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DECEMBER 26,  2018

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

THE ULTIMATE DISGRACE – FROM THE HILL:   Democrats are worried that they have a problem: The three people leading polls in the very early stages of their presidential race are all white men.  The party traditionally battles over identity politics and wants to be seen as promoting diversity.  Its last three nominees have been Barack Obama, who became the nation’s first African-American president, and Hillary Clinton, the first woman to win the popular vote.  Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) are this year’s top-tier candidates, according to a recent and very early Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll.  It showed that 32 percent of those polled in Iowa favored Biden, while 19 percent preferred Sanders and 11 percent liked O'Rourke.  While some Democrats believe the early polls are merely a metric on name recognition, they say it defies the party’s mission to be more diverse and more inclusive that the top three candidates are all white men.   How pathetic.  All that counts is diversity.  Quality, judgment, wisdom, patriotism – all out the window.  Lincoln never would have made it.

PRESIDENTIAL VISIT – FROM FOX:   President Trump made his second unannounced visit to U.S. troops abroad on Wednesday, according to reports.  On his way back from meeting troops in Iraq, Trump stopped at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for refueling and met with service members there. Trump slowly made his way down a rope line at the German base, shaking hands, signing autographs, chatting and posing for selfies. Some service members held up “Make America Great Again” caps for Trump to sign.  The president’s earlier visit to a base in western Iraq, about 100 miles west of Baghdad, was his first to U.S. forces in harm’s way overseas.  He said it’s because of U.S. military gains against the Islamic State terror group that he can withdraw 2,000 forces from Syria. Trump said the U.S. mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds — not to be a nation builder. He said that’s a job that should be shouldered by other rich nations — reiterating his America First policies and an ideology that challenges America’s role as global cop.  Trump met with U.S. diplomats and senior military leaders and wished troops a happy holiday.  Some of our "news" organizations had already reported that Trump was the first president in recent memory not to visit troops during the holidays.  They might have waited for the holidays to be over before coming to that conclusion.  Much egg on many faces.

FOX ONLY TROTS – FROM THE HILL:   MSNBC beat out Fox News last week in key ratings for first time in 17 years, topping its competitors in total average viewers for the first time since 2000, according to a news release from MSNBC.  MSNBC averaged 1,558,000 total viewers during the "sales day" (6 a.m. to 2 a.m.) between Dec. 17-21, while Fox News averaged 1,541,000 total viewers. CNN, meanwhile, averaged 975,000.  Among people between the ages of 25 and 54, a key demographic for cable news networks, MSNBC also finished the week as the No. 1.   In prime time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), MSNBC continued to lead Fox News and CNN in total viewers and among that key age group for the fourth week in a row. 
MSNBC prime time last week averaged 2,578,000 total viewers, compared to Fox's 2,240,000 and CNN’s 1,398,000. Of those viewers, 471,000 thousand were between the ages of 25 and 54 for MSNBC, while 355,000 were in that demographic for Fox and 415,000 for CNN.   This number among the 25-54 age group was a significant drop for Fox, which typically leads the pack.  The fierce resistance to President Trump probably explains the rise in MSNBC ratings.  It's the go-to network for never-Trumpers.  And Fox has seen turmoil in the last few years.  But I still think Fox is solid. 

December 26, 2018        Permalink

OUR AGING AIR FORCE – AT 2:38 P.M. ET:  If you think we can cut the defense budget, please consider this.  The numbers are stunning.  From Daily Beast: 

The U.S. Air Force's planes are old and getting older. The average Air Force plane is 28 years old, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That means hundreds, if not thousands, of Air Force pilots are flying planes built before they were born.

Replacing huge numbers of aging aircraft with newer models could be very, very expensive. The cost could swell to $26 billion annually by the mid-2030s.

And that's before taking into account the flying branch's ambitious plan to stand up 74 new squadrons.

Barring some radical shift in the cost of new technology, future administrations could face a difficult choice. Either boost Air Force budgets to Cold War levels or higher, or shrink the flying branch to an affordable size.

“Growing the force is going to compete directly with modernizing the force,” Todd Harrison, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., told Breaking Defense, a trade publication.

Today the Air Force possesses around 5,600 aircraft in 312 squadrons, making it by far the biggest air force in the world.

The planes on average are old, however. Thanks to the government's military spending spree in the 1980s and a subsequent decline in spending in the mid-'90s, no fewer than 1,900 of the Air Force's most important warplanes—including most of its A-10, F-16 and F-15 fighters— are between 26 and 40 years old, according to a December Congressional Budget Office report.

Most people replace their cars every six years, according to Autotrader. But the Air Force might hold on to a fighter jet for nearly half a century. And the youngest B-52 bomber in the American arsenal was built when John F Kennedy was still in the White House.

COMMENT:  Pretty frightening, considering the pace at which both Russia and China are expanding their military capability, with the emphasis on China.

We have the future of Western civilization in our hands, and that means the future of freedom.  Ronald Reagan famously said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

The Democrats might think about that, but they won't. 

December 26, 2018       Permalink

THEY'RE BAACK!  THE DEMS, THAT IS – AT 1:30 P.M. ET:  We are now getting a taste of what to expect when the new Congress is sworn in.  Hold onto your wallets.  From Fox: 

Expect to hear the words “free,” “guaranteed” and “for all” a whole lot more in the new year as Democrats prepare an arsenal of big-government bills that could actually see a floor vote once they take control of the House.

Come January, proposals like “Medicare for all” and a host of other generous-but-costly welfare programs that were little more than talking points in recent years could have a shot at passing a chamber of Congress.

“There are dozens of measures like this that have been languishing with Republicans at the helm for years, and I expect to see many of them finally come to the floor under Democratic leadership,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., told Fox News

With the GOP’s expanded majority in the Senate, it’s unlikely these measures would make it to President Trump’s desk. But their consideration on the House side would mark a first step in formally considering major government expansions – concerning everything from education to health care – that Democrats increasingly favor. And with “Medicare for all” and similar proposals amounting to litmus tests for modern progressives, roll-call votes on any of these issues would reveal just how broad their support is.

At the same time, floor votes putting Democrats on record for multi-trillion-dollar policies could embolden Republicans working to recover from their midterm losses.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, shortly before the November elections, told Breitbart News Daily that Democrats are moving “toward clear socialism,” and suggested Republicans need to make the case for “unleashing the great powers of liberty and freedom.”

COMMENT:  Yeah, free, guaranteed for all.  We've been here before.  Nothing is free, of course, but socialists have perfected the technique of giving the benefits up front and sending the bill later.  Once the benefits are in place, they can never be taken away.  That's one of the basic rules of politics.

Republicans will have to explain themselves vigorously and quickly.  Americans must be made to understand that "Medicare for all" isn't Medicare.  Medicare is a targeted insurance program that has worked reasonably well for seniors.  It's very popular.  You get many choices, and your Medicare premiums aren't that large.  The people who designed it in the early 1960s had experience with the Social Security system and actually knew what they were doing.   

Medicare for all would be vastly larger, and the Dems of today, dabbling in socialism, would insist on controlling every last detail.  The premiums would have to skyrocket, at least eventually, and the ideologists would take control.  There would, as in Europe and Britain, be grim determinations of "rights," and people would die if the "system" refused to provide life-saving benefits.  Leftists believe people over a certain age have an obligation to die.  They really believe that.  But most Americans choose life.

Those over 65 are now about 15% of the American population.  That means Medicare for all would add 85% immediately.  It's a fiscal impossibility unless we raise taxes dramatically, add huge amounts to the already catastrophic national debt, or do what the leftist really dream of – destroy the national defense. 

Some Bernie Sanders people talk of cutting the defense budget by 50%.  The country would not be defended, and our international standing would be eroded, and the Marxists in the universities would cheer.

December 26,  2018     Permalink

DECEMBER 25,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

LOW GAS PRICES SPUR MORE TRAVEL – FROM THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER:   Gas prices have been steadily falling since October and continue to drop.  On Christmas Eve, the national average was $2.322 per gallon, setting a low for 2018, according to AAA...The savings also may contribute to more holiday traffic, as travelers opt to pack up the car and drive to visit family or winter vacation spots. “Motorists are getting a gift this holiday in the form of relief at the pump,” Tiffany Wright, AAA Carolinas spokesperson, said in a news release. “This may be a factor in the boost of travelers choosing to drive this year.”  AAA forecasts that one in three Americans will travel during this holiday season — a 4.4 percent increase from last year and perhaps the most ever. In the Carolinas alone, 4.7 million people are expected to travel, and more than 90 percent will choose to drive.  This year, the national average gas price peaked at $2.97 per gallon over Memorial Day weekend. The cold weather dip can be credited to a global surplus of crude oil. The Energy Information Administration reported last month that domestic oil production is at an all-time high.  Democrats are having a fit.  They thought all cars were now run by Energizer batteries.

SOLID SALES – FROM FOX:  Holiday sales increased for U.S. retailers at the best pace in six years, according to early data.  Total U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, rose 5.1% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks both online and in-store spending with all forms of payment.  Overall, U.S. consumers spent over $850 billion this holiday season, according to Mastercard.  The figures suggest a stock-market swoon and partial government shutdown haven’t curbed consumer confidence and spending, according to the Wall Street Journal.  That's good.  Many jobs depend on these sales, and I hope Christmas was a little more restful for those who worried that the Stock Market decline might threaten their livelihood.

GOOD NEWS FOR EATERS – FROM THE DETROIT FREE PRESS:  Readers, we are honored and privileged to bring you the single greatest piece of news you've heard in your entire life.  A study out of the University of California-Irvine has revealed that consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol and coffee is linked to living a longer life.  Re-read that last sentence. There are no typos. There are no jokes.  The key word is "moderate," of course. The study, called "The 90+ Study," started in 2003 and examined "the oldest-old" age group - about 1,700 nonagenarians - to determine what is key to living to your 90th birthday and beyond.  The study has found, among other things, that people "who drank moderate amounts of alcohol or coffee lived longer than those who abstained," and that "people who were overweight in their 70s lived longer than normal or underweight people did."  We like to bring good news.

December 25, 2018       Permalink

PROVED!  IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE – AT 1:58 P.M. ET:   We now have a study that demonstrates the old wisdom that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  From Study Finds:

CHICAGO — In this season of giving and getting, the findings are in. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

According to two new studies conducted by researchers with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, giving to others rather than to ourselves makes us happier.

Have you ever noticed that your enjoyment in a repeated activity or event decreases over time no matter how wonderful it is? When this happens, you are experiencing what researchers call hedonic adaptation. The joy of having our own desires met is always fleeting. Perhaps surprisingly, however, giving to others creates a more lasting happiness.

“If you want to sustain happiness over time, past research tells us that we need to take a break from what we’re currently consuming and experience something new,” says study co-author Ed O’Brien, of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, in a release from the Association for Psychological Science. “Our research reveals that the kind of thing may matter more than assumed: Repeated giving, even in identical ways to identical others, may continue to feel relatively fresh and relatively pleasurable the more that we do it.”

In the first experiment, 96 college student participants were given $5 each day for five days. The students were told to spend the money on exactly the same thing each day. Some of the participants were randomly assigned to spend the money on themselves, while some were assigned to spend the money on others — maybe an online donation to the same charity each day or even cash placed in a tip jar at the same café.

Participants self-reported at the end of each day how they felt about the money they had spent, and how they rated their overall happiness.

The results of the daily spending challenge showed a clear pattern. While participants began with very similar levels of happiness, the students who had spent money on themselves felt decreasingly happy over the five-day period. Conversely, participants who gave their money to someone else, however, continued to feel the same level of joy on the fifth day as they did on the first day.

COMMENT:   A very good lesson in life, and one with moral and religious implications.

December 25, 2018       Permalink

MERRY CHRISTMAS, BUT THINK OF CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDEAST – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  Mideast Christians are in crisis this Christmas, but you'd never know it from press coverage.  The trendies scream "Islamophobia," but seem to have little interest in the plight of Christians in Muslim countries.  From The Hill: 

As Christians around the world celebrate the nativity of our savior, we gather in churches and hear the story of a Middle East where the holy family, as religious minorities in the Roman Empire, witnessed the birth of Christ, far from their hometown. We will recall that they then fled to Egypt as political refugees.

Two thousand years later, the Christian communities of the Middle East — descendants of the first Christians — persevere in their faith in Christ. They live in an era of violence, unrest and persecution. Many have been forced to flee their homes, and many more their countries.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recently wrote of the plight of Christians in the Middle East, stating: “Many have left. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.” He warned that “across the region Christian communities that were the foundation of the universal Church now face the threat of imminent extinction.” I am sorry to say the archbishop is not overstating the dire nature of the plight faced by Christian communities throughout the region.

Lebanon, the last safe home to Christians in the Middle East, has generously welcomed a great number of Syrians fleeing their country's civil war. A nation of 4 million people is hosting an estimated 2 million refugees and displaced people, the highest per-capita home to refugees in the world. This population increase has presented legitimate challenges to Lebanon’s infrastructure, economy and education system. After seven years of conflict in Syria, with no end in sight, more children are born in Lebanon to displaced people and refugees than to Lebanese citizens.

Lebanon’s delicate, pluralistic balance of power between faith groups could be toppled in a complete redrawing of the demographic map. The lack of a roadmap for charting the safe return of refugees and displaced people to Syria is not providing a viable future for these victims. 

In northern Iraq’s former breadbasket, the Nineveh Plains, the ancient Christian and Yazidi communities are slowly returning and rebuilding their homes, but they are a skeleton of what they once were. The Christian population of Iraq has dropped from 1.5 million before 2003 to less than 250,000 today. Those who remain are in a struggle to keep their culture and heritage alive in a place where their families have celebrated Christmas since the time of Christ.

In Egypt, the Coptic Church was again the target of terrorist violence in recent months. In 2017 alone, 128 Coptic Christians were killed because of their faith. Churches have been bombed, pilgrims have been targeted and Christian homes have been vandalized. Attacks on the Coptic community have been horrific and they are tragically leaving Egypt in record numbers.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  The political left shows no interest at all in the plight of Mideast Christians, and the news outlets follow in silence.  This will only change when the voices speaking out on behalf of Christians are louder and more focused. 

December 25,  2018     Permalink