Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

FEBRUARY 10,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – FROM THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION:    Southern New Hampshire University has apologized to a student who failed an assignment because her professor insisted Australia was a continent, not a country.  “We have apologized to Ashley, replaced the instructor, & are reimbursing her tuition for the course,” the university said on Twitter.  Ashley Arnold, who is completing a sociology degree online, filed a report with the university when she received a failing grade on a project outline that was supposed to compare a social norm in the United States with that of another country, BuzzFeed News reported.  Her grading rubric was filled with multiple zeros because, according to the professor, “Australia is a continent; not a country.” She told Arnold that the “error made it nearly impossible” for her to have accurately completed the assignment.   Stories like this are, sadly, fairly common.  Many "instructors" need some instruction themselves.

OH PLEASE – FROM DAILY MAIL:   A tiny endangered butterfly could stop President Donald Trump from building his beloved border wall.  A lawsuit has been filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, environmental groups and the State of California against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  It outlines that the Quino checkerspot butterfly, Riverside fairy shrimp and the Pacific pocket mouse will be threatened if the border wall is built.  The butterfly, which is native to southern California and Northern Mexico, is already on the endangered species list.  The lawsuit contends that the Department of Homeland Security does not have the ability to waive environmental laws requiring review before building the wall.  The suit seeks a ruling that a border wall with Mexico must go through normal environmental reviews, which could block construction or at least cause major delays. The challengers contend that authority to waive the environmental reviews falls under a 2005 law which has expired.  So concerned about butterflies, so unconcerned about American citizens put at risk by undocumented immigrants. 

OLYMPIC RATINGS DROP – FROM DEADLINE.COM:   A tape-delayed opener to the Games in South Korea that brought in 27.8 million viewers on the network produced a chilly 12% ratings drop from the official start of the last Winter Olympics just over four years ago in Sochi.  With geopolitical tensions, VIP seating plans, 1,200 pre-recorded morphing drones, VR and the newly minted team of Katie Couric and Mike Tirico, the Comcast-owned net tried hard to make the event seem almost as brand new and sparkling as the ice beneath 2010 figure skating Olympic champion Yuna Kim when she lit the cauldron at the end of the live across all time zones extravaganza. Still, despite thousands of performances, a distinct injection of imagination and that always trivia filled Parade of Nations, and coming off a less than gold initial and unofficial first day, NBC also came up short in the ratings, again.  Sports have had a tough time on TV recently.  Could it be the overt politicization that we've seen?  Even in NBC's Olympic coverage there is the insistent commentary about how North and South Korea are playing together under one flag.  It is meaningless.  The North is engaged in a charm offensive, but not one missile or nuclear bomb has been dismantled.  Viewers are aware of the whitewash, with its not-so-subtle anti-Trump message about love on the Korean peninsula.

February 10, 2018       Permalink

ABSOLUTELY SICKENING – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:   New reporting suggests disturbing ties between elements of the Democratic Party and both the Iranian government and the hateful leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan.  From Daily Caller: 

Three Democratic congressmen attended a private dinner hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, a new report reveals.

Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Andre Carson of Indiana and Gregory Meeks of New York attended the private dinner, along with Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite who leads the black supremacist group Nation of Islam.

Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States government, which has listed the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terror since 1984. Rouhani was in New York for a United Nations meeting and held the dinner party just hours after speaking to the UN General Assembly.

Final Call, a Nation of Islam publication, noted the three Democrats’ attendance at the time and included photos of Ellison and Meeks at the dinner party. But aside from the Final Call article, the three Democrats’ presence at the dinner remained secret until a Wall Street Journal column revealed it on Friday. None of the three congressmen’s offices responded to The Daily Caller’s request for comment for this article.

COMMENT:  The meeting is outrageous enough.  Even more outrageous is the fact that Keith Ellison is the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and was close to being elected chairman.

Ellison must resign.  But I wonder how many Democrats will have the guts to say it.  I also wonder if the media, ever watchful over Donald Trump's non-existent racism, will have anything to say.  Don't hold your breath.

February 10, 2018       Permalink

ABSURD – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:   The sanctuary-city movement is ridiculous to start with.  It celebrates the breaking of American law.  But politicians in sanctuary cities are doubling down, defending the indefensible, and becoming awful role models.  From PJ Media: 

WASHINGTON – Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he is “not scared at all” about the Department of Justice considering charges against local officials in sanctuary cities, calling it a “weak and pathetic move.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen recently told a Senate committee hearing that DOJ is “reviewing what avenues might be available” to charge local officials who do not fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

“The context of this is, of course, not only putting my [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers at risk, but also finding an efficient and effective way to enforce our immigration laws,” she said.

During an interview with Fox News, Acting ICE Director Tom Homan recently said, “We’ve got to take [sanctuary cities] to court, and we’ve got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes.”

PJM asked Garcetti if he is worried about potentially facing federal charges.

“Not at all. I think it’s a political circus. I think it’s about stirring up, you know, blowing a dog whistle – ot about anything real. There’s not a single document we’ve ever cut back, and they know that. There’s not a single city in America that has done that, so it was kind of a weak and pathetic move and I’m not scared at all,” Garcetti told PJM during an interview at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting recently.

COMMENT:  Those who support the sanctuary-city movement are playing a losing hand.  They are defying the laws of the United States.  We have to fix our immigration system, but lawbreaking should not be the starting point of the fix.

February 10, 2018       Permalink

ARE AMERICANS TURNING ON THE DEMS? – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  Recent polls suggest that the expected election-year love fest between the public and the Democratic Party isn't exactly in place.  From IBD:

Spying On Trump: Americans overwhelmingly believe the Obama administration "improperly surveilled" Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and a majority say they would like to see a special prosecutor appointed to look into possible misconduct by the FBI and Department of Justice in spying on Trump, the latest IBD/TIPP poll shows.

X One fact emerges from the poll of 900 people conducted from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2: The public doesn't necessarily buy into the Democratic narrative that the Trump campaign "colluded" with Russia to tamper with the 2016 presidential election.

The poll also suggests that many Americans think the roots of the allegations made against Trump extend beyond the two major party campaigns in the last presidential election and deep into the Obama era's intelligence and law enforcement bureaucracies, and may involve active political bias on the part of supposedly nonpartisan employees of both the Justice Department and FBI.

In the IBD/TIPP survey of public opinion, we asked respondents "How closely are you following news stories about the role played by the FBI and the Department of Justice during the 2016 presidential election?"  Of those who responded, 72% said they were following the story either "very closely" (39%)  or "somewhat closely" (33%). Our responses were taken only from those who were following the story closely.

Some 55% of those said it was "likely" that the Obama administration "improperly surveilled the Trump campaign during the 2016 election." There was an obvious partisan split among the responses, with 87% of Republicans and 55% of independents saying the improper spying took place, but only 31% of Democrats.

On the question of whether a special counsel was needed to "investigate whether the FBI and the Department of Justice improperly surveilled the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election," 54% responded "yes," and 44% "no." Again, 74% of Republicans and 50% of independents wanted a special counsel appointed. But even 44% of Democrats thought it would be a good idea.

COMMENT:  What is remarkable about those numbers is that they contradict the approved narrative of most of the mainstream media.  Does this mean the American people are getting their news from alternative sources?  I have no idea.  But it certainly means that outlets like CNN and The New York Times, clearly anti-Trump, aren't having that much impact.

Ronald Reagan was able to overcome widespread press opposition and ridicule.  Trump may be doing it as well.

February 10,  2018         Permalink

FEBRUARY 9,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

TRUMP DELAYS DEM MEMO – FROM THE HILL:   President Trump is not ready to approve the release of a Democratic memo meant to rebut a document he declassified last week that was authored by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, the White House announced.  White House counsel Don McMahon wrote a letter to House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) explaining that “although the president is inclined to declassify” the Democratic memo, the administration believes it would create “especially significant concerns” for “national security and law enforcement interests."  Trump’s legal team insists that it came to that conclusion at the behest of senior officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (DOJ).  In a separate letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, McGahn highlighted the information the White House says it believes is problematic and should not be released.  It's been reported that the Dems loaded their memo with problematic, sensitive material, to force the president to delay its release.   Then the Dems could claim that Trump was trying to suppress it, which indeed they're now claiming.  The memo, cleaned up, will eventually be out.

AWKWARD – FROM FOX:   A possible thaw in diplomatic relations between North and South Korea continued over lunch Saturday at the Blue House in Seoul, residence of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Moon's guests were Kim Yo Jong, younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and other senior delegates from Pyongyang, whose visit to South Korea is coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.  On Friday, Kim Yo Jong, 28, became the first member of the Kim family to cross into the South since the 1950-53 Korean War. The lunch marked the first time a North Korean delegation was hosted at the Blue House since November 2007.  Nonsense.  The North Koreans are on a charm offensive, but their nuclear and missile programs continue.  The current leader of South Korea is seen in Washington as overly soft, but the people of South Korea appear to realize this and are steadfast allies of the United States.

ROLE REVERSAL – FROM COLLEGE FIX: When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded the Obama administration’s Title IX guidance documents, some states considered legislation that would codify its provisions in their own laws, namely a low evidence standard and preferential treatment of accusers.
The co-author of a California codification bill, vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, and national leader in the #MeToo movement has now herself been accused by multiple men.  It’s causing Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia immediate headaches: A college where she was scheduled to speak today has postponed the event.  She also announced Friday she was “voluntarily taking an immediate unpaid leave” from the Assembly “so as not to serve as a distraction or in any way influence the process of this investigation,” even as she disputed the allegations.  This was bound to happen.  The great majority of charges in this area are made against men, of course, but there have been disturbing cases where women are charged,

February 9, 2018      Permalink

SHE GETS IT RIGHT AGAIN – AT 6:14 P.M. ET:   The great and very independent Sharyl Attkisson notes the curious behavior of many "journalists" in the face of disturbing information emerging from Washington investigations.  From RealClearPolitics: 

Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson said she has never seen the number of supposed open government groups and journalists "so uncurious and begging" not to be told about alleged or supposed violations of citizens rights.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson on the Tuesday edition of his FOX News show, the veteran journalist said "propagandists" have been invited into newsrooms to dictate "talking points de jour," making it more difficult to do unbiased reporting.

Attkisson also talked about intelligence agencies introducing "bad evidence" to obtain a FISA warrant or using a "reverse engineering" method to surveil someone else who is not the target.

"Long before Trump announced running for president, I had intel sources, contacts, who I'm still in touch with, who have said that for a long time there has been presentation of bad evidence to the FISA court to justify warrants, that there has been sort of a reverse engineering when political figures want to target people illegally," Attkisson said.

"They find someone in their orbit that they can target and then capture them incidentally and then accidentally capture their data and unmask them acting surprised that that's who it was when that's the target that they intended to capture all along," she explained.

COMMENT:  Unfortunately, Attkisson is considered a pariah in parts of mainstream journalism because she's exposed the dry rot and corruption of the "profession."  I was struck by her accusation that "propagandists" have been invited into newsrooms to dictate talking points.  Isn't this charge worth a serious journalistic investigation?  I guess not. 

"Journalists" boast that they are the eyes and ears of the public.  They are not.  They are the eyes and ears only of themselves.  They claim they protect the Nation.  Well, if they're powerful enough to protect the Nation, they're powerful enough to destroy it.  As we've noted here before, they seem to be trying.

February 9, 2018       Permalink

WHAT'S THIS? –  AT 12:53 P.M. ET:  Apparently there's been a change in the weather forecast.  Please wake up Al Gore.  He might want to sell some stock in global-warming companies.  There's money on every side here.  From International Business Times: 

Remember the 1989 science fiction novel The Dying Sun by Gary Blackwood, where people were forced to migrate from the US to Mexico because of the freezing weather triggered by cooling down of the Sun? Scientists are now afraid that such a situation can become a reality in the near future. The question that now arises is, are we at all prepared for another ice age?

A study by the University of California San Diego has claimed that by 2050, the Sun is expected to become cool. You might think "what's the big deal," but remember that this means the solar activities that create the heat of the Sun to sustain life on Earth may diminish. And the last time it happened was in the 17th Century, when the Thames River froze. Scientists call this the "Maunder Minimum".

Physicist Dan Lubin at the university and his team studied the past event and concluded that were are in for a worse case. The Sun is expected to get much dimmer than last time and, in scientific terms, it is a "grand minimum" -- a time period in the 11-year solar cycle when the solar activities are at the lowest point.

According to the study, titled Ultraviolet Flux Decrease Under a Grand Minimum from IUE Short-wavelength Observation of Solar Analogs and published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, this grand minimum will be 7 percent cooler than such periods from the past.

Scientists also said that the Sun might have another cooling period in a decade.

COMMENT:  Gee.  I guess I'll never be able to wear all that global-warming stuff I bought.  But, seriously, isn't it time we nailed down some of this "climate science"?  There have been so many contradictory predictions. 

I believe, as I've said here many times, that we need a transparent presidential commission, patterned after the Challenger commission, and led by a prominent scientist of unquestioned integrity, to examine 1) what we know, 2) what we don't know, and 3) what we must know about the changing climate.  We need this commission before we earmark trillions of dollars to chase a problem that may not exist. 

We also need an examination of exactly who profits from "scientific" predictions.  I think the results would be very interesting.

February 9, 2018       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT HOLDS – AT 11:31 A.M.  It's been a bad week at the stock market, but President Trump continues to hold strong in the polls.  We may well be seeing a change in perception and a weariness on the part of voters with the monotony of the anti-Trump press.  From Rasmussen: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 35% who Strongly Approve of the way the president is performing and 42% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7. (see trends).

Since last week’s State of the Union address, Trump’s approval ratings have been running slightly ahead of where Barack Obama was at this stage of his presidency. 

COMMENT:  My own sense, from what I read and hear, is that people are getting used to the president's, uh, unusual style of leadership, his eccentricities, even his show-biz bravado.  They are looking more and more at what he does and what he stands for, and liking enough of it to give him a thumbs up.

This can change on a dime.  But if Mr. Trump continues to rise in popularity, it can have a dramatic effect on this year's midterm elections.

February 9,  2018     Permalink