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DECEMBER 19,  2015

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

SOME HUMOR AT LAST – From Mediaite:  Presidential candidate John Kasich — whose campaign recently released several cinematic anti-Trump masterpieces on YouTube — Saturday unveiled a website promoting the fictional “Trump-Putin 2016” campaign, inviting voters to “make tyranny great again.”  The website, trump-putin2016.com launched several days after Vladimir Putin heaped praise on the Republican frontrunner; the Russian president told reporters Thursday that Donald Trump is “a very bright and talented person and the absolute leader of the presidential race.”  I love it.  It's time for some humor in the grim primary contests. 

MAJOR EDUCATIONAL CRISIS – From thecollegefix.com:   An adjunct at Rutgers University says that the school has “effectively canceled” his course on black feminism taught through the pop singer Beyoncé.  School officials say the course was merely moved over to the American studies program, but instructor Kevin Allred says he had to ask that program to pick it up — after the women’s studies department did not put it on the spring semester schedule.  Allred has taught “Politicizing Beyoncé” eleven times now. According to him, the course discusses “the thin line Beyoncé walks as a sex kitten-cum-girl power role model.”  The intellectual depth simply overwhelms me.  I'd have to take an introductory course just to get ready for "Politicizing Beyoncé."

HMM, A PLOT HERE? – From The Hill:   Former top Obama adviser David Axelrod is criticizing the Democratic National Committee's treatment of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the growing controversy over private voter data.  "W/out evidence that his hierarchy knew about data-poaching, harsh penalty v. @BernieSanders looks like @DNC is putting finger on the scale," David Axelrod tweeted Friday.  Pretty strong stuff, suggesting the Democratic National Committee is tilting things in favor of Hillary.  Would Axelrod put that out without Obama's approval?  I don't know, but it's an intriguing question.

GUN SALES SOAR...IN EUROPE – It is very hard to buy a firearm in most of Western Europe.  But still, gun sales are soaring, with customers willing to go through the background checks and paperwork to gain approval for a gun purchase.  Gun Sales are especially strong in Sweden, which some say is on the brink of chaos because the "enlightened" government in Stockholm admitted so many immigrants from the Mideast who do not share Swedish values.  It's clear from the gun sales report that many Europeans no longer trust their governments to protect them.  Sound familiar?

December 19,  2015     Permalink

SIGN OF THE TIMES – AT 12:44 P.M. ET:  From the Harvard Crimson:

As many students clamber to finish bibliographies and extend term papers onto that last page, some have had to add a new sentence to final assignments for the first time this fall.

During final exams, and on final papers and assignments, undergraduates have starting affirming their awareness of Harvard College’s first honor code, which went into effect this semester.

The Office of Undergraduate Education now requires students to sign statements affirming that they are aware of the new academic integrity policy on all seated final exams, according to Elisabeth L. Laskin, an assistant dean of undergraduate education. Attendance confirmation forms now require students to sign that declaration in accordance with the honor code.

The honor code and its attached student-faculty Honor Council, the new disciplinary board charged with enforcing the policy, made their debut this semester after years of extensive planning and a high-profile cheating scandal that originally involved more than 100 students in 2012. From the start of the semester, administrators and students have tried to publicize the policy, about which some undergraduates and faculty members have voiced skepticism. Student members of the Honor Council wore matching shirts at events, created a Facebook page for the group, and expanded outreach to dining halls, courses, and other events.

Laskin wrote in an email that administrators have asked that faculty notify students to include affirmations of integrity on final assignments. Administrators provided faculty with a sample statement—“I affirm my awareness of the standards of the Harvard College Honor Code”—but professors may modify the pledge, according to the honor code’s website.

COMMENT:  It's sad that it took a cheating scandal to help move Harvard to adopt an honor code, but Harvard did the right thing by establishing the code.  Honor codes, such as those used at the service academies, play an important role in teaching students what is expected of them by their school and by society.  The codes tend to be strict, and I don't think any have been contaminated by political correctness, although I can't say that with absolute certainty.

I also like the word "honor."  It's not considered a "cool" word among some of the young, but it is very cool indeed, and a word we need.

December 19, 2015       Permalink

WARNINGS ABOUT THE "GOOD WAR" – AT 11:34 A.M. ET:  Wasn't Afghanistan the "good war"?  Isn't that what Obama said when he first ran for president?  Iraq:  bad.  Afghanistan:  good.  Well, apparently it is good no more, and not worth much of Obama's attention.  There's a new player on the block.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

AFGHANISTAN - US Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned of the threat from Islamic State in Afghanistan during a surprise visit on Friday days after the Pentagon painted a grim picture of worsening security there.

Carter met troops at a US base near the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar Province, where about 600 US troops are stationed. Operating Base Fenty is a hub for training, logistics and counter-terrorism efforts across eastern Afghanistan.

Islamic State has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and in recent months mounted attacks on Afghan security forces in Nangarhar.

The group competes with the Taliban for territory and recruits, say US officials.

US Army General John Campbell, who leads international forces in Afghanistan, said Islamic State had coalesced over the last five or six months in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and had been fighting the Taliban for several months.

He estimated there were between 1,000 and 3,000 members of Islamic State in Afghanistan and said its presence had forced the Taliban to re-direct some resources away from fighting Afghan security forces.

COMMENT:   We wish both the Taliban and ISIS could lose, but one will probably emerge victorious. 

We are even losing in the "good" war because we have a commander-in-chief who is indifferent.  The next president will have his (or her) hands full, while Obama goes off and becomes a citizen of the world.

December 19, 2015       Permalink

TRUMP DOMINATES NEW FOX POLL – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  The new poll confirms what other polls have been telling us, that Trump's strength atop the GOP field of candidates continues, when the question involves the nomination.  The poll produces a very different result when dealing with the general election.  From Fox: 

Donald Trump, a candidate even Republicans once considered a side show, increases his lead yet again in the nomination race, according to the latest Fox News national poll.

The poll also finds Ted Cruz ticking up, Marco Rubio slipping, and Ben Carson dropping.

Trump hits a high of 39 percent among Republican primary voters, up from 28 percent a month ago. The increase comes mainly from men, white evangelical Christians, and voters without a college degree -- and at the expense of Carson.

However, the poll is not all good news for the Donald. Despite his increasing advantage in the primary, his support in the general election is down.

And...

Despite Trump’s strong showing among primary voters, other Republicans perform better when all registered voters are asked their preference in hypothetical general election ballot tests.

When matched against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Rubio has a two-point edge (45 percent vs. 43 percent), and Cruz and Clinton tie (45 percent). Carson is down by two.

Clinton now overtakes Trump: 49 percent vs. 38 percent. Her 11-point advantage is outside the poll’s three-point error margin. A month ago, Trump was up by 5 points (November 16-19).

COMMENT:  That is a warning for Republicans.  In recent years the GOP has suffered considerably by nominating unelectable candidates.  Will that now continue?  Obviously, this is only one poll, but what will Republican voters do if other polls show Trump unelectable against Clinton?  That may be the most important political question of 2016. 

December 19,  2015     Permalink

DECEMBER 18,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:31 P.M. ET: 

CULINARY DISGRACE – From the New York Post:   Students at an ultra-liberal Ohio college are in an uproar over the fried chicken, sushi and Vietnamese sandwiches served in the school cafeterias, complaining the dishes are “insensitive” and “culturally inappropriate.”  Gastronomically correct students at Oberlin College are filling the school newspaper with complaints and demanding meetings with campus dining officials and even the college president.  General Tso’s chicken was made with steamed chicken instead of fried — which is not authentically Chinese, and simply “weird,” one student bellyached in the Oberlin Review.  Forget nuclear proliferation.  Forget ISIS.  This is big!

IT DAWNS ON HAGEL – When Chuck Hagel was made secretary of defense it was clearly because he'd sold out his own Republican Party, opposed the Bush administration, and endorsed Obama in 2008.  None of that mattered.  From The Hill:  Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says White House aides tried to personally "destroy" him.  In an interview with Foreign Policy, Hagel opened up about his tenure in the administration, discussing the uncertainty over Syria strategy and accusing the White House of micromanaging the Pentagon, echoing similar criticisms from predecessors Robert Gates and Leon Panetta.  Tension between Hagel and other officials in President Obama's inner circle surfaced publicly last year, as the then-Defense chief and the White House disagreed over a number of policy initiatives.  Hagel and White House national security adviser Susan Rice "frequently butted heads" over Syria policy and the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, according to the Foreign Policy report.  Hagel, who did not mention Rice by name, told the magazine that even after he agreed to leave the administration, some White House officials continued to anonymously knock him in the press.  The name Susan Rice keeps coming up, as one of the most contentious, argumentative, and deceptive personalities in the Obama White House.  Other than that, she's beloved.

THE MARCH OF PROGRESS – From Bloomberg:  The self-driving car, that cutting-edge creation that’s supposed to lead to a world without accidents, is achieving the exact opposite right now: The vehicles have racked up a crash rate double that of those with human drivers.  The glitch?  They obey the law all the time, as in, without exception. This may sound like the right way to program a robot to drive a car, but good luck trying to merge onto a chaotic, jam-packed highway with traffic flying along well above the speed limit. It tends not to work out well. As the accidents have piled up -- all minor scrape-ups for now -- the arguments among programmers at places like Google Inc. and Carnegie Mellon University are heating up: Should they teach the cars how to commit infractions from time to time to stay out of trouble?  They should teach the cars to take the train.

December 18, 2015       Permalink

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:   There are rumors that Harvard is an intelligent place.  That contention is under study.  From the Boston Globe: 

Last week, Harvard students found themselves staring down at placemats in the dining hall that asked, among other interesting questions: “Why are Black students complaining? Shouldn’t they be happy to be in college?”

The university apologized on Wednesday for the “Holiday Placemats for Social Justice,” a misguided attempt to help students navigate winter break with curious family members after a tumultuous semester at many colleges nationwide.

The colorful, laminated sheets are divided into four topic areas officials thought family might ask about, including student activism, Islamophobia, the Harvard’s controversial house master title change and black murders in the street.

The placemats offered helpful responses like: “When I hear students expressing their experiences of racism on campus, I don’t hear complaining. Instead I hear young people uplifting a situation that I might not experience.”

In response to the criticism, Stephen Lassonde, dean of student life, and Thomas Dingman, dean of freshmen, apologized in a letter on Wednesday:

“Our goal was to provide a framework for you to engage in conversations with peers and family members as you return home for the winter break, however, it was not effectively presented and it ultimately caused confusion in our community,” they wrote. “To suggest that there is only one point of view on each of these issues runs counter to our educational goals.”

In the middle of the placemat, there are more general tips for talking to family members: “listen, breathe, ask, affirm and speak.”

In a column for The Harvard Crimson , student Idrees M. Kalhoon pointed out that the text for the placemats was taken word-for-word from a similar credited poster created by the group Showing Up for Racial Justice, whose aim is to move “white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.”

COMMENT:  This is at one of America's leading universities.  It demonstrates once again that our colleges have been hijacked by the political left, and that our kids are not getting a full education.  The idea that a college would supply talking points for students to use with their families reminds us of life in the old Soviet Union.  And it's probably intentional.

December 18, 2015       Permalink

DONALD AND VLADIMIR, TOGETHER AGAIN! – AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  Is this an American presidential election, or a musical comedy?  From The Hill:

Donald Trump on Friday continued to flaunt his endorsement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, pointing to the oligarch's popularity in his home nation.

"He's a strong leader, he's a powerful leader. He's represented his country," Trump said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe,” though he conceded that Putin may run his own polling.

"Certainly over the last couple of years they've respected him as a leader. I think he's up in the 80s, where you see Obama is in the 30s and low 40s — and he's up in the 80s," Trump said of Putin's popularity.

"I don't know who does the polls, maybe he does the polls," Trump said.

The Russian leader praised the celebrity real estate developer-turned GOP front-runner during his annual press conference on Thursday, calling him a "really brilliant and talented person."

Trump, who has previously spoken warmly of Putin, said Thursday it was a "great honor" to be complimented by the Russian leader, who has received criticism for silencing opposition, stifling democratic reform, annexing the Crimean Peninsula and continuing to support the Syrian regime.

"Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough noted Friday that Putin "is a person who kills journalists, political opponents and invades countries."

"He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in our country," Trump responded.

"Again, he kills journalists that don't agree with him," said Scarborough, a former Florida GOP representative.

"Well I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe, so ..." Trump said.

"You obviously condemn Vladimir Putin killing journalists and political opponents, right?" Scarborough asked.

"Oh sure, absolutely," Trump responded.

COMMENT:  Did you ever think you'd see the day when a Republican presidential candidate cherished the Putin vote? 

I have to tell you, I think Trump is getting embarrassing.  And I'm not at all sure that he's a Republican.

December 18, 2015       Permalink

WHAT IS IT WITH THESE DEMOCRATS? – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  They have such trouble with modern technology.  From the Boston Globe:

The Democratic National Committee has told the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that it was suspending its access to its voter database after a software error enabled at least one of his staff members to review Hillary Clinton’s private campaign data.

The decision by the party committee is a major blow to Sanders’ campaign. The database includes information from voters across the nation and is used by campaigns to set strategy, especially in the early voting states.

The breach occurred after a software problem at the technology company NGP VAN, which gives campaigns access to the voter data. The problem inadvertently made proprietary voter data of Clinton’s campaign visible to others, according to party committee officials.

The Sanders campaign said that it had fired a staff member who breached Clinton’s data. But according to three people with direct knowledge of the breach, there were four user accounts associated with the Sanders campaign that ran searches while the security of Clinton’s data was compromised.

The Washington Post first reported the issue.

The suspension comes as Sanders prepares to face Clinton at the Democratic debate Saturday and as he received the endorsement of a major union, the Communications Workers of America, and a liberal group Thursday.

The Democratic committee blamed NGP VAN for the software glitch.

“This was an isolated incident, and we’re conducting a full audit to ensure the integrity of the system and reporting the findings to the DNC,” Stu Trevelyan, NGP VAN’s chief executive, said.

COMMENT:  Rather harsh punishment for Bernie.  It pretty much tells you who's running the Democratic National Committee.  It's a Hillary world. 

So one of Bernie's staffers breached the database and Bernie pays the price.  Hillary misused her e-mail system for several years, had a private server, and she gets to be the presidential nominee.  Class, what are the moral lessons here?

December 18, 2015       Permalink