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MAY 21,  2016

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

CREEPY – FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:   CAIRO — In an eerie coincidence, the EgyptAir jetliner that plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday was once the target of political vandals who wrote in Arabic on its underside, “We will bring this plane down.”  Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti, which appeared about two years ago, had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo Airport. Playing on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the plane’s registration, SU-GCC, and the surname of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, some workers also wrote “traitor” and “murderer.”  There is still nothing definitive about what caused the crash, but the informed speculation includes the possibility of terrorism or an attempted hijacking. 

A BLOW AGAINST TERROR – FROM THE HILL:   Microsoft is updating its terms of use to specifically ban the posting of "terrorist content" on its services.  The company is also considering whether to prominently display "positive messaging" in its Bing search results when users look for terror-related materials. However, it will not hide results for terror content on its search engine unless it is banned by local governments.  "Terrorism is one of the truly urgent issues of our time," the company announced Friday. "We are committed to doing our part to help address the use of technology to promote it or to recruit to its causes."  The announcement follows a number of steps by other tech companies like Twitter. Earlier this year, the Obama administration began publicly pressuring tech companies to help combat the spread of terror-related content online.  Freedom of speech or press, as guaranteed by our First Amendment, has never included the freedom to advocate criminal violence.  I'm glad that tech companies are finally concluded that their own freedoms depend on defeating the terrorist scourge. 

MORE "SETTLED SCIENCE" – FROM LONDON'S DAILY MAIL:   It has long been held that a diet high in salt is dangerous to the heart, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke.  But, in a dramatic U-turn, the scientific evidence has suggested the opposite can also be true.  A global study has found that, contrary to past belief, low-salt diets may not be beneficial.  Rather, they can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death, compared with average salt consumption.  The study, published in the reputable Lancet journal, has garnered strong reaction, with one expert declaring his 'disbelief', while others are critical of the study's methods, and calling its findings into question.  I have absolutely no knowledge of this subject, but I do find it interesting that conventional wisdom is often questioned in science, and is sometimes overturned.  Whenever someone says "settled science" to you, run in the other direction.

May 21,  2016     Permalink

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED, THAT THIS IS GOING ON –  AT 2:26 P.M. ET:  It's so upsetting to find our public servants straying from the straight and narrow.  From Daily Caller: 

Department of Justice officials diverted millions of dollars slated for victims of the 2008 housing meltdown to politically favored third parties, including “left-wing radical groups,” according to the chairman of a House of Representatives oversight subcommittee.

Rep. Sean Duffy, ?a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Financial Services oversight and investigations subcommittee, said Friday the officials “skimmed” off three percent from mortgage-related bank settlements. This created what he called a $500 million “slush fund” that could be steered toward favored groups.

“The first objective of a settlement is to make sure that we have victims who are made whole,” Duffy said, referring to millions of Americans who lost their homes during the meltdown that led to the Great Recession of 2009. “If you’re diverting money away from victims and sending it to third-party activist groups, you have victims who are being harmed not just once, but a second time.”

Justice officials were long able to “skim 3 percent of any settlement money into their own account to for the most part spend it the way they see fit,” Duffy told participants in the media briefing hosted by the Cause of Action Institute, a nonprofit legal watchdog group.

COMMENT:  This obviously requires a Congressional investigation.  But what comes after that?  Ordinarily, anything that turns up in a Congressional probe that may be criminal is turned over to the Department of Justice.  But that department is apparently the culprit here.

Special prosecutor?  I think so.

May 21, 2016       Permalink

A KINDER, GENTLER TRUMP? – AT 1:50 P.M. ET:  Donald Trump, or those advising Trump, are starting to take the necessary steps to undo some of the damage Trump's statements made during the primary campaign.  It remains to be seen how much repair work will be successful.  From The Hill:

Prominent Hispanic conservatives say they could back Donald Trump if the presumptive GOP nominee changes his tone and walks back some of his policy positions.

Republican Latino leaders have chaffed at Trump’s call for a wall on the southern border and statements from his campaign launch about rapists and criminals coming across the border from Mexico.

The tone and policy positions have contributed to Trump’s unpopularity with Hispanics. Trump trailed Clinton by 39 points among Hispanic voters in a Fox News Latino poll released on Friday.
But prominent voices in the conservative Hispanic world say they’re ready to move toward Trump if he can move toward them.

Alfonso Aguilar, a former White House official under President George W. Bush who now leads the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, said he’d be open to a conversation.

Aguilar has criticized Trump in the past, but he praised the presumptive nominee’s decision to send a video to this weekend’s National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC). Trump's video aired Friday night, along with one from Clinton.

“If in the process of unification, he were to seek my support and show he’s willing to change his tone and be open to some form of legalization, I would be willing to reconsider my position,” he said.

“He’s done with the Latino community, he’s done with the Latino conservatives,” Aguilar said on Fox News in October. “If Donald Trump is the GOP candidate, we won’t work to support him and we are sure he will lose the general election because there’s no way a GOP candidate can win the White House if they don’t get more support from Latino voters.”

COMMENT:  The question is whether Trump can sustain any reconciliation.  His mouth is big, his restraint is small.  Some of his economic messages can resonate with both Hispanics and blacks, if he would present them correctly and respectfully.  Let's see what his charm offensive brings.

Just yesterday Trump shot off his mouth after the crash of the Egyptian airliner into the Mediterranean, asserting, with no proof whatever, that it was an act of terror and that Islamists were behind it.  That outburst was unpresidential, and will, legitimately, be held against him.  The Clintonistas are already basing their campaign on the idea that Trump is temperamentally unsuited for the presidency.  Unfortunately, Trump sometimes goes out of his way to prove their point.

May 21, 2016       Permalink

WEST POINT – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Yesterday I was honored to attend the graduation parade at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  Here are some photos.  It was very pleasant to be on a campus where the American flag is in the sky, not on the floor:

May 21,  2016      Permalink

MAY 20,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

MAJOR EDUCATIONAL ADVANCE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   A North Carolina school board has voted to stop naming high school valedictorians and salutatorians in an effort to reduce “unhealthy” competition among students.  The Wake County school board unanimously gave initial approval Tuesday to a policy that would prohibit principals from naming the two top-ranking students in a graduating class after 2018, The News & Observer reported.  Why reward achievement?  Where does that get us?  I'd go further and have each student in the graduating class declared a "potential winner."  I'd also abolish grades and tests, and then ask each graduate what airliner he'd like to fly.  Am I not a soldier for equality?  Compliments please.

SMART PEOPLE – HOW DARE THEY THINK FOR THEMSELVES? – FROM BREITART:   A new Washington Post poll finds that fully nine in ten Native Americans do not take offense at the name of the Washington Redskins football team.  The editorial page of the newspaper commissioning the survey forbids the use of the term, claiming “the team name unquestionably offends not only many Native Americans but many other Americans, too.” The Kansas City Star, Seattle Times, and other outlet prohibit use of the name on similar grounds. The new poll suggests that journalists misunderstand Native Americans. I'll bet they do.  I'll also bet that most journalists who announce what Native Americans think have never spoken to one.

OUR MARCH TOWARD FASCISM – FROM THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE:  In a move spearheaded by environmentalists, the Portland Public Schools board unanimously approved a resolution aimed at eliminating doubt of climate change and its causes in schools.  “It is unacceptable that we have textbooks in our schools that spread doubt about the human causes and urgency of the crisis,” said Lincoln High School student Gaby Lemieux in board testimony. “Climate education is not a niche or a specialization, it is the minimum requirement for my generation to be successful in our changing world.”  The resolution passed Tuesday evening calls for the school district to get rid of textbooks or other materials that cast doubt on whether climate change is occurring and that the activity of human beings is responsible. The resolution also directs the superintendent and staff to develop an implementation plan for “curriculum and educational opportunities that address climate change and climate justice in all Portland Public Schools.”  This is absolutely awful.  We're being told by trendy educators and their supporters that the truth is decided, not by facts and observation, but by the votes of school boards. 

May 20,  2016     Permalink

WARREN TO STAR?  IS THIS SERIOUS? – AT 7:23 A.M. ET:  Apparently the Democrats see a starring role for Elizabeth Warren in this year's presidential election.  She will be peacemaker.  Stop laughing now.  From The Hill:

Democratic senators expect Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will soon make moves to mollify restive liberals and unify the Democratic Party behind Hillary Clinton.

Several Democratic senators say they have approached Warren about the role she can play, insisting she is best positioned to mend the schism between the Clinton and Bernie Sanders wings of the party.

Warren has a loyal following among the more liberal Democrats who favor Sanders. She has told colleagues she will play the role of peacemaker, but not until after the last major round of primaries on June 7.

“I think Elizabeth can and will be very helpful,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a Clinton backer who spoke to Warren on Wednesday.

“She is very interested, at least in my conversations with her, in doing everything she can to help get the party to unite for November,” she added.

Warren and her office declined requests to comment.

COMMENT:  I'd love to know what Warren wants from Hillary in return.  I'm thinking, support for Warren for president in 2020, or maybe the vice-presidential slot this year.

I don't believe the factions of the Democratic Party can be united.  The Sanders crowd is filled with old Marxists and professional revolutionaries.  They may agree to an election-year ceasefire, but expect nothing after that.  Sanders is an extreme leftist, and he enjoys that position.

May 20, 2016       Permalink

FINALLY SOME ACTION - AT 7:15 A.M. ET:   The United States is taking some steps to protect our Olympic athletes from the virus infecting South America.  From The Hill: 

USA Swimming will relocate its upcoming Olympic training camp from Puerto Rico to Atlanta over concerns about the Zika virus, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

The team had been planning to train in Puerto Rico for several days in late July before heading on to Rio de Janeiro.

Recently, Major League Baseball moved two games out of Puerto Rico due to the Zika virus, which is known to cause serious birth defects.

COMMENT:  Okay, that's step one, and a good move.  But it does nothing to protect our athletes once they're in Rio.  There is danger from Zika.  There is also danger to long-distance swimmers from serious pollution in the Rio waters.  Rio is simply not ready for the Olympics.  And Brazil right now is politically unstable. 

It's a drastic step, but safety and health come first.  Either cancel the Olympics, or move the events to other venues.  It won't be quite the same show, but moving will demonstrate some adult responsibility, which is often in short supply in the International Olympic Committee, which is mostly concerned about money.

May 20, 2016       Permalink

ANOTHER POLL SHOWS TRUMP LEAD – AT 7:03 A.M. ET:  This comes a day after the Fox poll showed Trump leading Clinton.  From Rasmussen:

Donald Trump has now grown his lead over Hillary Clinton in Rasmussen Reports’ first weekly White House Watch survey.

Trump earns 42% support to Clinton’s 37% when Likely U.S. Voters are asked whom they would vote for if the presidential election were held today. But Rasmussen Reports’ latest national telephone survey finds that 13% prefer some other candidate, while seven percent (7%) are undecided.

At the beginning of this month, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, posted a statistically insignificant 41% to 39% lead over Clinton who is still expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Fifteen percent (15%) favored someone else, and five percent (5%) were undecided.

And...

Trump now gets 76% of the Republican vote, while Clinton has 72% Democratic support. Thirteen percent (13%) of Democrats prefer Trump, while nine percent (9%) of GOP voters favor Clinton. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, Trump leads 41% to 28%, but 31% of these voters either like another candidate or are undecided.

COMMENT:  These are very early polls, and obviously can change dramatically.  But I'm quite amazed by the fact that Donald Trump, not exactly the image of the dignified statesman, is leading Hillary Clinton, who has been a national figure for 25 years.  It shows Hillary's weakness.  The Bernie Sanders faction will use these polls, and may use them effectively, to demand quite a bit of influence at the Democratic convention.

May 20,  2016     Permalink