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MAY 24,  2017

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

MAJOR NATIONAL SCANDAL – FROM REASON.COM:  If you're a white person, you have no business running a restaurant that serves Asian, Latin, African, or Indian cuisine.  That's according to the creators of a "white-owned appropriative restaurants" list, which accuses several Oregon establishments of engaging in cultural appropriation—a tool of "a white supremacist culture."  The list, a Google Docs spreadsheet, includes about 60 Portland-area restaurants, the names of their white owners, and the kind of cuisine they serve. (For example, the list informs us that Burmasphere "was founded by a white man who ate Burmese food in San Francisco.") The spreadsheet also lists competing restaurants that are owned by people of color and urges customers to try them instead.  "This is NOT about cooking at home or historical influences on cuisines; it's about profit, ownership, and wealth in a white supremacist culture," wrote the spreadsheet's authors. "These white-owned businesses hamper the ability for POC [people of color] to run successful businesses of their own (cooking their own cuisines) by either consuming market share with their attempt at authenticity or by modifying foods to market to white palates. Their success further perpetuates the problems stated above. It's a cyclical pattern that will require intentional behavior change to break."  I certainly intend to look into the racial ownership of every restaurant we visit.  It may take a couple of days before we're seated, but it's important for social justice. 

DOPE – FROM THE POLITICO:  HELENA, Mont. — Montana Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte was issued a citation late Wednesday after he allegedly “body-slammed” a reporter at a campaign event on the eve of a hotly contested special election.  Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian tweeted that Gianforte “body-slammed me and broke my glasses” at a campaign event in Bozeman, Montana — minutes before what was to be the last campaign rally of the campaign. Jacobs said he had asked Gianforte about a new budget analysis of House Republicans' effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Other reporting pretty much concludes that the story is entirely accurate.  Hey, nothing like a Congressional candidate engaging in an act of personal violence.  Where did the GOP get this jerk?  The Congressional seat, Montana's only House seat, should be safely Republican.  But watch the party blow this one.  They're so good at it.  To be sure, the reporter is a left-wing, obnoxious guy, but you never assault someone.  Never.

PERSONAL GROWTH IN THE DIGITAL AGE – FROM ORLANDO.COM:  A student wasn't happy with his "F" grade in his engineering class so he logged into a faculty computer and changed it, according to University of Central Florida police.  Sami Adel Ammar, 22, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant after detectives linked him to the grade change.  A UCF engineering professor said he received an email on May 4 from the university’s electronic grade book program thanking him for approving his grade roster, but the professor said he had approved the roster much earlier in the day and had already received that confirmation email.  The professor checked the grade roster and said he was surprised to find that the class grade for Sami Ammar was changed from an “F” to a “B,” according to the arrest warrant.  The professor tried to change the grade back, but received an error message.  Question:  If this kid is so good at hacking, how come he got an F in the class?  Probably lack of motivation.  Clearly, the college's computer system needs to be upgraded.  Maybe the kid can be ordered to do it, rather than suffer a penalty.

May 24, 2017       Permalink

ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN – AT 11:48 A.M. ET:   You'd think, from what we read, that all college students are whackjob leftists.  In fact, there's a small but growing movement of conservatives on American college campuses, including elite campuses.  These are heroic students, fighting back against the mob, sometimes at their own risk.  From AFP: 

Boston (AFP) - US universities are often bastions of progressive Democrats, but Donald Trump's election has spurred a growing number of conservative students to step out of the shadows and become increasingly vocal.

Even though both right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and conservative firebrand Ann Coulter cancelled planned appearances at the University of California, Berkeley in the face of threats and violent protests, Democrats don't always have a stranglehold on campus.

"Conservative students are becoming less hesitant to speak out," says Sterling Beard, editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, which supports young conservatives in denouncing progressive bias on campus.

The recent violence at Berkeley, he says, makes the job easier "because so many of their liberal peers have become hysterical."

Two of these new conservative voices are Nick Fuentes at Boston University and William Long at Harvard, who are finishing the school year happy to go into battle to defend their ideas to peers in the majority opposing camp.

Both voted for Trump, if for different reasons.

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  It's a start, only a start, and the left will push back with threats, gimmicks, and attempts to label conservative statements as "hate speech."  But these kids will inspire others, and possibly bring some balance to our campuses. 

May 24, 2017       Permalink

BRITAIN ON EDGE – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  At least the Brits are taking the latest outrage seriously, and not making cultural excuses for the murderer.  The country is mobilizing.  From Powerline: 

In the aftermath of yesterday’s terrorist attack in Manchester, British Prime Minister Theresa May has raised the nation’s threat level from “severe” to “critical,” the highest rating. The threat level hasn’t been set that high in Britain since 2007. Stating that another attack “may be imminent,” May ordered that the military be deployed to guard concerts, sports matches, and other public events.

The Prime Minister’s actions are predicated, she said, on the view that the latest attack — unlike, say, the mowing down of pedestrians by a car on a London bridge earlier this year — may well be the product of a network of terrorists. If so, it’s reasonable to fear that the network will produce more terrorism in the coming days.

There are grounds for believing that the Manchester attack is, indeed, the product of organized terrorists. For one thing, the method of the attack suggests a collaborative effort. As one terrorism expert puts it:

Getting a car or a knife is easy. Making a bomb that works and goes off when you want it to go off takes preparation and practice. And it usually involves other people.

Moreover, the suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, traveled frequently between Libya and England, according to a family friend. ISIS has become quite active in Libya. This suggests that Abedi may have received training by ISIS. If so, it’s reasonable to suspect that he is part of an ISIS network of indeterminate size operating in England.

For what it’s worth, ISIS has claimed “credit” for the Manchester attack. It said that “one of the soldiers of the caliphate was able to place an explosive device within a gathering of the crusaders in the city of Manchester.” Under different circumstances, describing teenagers, mostly teenage girls, at a pop concert as “crusaders” would be hilarious. 

COMMENT:  There will be a national election in Britain June 8th.  Terrorists often strike just before elections to disrupt the nation.  Britain is bracing itself, and France may well extend the current State of Emergency in the country because the terror threat is so severe.

President Trump has spent the last week, on his foreign trip, warning about terror.  We haven't heard much from the Democrats.

May 24,  2017     Permalink

TRUMP MOVES UP – AT 9:52 A.M. The left was gleeful last week over President Trump's bumpy ride, and some of the president's domestic missteps, and apparently dreamed of a President Trump whose approval ratings would dive into the thirties (a point that, by the way, Obama reached in one phase of his presidency).

Not so fast, lefties.

The president's foreign trip, a triumph in every respect, and a major victory for American influence, is having its impact.  We always stress that polls are tentative, snapshots in time, and that they will very one from the other, but the Rasmussen numbers for this president are starting to rise again:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove.

The latest figures for Trump include 31% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 42% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. (see trends).

The Islamic State (ISIS) took credit for this week’s horrific bombing attack at a concert venue in Manchester, England that killed 22 people. Before the latest incident, 53% of Americans said the United States and the international community can do more to help Europe fight these terrorists.  

Rasmussen Reports is in the process of surveying voters about the threat ISIS poses to the United States and will release those results on Thursday.

During his visit to Saudi Arabia this week, President Trump called on the Saudis and others in the Muslim-majority world to lead the fight against terrorism globally. Voters still say the Saudis have not been aggressive enough in fighting terrorism.

COMMENT:  The president has made many, many mistakes, and he can still blunder away this new momentum.  Also, he's under constant investigation over real or imagined misdeeds, with the mainstream media egging on the investigators.  It's the old drip, drip, drip of destruction.

But if he learns, he can still be a fine, even a great president.  It's really up to him.

One thing he must do is seal the leaks coming from the White House, leaks that probably violate the law.  If he has to go through the White House with polygraphs, I'm all for it.

May 24,  2017     Permalink

MAY 23,  2017

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

MAJOR INTELLECTUAL NEWS – FROM DAILY WIRE:  “Climate change” and “child marriage” are “interconnected” issues, said Chelsea Clinton on Monday. Participating in a left-wing discussion panel framed as a meeting for “social justice,” she was introduced as an “activist, thought leader, and change agent.”  Using "climate change" as a euphemism for the narrative of anthropogenic global warming, Clinton framed the burning of fossil fuels as exacerbating other perceived social and political issues:  “[We] carry multiple concerns in both our head and our heart. Just listening to the concerns around education and climate change, women’s health, child marriage, access to technology, all of those are of course interconnected. We have to focus on each of them in their interconnectedness.”  Intersectionality is now one of the trendy concepts on the left.  Next year it'll be something else.  We're glad, of course, to have Chelsea Clinton's wisdom.  Stop laughing.

DISSENT NOT PERMITTED – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  A Duke University Divinity School professor who called diversity training a “waste” of time has resigned after disciplinary proceedings were launched against him and he was barred by his dean from faculty meetings.  At issue is a February email in which Professor Paul Griffiths advised his colleagues not to bother with a proffered volunteer diversity training, called “Racial Equity Institute Phase I Training.” Slated for March, it would work to ensure the divinity school is “equitable and anti-racist in its practices and culture,” according to the invite.  “I exhort you not to attend this training,” Griffiths stated in his Feb. 6 listserv reply to his peers. “Don’t lay waste your time by doing so. It’ll be, I predict with confidence, intellectually flaccid: there’ll be bromides, clichés, and amen-corner rah-rahs in plenty.”  “… We have neither time nor resources to waste. This training is a waste. Please, ignore it,” he added.   You'd think Duke, which has been the site of a number of scandals involving political correctness and party-line thinking, would be a little smarter.

ON EDGE – FROM THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION:  The scoreboard at SunTrust Park briefly flashed an emergency message during the Braves game on Tuesday that later was said to be a false alarm.  During the third inning of the Braves-Pirates game, a scoreboard message indicated that an emergency had been reported in the building and that the stadium should be evacuated. The message was accompanied by a loud alarm signal and flashing lights.  An altercation between fans in one of the ballpark restaurants caused a malfunction that resulted in the alarm sounding, the Associated Press reported.  When the alarm sounded some spectators started to leave their seats and players halted the game action. Once the alarm stopped, fans settled back into their seats and the game continued.  Nervousness after the terror attack in Britain.  The purpose of terror is to terrorize.  It works.

May 23,  2017     Permalink

DANGER IN BRITAIN – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  As evidenced by the latest attack, Britain faces increased danger from terrorism.  From The Express:   

THE number of potential terrorists being watched in the UK at the time of the Manchester bombing has swelled to nearly 3,500 - but our security services are using powers to monitor them LESS than they did a year ago, Express.co.uk can reveal.

Latest figures show the 3,000 potential terrorists monitored since 2015 has grown after the return of UK-born people who left to fight with ISIS.

About 400 ISIS-trained fighters are believed to have returned from war zones in Syria and Iraq.

Despite being on red alert for more attacks on home soil like last night's Manchester bombing, new statistics show the number of arrests, stop and searches, and examinations of suspected terrorists at ports and airports dropped in 2016 on the levels seen in 2015.

This comes at the same time the number of people arrested on suspicion of plotting terror strikes on British soil has grown by eight per cent.

COMMENT:  Obviously there is work to be done.  Prime Minister Theresa May is poised to win a major victory in next month's voting in Britain.  She takes terrorism seriously.  Based on her record, I'll assume she'll dramatically increase Britain's anti-terror efforts.

May 23, 2017       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS ABOUT THE ATTACK – AT 10:34 A.M. ET:   And what a difference from Barack Hussein Obama Jr.  From Fox: 

President Trump called Tuesday for “all civilized nations” to unite against terrorism and “obliterate this evil ideology,” citing the deadly Manchester attack to underscore the central message of his foreign trip as he concluded a visit to the Holy Land.   

“All civilized nations must be united in this effort. This trip is focused on that goal,” Trump said at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, after meeting earlier with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

The president spoke after a suicide bomber killed 22 and injured at least 59 at an Ariana Grande concert in the U.K. The president held a phone call Tuesday morning with British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss the “wanton and depraved” attack, according to the White House, and will take his message later this week to meetings with NATO and G7 leaders.

During earlier remarks in Bethlehem, Trump offered his condolences to the victims, calling such attackers the “evil losers in life.”

As leaders around the world joined May in condemning the horror targeting young concert-goers, Trump reiterated a message he’s been delivering across the Middle East since Saturday – that common threats are uniting countries and peoples with historic differences. 

Trump since the start of his trip has focused on the threat from Iran, suggesting it could unite countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel, and again mentioned threats like Hamas and Hezbollah during remarks at the Israel Museum.

“We are telling you right now that Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” he vowed.

COMMENT:   The president is now flying to Rome.  His trip to the Mideast was remarkably successful, and Melania emerged as a star, although she is virtually ignored on outlets like CNN.

Some criticize the president for being short on specifics.  That's true, but this trip wasn't the time for details. It was a time to rebuild alliances, to announce that America was back as a major power in the region.  And it was a time to show that we can fight terror and yet support Muslim nations with genuine warmth.

The president gave special attention to rebuilding our close alliance with Israel.  Compare please with the Obama administration, whose last foreign-policy move was to knife Israel in the back at the UN. 

There can be, as a result of Mr. Trump's efforts, a new spirit in the Mideast, and a pro-American spirit at that.  Let's hope it lasts.

May 23, 2017       Permalink

THE ATTACK – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  The terrorist attack on young concert goers in Manchester, England, which killed at least 22 and wounded at least 59, was carried out by a 23-year-old named Salman Abedi.  From CBS News: 

LONDON -- CBS News confirmed Tuesday that the man who blew himself up the previous night at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was 23-year-old Salman Abedi, who was known to British authorities prior to the attack.

In a generic statement posted online, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Abedi's suicide bomb attack, which left 22 people dead, including children, at one of the entrances to the Manchester Arena.

Officials said one man was arrested Tuesday in southern Manchester in connection with the attack, and urged people to avoid the center of the city as operations continued. Police and British Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear the focus of the investigation was to determine whether the bomber "was acting alone, or was part of a wider group."

ISIS issued its claim of responsibility in a brief, generic statement that did not identify the bomber and appeared to get some of the facts of the attack wrong. It claimed a "caliphate soldier managed to place a number of devices among a gathering of crusaders in Manchester, and detonated them."

Officials say there was only one explosion, and there have been no indications that other devices were discovered at or near the arena.

U.S. intelligence sources told CBS News they were exercising caution on the early claim of responsibility from ISIS. Authorities are still looking into whether it was a killer who acted alone or who might have had some level of support from the terror network. U.S. intelligence officials were offering assistance in the investigation, as is standard practice in any case involving a close ally.

COMMENT:  Some Obama leftovers in the administration will desperately try to blame this on a "lone wolf."  There are no lone wolves.  Someone, or some group, radicalized this young killer to the point where he killed himself while looking directly into the faces of his young victims.  No lone wolf he.  Oscar Hammerstein II said it well in the musical play, "South Pacific":  "You've got to be taught to hate."

Terror attacks have now become regular features in Europe and Britain, as we've pointed out.  We're getting too used to them.

May 23,  2017     Permalink