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JULY 30,  2016

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

INCREDIBLE – FROM YAHOO SPORTS:  Less than a week before the 2016 Rio Olympics are set to start, the Brazil Ministry of Justice terminated its contract with a private firm that was supposed to provide security for the games. The ministry cited “incompetence and irresponsibility” from the Rio de Janeiro-based firm Artel, and moved to strip them of their duties.  It’s not hard to see why the Ministry of Justice reacted so harshly. With only a few days left until the first venues are set to open, Artel admitted that they have only hired 500 security personnel.  They were supposed to hire 3,400.  These staff members were going to be responsible for screening visitors outside each Olympic venue. X-ray machines and body searches are now going to be handled by local police forces to secure areas that are expected to have tens of thousands of screaming fans.   Did they just discover these problems in the last week?  They've had years to plan.  What has the International Olympic Committee been doing, aside from collecting money for its executives?

THAT'S THE SPIRIT – FROM FOX NEWS:   Muslims have refused to bury one of the terrorists who murdered a French Catholic priest this week as he celebrated Mass.  Community leaders in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy said they did not want to "taint" Islam by having any association with Adel Kermiche, the 19-year-old jihadist who killed Father Jacques Hamel in his hometown in northern France.  Mohammed Karabila, president of the local Muslim cultural association and imam of one of the town's mosques, told Le Parisien newspaper: "We're not going to taint Islam with this person. We won't participate in preparing the body or the burial."  In a separate conversation with Sky News, Karabila reiterated there would be no involvement by the mosque's religious leadership in any funeral.  A fine statement of dignity.  We need more of this from Islam.

TERROR MARCHES ON – FROM REUTERS:   BRUSSELS - Police arrested two men suspected of planning an attack in Belgium after house searches on Friday evening, federal prosecutors said on Saturday.
The two, named as 33-year-old Nourredine H. and his brother Hamza H., will appear before a judge on Saturday to determine whether they should be held in custody beyond an initial 24 hours.  "Based on provisional results from the investigation, it appears that there were plans to carry out an attack somewhere in Belgium," the federal prosecution office said in a statement.  For the time being there was no connection with the attacks at Brussels airport and the metro on March 22, in which 32 people were killed, the prosecution office said.  We have three months and a week before our presidential election.  Sadly, the odds are great that there'll be another major attack during this period.

July 30, 2016       Permalink

THE COST OF "JUSTICE" – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  There has been real damage done by the inept, unsuccessful prosecution of six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.  All charges against them have now been dropped.  From Paul Mirengoff at Powerline: 

The Baltimore Sun reports that the cost of defending the six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray emptied the coffers of the city’s police union. The union was able to stay afloat only because its members voted to double the dues.

The vote was unanimous, according to the Sun’s sources.

Marilyn Mosby has finally dropped all charges in these cases. However, the dues will remain where they are so the union can replenish its treasury and be able to defend against future Mosby prosecutions.

The city’s demoralized police officers will think of Mosby every time they pay their dues.

The Freddy Gray trials also cost the city of Baltimore plenty. According to city officials, the price tag was $450,000.

Some will argue that even though the prosecutions were spectacularly unsuccessful, they were worth the price because the facts became known to the public and some level of closure was achieved. I understand the argument, but strongly disagree with it.

The hammer of the state’s criminal process should be used only to pursue justice (actual justice, not “social justice”). It shouldn’t be used to shed light, achieve closure, or (more to the point here) pacify a mob.

COMMENT:  I agree with that conclusion.  The prosecution seemed more a political act, than an act in pursuit of real justice.   For the justice system to work properly, it must be completely insulated from public pressure.  Justice cannot be defined as satisfying the mob.

July 30, 2016       Permalink

CLINTON WAS WARNED OF FOREIGN HACK OF HER CAMPAIGN COMPUTERS – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  Apparently she just has a problem with these darned digital things.  From ace investigative reporter Michael Isikoff at Yahoo:

The FBI warned the Clinton campaign that it was a target of a cyberattack last March, just weeks before the Democratic National Committee discovered it had been penetrated by hackers it now believes were working for Russian intelligence, two sources who have been briefed on the matter told Yahoo News.

In a meeting with senior officials at the campaign’s Brooklyn headquarters, FBI agents laid out concerns that cyberhackers had used so-called spear-phishing emails as part of an attempt to penetrate the campaign’s computers, the sources said. One of the sources said agents conducting a national security investigation asked the Clinton campaign to turn over internal computer logs as well as the personal email addresses of senior campaign officials. But the campaign, through its lawyers, declined to provide the data, deciding that the FBI’s request for sensitive personal and campaign information data was too broad and intrusive, the source said.

A second source who had been briefed on the matter and who confirmed the Brooklyn meeting said agents provided no specific information to the campaign about the identity of the cyberhackers or whether they were associated with a foreign government. The source said the campaign was already aware of attempts to penetrate its computers and had taken steps to thwart them, emphasizing that there is still no evidence that the campaign’s computers had actually been successfully penetrated.

But the potential that the intruders were associated with a foreign government should have come as no surprise to the Clinton campaign, said several sources knowledgeable about the investigation. Chinese intelligence hackers were widely reported to have penetrated both the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008.

The Brooklyn warning also could raise new questions about why the campaign and the DNC didn’t take the matter more seriously.

COMMENT:  As they say, the fish rots from the head.  Hillary Clinton just does not take security seriously enough, and her attitude permeates her campaign.

It is incredible that the campaign did not make any attempt to accommodate the FBI.  What is the campaign hiding?

I get the feeling that this story will grow, and will be added to the e-mail scandal at the State Department to portray Clinton as careless with security.

July 30, 2016       Permalink

NEW POLL, BUT ACCURATE? – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  A new Reuters poll, taking account of the Democratic Convention, shows Hillary Clinton up six points over Donald Trump.  But there's a complication.  From The Hill: 

Hillary Clinton is up by 6 points over Donald Trump nationwide, according to a weekly poll by Reuters.

Forty-one percent of voters support Clinton, 35 percent favor Trump, and 25 percent of voters chose “other.”

That's a remarkably high number for "other."

When Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are factored in, Trump and Clinton are tied at 37 percent, with Johnson at 5 percent and Stein at 1 percent. 

And that's the complication.  Those two will be on the ballot in many states.  They must be factored in.

Both Clinton and Trump are now officially their parties’ nominees following the two party conventions.

Clinton increased her lead over Trump from last week’s Reuters poll, when she was up by 3 points with 41 percent.

COMMENT:  Hillary will probably get a small convention bounce, but this election isn't in the bag for anyone.  It may well become a "turnout" election, with victory going to the candidate who has the best voter turnout operation.  That's usually the Democrats.

Many new post-convention polls should be out in the coming week.

July 30,  2016     Permalink

JULY 29,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:01 P.M. ET:

ROMNEY ON TRUMP – FROM BUZZFEED:  Former Republican nominee Mitt Romney said earlier this month he thought Donald Trump could win the presidency, citing Hillary Clinton’s high unfavorable numbers and the unpredictability of the race.  Romney was speaking with Republican consultant Mike Murphy’s Radio Free GOP podcast released two weeks ago when he made the comments.  “You have to give Donald Trump credit, he was able to bring a rhetoric and a style that he had perfected over his career to the political sphere and connect with people and become the nominee,” Romney said. “Despite the fact that I and a lot of other people thought he would not be an ideal nominee, he is. At this stage, it’s rougher going, but I can’t predict what’s gonna happen.”  “To be honest, it’s very possible in my view that Trump wins,” continued Romney. “I wouldn’t think it’d be by a landslide, but I think he could win. I think he could lose, I think he could lose by a landslide. But, I don’t know which it’s going to be and a lot of that depends on what happens to Hillary Clinton. Is there a meltdown moment, or some implosion of some kind?”  Or, as Mort Sahl used to say, "The future lies ahead."  This a race with potentially fatal minefields threatening each side.  I wouldn't make any predictions.  But I'm surprised to see Romney concede Trump's strengths.

DEBBIE DOES COMEBACK? – First they knife her, now they want to sponsor her political rebirth.  What a bunch.  FROM THE HILL:   PHILADELPHIA — House Democrats are rushing to the side of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) in the wake of an email scandal that's disrupted the Democrats' convention and exacerbated divisions between factions of the party.  The episode forced Wasserman Schultz to resign as head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), effective Friday. But Democratic leaders say the six-term Floridian, long considered a rising star in the party, will weather the storm and continue her climb up the leadership ladder.  “She'll rebound from it,” Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, told The Hill Thursday. “I'm going to do everything I can to help her rebound from it.”  Rep. Joe Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, also offered his full support and confidence in her future.  The question is whether they can save her House seat.  She's in a tough primary contest in a solidly Democratic Florida district against a Sanders supporter. 

OLYMPIC WORRIES – With the Rio Olympics starting a week from today, there are serious worries about the possibility of terrorism, especially considering the rapid pace of terrorist attacks in recent months.  FROM AP:  In the aftermath of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group in France and elsewhere, Brazil, which has almost no experience combating terrorism, is beefing up security for the games that start in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5. Plans include doubling the number of security forces on the streets, erecting more checkpoints and working more closely with foreign intelligence agencies than Brazilians did in the 2014 World Cup.  But will it be enough?  Richard Ford, a retired FBI anti-terror expert who lives in Brazil, said that while the government has a robust program to keep athletes and venues safe, he worries that authorities aren't taking the threat of a lone-wolf or suicide attack seriously enough.  He cited comments by Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who surprised many last week by saying the chances of a terror attack at the games were "next to zero" and that the bigger concern is street crime. Just a day later, the federal police overseen by Moraes arrested 10 Brazilians allegedly belonging to an amateur cell that had professed allegiance to ISIS over the internet.  A terrorist attack doesn't have to occur at the games themselves.  It can occur anywhere in Rio, and it will cast a pall over the Olympics.  The terror card can be played many ways.

July 29,  2016     Permalink

OH, WHY RUIN HILLARY'S PARTY? – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  All that talk last night about how well things are going under Field Marshal Obama, and look what happens.  From Bloomberg:   

The U.S. economy expanded less than forecast in the second quarter after a weaker start to the year than previously estimated as companies slimmed down inventories and remained wary of investing amid shaky global demand.

Gross domestic product rose at a 1.2 percent annualized rate after a 0.8 percent advance the prior quarter, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 2.5 percent second-quarter increase.

The report raises the risk to the outlook at a time Federal Reserve policy makers are looking for sustained improvement. While consumers were resilient last quarter, businesses were cautious -- cutting back on investment and aggressively reducing stockpiles amid weak global markets, heightened uncertainty and the lingering drag from a stronger dollar.

“We’re just muddling through," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, who had forecast a 1 percent gain in second-quarter GDP. “Consumer spending looks good, but the problem is that the rest of the economy is soft. The economy remains vulnerable to downside risks. The Fed is right to be cautious."

COMMENT:  Not good news for the Democrats, or the country.  A lot of those workers out there who are bitter about what's happened to them will remain bitter, and may vote accordingly. 

July 29, 2016       Permalink

AND AGAIN – AT 8:56 A.M. I wonder what the excuse will be this time.  From Fox: 

One San Diego police officer was killed and another one wounded when a driver they stopped Thursday night opened fire on them in the latest in a series of cop shootings around the nation.

The suspected shooter was arrested, and police said they were not pursuing any other suspects. Neither the police officers' nor the alleged gunman's names were immediately released.

The determination that the killer acted alone followed a long manhunt in the city's Southcrest neighborhood involving SWAT teams, helicopters and squad cars.

Video footage showed officers out in force with numerous squad cars with emergency lights flashing lining a street, officers on foot, and a helicopter buzz overhead.

Police said the officers were shot while making a stop and immediately called for help. The officer who died was shot multiple times.

The shooting comes with law officers around the country on alert following the killing of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this month.

Five Dallas police officers were killed July 7 by a sniper as they guarded Black Lives Matter protesters, and three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were targeted and killed by a gunman on July 16.

Statistics show the number of police officers killed in the line of duty had been on a downward trajectory since 1970. But this year, cop deaths are up more than 50 percent, and the victims in Dallas, Baton Rouge and other cases were targeted for assassination rather than killed in the process of confronting dangerous criminals.

COMMENT:  We don't know all the facts in this case yet, but the upward trend in the murder of officers is deeply disturbing.  I don't see much anguish coming from the administration, though.  They're into all-gender restrooms.

July 29,  2016     Permalink

PATHETIC – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  There were a disturbing number of people at the Democratic Convention who demonstrated the degree to which the Democratic Party has been infiltrated by the hard left.  From the Daily Mail: 

A moment's silence for slain police officers was interrupted by chants of 'Black Lives Matter' during the Democratic convention.

Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez was on stage paying a stirring tribute to the five officers who were gunned down in her city on July 7.

The veteran officer then asked the crowd to remember all of the cops who had fallen in the line of duty with a quiet moment of reflection.

She said: 'Please help me to honor ALL of America's fallen officers with a moment of silence.'

Then members of the crowd shouted the controversial slogan, and it was heard all around Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

Valdez ignored the jeers and carried on with her speech.

'I am privileged to introduce to you some of the brave family members left behind by our fallen officers. Let's hear from them,' she said.

Jennifer Louden, Wayne Walker and parents Wayne Owens and Barbara Owens then walked out onto the stage.

They all had loved ones who were killed while working as police officers.

COMMENT:  Having relatives of the slain officers was the right thing to do.  It was reported that Democratic officials were alarmed by the tone and imagery of the first nights of the convention – an absence of American flags and a tone reminiscent of the late 1960s.  Flags were flown in for Hillary's speech.  National security became the theme of the third convention night.

It might have been insincere, but at least some Democrats know they have a problem with the loonies.

July 29,  2016     Permalink