m. (0500 GMT) in the suburb of Berkeley.

"Fearing for his life, the Berkeley Officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him," St. Louis County Police Department spokesman Brian Schellman said in a statement. The second man fled the scene.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch named the dead man as 18-year-old Antonio Martin, citing his mother, who said he was with his girlfriend around the time of the shooting.

"They won't tell me nothing. His girlfriend told me that the police was messing with him," the man's mother, Toni Martin, told a local broadcaster. "When he was trying to get up and run, they start shooting."

St. Louis County police recovered the deceased's man's handgun at the scene. The did not confirm his identity.

COMMENT:  We don't know facts.  Is there video surveillance of the incident?  Was the officer firing white?  Did the dead teenager have a criminal record?  Was the teenager's gun real?  Loaded? 

This has the look of a legitimate act of self defense by the officer.  We'll wait for more details.

December 24,  2014     Permalink