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MARCH 11,  2017

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

THE ROGUE GETS EVEN MORE ROGUE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   The regime of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un tried to sell a specialized material used in the miniaturization process for nuclear warheads, according to U.N. weapons investigators, who are attempting to document the regime’s nuclear weapons program and activities.  North Korean agents tried to sell a form of lithium metal to unnamed international buyers last year, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.  “The U.N. Panel of Experts' report on North Korea provides further evidence that North Korea will stop at nothing to advance its illicit nuclear and missile programs,” said Sen. Cory Gardner, Colorado Republican, who has been instrumental in attempting to highlight Pyongyang’s nuclear proliferation.  Experts believe the fact that North Korea is producing Lithium-6 is proof they are attempting to miniaturize nuclear warheads to place on the ICBMs they have been testing repeatedly over recent months.  They will find plenty of buyers.  And they won't even have to give discounts.

THE CHINESE WEIGH IN – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES – It may be unanimous: China has officially declared that the U.S. media were in the tank for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.  The finding was included in a lengthy report by the Communist government in Beijing listing human rights and civil liberties violations by the United States in 2016 — a direct response to the March 3 release of the State Department’s annual survey of human rights violations in China and around the world.  In the section titled “Political Rights Undermined,” the Chinese government document contends that “U.S. media published a lot of biased reports and commentaries during the 2016 election, fully demonstrating their failure in staying objective or impartial.”  American press outlets “clearly chose their side in covering the election,” the survey continues. “Among the top 100 newspapers based on circulation, 57 endorsed the Democratic nominee while 2 the Republican.”  Well, they got that right. Given the state of journalism, I'm surprised that as many as two papers went Republican.

MOMENTOUS QUESTION – FROM THE POLITICO:   It wouldn’t be the first time that President Donald Trump declined an invitation but showed up anyway.  The White House Correspondents’ Association is preparing for the possibility that the president will reconsider his terse Tweet from late February announcing that he wasn’t coming to their annual dinner on April 29.  “If President Trump changes his mind, he is welcome to attend the dinner,” association President Jeff Mason said in an email, though he declined to comment further on their preparations.  Trump’s decision to skip the dinner came in the midst of his escalating feud with many in the media, who he has deemed “fake news” and “the enemy of the American people.” Washington reporters are not counting on Trump’s reversal, but the upheaval has delayed announcements about how the association plans to cope with the first dinner in 36 years without the commander-in-chief.  I'd imagine there might be some negotiations over this.  The president has a legitimate concern over the taste level of some of the "entertainers" hired for these dinners.  In particular, there can be concern over "jokes" directed at Melania or Ivanka. 

March 11, 2017       Permalink

AND IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 12:34 P.M. ET:   A number of reports in the last few days say Europe is facing an elevated, and imminent, terror threat.  From Fox: 

Police ordered a shopping mall in the western German city of Essen not to open Saturday after receiving credible tips of an imminent attack.

The shopping center and the adjacent parking lot stayed closed as about a hundred police officers positioned themselves around the compound to make sure nobody could enter the mall. Several officers scoured the inside of the building to bring out early morning cleaning staff.

"As police, we are the security authority here and have decided to close the mall," police spokesman Christoph Wickhorst said, adding that they had been tipped off late Friday by other security agencies. He did not want to provide further details because of the ongoing investigation.

The downtown mall at Limbecker Platz square will be closed for the entire day. The mall is one of the biggest in Germany with more than 200 stores, according to the shopping center's website.

In 2016, three people were injured in an attack on a Sikh temple in Essen by radicalized German-born Muslim teenagers.

Germany has been on the edge following a series of attacks in public places over the past year.

COMMENT:  Remember that the terrorists have to be lucky only once.  If anything, the terror threat may get worse in coming years, as terror groups acquire more sophisticated equipment, and refugee streams from the Mideast into Western countries provide new recruits.

March 11, 2017       Permalink

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  The age of the driverless vehicle is upon us.  But if you were going 65 mph in a driverless car, and the car's computer system was suddenly hacked, what would you do?  From the San Francisco Chronicle: 

Self-driving cars with no human behind the wheel — or, for that matter, any steering wheel at all — may soon appear on California’s public roads, under regulations state officials proposed Friday.

The rules represent a delicate balance, trying to ensure the safety of a new technology many people don’t trust while avoiding tough restrictions that could send car companies fleeing to other states.

Until now, California has required all 27 companies testing autonomous cars in the state to have someone in the driver’s seat, ready to take over, when testing on public roads. And those vehicles needed to have steering wheels and brake pedals, even if some self-driving car engineers didn’t consider them necessary.

Both of those requirements would disappear under the new regulations proposed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Instead, automakers would need to certify to the state that their own testing — either on closed tracks or through computer modeling — shows the cars are ready to operate on public roads with no one behind the wheel. Tests with no driver would require an operator monitoring the car, ready to steer via remote control if necessary.

COMMENT:  A remote operator, monitoring the car?  I wonder how many naps that operator might take?  Does the remote operator have lunch?  Go on coffee breaks?   Have a little iPad for entertainment?  How many cars is he monitoring? 

Maybe it's the safest system ever developed.  I don't know.   But I want a lot more information before piling into a car without a driver.  Besides, if a car doesn't have a driver, who do other cars yell at?

March 11, 2017       Permalink

THE RISING ECONOMY – AT 11:33 A.M. ET:  There is a Trump effect.  As readers know, I didn't support Trump for the nomination, and was at best lukewarm about his candidacy.  But there is clearly a Trump effect on the economy, and it is good.  And we are happy to report it.  From IBD:

Growth: For eight years, economic indicators repeatedly came below forecasts. Now, there's been a string of reports — the latest one is on jobs — that have outperformed economist predictions. What's changed, we wonder?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the economy added 235,000 jobs in February, when economists expected 200,000 new jobs. And that comes after January's 227,000 gain, which also beat economists' forecasts by a substantial margin.

That's not all. Other recent indicators have come in better than economists had expected.

Orders for capital goods were higher in December than forecast.

There were supposed to be 5.55 million existing-home sales in January. The actual number was close to 5.7 million — which was the highest level since 2007.

Retail sales in January climbed 0.4%, where economists had predicted they'd advance only 0.1%. At the same time, the Commerce Department revised the December sales increase upward to 1%.

Now, obviously we can't draw any broad conclusions from a few unexpectedly good economic results.

But it's worth pointing out that this is a dramatic change from the Obama years, when about the only thing that you could predict with any degree of accuracy was that the economy would underperform economists' predictions.

And...

Trump's pro-growth agenda marks a dramatic turnaround from the Obama years. And as a direct result, a multitude of surveys have shown a huge increase in optimism among business owners, investors, and the public at large. The National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index hit a 12-year high in January. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index was the highest it's been since October 2004. The Dow has gained nearly 17% since the November elections.

COMMENT:  The election changed the business psychology, and that is showing up in a number of economic areas.  Next up should be tax cuts for the American people.

We look forward to Trump's first real State of the Union message next January.  I want to see some serious gloating.

March 11,  2017     Permalink

MARCH 10,  2017

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

PERFECTLY ROUTINE – FROM THE HILL:   Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked dozens of U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Obama to submit their resignations, the Department of Justice announced Friday.  U.S. attorneys are normally replaced at the beginning of new administrations. Of the 93 U.S. attorneys, 46 remain from the past administration, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Sessions asked for the federal prosecutors to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition," DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement.  “As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice," the spokeswoman said.  Outrageously, leading elements of the anti-Obama press, like CNN, are trying to portray this as a scandal.  But, as the story notes, it's perfectly routine. 

THIS TELLS THE STORY – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   In a recent interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean suggested that pro-life Americans are unwelcome in the party because the younger voters that Democrats need to energize are concerned with “social justice,” Townhall.com reported Tuesday.  During a March 2 segment of the program, MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough held out former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear — who gave the official Democratic response to President Trump’s address to Congress — as a model centrist Democrat whom Republicans used to have trouble defeating in much of the country...“Can the Democratic Party ever have a big enough tent to have people who were progressive on economic issues and conservative on social issues in their party again?” he asked Mr. Dean.  “No. Because the young generation isn’t that way,” Mr. Dean, a former Vermont governor replied. “I think the old left/right is an anachronism. It exists in Washington. It exists in the media. Young people don’t think that way.  “They are not ideological,” Mr. Dean added. “They are extremely interested in social justice, so we are never going back to maybe making compromises on abortion.”  Huh?  Pro-life Americans aren't interested in social justice?  What an insult.  What a great way to attract voters to a political party.   May they lose forever.

SUCH GENIUSES – FROM CAMPUS REFORM:   The Barnard College Board of Trustees voted to divest stock holdings in fossil fuel companies that “deny climate change,” but has yet to actually define “climate deniers.”  The move comes after years of activism by the student group Divest Barnard, which initially campaigned for Barnard to divest entirely from fossil fuel investments, according to The Columbia Spectator.  Yet the college will not be divesting from fossil fuels in the traditional sense.  Instead, it will take an approach that no other college has taken before, divesting from companies that “deny climate science or otherwise seek to thwart efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.”  I'm sure American industry is quaking.  I'm also sure that members of the Board of Trustees will now be invited to even better cocktail parties on Manhattan's West Side.

March 10, 2017       Permalink

A DEPRESSING AND DANGEROUS TREND – AT 10:51 A.M. ET:  There are no doubt many hate crimes that take place.  They are ugly, and must be prosecuted.

But there have also been a disturbing number of false reports of hate crimes.  These are reckless and dangerous.  They cheapen the "hate" issue, they use up valuable police resources, and they can easily result, especially on college campuses, in the destruction of an innocent person.  From Heat street: 

A second University of Michigan student has admitted to fabricating a hate crime, committed in the wake of Donald Trump’s election.

Halley Bass pled guilty, Monday, to filing a false police report, alleging that an unknown attacker had approached her in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, and scratched her face because she had a “solidarity pin” on her lapel—a safety pin worn as sign that she was a welcoming figure to those who felt marginalized by Trump’s victory.

Bass told the judge that she was “suffering from depression at the time” and had scratched her own face with her safety pin after a Women’s Literature class.

“I was suffering from depression at the time,” Bass told the judge. “I made a superficial scratch on my face. It was visible and I was embarrassed about what I’d done. So I made up a story and told a friend that a stranger had done it while I was walking. I was encouraged to report it to the police. I made the mistake of doing that.”

Bass reportedly told officers that the attack was in connection to a “surge” in hate crimes on the University of Michigan campus following Trump’s election. She described her attacker as a middle-aged white male in a black baseball cap and hoodie. She indicated to police that she was certain she was targeted for her overt display of solidarity with anti-Trump activists.

And...

Heat Street reported on the surge in hate crimes as they were happening at the University of Michigan. This is now the second “hate crime,” however, to turn out to be a hoax. A Muslim student came forward several weeks ago to say that she’d also lied to police when she claimed a man approached her and tried to pull off her hijab shortly after Donald Trump was elected.

COMMENT:  I'd imagine this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.   So-called "social justice warriors" get a certain amount of credit in the movement for being victims of actual hate crimes.  Become a victim, go right to the top.  Someday we may even have our "first victim president."

Overburdened police may not find the subject so amusing.

March 10, 2017       Permalink

THE GHOST SHIPS – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:   There is a new terror threat reported from Britain – the "ghost ships."  From The Times of London:

Hundreds of ships are sailing into European waters after suspicious manoeuvres near terrorist hotspots, prompting fears that they are smuggling people and weapons with impunity.

An investigation by The Times has uncovered how cargo ships and other large vessels routinely switch off GPS tracking so they can disappear, falsify their identification or veer off their usual course.

Figures compiled by Windward, a maritime data and analytics company, revealed that in January and February 40 ships entered Europe from Libya, close to where Islamic State is operating, after “going dark” by ceasing transmission of their location. Twenty vessels travelled through Syrian or Lebanese waters and made dubious stops for up to six hours before reaching the Continent.

COMMENT:   Ships are particularly dangerous.  They can linger in areas, where aircraft can't.  They are large, and can be used, not simply to transport weapons and explosives, but as launching platforms for missiles.  One of the great fears expressed early in our war on terror was that a ship could approach an American coast, under the control of a hostile crew, and launch a missile into one of our cities.  The entire route of the missile might be only 20 miles.

Or, a ship could act as a bomb itself, carrying massive amounts of explosives in crates marked "bananas," with those explosives set off by a suicide crew inside an American port. 

The ships in the story quoted above are turning off their GPS equipment.  Friends don't do that. 

This is chilling.

March 10, 2017       Permalink 

TRUMP'S FIRST MONTH SHOWS ECONOMIC GAINS – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:  The Obamans will take the credit, but the fact is that employers have had months since the election to assess their economic future, and they see that future, under Trump, as good.  From Bloomberg: 

U.S. employers added jobs at an above-average pace for a second month on outsized gains in construction and manufacturing, showing the labor market continued its steady growth in the new year.

The 235,000 increase in jobs followed a 238,000 rise in January that was more than previously estimated, the best back-to-back rise since July, a Labor Department report showed Friday in Washington. The unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent, and wages grew 2.8 percent from February 2016.

While unseasonably warm weather may have boosted the payrolls count, the data represent President Donald Trump’s first full month in office and coincide with a surge in economic optimism following his election victory. The figures also validate recent comments by Federal Reserve officials that flagged a likely interest-rate increase this month.

“The economy is riding a wave of optimism in the wake of the election,” Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of jobs website Glassdoor, said before the report was released.

Construction jobs, which can fluctuate depending on the weather, rose by 58,000, the most since March 2007, and followed a 40,000 increase in January. Manufacturing payrolls gained 28,000, a three-year high. Meanwhile, retail positions fell by 26,000, the most since December 2012.

COMMENT:  We've noticed a shift toward gains in the manufacturing and construction sectors, where high-paying jobs are common.  The retail sector, lower-paying, is shrinking.  The shift is welcome.  The key to rebuilding this economy is not simply the number of jobs added, but their quality. 

March 10,  2017     Permalink