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JANUARY 1,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:  

I'M SO MOVED – FROM TOWNHALL:   After decades of ignoring, embracing and enabling rampant sexual abuse in Hollywood, some of its biggest male (and female) stars plan to wear black at Sunday's Golden Globe awards as a protest against Harvey Weinstein and those like him.   Male actors have decided to join forces with their female peers who will protest sexual harassment by wearing black to the 2018 Golden Globes.  A number of high profile actors including Dwayne Johnson, Tom Hiddleston and Armie Hammer will sport black on the Globes red carpet according to their stylist Ilaria Urbinanti.  After receiving many questions on the matter, Urbinanti took to Instagram to confirm the fashion news.  “YES the men WILL be standing in solidarity with women on this wearing all-black movement to protest against gender inequality at this year’s Golden Globes. At least ALL MY GUYS will be,” celebrity stylist Ilaria Urbinanti wrote last week on Instagram.    I'm sure all these fine folks are just so sincere, and so concerned, and never knew anything of the foul deeds within the industry.   They also own a bridge in Brooklyn they'd like to sell you.

LET US REMEMBER – FROM REAL CLEAR DEFENSE:   SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area man who survived the infamous 1942 Bataan Death March and symbolized the thousands of unheralded Filipinos who fought alongside American forces during World War II has died. He was 100.  Ramon Regalado died Dec. 16 in El Cerrito, California, said Cecilia I. Gaerlan, executive director of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, which has fought to honor Regalado and others. She did not have a cause of death.  “He really embodied the qualities of the greatest generation and love for country,” she said.  Regalado was born in 1917 in the Philippines. He was a machine gun operator with the Philippine Scouts under U.S. Army Forces when troops were forced to surrender in 1942 to the Japanese after a grueling three-month battle.  The prisoners were forced to march some 65 miles (105 kilometer) to a camp. Many died during the Bataan Death March, killed by Japanese soldiers or simply unable to make the trek. The majority of the troops were Filipino.  Regalado survived and slipped away with two others — all of them sick with malaria. They encountered a farmer who cared for them, but only Regalado lived.  A man who truly walked the walk, along with his Filipino and American comrades. 

THE GRIM RECORD – FROM THE LATIN AMERICAN HERALD TRIBUNE:  MEXICO CITY – Mexico is closing out 2017 – tied with Syria – as the world’s most dangerous country for journalists, with 12 reporters murdered during the year, the highest yearly total in its history.  Twelve journalists also were killed in wartorn Syria during 2017.  Although Reporters Without Borders (RSF) registered a global decline in crimes against reporters in 2017, with the year being the least deadly for journalists in the last 14 years, Mexico stood out as an exception with a rising trend of killings.  Of the 65 journalists killed worldwide in 2017, 12 died in Mexico, where drug traffickers and organized crime threaten, extort, attack and execute journalists who report on their criminal activities.  According to RSF, Mexico and Syria both had 12 reporters killed this year, followed by Afghanistan with nine and Iraq with eight.   Remember this story when American journalists tell you that President Trump is such a threat to freedom of the press. 

January 1, 2018       Permalink

NEEDED ACTION – AT 4:47 P.M. ET:  The Obama administration would never do anything like this.  After all, we must love our enemies.   From Fox: 

The Trump administration has decided to withhold millions in military aid to Pakistan as the president accuses the Muslim-majority nation of harboring terrorists and telling “lies” to the United States.

“The United States does not plan to spend the $255 million in [Fiscal Year] 2016 Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan at this time,” a National Security Council official told Fox News on Monday.

The official added, “The president has made clear that the United States expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists and militants on its soil, and that Pakistan’s actions in support of the South Asia Strategy will ultimately determine the trajectory of our relationship, including future security assistance.”

The Trump administration will continue to “review Pakistan’s level of cooperation,” the official said.

Earlier Monday, President Trump, in his first tweet of 2018, said that the United States “has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.”

COMMENT:  Great.  Trump, with his many faults, is making one fine decision after another.  The sadness is that there are so many plotting to bring him down, and return to the old Establishment ways.

Stop them.

January 1, 2018       Permalink

A PROFIT-MAKING BUSINESS – AT 3:28 P.M. ET:  And a sordid affair, with the name Lisa Bloom (Gloria Allred's daughter) once again making an appearance.  From The Hill: 

Prominent Democratic donors gave at least $700,000 to women's rights lawyer Lisa Bloom in the final stretch of the 2016 race as she sought to publicize sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.

American Bridge, a group associated with Democratic operative and Hillary Clinton ally David Brock, gave $200,00 to the effort, sources told the Times. Fashion entrepreneur Susie Tompkins Buell, a longtime donor to Brock, gave Bloom another $500,000.

The efforts did not result in any women coming forward, according to the Times. Bloom told the paper that one woman requested as much as $2 million for her story, a sum she was unwilling to offer.

Democratic donors familiar with Bloom's efforts say that Bloom kept the $200,000 from American Bridge but refunded the $500,000 from Buell.

In a statement, Bloom denied that the Clinton campaign had any knowledge of her efforts or that she had collaborated with Clinton's team "on any of this." She also denied that payments were needed before the women would come forward.

“It doesn’t cost anything to publicly air allegations,” Bloom said. “Security and relocation are expensive and were sorely needed in a case of this magnitude, in a country filled with so much anger, hate and violence.”

The Hill first reported last month that Bloom offered to sell the stories of Trump's alleged victims in return for a commission for herself, and offered some victims as much as $750,000 in compensation.

COMMENT:  May I modestly suggest that the California Bar investigate Lisa Bloom?  Is this accepted behavior for a lawyer? 

I have no doubt that there are serious, valid cases of sexual harassment.  I also have no doubt that there are plenty of false cases, launched for revenge or money, or political gain.  A good, ethical legal system will sort them out.

January 1, 2018       Permalink

TRUMP KEEPS IT UP – AT 10:30 A.M. ET:  Unlike Obama, who showed no enthusiasm whatever when Iranians revolted in 2009, President Trump is keeping up a steady drumbeat of support for the current Iranian protesters.  Whether that support will translate into action is what thoughtful people must ask now.  From AFP:

WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump said Monday it was “time for change” in Iran and that the country’s people were “hungry” for freedom, after days of deadly protests against the government in Tehran.

“Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration,” Trump tweeted, referring to the nuclear pact sealed under his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

“The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!”

Trump has been vocal on Twitter about the protests in Iran since they erupted last week.

Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

COMMENT:  The president returns to Washington today from his holiday stay in Florida.  What will he actually do about Iran?  Will he turn up the heat?  Or will he weaken before the pedestrian and mediocre advice given by Deep State, which saw nothing wrong with Obama's appeasement policies?

And what about our mainstream media?  Yes, they've been reporting the Iran story, but some reporters, especially the ones with the British accents at CNN, seem almost reluctant to admit that the protesters have a point, and are demanding their freedom.  After all, admitting that is conceding a point to Donald Trump, and that is forbidden by Deep Press.

January 1,  2018     Permalink

DECEMBER 31,  2017

NO "SHORT TAKES" TONIGHT.  INSTEAD WE PRESENT GUIDANCE FOR PROPER NEW YEAR'S EVE BEHAVIOR IN THE CURRENT AGE:

1.  When the clock strikes midnight, you may not kiss women, or those identifying as women, without written permission.  Permission forms may still be obtained at local colleges, which are staying open for that purpose.  I got mine at Joseph Stalin Community College and Grievance Center.  It's a short form.

2.  You may not say "Happy New Year."  That is an oppressive greeting that assumes others wish for your idea of the colonialist/Zionist notion of happiness.   The proper greeting is, "May your inner feelings find expression in the period ahead."  Please note the use of "period" rather than "year," which is a Roman, Crusader measurement.

3. You may not touch or shake hands with guests.  You probably don't realize it because your consciousness hasn't been raised, but touching and beating someone up are the same thing.

4. You may not serve or consume champagne.  Imagine being a victim from the Third World and being asked to clink glasses filled with some substance that sparkles, when you are heavy with the burden of your downtrodden people.  It is a direct insult.  Instead, serve a drink that is a mixture of different traditions, cultures, and histories.  Never comment on the taste or the aftereffects.  Food poisoning is a small price to pay for showing r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

5. Under no circumstances speak about so-called "New Year's resolutions."   Do you understand, can you conceive, how awful that is?  To the oppressed, the hurt, the victimized, the Yale student who still has a second-generation Macbook, a resolution means a United Nations resolution, where sufferers can strike a blow against the Pentagon, Exxon-Mobil, and Thanksgiving.  How dare you put your little wishes on the same level.  How dare you! 

Okay.  Follow those five and you've made progress.  There'll be more.

December 31, 2017       Permalink

TOUGH TALK – AT 1:31 P.M. ET:  I don't agree with Lindsey Graham on everything, but on national defense he's one of the few expert voices left in the Senate.  And he is urging real toughness against our enemies.  From CBS News:

Sen. Lindsey Graham says that President Trump should embrace the anti-regime protests currently engulfing Iran and be prepared to go to war with North Korea over the country's nuclear program.

The South Carolina Republican, who has grown closer to Mr. Trump in recent months, told "Face the Nation" guest host Major Garrett on Sunday that the president is doing well when it comes to foreign policy. A noted foreign policy hawk, Graham also said that Mr. Trump should use the opportunity provided by the Iran protests to explain on television why the Iranian nuclear deal is "bad for the world."

"So if I were President Trump, I would have a nationwide address pretty soon explaining why the Iranian nuclear deal is a bad deal for the world, what a better deal would look like, and urge Congress and the European allies to get a better deal with Iran -- before it's too late," Graham said.

When asked if it might be counterproductive for the U.S. to endorse the protests, Graham dismissed that thinking as "the Obama approach."

"If I were Trump, I'd do the exact opposite of Obama," Graham said. "Obama said, 'I don't want to get involved, I don't want mess up the chance of getting a deal with Iran.' Well, the deal with Iran hasn't worked. The money didn't go to benefit the people, it went to benefit the Ayatollah and his henchmen."

COMMENT: Very refreshing to hear straight talk.  At some point the crises with North Korea, and now Iran, will come to a head.  I hope it's not too late.  These countries are inflicting the means to do terrible damage to us. 

I agree with Senator Graham.  There are two words I don't want to hear in any discussion of foreign policy:  Barack Obama. 

December 31, 2017       Permalink

IRAN UPDATE – AT 12:43 P.M. ET:  It is hard to get precise information out of Iran.  The regime is not permitting reporters in who aren't already in the country.  Many internet avenues have been shut down.  But the protests are apparently continuing.  From Fox: 

The growing unrest over the economic woes plaguing Iran turned deadly as two protesters were killed at a rally amid warnings Sunday from the country’s government that anyone who disrupts order and breaks the law “must be responsible for their behavior and pay the price," as President Donald Trump said the U.S. is "watching very closely."

The deaths were the first of the demonstrations, which began Thursday and appear to be the largest to strike the Islamic Republic since the protests that followed the country's disputed 2009 presidential election. 

"On Saturday evening, there was an illegal protest in Dorud and a number of people took to the streets responding to calls from hostile groups, leading to clashes,” said Habibollah Khojastehpour, the deputy governor of the western Lorestan province, according to Sky News. “Unfortunately in these clashes two citizens from Dorud were killed."

Khojastehpour told state television that "no shots were fired by the police and security forces” and “foreign agents” and “enemies of the revolutions” were to blame.

A Revolutionary Guards Telegram channel blamed the deaths on "people armed with hunting and military weapons" who "entered the protests and started shooting randomly toward the crowd and the governor's building,” according to Sky News, adding that six people also were wounded.

Videos circulating on social media late Saturday appeared to show fallen protesters in Doroud as gunshots sounded in the background, although the footage could not be independently confirmed.

The killings came as interior minister Abdolrahman Rahmani Fazli warned Iranians about participating in the protests.

"Those who damage public property, disrupt order and break the law must be responsible for their behavior and pay the price," Sky News quoted Fazli as saying early Sunday on state television.

COMMENT:  Thus far Washington has only issued statements.  The details are not precise, but we must do everything to help the protesters overthrow the regime.  Regime change in Iran would change world politics immediately.  Remember that the people of Iran are largely pro-Western.  The "Islamic republic" was imposed on them by a revolution they didn't control.

What can Trump do?  First, he can express absolute solidarity with the protesters.  Two, he can threaten that there will be serious consequences if the regime cracks down violently on those in the streets.  He can demand that sanctions on Iran be strengthened.  He can show military power, even sending a flight of jets over Tehran, and making it clear they will be used against the regime if the protesters are not granted free elections.

I have no doubt the president is going over his options.  Of course, there is a powerful Iranian lobby in Washington, and some of our European "allies" are doing land-office business with Iran.  There's a lot of money betting on the regime, and Trump has to counter that.

December 31,  2017     Permalink