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MAY 3,  2018

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

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – FROM THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION:   Schools in the United Kingdom are beginning to remove analog clocks from the classroom — because students are complaining that they can’t read them, reports say.  Officials have begun replacing the traditional clocks with digital ones as children have been unable to tell the correct time on analog clocks, The Telegraph reports.  “The current generation aren’t as good at reading the traditional clock face as older generations,” Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders in England, told the publication. “Nearly everything they’ve got is digital so youngsters are just exposed to time being given digitally everywhere.”  Now, how long do you think it would take a teacher to teach a kid to read traditional clocks?  Fifteen minutes?  Guess it isn't worth it. Much easier to have all the traditional clocks replaced.  And let's get rid of those traditional watches also.  And who needs books?

STUMBLING – FROM FOX:  For NBC News, it was another in a series of embarrassments on Thursday as it had to correct a story saying federal investigators had placed a wiretap on the phone lines of President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen.  As Fox News is reporting, the feds were monitoring only what calls were being made but weren’t listening in — contrary to NBC’s earlier reporting. The Peacock Network’s major turnabout was made more than four hours after the original story moved online Thursday, when it caused immediate chatter in the cable news universe.  NBC had attributed its original story to two anonymous sources with knowledge of the legal proceedings against Cohen. In an editor’s note preceding the rewritten story, NBC explains that three senior U.S. officials disputed the account, saying that the phones were monitored by a pen register, which records the phone numbers on both ends of the conversation, not the substance of the calls themselves.  We don't expect much accuracy from modern media, and we don't get much from some organizations.  NBC ain't what it was.

RIDICULOUS – FROM FOX:  In a move described as an effort to reflect the city’s predominantly black community, the Baltimore Museum of Art is selling works by white men, including Andy Warhol, to make room for paintings and other pieces by black and female artists.  The effort veers significantly from the more typical practice by museums of selling artwork to finance buying pieces that are more valuable, conceded the museum’s director, Christopher Bedford.  The chief goal by the museum is very clearly to diversify its collection, Bedford said in a statement released last month after the Board of Trustees approved the plan.
“The BMA, like any civic museum, must undergo a continuous process of reviewing its collection and identifying areas for growth and refinement with the goal of building a collection that is more relevant to the community it serves,” said Bedford. “The sale of these works, identified by our curators after a very thorough process, will allow us to do just that, and strengthen our collection of contemporary art.”  It would have been far better to try to raise money to acquire more space.  Selling art works on the basis of race is a dismal, authoritarian idea.

May 3, 2018       Permalink 

OUT THEY GO – AT 8:23 P.M. ET:   The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the Oscar guys – have expelled two members over sex convictions.  From Page Six: 

Convicted pervs Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski have been booted from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars org announced Thursday.

The academy’s board of governors voted to expel the pair Tuesday “in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct,” it said in a statement.

“The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity,” the group wrote.

The move comes just a week after Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman — but 39 years after Polanski pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl.

Calls for their ouster have been growing since the academy rushed to oust Harvey Weinstein in October, as women began coming forward with rape and assault accusations against the producer.

Polanski was arrested in 1977 for raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson’s home. Geimer testified at the time that the “Rosemary’s Baby” director gave her champagne and a Quaalude then raped her as she begged him to stop.

COMMENT:  Well, at least they expelled convicted offenders, far better than expelling someone on the basis of a charge.  They did it right. 

Of course, if committing the offense itself were the issue, three quarters of the "academy" would be gone by tomorrow morning.

This was also the day when 27 more women accused Charlie Rose of sexual offenses.  If true, the number is astounding.   And no one at CBS knew?

May 3,  2018     Permalink

OH DEAR, SEND ZOLOFT TO THE DEMOCRATS – AT 1:12 P.M. ET:   I don't know much about this chap, Kanye West, except that he's a rap star.  Not exactly my music.  But apparently he's a heavyweight in the black community, especially among the kids. 

So when Kanye all but endorsed Donald Trump recently, it was big news.  And, apparently, the news spread fast among African-Americans and made an impact.   From Daily Caller: 

Black male support for President Donald Trump doubled in just one week, according to a Reuters poll on presidential approval.

A poll taken on April 22, 2018 had Trump’s approval rating among black men at 11 percent, while the same poll on April 29, 2018 pegged the approval rating at 22 percent. It should be noted that Reuters only sampled slightly under 200 black males each week and slightly under 3,000 people overall.

Trump experienced a similar jump in approval among black people overall, spiking from 8.9 percent on April 22 to 16.5 percent on April 29.

Black males were also far more likely to say that they had “mixed feelings” about the president. On the 22nd, 1.5 percent said they had mixed feelings, while 7.1 percent said the same on the 29th.

The results are interesting given the recent transformation of Kanye West, who posted a picture of himself wearing a Make America Great Again hat on his Twitter account last week.

COMMENT:    We've said here before that if the Trump campaign makes a concerted effort in the black and Hispanic communities in 2020, the president might peel off enough traditionally Democratic votes to change national politics.   He has the guts to do it.

May 3, 2018        Permalink

TRUMP HITS 50 PERCENT AGAIN – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  The president is having a good polling week.  The Rasmussen poll has him today at 50 percent, a psychologically important number: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-nine percent (49%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 33% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 40% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7.

COMMENT:  Obviously, this can change suddenly.  But the president seems to have his eye on the prize, and that prize is a Republican victory in November, or at least a minimizing of loss.  The talks with North Korea's Rocket Man are coming up.  If they succeed, it will be topping on an already baked cake, filled with actual accomplishments.

A key point in that Rasmussen report, by the way, is the fact that the president's approval and disapproval numbers are almost equal.  At one time the disapproval number was much higher.

The midterms are six months away.

May 3,  2018     Permalink

MAY 2,  2018

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

HILLARY'S 44TH VERSION OF WHY SHE LOST – FROM NEWSMAX:   Labeling herself as a "capitalist" likely hurt her with Democratic voters during the 2016 primaries, Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.  At a Shared Value Leadership Summit in New York City, the former Democratic presidential nominee was asked if the declaration damaged her with Democrats, 43 percent of whom identify as socialists, according to Fortune.  "Probably," she replied.  "It's hard to know, but I mean if you're in the Iowa caucuses and 41 percent of Democrats are socialists or self-described socialists, and I'm asked 'Are you a capitalist?' and I say, 'Yes, but with appropriate regulation and appropriate accountability,' you know, that probably gets lost in the 'Oh my gosh, she's a capitalist!'" Clinton said, per The Daily Beast.  What a comment on the Democratic Party, but I think it's accurate.

THIS GUY IS A MENACE TO CIVILIZATION – FROM JUDICIAL WATCH:   An open borders group that has benefited from U.S. taxpayer dollars and is funded by leftwing billionaire George Soros launched a smartphone application to help illegal immigrants avoid federal authorities. The app, Notifica (Notify), is described in a Laredo, Texas news article as a tool to protect immigrants living in the U.S. illegally by utilizing high tech and online social communications. With the click of a button, illegal aliens can alert family, friends and attorneys of encounters with federal authorities. “Immigration agents knocking at the door?” the news story asks. “Now, there’s an app for that, too.”   Why does a whackjob like George Soros have all that money?  A more reasonable version of Soros would have made much better use of it.

ARE THEY FINALLY LEARNING? – FROM BREITBART:  MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews conceded that President Donald Trump and his economic nationalism is “wearing surprisingly well” with voters and stressed that Trump will be extremely difficult for Democrats to beat in 2020.  When asked about the so-called Trump Show in a Politico interview published on Tuesday, Matthews cited Trump’s stable approval and improving ratings and said it is “wearing surprisingly well” with voters because they like Trump’s anti-establishment “attitude” and “don’t mind him being wrong on the facts.”   They like the jobs and the extra money in the pocket as well, Chris.  And they like a president who likes them.  The last one had a problem with that.

May 2, 2018       Permalink

REDEMPTION FOR THE YOUNG? – AT 5:12 P.M. ET:  Could it be true?  Is there maturity among the millennials?  From IBD: 

A new poll shows that the millennial generation has suddenly soured on Democrats just before the Blue Wave was supposed to crash over Republicans in Congress. There's a good reason for their change of heart.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of 16,000 millennials found that support for Democrats among this generation dropped to 46% — a nine-point plunge from 55% just two years ago. Just 39% of white millennials now say they favor Democrats. It also found that more millennials say the GOP is a better steward of the economy.

Given the millennial generation is 71 million strong and about as big as the baby boom generation, this is potentially catastrophic news for Democrats.

It wasn't that long ago, after all, that experts told us how Republicans faced the political wilderness because they had lost this generation thanks to their conservative positions on things like health care, taxes, regulations and gun rights.

Here's how the L.A. Times put it almost exactly two years ago: "Republicans long have worried about how to survive as conservative GOP voters die off and are replaced by more liberal younger Americans. A new national poll of millennial voters suggests that the 2016 presidential race has only hastened the shift they have feared."

But a funny thing happened over the past two years. The millennial generation started growing up.

They are getting married, buying homes and starting families in increasing numbers. And as a result, they're starting to realize that the liberalism they espoused as youths comes at too high a price in adulthood.

According to the census data, the median age at which women are getting married is now 27.4, and for men it's 29.5. Given that the age range for millennials is roughly 18 to 38, that's right in the middle of this generation.

Marriage alone can make a big difference in terms of political views. The IBD/TIPP poll, for example, has consistently found that married women are far more conservative on most issues than single women.

COMMENT:  I hope this is true.  And there are some signs – some – that the generation following the millennials is more conservative, especially on some social issues, like abortion.

Also, if President Trump establishes a good record, and he's getting there, and young people benefit, it can put a dent into liberal strength in the young generation.

Be optimistic.  Occasionally it's justified.

May 2, 2018       Permalink 

A SIGNIFICANT MOVE – AT 1:34 P.M. ET:  Sometimes a small story is actually a very big story, and a sign of the times.  From Bloomberg:

New York is losing more than a thousand financial-industry jobs -- and Manhattan’s loss is Music City’s gain.

AllianceBernstein Holding LP is moving its corporate headquarters and about 1,050 jobs to Nashville, Tennessee, the company said in a filing Wednesday, concluding a months-long search that evaluated cities on attributes including housing, cost of living, education and weather.

While some of the firm’s traditional Wall Street functions -- including portfolio management, sell-side research and trading, and private wealth management -- will stay in New York, workers from finance, legal, sales and marketing teams, among other functions, will start relocating this year. AllianceBernstein Chief Executive Officer Seth Bernstein will join them in Nashville in 2020, according to an internal memo.

“I see Nashville as a game-changer for AB in terms of our ability to source, develop and retain talent, provide a high quality of life for our employees, increase our competitive edge in an increasingly challenging marketplace,” Bernstein said in the memo.

Jonathan Freedman, a spokesman for the asset manager, declined to give additional details about the move, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal late Tuesday.

Even as JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans a new headquarters on Park Avenue, some big banks and money managers are shifting resources by hundreds or thousands of miles to cheaper U.S. cities. In recent years, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has built up operations in Salt Lake City, while Deutsche Bank AG has expanded in Jacksonville, Florida. Pacific Investment Management Co. just chose Austin, Texas, for a new office as the asset manager seeks to recruit tech workers and broaden marketing in the U.S.

COMMENT:  The old saying is that people vote with their feet.  New York is a high-tax, high-cost state, with educational systems that, in too many cases, are declining.  It's also a very liberal state, and New York an ultra-liberal city, with all that implies about quality of life.

The same thing is happening in San Francisco.  Even members of the local liberal gentry, still proudly wearing their McGovern buttons on their Mao jackets, are getting tired of the vast cost of living, combined with the depravity in the streets. 

One element in all this is the change brought by the Trump tax-reform bill.  Taxpayers have had the right to deduct their state and local taxes on their federal tax return, but the amount was capped by the recent legislation, making the benefit far less valuable for people in high-tax states.  Some are leaving for lower-cost locations.

Look for states in the Midwest and South to gain.

May 2,  2018     Permalink

COMES THE FLOOD – AT 12:58 P.M. ET:  Another legal change at the White House, but one with possible significance.  From WaPo: 

White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who served as the administration’s point person in dealing with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, is stepping down and is expected to be replaced by veteran white-collar defense attorney Emmet Flood, according to senior administration officials.

Flood, currently a partner at Williams & Connolly, was quietly interviewed by President Trump in March. He served as special counsel in the George W. Bush administration and represented President Clinton during House proceedings to impeach him.

The news of Cobb’s departure was first reported by the New York Times.

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Cobb was retiring without offering a reason.

“For several weeks Ty Cobb has been discussing his retirement and last week he let Chief of Staff Kelly know he would retire at the end of this month,” she said.

Cobb’s departure is the latest shake-up of Trump’s legal team and comes as his attorneys face increasing pressure to determine whether the president should agree to sit down for an interview with Mueller.

COMMENT:  Flood seems like just the right man for the job.  The White House realizes that the Dems are serious about impeachment.  The leftist base of the party, with the Congressional Black Caucus, want Trump impeached, whether there's evidence or not.  At least Flood has experience in that realm, and has served both Democratic and Republican administrations.

May 2,  2018     Permalink