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 18,  2018

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

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  The average college experience is full of uncomfortable situations, but Kentucky State University is taking a brave stand against it.  The taxpayer-funded institution includes “embarrassment” on a list of punishable “offenses against persons” in its student code of conduct, flagged this week by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.  It puts embarrassment in the same league as sexual assault, stalking, physical abuse and coercion.  Students suspected of this code violation will be investigated by the Office of Student Affairs and held “accountable for their behavior in a fair, yet developmental manner,” the code promises.  The university will take “necessary and appropriate action” to protect students from this offense, including deploying campus police to respond to off-campus accusations of causing embarrassment.  So if a student yells, "I'm embarrassed," another student can receive the death sentence?  Explain that to me.

WILL THE DEMS LET HIM LIVE? – FROM DAILYWIRE.COM:  A Democratic candidate running in Pennsylvania's upcoming special election is cautioning people that calling for more gun control in the wake of the recent shooting in Florida is not the answer to reducing the number of mass shootings in the United States.  Democrat Conor Lamb insists that the best way to prevent mass shootings is to enforce the laws that already exist and not enact more gun control laws.  Smart guy.  He may win.  The Dems are boasting about some recent victories around the country, but, if you look carefully, you'll see that the Dems who actually get elected are moderate and mainstream, not the denizens of the fringe left.

THIS REVERSES A STORY WE REPORTED EARLIER – FROM USA TODAY:  PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — After agreeing to an offer to work for NBC, Adam Rippon decided overnight that he would rather remain as an Olympian and has declined.  When Rippon and his team realized he would have to relinquish his official Olympic standing, give up his Olympic credential, move out of Team USA Housing and not be allowed to march in the closing ceremony, he changed his mind and turned down NBC. “I am so flattered that NBC wanted me to work as a correspondent, but if I took this opportunity, I would have to leave the Olympic team and I would have to leave the (Olympic) Village," Rippon said on NBCSN. "It’s so important to me, you know, I worked so hard to be on this Olympic team, and my teammates and my friends were there for me during my events, and that meant so much to me, that I really feel like I need to be there for them during their events."  Okay, a decent decision.  It also lifts the embarrassment that NBC should have felt in bringing on board an athlete it supposedly was covering in a neutral manner only a day earlier. 

February 18, 2018       Permalink

REMARKABLE INSIGHT – AT 3:31 P.M. ET:   Readers send us links all the time, but there's a current article that's been sent to us more times than any other in about a year.  It notes that the left is now reaping the whirlwind from the culture it has created.  From PJ Media: 

It was after a school shooting near Spokane last September that Spokane Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich addressed a clutch of reporters:

When I was in high school, every one of those rigs in the high school parking lot had a gun in the gun rack. Why? We went hunting on the way home. None of those guns ever walked into a school, none of those guns ever shot anybody... Did the gun change or did you as a society change? I'll give you odds it was you as a society. Because you started glorifying cultures of violence. You glorified the gang culture, you glorified games that actually gave you points for raping and killing people. The gun didn't change, we changed.

It seems clear to me the sheriff was speaking about rap music with its hateful, violent and misogynistic lyrics, and video games like Grand Theft Auto, where you can have sex with a prostitute then strangle her or pull an innocent person out of a car, beat him, then steal his vehicle.

I am a First Amendment purist and don't want to see expression censored in any way. And I don't argue that there's a straight line between any specific cultural creation and bad acts. But surely, a culture in which those in authority approve of and argue for things like gangsta rap and GTA — and indeed for the use of violence to silence speech that offends them — well, such a culture becomes a machine for transforming madness into murder.

It reminds me of some wisdom from another two sheriffs, the fictional sheriffs from the Coen Brothers movie of Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men discussing the mindless violence that has taken over society.

"Once you stop hearing 'sir' and 'ma'am' the rest is soon to follow," says one.

"It's the tide, the dismal tide," says the other. "It's not the one thing."

The left wants to defend gangstas and "transgressive" art and antifa thugs — but when the shooting starts, they blame the guns.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  There is much wisdom here.   We are suffering from severe cultural decay.

At one time we had beautiful popular music in this country, written by real composers like Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Meredith Willson, and Richard Rodgers.  Our lyricists, like Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Johnny Mercer, and that same Mr. Porter, were poets.

Look at it today.  Oh, we're told, we must respect other cultures, other forms.  Why?  Who ordered that?  Why must we respect things that tear us down, degrade women, and mock our families?

The decline happened so quickly, in the last part of the 1960s.  And we never realized it.  Maybe the wiser men and women in America will finally alert us.  There isn't much time.

February 18, 2018        Permalink 

OH, HERE IT COMES – AT 1:12 P.M. ET:  This was inevitable, and will be useless.  From College Fix: 

A petition and Twitter account have gone viral over the last few days in response to the Parkland, Florida school shootings.

The former, on Change.org, has at present almost reached its goal of 35,000 signatures. It’s calling on high school students across the country to walk out of class (and school) on April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine school massacre.

“We are the students, we are the victims, we are change, fight gun violence now!” the petition reads.

“High School students across the U.S.A, the way to fight back is here. There has been too much complacency on the part of politicians when it comes to gun violence. The time to act is now!”

It notes that President Trump “has not addressed any form of gun legislation” and that “the government does not hear or care how these tragedies affect [kids’] lives.”

The Twitter account National School Walkout already has over 50,000 followers and gets a bit more specific: The April 20 walkout will occur at 10am. It also was featured as a “Twitter Moment” on Saturday which, as you’d expect, was hyped by mainstream media types.

COMMENT:  Ah, a 1960s moment.  We must listen to the children.  They're so wise and knowing.  And, of course, the little wise ones take a dig at the president. 

Gee, you don't think the political left has something to do with this, do you? 

I can't wait for April 20th to see how many high schools allow their charges to just leave to become public-spirited citizens for a day.

Break out the pizza.

February 18, 2018       Permalink

DEPRESSING – AT 11:47 A.M. ET:   NBC News is a mess.  I mean, really.  Have you been watching?  Their Olympic coverage has been filled with errors and gaffes, and terminal dullness.  They brought their regular news anchors to South Korea, apparently as publicity agents to boost Olympic audiences.

Thus, when the Florida tragedy occurred, NBC's heavyweights (in a manner of speaking) were in Korea.  A top news organization would have had some of these worthies get their butts on airliners and jet to the story.  Instead, the Florida shooting was covered from Asia.  Brilliant thinking.  Nothing beats a sense of priorities.

Now we have a new joke, from the network that once gave us Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and graced us with the wisdom of Edwin Newman and the quality of NBC White Paper.  From USA Today:

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon, the openly gay Olympic team bronze medalist who has become one of the best-known names at these Games, has been hired by NBC to work as a correspondent during the remainder of the Olympics, NBC spokesman Greg Hughes told USA TODAY Sports Sunday evening.

Rippon, 28, will work for the network on a variety of platforms, including television, digital and social media, Hughes said.

Always outspoken, Rippon made news in mid-January when he criticized Vice President Pence in a story in USA TODAY. When Pence fired back little more than an hour after the story appeared online, Rippon’s profile was on the rise.

Rippon, who said he was bullied and teased as a boy growing up in Scranton, Pa., came out publicly as being gay in an October 2015 story in Skating magazine. He often talks about how he hopes his story can help others, especially young people who might be struggling with their sexuality.

He also is one of a few U.S. athletes who said they will not go to the White House for a post-Olympic celebration hosted by President Trump. 

COMMENT:  Are we serious here?  That is a gross conflict of interest.  NBC Sports was just covering Rippon this very week, during the men's figure skating competitions.  Was he under consideration as a commentator then?  Did that affect NBC's coverage?  The appearances are bad.  

And Rippon has now injected himself into politics.  Is this good for NBC's image?  I certainly don't think so, especially as the network's Olympic programs are struggling in the ratings.

More journalistic dumbness. 

February 18,  2018     Permalink

FEBRUARY 17,  2018

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

OH, THE EXCITEMENT! – FROM AP:  WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden is tiptoeing toward a potential presidential run in 2020, even broaching the possibility during a recent gathering of longtime foreign policy aides.  Huddled in his newly opened office steps from the U.S. Capitol, Biden began a planning meeting for his new diplomacy center by addressing the elephant in the room. He said he was keeping his 2020 options open, considering it a real possibility. He insisted he had made no decision, and didn't need to yet, according to five people who either attended the meeting or were briefed on it by those who did.  Biden is a decent man, and people sympathize with him because he's had a very tough private life.  But, bottom line, he has exhibited horrible judgment in foreign policy and would be a real danger if he became president.

ABSURD – FROM THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL:  PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Tuition, room and board and fees at Brown University will rise to $70,266 starting in fall 2018, an increase of 4 percent.  But 45 percent of undergraduates receive financial aid, and Brown meets 100 percent of every undergraduate's demonstrated financial need through a combination of grants, scholarships and work-study programs, according to Brown spokesman Brian Clark.  The university's budget, approved over the weekend by the Corporation of Brown University, also expands undergraduate financial aid by nearly 11 percent, to $135.4 million, according to the university.  There are two key issues:  1)  How much of the money is going to the diversity racket, to pay off every aggrieved group with a "center" or "Institute for the study of..." and 2) How is financial aid being used to shape the student body, keeping out some and preferring others? 

THIS IS SUCH A RELIEF – FROM AP:   A story claiming that Fidel Castro was the father of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not true. The Canadian government denied it, Cuba has never claimed it and Trudeau's parents never visited Cuba until several years after Justin Trudeau was born.  The Feb. 1 suicide of Castro's oldest son, Fidelito, spurred the most recent report on several sites, claiming that Fidelito left a suicide note referring to Justin Trudeau as his half-brother. A theory that Castro was Trudeau's father was also shared widely on social media after Castro's death in 2016, when Trudeau caused an uproar over remarks praising the late Cuban leader.  The Canadian government denied the reports this week. Justin Trudeau was born on Dec. 25, 1971, to the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife, Margaret.  I'm so glad this is settled.  It was really keeping me up at night. 

February 17, 2018       Permalink

McMASTER WARNS – AT 3:30 P.M. ET:  Are we forgetting Iran?  Some of our European allies, with their substantial business interests in Iran, would like us to.   But it's hard to forget the world's largest sponsor of terror, which is rapidly developing ICBM's, and will eventually have the nuclear warheads to top them.  The president's national security adviser is sounding a hard line on Iran, and it is entirely appropriate.  From Reuters: 

MUNICH (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster called on Saturday for more forceful action to halt Iran’s development of what he said was an increasingly powerful network of proxy armies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

McMaster accused Iran of escalating a campaign to increase its influence in the Middle East by building and arming “Hezbollah-style” proxy armies in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere as it has done in Lebanon.

The goal was to weaken Arab governments and turn the proxy forces against those states if they pursued policies that ran counter to Tehran’s interests, he said.

“So the time is now, we think, to act against Iran,” he told the Munich Security Conference, calling on U.S. allies to halt trade that was helping underwrite the expansion of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the most powerful military and economic force in the Islamic Republic.

Note the phrase, "The time is now..."  Mere words?  Or are specific actions coming?

The United States deems Lebanon’s Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

“What’s particularly concerning is that this network of proxies is becoming more and more capable,” he said.

Iran has denied accusations that it meddles in the affairs of its Middle East neighbours and has dismissed suggestions it stop supporting groups such as Hezbollah.

McMaster also railed against the 2015 nuclear accord signed by Iran and six other countries, saying investments made by German firms and others were helping fund Iran’s missile program and its other activities in the Middle East.

A remarkable statement.  It's time Germany was called out publicly.  Only the Trump administration is doing it.  The United States sent tens of billions of dollars to Iran, under Obama, as part of the nuclear deal.  We recall that we sent scrap iron to Japan before World War II.  It came back to us in the form of bullets.

Echoing President Donald Trump’s view, he said it was time to address “serious flaws in the Iran deal and counter Iran’s destabilising activities including its development and proliferation of missiles.”

COMMENT:  That is a serious speech, and McMaster is a serious man.  An Iranian proxy recently sent a military drone into Israel, crossing a red line that had never been crossed.  The Iranians are on the move, and the Europeans are just cashing in.

February 17, 2018       Permalink

SALENA DELIVERS – AT 1:40 P.M. ET:   Salena Zito is a journalistic gem whose work was discovered after the recent presidential election.  Based in Pittsburgh, she was one of the few reporters who actually went out and talked to voters in the rust belt, and understood what they were saying in their votes for Donald Trump.   Now Salena is examining the loss of respect in this country for people of faith.  As usual, she talks to real people who haven't served on the faculties of Ivy League colleges.  From the New York Post: 

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Last week Joy Behar, co-host of the ABC show “The View,” did something that has become an escalating trend in our popular culture over the past 10 years — she mocked religiosity.

In a segment about Vice President Mike Pence and his belief that he hears the voice of God, Behar quipped: “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct . . . hearing voices.”

The audience of “The View” clapped and laughed along with her.

But outside the entertainment bubble, in places like Cumberland, ordinary folk were horrified.

“I am not sure what shocked me the most, that Behar mocked one of the core beliefs of Christianity or the reaction of the studio audience,” said Tim McGregor, pastor at the Lighthouse of Hope, a non-denominational Christian church here in western Maryland.

“It is troubling to me how much they responded to her. They were affirming it with laughter and clapping, and I’m like ‘What are you people.’ I mean, “What do you believe in?” McGregor said.

She concludes: 

This country was built on tolerance towards all peoples, including religious ones. The cultural elite should remember that mocking them is no different from mocking someone because of their race, gender or sexual persuasion — groups they so fiercely and rightly work to protect.

COMMENT:   Read the entire story.  There are very few writers dealing with this subject, especially in print.  Salena Zito deserves the Pulitzer Prize for her body of work.  Don't hold your breath.

February 17, 2018       Permalink

THIS IS THE NEWS – OR IS IT? – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  Readers may have noticed that we've been publishing a little later in the day recently.  It will not be a permanent practice.  I've simply found that, in the last weeks at least, there have been very few stories published in the early hours that warranted that much attention.

Are they "fake" news?  No, not really.  They're no news.  News outlets must publish or broadcast, but consumers of news should not hang on every word.  Many "stories" are just "second day angles" of other stories, often going nowhere.  Others are filler.   Others are "trend" stories, and we take them very seriously, if we start to notice that the trend is continuing.  I have a whole store of stories about college campuses, and will use them if they continue to have merit.

I've noticed that Americans are being self-vaccinated against two story areas:  the so-called "Russia investigation" to the president's alleged collusion with Russian agents, and stories about the president's vivid lifestyle, or at least the lifestyle he maintained before becoming president.  The details of the former are presented to us endlessly by CNN, and not many Americans seem to care.  As president, Mr. Trump has not exactly turned the country over to Moscow.

As to the president's character, and lifestyle, we knew what we were getting.  No one expected an angel, or a eunuch.  Recent reports of presidential affairs with Playboy playmates or similarly skilled personnel have gone nowhere.  We watch the Rasmussen tracking poll here, and have not noticed any change at all after "bombshell revelations" breathlessly reported on CNN.

So, we may publish at different times of the day, depending on what I think is important.  It is the selection of material that is the heart of Urgent Agenda, and that can take some time.

February 17,  2018     Permalink