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.

Our Angel's Corner archive is here.

I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas Sunday night.  It's here.

JUNE 27,  2017

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

AN UNAPPROVED PROCEDURE – FROM SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST:   China Southern Airlines Flight 380 was held up at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport after an elderly woman passenger caused a disruption, according to the airlines official WeChat account. An investigation into the incident is under way.  Passengers boarding the flight reportedly saw an elderly woman throwing coins at the engine for “blessings” from the middle of the boarding staircase and alerted the crew.  Coins in engines are frowned upon by engine manufacturers, unless of course they represent a cultural tradition that trendies are required to respect.

GO SARAH – FROM FOX:   Former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin filed a lawsuit against the New York Times Tuesday over an editorial that tied her to the January 2011 shooting of an Arizona congresswoman.  Palin's attorneys claim that the paper defamed her in the June 14 editorial, published hours after House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot and wounded while practicing with the GOP's baseball team in Alexandria, Va.  The editorial, attributed to the Times's editorial board and titled "America's Lethal Politics," initially linked Palin's rhetoric to the shooting that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.  The paper posted a correction the next day admitting that "no such link was established."  It will be a tough case for Sarah to win, as the law tilts against public figures who sue newspapers.  But I'm glad she's trying.  One benefit of the suit might be to expose the poor quality and reliability of leftist journalism.

GLAD SOMEONE NOTICED – FROM FOX:   The Democratic base is growing increasingly frustrated with former President Barack Obama’s actions after leaving office, including a seemingly endless tour of millionaire and billionaire luxury retreats, according to Democrats and activists contacted by Fox News.  Ex-presidents, understandably and un-controversially, go on vacations immediately after leaving office. But the level of luxury the Obamas enjoy on their vacations is unprecedented for a modern-day president, say travel experts.  Since leaving office in late January, Obama has visited late actor Marlon Brando’s private island; the Four Seasons in Bali -- where rooms cost upward of $2,000 per night; a Palm Springs estate; Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island; the exclusive Mid Pacific Country Club in Oahu; the 13th-century Borgo Finocchieto in Tuscany; and the Rising Sun, Hollywood studio mogul David Geffen’s private yacht.  But I don't recall him visiting Bill or Hillary's place, about 20 minutes from where this is being written.  I guess we just haven't made it.

June 27, 2017       Permalink

MIDEAST WARNING – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  We will soon have to make critical decisions on Syria.  Life and death decisions.  From Reuters:   

The White House said on Monday it appears the Syrian government is preparing for another chemical weapons attack and it warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad he and his military would "pay a heavy price" if it conducts such an attack.

The White House statement said preparations by Syria were similar to those undertaken before an April 4 chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians and prompted President Donald Trump to order a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Trump ordered the strike on the Shayrat airfield in Syria in April in reaction to what Washington said was a poison gas attack by Assad's government that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denied it carried out the attack.

The strike was the toughest direct US action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war, raising the risk of confrontation with Russia and Iran, Assad's two main military backers.

US officials at the time called the intervention a "one-off" intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks and not an expansion of the US role in the Syrian war.

COMMENT:  Much of this mess can be attributed to the weakness of Barack Obama.  Flash weakness and you get, not peace, but more war.

Now we are on the brink of further American military action in Syria.  Thanks, Barack.  Enjoy your $65-million book contract.  I'm sure you'll have much to say, and excuse.

June 27, 2017       Permalink

STATE OF THE MEDIA – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:44 A.M. ET:   It's in a terrible state, period.  The condition, which is almost medical, is well described by Jeffrey McCall at The Hill:

Constitutional framer James Madison helped create the free press in America. He once sang its praises, writing, “To the press alone, checkered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” The press in that era certainly meant something different from what is seen in America’s news industry today, but it’s a safe bet Madison would be appalled by contemporary press performance.

The free press was established to serve as surrogate for the citizenry and to watchdog the government on behalf of the American people. Today, the nation has little confidence in the Fourth Estate to effectively serve its constitutional role. National polls indicate less than a third of respondents trust the media. The decline has been steep and steady for almost two decades.

Approximately 80 percent of Americans believe coverage of the 2016 election was biased. That figure necessarily includes many Clinton supporters. A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows broad disapproval of news media performance, with 33 percent reporting dissatisfaction and another 26 percent saying they are angry about how the media does its job.
 
Social observer and media analyst Camille Paglia reflected the nation’s sentiments recently in a radio interview in which she bluntly said, “There is no journalism left.” She went on to say “the news media have turned themselves over to the most childish fraternity, kind of buffoonish behavior,” adding “it is going to take decades to recover from this atrocity.”

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  We'll be seeing more and more articles like this, as journalism gets "woke" to its problems and its disgrace. 

We should be thankful for the internet.  Like the horseman riding out of the sunrise, it arrived just in time to counter the collapse of mainstream journalism.

June 27,  2017     Permalink

TROUBLE AT CNN – AT 9:29 A.M. ET:  More tales out of CNN, indicating that it's dawning on some "journalists" that things are not well.  From James O'Keefe at Project Veritas: 

(NEW YORK) -- Project Veritas has released a video of CNN Producer John Bonifield who was caught on hidden-camera admitting that there is no proof to CNN's Russia narrative.

"I mean, it's mostly B.S. right now," Bonifield says. "Like, we don't have any giant proof."

He confirms that the driving factor at CNN is ratings:

"It's a business, people are like the media has an ethical phssssss... All the nice cutesy little ethics that used to get talked about in journalism school you're just like, that's adorable. That's adorable. This is a business."

According to the CNN Producer, business is booming. "Trump is good for business right now," he concluded.

Bonifield further goes on to explain that the instructions come straight from the top, citing the CEO, Jeff Zucker:

"Just to give you some context, President Trump pulled out of the climate accords and for a day and a half we covered the climate accords. And the CEO of CNN (Jeff Zucker) said in our internal meeting, he said good job everybody covering the climate accords, but we're done with that, let's get back to Russia."

Bonifield also acknowledged: "I haven't seen any good enough evidence to show that the President committed a crime." He continues:

"I just feel like they don't really have it but they want to keep digging. And so I think the President is probably right to say, like, look you are witch hunting me. You have no smoking gun, you have no real proof."

"To report not on facts, but instead on narratives that yield high ratings, is exactly the definition of fake news," said James O'Keefe. "We said we are going after the media, and there is a lot more to come."

COMMENT:   I wonder if brother Bonifield still has his job.  If he does, I hope he watches out for cars coming down dark alleys. 

Who at CNN would want to work with him?

I can't wait for O'Keefe's next report.  As someone who started in print journalism, I want to see the whole business blown open.  Then maybe we'll see the grown-ups come forward to fix the problems.  Maybe.

June 27,  2017     Permalink

JUNE 26,  2017

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

THREE CNN EMPLOYEES QUIT OVER FAKE STORY – FROM THE WRAP:  Three CNN employees have handed in their resignations over a retracted story linking President Trump to Russia, the network announced Monday.  The article was removed from CNN.com on Friday after the network decided it could no longer stand by its reporting.  “In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignation of the employees involved in the story’s publication,” a network spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement.  One gets the feeling that some people at CNN are finally coming to their senses about the "anti-Trump all the time" programming that has defined the network for months.  Such self-realization does not seem present at the three major networks or at The New York Times or Washington Post.

MEGYN COLLAPSING – FROM VARIETY:  “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” continued its downward trajectory in the Sunday overnight ratings, with the new NBC newsmagazine slipping to a new low in both the key demo and total viewers. Meanwhile, Fox fell to an average of less than 1 million viewers on a rerun-dominated night.  Airing at 7 p.m., “Sunday Night” averaged a 0.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. That is down from a 0.5 and 3.6 million viewers last week’s episode, which featured Kelly’s controversial interview with InfoWars founder Alex Jones.  I have nothing against her and wish her well.  But I wonder if she's been so over-hyped that she cannot possibly meet expectations.  She's supposed to take over a full hour of the Today Show, although I wonder whether NBC will go forward with that plan in the face of her low ratings.  I have a sense also that many viewers may resent her rocket ride to fame, and may also resent the fact that she abandoned the network, Fox, that made her famous.

AND THE WINNER IS – FROM AFP:   Moscow (AFP) - Russians have picked Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as the greatest figure in history, a new poll said Monday, beating President Vladimir Putin into joint second alongside poet Alexander Pushkin.  In the poll conducted in April by the Levada Centre independent pollster, Russians were asked to pick the ten greatest individuals of all time.  Stalin came out on top with 38 percent, while Putin shared second place on 34 percent with Russia's beloved national bard Pushkin.  Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Tsar Peter the Great and first man in space Yury Gagarin came next in the list of 20 people, with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in last place on six percent.  Strange taste, these Russians.  Stalin is the greatest?  Putin is second?  What about Elvis?

June 26, 2017       Permalink 

BULLETIN – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  FROM AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is letting the Trump administration enforce its 90-day ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries, overturning lower court orders that blocked it.

The action Monday is a victory for President Donald Trump in the biggest legal controversy of his young presidency.

IN THE MATTER OF CNN – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  We often discuss the corrupt press here, but an incident at CNN may signal that responsible journalists are starting to fight back.  From frontpagemag.com:   

Someone in the media finally went too far even for his own colleagues. And that's saying something. Editor's note:  The following quote comes from The Hill:

CNN is reportedly implementing strict new rules for the network's stories regarding Russia.

The new restrictions come after CNN on Friday retracted a story that connected Anthony Scaramucci, a prominent ally of President Trump, to a Russian investment fund managed by a Kremlin-controlled bank.

CNNMoney executive editor Rich Barbieri sent out an email Saturday regarding the network's new rules after the network a day earlier issued a retraction on one of its stories.
"No one should publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and Jason [Farkas]," said the email, obtained by BuzzFeed News.

"This applies to social, video, editorial, and MoneyStream. No exceptions," the email added. "I will lay out a workflow Monday."

Sadly, I doubt the Washington Post would have retracted, And we know the New York Times would not have. They proved that recently when they defended a discredited fake news story.

But this comes of turning conspiracy theories into news and then pretending that they're journalism.

The news is supposed to report on actual events. Conspiracy theories just link different elements that appear to have some kind of relationship and turn that it into a story. Pope Francis and the head of Deutsche Bank both wear New Balance shoes

That proves the New Balance shoe company runs the world.

90% of the Trump-Russia stories either fall into this, Category A or Category B consisting of "An anonymous source close to the investigation told me they're investigating Y".

None of this garbage is journalism. It's conspiracy theories meant to establish the lefty conviction that President Trump can be brought down.

But CNN's retraction, the latest poll and the reaction to the special election setbacks suggest the fever may be breaking. The public isn't particularly interested. While the Washington Post and the New York Times cater to a fanatical left-wing demographic, CNN has to think about a larger audience.

COMMENT:  It will be a long battle.  Journalists are trained by colleges and universities, and these institutions have no intention of giving up their current, trendy mission to "make a difference," that difference being a sharp move to the left.  

But the CNN move is encouraging.  I'd imagine there are many journalists who realize there's something terribly wrong, but don't have the power to do much about it.

June 26, 2017       Permalink

MAJOR EDUCATIONAL ADVANCE (JUST KIDDING) – AT 9:39 A.M. ET:  Finally, emotionally stressed college students are saved, at least at one "progressive" school.  Now we won't have to read those ugly stories about students being disappointed, or even sad.  From College Fix:   

Smith College, a top-ranked liberal arts school for women, is teaching them that life comes with disappointment, rejection, stumbling blocks — and it’s OK to experience such hurdles and learn from them.

The Massachusetts-based elite university, which costs about $67,000 annual in tuition, fees and other expenses, has rolled out a new program called “Failing Well.” And while the name implies it’s helping the young women cope with life’s really big screw ups, the fine print illustrates the initiative is actually more about helping students grapple with a thing called life.

“We’re not talking about flunking out of pre-med or getting kicked out of college,” Rachel Simmons, the program’s facilitator, told The New York Times. “We’re talking about students showing up in residential life offices distraught and inconsolable when they score less than an A-minus. Ending up in the counseling center after being rejected from a club. Students who are unable to ask for help when they need it, or so fearful of failing that they will avoid taking risks at all.”

The effort was recently featured in a lengthy New York Times article that noted Smith is just the latest in a parade of elite universities to offer students programs to help them cope with disappointment and rejection.

“Nearly perfect on paper, with résumés packed full of extracurricular activities, they seemed increasingly unable to cope with basic setbacks that come with college life: not getting a room assignment they wanted, getting wait-listed for a class or being rejected by clubs,” the Times reports.

COMMENT:  Well, our great national nightmare is over.  There is comfort.  There is warmth.  Of course, we won't ask where the parents were when these gems were growing up, or not growing up.  Such a question would be so middle class.

June 26, 2017       Permalink

LET THE FLOODGATES OPEN – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  We're seeing the first signs of a crack in the Democratic Party over the "Russia" issue.  It's clear that knowledgeable Dems know what's coming, a long-overdue exposé of the negligence of the Obama administration.  Some Dems want to get out front, ahead of the story, presumably to avoid later embarrassment.  From Fox: 

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday the Obama administration should have done more to counter Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election.

"I think the administration needed to call out Russia earlier, needed to act to deter and punish Russia earlier, and that was a very serious mistake," Schiff, of California, said in a televised interview with CNN.

Schiff added that President Barack Obama may have been worried that doing more against Russia would have looked like he was “trying to tip the scales for Hillary Clinton” and did not want to give in to the notion that the election was “rigged” against Donald Trump, according to The Hill.

President Trump criticized Obama earlier Sunday for allegedly doing “nothing” about reports that Russia interfered in last year’s presidential campaign.

“I just heard today for the first time that (former President) Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it,” he said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” “The CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before the election. … If he had the information, why didn't he do something about it?”

COMMENT:  It's nice that criticism of Barack Obama is now being permitted.  We thank the media commissars for their indulgence. 

This issue will grow, making Democrats regret that they ever started investigating Donald Trump. 

June 26,  2017    Permalink