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.

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

MARCH 5,  2018

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

PROGRESS – FROM FOX BUSINESS:  America is on its way to becoming the largest oil producer in the world.  The nation will surpass Russia, the current No. 1, by 2023, the International Energy Agency estimated on Monday. U.S. crude production is projected to hit a record of 12.1 million barrels a day in 2023, which would reflect an increase of roughly 2 million barrels compared with this year. Russia pumps about 11 million barrels of oil each day.  IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, speaking at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, said the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Norway will contribute to supply growth by non-OPEC nations, according to The Wall Street Journal.  The U.S. has experienced strong production growth in recent years as such energy giants as Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) have boosted their output from shale regions including the Permian Basin in Texas and the Bakken Formation in North Dakota. The IEA said U.S. oil will account for 60% of the 6.4 million new barrels produced daily between now and 2023.  Not many years ago, we worried about the supply of petroleum from the Mideast.  No more.  We are becoming energy independent, which is important to our economy and the strength of our foreign policy.

PEOPLE GET PAID FOR THIS STUFF – FROM FOX:   If you’ve ever wished someone a “Merry Christmas” or said “God bless you” when someone sneezes, you’ve committed an act of “Islamomisic microaggressions,” according to college librarians at a Massachusetts college.  The Anti-Oppression Library Guide at Simmons College in Boston is a collaborative effort among the school’s librarians, reported CampusReform.org.  “Islamomisic Microaggressions are commonplace verbal or behavioral indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicates hostile, derogatory, or negative slights in relation to the beliefs and religious practices of Muslims,” the librarians argue. “They are structurally based and invoke oppressive systems of religious/Christian hierarchy.”  A spokesperson told Fox News the guide is not a policy of Simmons College.  The question is why Simmons would have librarians on such a low and corrupt intellectual level.

WHINING – FROM THE HILL:   CNN's Jim Acosta objected to his network not being called upon during Monday's White House press briefing, noting it was the third straight time White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't take a question from the cable network.  “Sarah, this is the third briefing you have not taken a question from CNN. Do you expect the Justice Department to enforce all subpoenas, Sarah?” Acosta asked as Sanders left the podium.  Sanders continued walking out of the James S. Brady Briefing Room without looking back or acknowledging the question.   Acosta's attempt to ask a question was shown on CNN as the network went back to anchor Brooke Baldwin in New York.  “All right. Jim Acosta there at the end trying to get a question in," Baldwin said before reviewing the press briefing.  Acosta took to Twitter afterward to repeat the complaint and included the hashtag "courage," implying that Sanders was afraid to take any questions from CNN reporters in the room.  CNN has voluntarily made itself the almost official anti-Trump network, and yet still expects love and acceptance from the Trump White House.  CNN needs parenting.

March 5, 2018       Permalink

OH HOW BRAVE – AT 1:44 P.M ET:  We get the feeling that the sanctuary city movement may soon be confronted with federal power.  Americans have never been behind this business.  From Breitbart: 

Interim San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell is reportedly willing to go to jail to ensure his city always remains a “sanctuary city.”

Farrell assured hundreds of amnesty activists last week who were blocking and protesting in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building that San Francisco will forever be a “sanctuary city.” He also, according to ABC7, “said he is willing to get arrested if that’s what it takes to defend sanctuary city policies,” echoing comments that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf recently made.

The activists gathered to protest after ICE detained more than 200 illegal immigrants, nearly half of whom had criminal records, last week in various Bay Area raids. After Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tipped off illegal immigrants that ICE would be conducting sweeps, Thomas Homan, the agency’s acting director, said on last week that more than 800 illegal immigrants remained at large in the community because of Schaaf’s “irresponsible decision.”

According to KTVU, the “Power, not Panic Emergency Response Committee” organized the emergency rally. The group is composed of entities like: the “ACLU, the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership, Full Rights Equality & Empowerment SF, Contra Costa East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition, the Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network, Centro Legal de la Raza, the California Immigrant Policy Center.”

COMMENT:  I think of people all over the world trying to get into this country legally, following the law, understanding what America is about.  What do we say to them?  What do San Francisco and Oakland say to them?  "You suckers, we have a faster way for you?"

March 5, 2018       Permalink

HYPOCRITES !!! – AQT 11:43 A.M. ET:  Oh. another thing about the Oscars.  One of the big causes this year was gun control.  Next year it'll be another one – the heartbreak of failed facelifts.  And it's reported (I didn't watch) that people walked around with their gun-control pins, and feeling mighty good about themselves.  The frauds.  From Breitbart:   

The Los Angeles Police Department will deploy 500 officers to wrap the Dolby Theatre in multiple barriers of armed security for the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday night, an event at which several of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars will actively push for more gun control in America.

“We have these concentric rings of security that start in the middle and radiate outward,” said LAPD Cmdr. Blake Chow, the man tasked with overseeing the massive operation. “We have a lot of officers in fixed posts and foot beats keeping an eye on the event.”

Several celebrities plan to wear orange lapel pins on the red carpet and during tonight’s ceremony in support of gun control and the Michael Bloomberg-founded gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Indeed, there will be road closures to prevent people breaching a security perimeter made up of a wall of ten-foot gates and barricades, FBI agents, and firefighters. Police helicopters will be buzzing above and private security guards from Security Industry Specialists will be inside the Dolby Theater.

“There’s definitely going to be an extensive police presence,” LAPD Officer Luis Garcia told Breitbart news.

COMMENT:  I love the hypocrisy.  Okay, you suckers, you get rid of your guns, but me, the movie star, will keep my 500-man force, armed with Glocks.  After all, I'm special and you're not. 

And you may be sure that behind the Glocks were shotguns and rifles, including the kinds of rifles the orange-pin wearers want to ban. 

Reminds me of some members of Congress, protected by a battalion of gun-wielding guards, but opposed to schoolchildren getting the same protection.  I mean, who's important here?

March 5, 2018       Permalink 

OSCARS FLOP – AT 10:50 A.M. ET:  Like the NFL, like the Olympics, last night's Oscars saw a dramatic decline in viewership.  The people are sending a message.  From Fox: 

Jimmy Kimmel claimed he was keeping this year's Oscars positive, but the ratings were anything but.

The politically charged 2018 Academy Awards were down 15.6 percent compared to the 2017 viewership with an 18.9 rating in Nielsen’s overnight numbers from 8-11 p.m. ET, according to TheWrap.

The sharp decline marks what could become the lowest-rated Oscars of all time on a night when host Jimmy Kimmel and the crowd of Hollywood elite focused on diversity, feminism and political issues as much as it focused on the films being honored.

The lack of high-wattage stars in the major categories, as well as a ho-hum slate of films when it came to box office receipts, may have also been a factor.

Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor told Fox News viewers shouldn’t be surprised that the show turned political and featured “divisive, left-wing politics” throughout the four-hour event.

“The Tinseltown elite genuinely hate the people they expect will pay to see their movies and watch their TV shows,” Gainor said. “Why do we support them?”

The final numbers are subject to adjustment and the show ran 50 minutes after the primetime cutoff, with the most prestigious awards coming after 11 p.m. The 2017 Oscars picked up a 22.4 rating and 32.9 million total viewers. The decline in overnight numbers puts a spotlight on the total viewership data that will be announced eventually on Monday.

Sunday night’s awards were politically charged and loaded with mentions of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. Kimmel took jabs at President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and even Fox News viewers.

COMMENT:  I sense that we are seeing a cultural change in America.  When the NFL turned political, viewers turned off.  When the Oscars became more political, viewers turned off.  The Olympics are more complicated, but uninspired coverage and a suspicion that politics would be injected, played their roles.

If you're going to run an audience event, you'd better know your audience and show some respect.   The audience is a lot smarter than you think.

March 5,  2018      Permalink

MARCH 4,  2018

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

OSCARS – I didn't watch.  Can't stand the politics and most of the movies.  But I'm delighted that Gary Oldman won best actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill.  Indeed, I'm glad to see Churchill portrayed, and I hope that a new generation will now be introduced to this 20th-century giant, even if it's through a movie.  The portrayal was excellent, even if some of the scenes stretched history to the breaking point.  I liked the fact that Churchill was presented, defects and all, as very human, and a mite unstable.  If he'd faced today's anti-Trump press, he'd have been destroyed before he could even start his prime ministership.  He was the right man for the moment, in many respects the man who saved Western democracy.

ITALY, FIRST RESULTS – FROM AFP:  Rome (AFP) - A surge for populist and far-right parties in Italy's election could result in a hung parliament with a right-wing alliance likely to win the most votes but no majority after a campaign dominated by anger against immigration.  With over half the ballots from Sunday's vote counted, the right-wing coalition was at 37 percent, including the far-right, eurosceptic League party with 18 percent and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy) party with 14 percent.  That raises the prospect of League leader Matteo Salvini, who has promised to shut down Roma camps, deport hundreds of thousands of migrants and tackle the "danger" of Islam, becoming Italy's next prime minister.
The anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which has drawn support from Italians fed up with traditional parties and a lack of economic opportunity, was second with 31 percent.  The trend in Europe, starting with Britain's Brexit vote, is against the establishment, against the EU, and against forced immigration, often involving immigrants who have no intention of integrating into the local culture.  Storm clouds for Europe ahead.

ONLY IN CHICAGO – FROM CBS:  CHICAGO (CBS) — Violence at cemeteries, and during funeral processions, in Cook County is increasing.  A Hillside police chase is just one example of some of the violence. Chief Joe Lukaszek says three guns were recovered from the stolen SUV, which had just left a cemetery.  “There’s no respect for the dead anymore,” he said.  Cemeteries in Hillside are the final resting place for many gang members killed in Chicago. Funeral processions from the city often end up on the expressways, which lead to dangerous situations.  “People, literally, are jumping on other sides of the road, driving next each other, weaving in and out of traffic, guns being waived out of cars. There’s been shots fired from vehicles, as well,” Sheriff Tom Dart said.  As a result, Dart is creating a new task force to tackle the problem. It will be comprised of community leaders, citizens and law enforcement, as well as cemetery and funeral home owners.  I'm sure the Chicago authorities will study the question for years, and end up blaming either Donald Trump or Dick Cheney.

March 4, 2018       Permalink

THE GREAT SALENA – AT 2:48 P.M. ET:  We are great fans of Salena Zito here.  Based in Pittsburgh, she has emerged as one of the few national reporters who goes out and talks to real people.  She probably has never attended a Georgetown cocktail party, and I doubt if she'll ever be invited to give a commencement address.  But she knows, in the best sense of that word.  This column is based on an interview with an ordinary guy named Sam.  From the New York Post:   

After 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Florida high school on Feb. 14, a slew of big-name corporations, including Best Western, Delta Air Lines, MetLife, the Bank of Omaha and the Avis Budget Group, have terminated their promotional programs for NRA members.

Not because the NRA had anything to do with the shootings, but because an organized campaign to boycott the gun organization appeared on Twitter within hours of the shooting. As the hysteria rose and thousands of activists bullied companies allied with the NRA, corporations panicked and canceled their affiliate programs. The left cheered and the rest of the country bristled as politics suddenly invaded the once-innocuous world of corporate discounts — yet another sector of America formerly untouched by activism.

Sam is perplexed that NRA members have become the target of so much hate, given that the very institutions employed to keep people safe in Parkland failed that day. But he is far from angry.
“I’m not furious, not at all. They made a business decision. I get it. They want to step out of their non-political lane and become corporate activists. I can calmly step out of my lane, too. And given every chance I get, I will not use their products,” he said.

Because the bulk of corporate CEOs or PR teams for these companies live in Westchester or Los Angeles or San Francisco, they forget that many of their regular consumers who live Akron, Ohio; Westby, Wis.; or Baldwin, Mich., do not share their point of view. When you’re a national brand, you have to sell your product nationally. You can’t be ignorant of the cultural divide...

...Last fall even the NFL — the strongest brand in America — suffered a ratings hit when players refused to stand for the national anthem. Annoyed that the NFL did nothing to stop politics and division from invading the national pastime, consumers found other ways to spend their Sundays. According to Nielsen, the average football audience was 14.9 million in 2017, compared to 16.5million in 2016.

Now banks, hotels and rental cars are picking a side, and they are all starting to take a hit. A Politico/Morning Consult survey of US adults conducted Feb. 23-25 found that consumers felt more negatively toward businesses after they learned they had cut ties with NRA members...

...One of the few companies that got it right on the issue was FedEx. On Monday, they proved it with a statement saying that while they oppose some of the NRA’s policy positions they refuse to change their discount policies because they value their customers for more than just their politics. (Meanwhile, both Apple and Amazon have remained silent while continuing their discount programs.)...

...The sad thing is, our national divisiveness appears to have no end, hurting not just corporate bottom lines but society, too. We are split in two more than ever — and the chasm just keeps growing.

COMMENT:  Well said, as always.  I'm not an NRA member, but the smears against that organization are worse than the worst of McCarthyism.  Yet, the mainstream media has no problem with the tone of the anti-NRA campaign.  It is, after all, an outgrowth of the tone on American college campuses, the home base of today's "journalists."

March 4, 2018       Permalink

ITALY VOTES – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  Italy voted in national elections today.  The outcome is unknown, but could affect the future of the European Union, already weakened by Britain's withdrawal.  From Newsmax: 

Italians voted Sunday in one of the most uncertain elections in years and one that could determine if Italy will succumb to the populist, euroskeptic and far-right sentiment that has swept through Europe.

The campaign was marked by the prime-time airing of neofascist rhetoric and anti-migrant violence that culminated in a shooting spree last month against six Africans. While the center-right coalition that capitalized on the anti-migrant sentiment led the polls, analysts predict the likeliest outcome is a hung parliament.

That's less-than-precise reporting.  Yes, there are fascists and far rightists.  (There are also Communists and far leftists, but that's left unsaid.)  There are also thoughtful voters who have had enough of the European Union and its demands.

That will necessitate days and weeks of back-room haggling and horse trading to come up with a coalition government that can win confidence votes in Parliament. Just which parties coalesce from among the three main blocs — the center-right coalition, center-left coalition and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement — will determine Italy's course.

"Basically it is very likely that, at the end of the day, none of these three groups will have an absolute majority and they will be forced to start talking to each other and see how to put together a coalition government," said Franco Pavoncello, dean of the John Cabot University in Rome.

More than 46 million Italians were eligible to vote from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (0600-2200GMT), including Italians abroad who already mailed in ballots. Exit polls were expected after polls closed, projections sometime thereafter and consolidated results Monday.

With unemployment at 10.8 percent and economic growth in the eurozone's third-largest economy lagging the average, many Italians have all but given up hope for change. Polls indicated a third hadn't decided or weren't even sure they would vote.

"The situation is pretty bad," said Paolo Mercorillo from Ragusa, Sicily, who said he had decided not to even bother casting a ballot. "There aren't candidates who are valid enough."

COMMENT:   Italy has always been politically unstable.  Its instability today is increased by the refugee crisis, which is also destabilizing Western Europe's strongest nation, Germany.  The future does not look good.  Many of these countries aren't even reproducing their populations, and their new immigrants are forcing politicians to accept very damaging changes to culture. 

The future does not lie in Western Europe, which may soon be a memory.

March 4,  2018     Permalink