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SEPTEMBER 17,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:15 P.M. ET: 

CHICAGO STORY – FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:   A woman police believe was pregnant was among five people killed and 13 wounded in Chicago shootings Friday into Saturday morning.
The woman was one of four victims slain in a rifle attack in the Brighton Park neighborhood Friday night, police said.  The quadruple homicide happened about 8:40 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Fairfield Avenue, police said.  Another fatal shooting Friday happened about 11:15 a.m. on the Southwest Side in the 6400 block of South Talman Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood, police said.  Pretty standard for Chicago.  We reported earlier in the week that African Americans are leaving Chicago in large number, to escape the horror.  Please notice the silence of "Black Lives Matter" and other propaganda outlets regarding the Chicago murder rate.  I guess only certain black lives matter.

DISCERNING JOURNALIST COMMENTS – FROM FOX:   A former New York Times labor reporter has been slammed on social media for a snarky tweet hitting the White House for letting an 11-year-old boy mow the Rose Garden lawn last week.  Steven Greenhouse, who worked for the Times for 31 years and still writes for the paper on occasion, took issue with the feel-good story of the boy, Frank Giaccio, of Falls Church, Va., who showed up at the White House Friday to cut the grass at the invitation of President Trump.  “Not sending a great signal on child labor, minimum wage & occupational safety – Trump White House lets a 10-year-old volunteer mow its lawn,” Greenhouse, who covered unions for much of his time at the newspaper, tweeted.  The Daily Wire website slammed Greenhouse’s tweet as the “dumbest” ever posted on Twitter.  But The Times probably saw it as a noble contribution to social justice. 

AND ANOTHER – FROM AFP:   Washington (AFP) - Maria was forecast Sunday to surge to major hurricane strength as it nears the storm-battered eastern Caribbean with 85 mile (140 kilometer) per hour winds, the US National Hurricane Center said, on a path similar to that of mega storm Irma earlier in the month.  Storm warnings and watches went up in many of the Caribbean islands still reeling from Irma's destructive passage.   As of 0300 GMT Monday, Maria was a Category One hurricane, the lowest on the five point Saffir-Simpson scale, located 100 miles (165 kilometers) northeast of Barbados while bearing west-northwest at 13 miles (20 kilometers) an hour, the NHC said..."Rapid strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands," the NHC warned.  The hurricane season won't end until the middle of next month.  It's pretty clear the weather is Trump's fault.

September 17,  2017     Permalink

NAVY SEALS NEED NOT APPLY – AT 1:28 P.M. ET:  There are certain stories you can't make up.  From Legal Insurrection: 

Duke University will launch the Duke Men’s Project for a second year this September in an effort to combat “toxic masculinity” and the harmful narratives about gender roles that circulate around campus.

The group will continue accepting applications until Wednesday, and hopes to receive a large number of male students interested in increasing “male allyship in gender equity and gender violence prevention,” according to its Facebook description.

The nine-week program, sponsored by the Duke Women’s Center, will include 15 male-identified students that will “unpack expressions of masculinity through a feminist lens.” The Project is meant to “call men in to conversations about feminism and gender oppression,” while creating “a space of brotherhood and fellowship dedicated to interrogating male privilege and patriarchy.”

The group says it wants to question and revise concepts of masculinity in order to provide healthier alternatives. Project members also claim that there is a “misinformed narrative that gender equity and feminism hurts men,” and that conversations about the appropriate limits of masculinity can empower men.

COMMENT:  I'd rather watch a John Wayne movie.

September 17,  2017     Permalink 

SOME PROGRESS – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  The Dems have created a logjam in the Senate, making it impossible for President Trump's excellent court nominations to be approved.  Now there may be action by the Republican majority to break that logjam.  Even Mitch McConnell seems interested.  From The Hill:

Momentum is building in the Senate for doing away with an arcane rule that allows senators to block some of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

The “blue-slip” rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — allows a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return a sheet of paper, known as a blue slip, to the Judiciary Committee.

Conservatives have clamored for months to get rid of the rule, arguing Democrats are abusing the process to block qualified nominees.

They recently gained a powerful ally: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), at least when it comes to picks for the U.S. courts of appeals. 

"My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you’re going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball,” McConnell told The New York Times.

He added that he supports keeping the blue slip rule for district court judges, whose decisions can get appealed to the circuit court.

COMMENT:  Okay, now let's see some action.  Giving the country a more conservative federal court system should be a priority goal of the Republican Congress. 

Many congressional Republicans don't seem to realize how critical the 2018 midterm elections will be.  If Republicans cannot present to the American people a record of real accomplishment, they could lose control of at least the House, and possibly the Senate as well.  And a third party, possibly led by Donald Trump, could be born.

September 17, 2017       Permalink

NIKKI – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  One of the true stars of this administration is UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has performed her work with perfect pitch, and has made it clear that she represents the United States, not the faculty lounge at Georgetown.  She asserts that the UN is changing under Trump's pressure.  From The Hill: 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is crediting President Trump with cultivating change at the U.N., saying ahead of his first visit to the international body that "it is a new day at the U.N."  

"It is a new day at the U.N. I think that the pleas he made in terms of trying to see change at the United Nations had been heard, and I think  what we'll do is see him respond to that," Haley told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." 

"What you are now seeing is the Israel bashing has become more balanced. You've got a United Nations that is action oriented, we've passed two resolutions on  North Korea just in the last month. And you also have a United Nations that is moving toward reform," Haley said on Sunday. 

"We said we needed to get value for our dollar, and what we're finding is that the international community is right there with us in support of reform," she added.

Trump is set to address the U.N. General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday. 

He has criticized the U.N. in the past, saying that it had expressed anti-Israeli sentiments, did not take action on a variety of issues and was overly dependent on U.S. funding.  

COMMENT:  I think wonderful Nikki may be overstating the gains, but she is not overstating Trump's resolve.  They may not like him at the UN, but they know they have to listen to him. 

Trump's appearance this week is critical.  It's clear from comments by a number of sources that his speech is being carefully prepared.  I sense it may well be a triumph, and that the Obama era at the UN may well be behind us.

September 17,  2017   Permalink

SEPTEMBER 16,  2017

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

THE TRUE BELIEVERS – FROM THE POLITICO:   The Democratic base is growing anxious as its leaders order Chinese food and make deals with the president who many in their ranks would prefer to see impeached.  For some liberal activists and lawmakers, the burgeoning partnership between President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi amounts to dancing with the devil. As long as the Democrats keep leading — driving a wedge between Trump and the fractured GOP — no one will bust up the dance.  I'd hold off on any opinions on this.  We really know so very little.  There may not be any real relationship at all.  And what deals will actually be made?  Wait for more information.

STAND FIRM – FROM NEWSBUSTERS:   Scott Roxborough of The Hollywood Reporter writes that American television series are facing international backlash due to their “military themes for Trump voters,” calling it a trend for the Fall lineup and labeling it “Patriotic TV.”  Apparently, they feel shows like CBS's SEAL Team, NBC's The Brave and The CW's Valor are a blatant attempt to appeal to Trump supporters. Now that would be a shock.  Roxborough believes "the shift in focus is threatening one of the most lucrative aspects of the American TV business: international sales. And the risky move comes at a time when U.S. programming is facing more challenges from home-grown product around the world."  That's okay, guys.  Stand firm.  Build a large American audience by putting on great shows with American values.  Lots of people in America, and they all have TV's. And they're clearly turned of by the P.C. brigades.  Maybe we can still salvage American television.

PARENTS HAVE STARTED TO NOTICE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Universities known for being hotbeds of campus protest and liberal activism are struggling with declining enrollments and budget shortfalls, and higher education analysts say that’s no coincidence.  Take Oberlin College. According to a document leaked to The Oberlin Review, the school’s student newspaper, the small liberal arts college famous for social justice hoaxes has had trouble attracting and retaining students, missing this year’s enrollment mark by 80 and racking up a $5 million budget deficit in the process.  William A. Jacobson, a professor at Cornell Law School who runs the Legal Insurrection blog, said the “most obvious culprit” in Oberlin’s dwindling admissions is “relentless social justice warfare.”  “Social justice warfare at Oberlin has been more intense and sustained over a longer period of time than at most schools, and has come to define Oberlin in the media,” Mr. Jacobson said. “The resulting mockery and derision, even in liberal publications, has damaged the Oberlin brand.”    The market is working.  Parents, who are expected to write the checks, are starting to ask serious questions about what a college is really about.  The answers aren't always wonderful.

September 16,  2017     Permalink

CHICAGO STORY – AT 12:41 P.M. ET:   A tragic city, poorly run, and seemingly based entirely on racial politics.  But the demographics are changing.  From CBS Local: 

The face of Chicago is changing.

New census statistics show the Hispanic population grew by 17,000 in a one-year period. For the first time, Hispanics are the second-largest ethnic group in the city.

Meanwhile, the African-American population is shrinking, with 42,000 moving out.

In Little Village, it’s not hard to spot the influence and heritage. At Dulcelandia, a candy store, sales and the number of customers have increased since the business opened in 1995.

This would seem to reflect new U.S. Census data showing the Hispanic population in Chicago jumping from 786,000 to 803,000 between 2015 and 2016.

This means about 30 percent of the Windy City’s population is now of Hispanic or Latino descent.

“It represents an increase in our purchasing power so that helps to better the economic conditions of the area,” says Eduardo Rodriguez of Dulcelandia.

Subtracted from Chicago’s numbers – more than 42,000 African Americans, who left the city.

Shari Runner of the Chicago Urban League says this trend began about a decade ago. She thinks lack of economic opportunity and crime and high taxes are pushing African Americans out of Chicago.

COMMENT:  Okay, we know why African Americans may want to leave.  But why are Hispanics coming, and what does that mean for the future of Chicago?  Remember, it really was Cuban immigrants who did so much to save Miami. 

Having gone to the University of Chicago, I feel I have some kind of stake in the city.  I want to know what happens next. 

September 16, 2017       Permalink

ANOTHER NEW CONCERN EMERGES, AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  North Korea and ISIS could team up.  We haven't seen this before.  From Britain's Express: 

North Korea could use Islamic State (ISIS) fighters to launch terror attacks across the globe, a terrifying report has warned.

Experts said Kim Jong-un’s hermit state would not hesitate to use extremist jihadis to attack their Western enemies.

North Korea would actually find it easier to target their rivals using ISIS than by themselves, a report by Washington-based anti-extremism group Clarion Project said. 

They said North Korea had previously worked with Islamic extremists, selling them weapons in 2003 and 2005, and would not flinch away from a similar partnership in the future. 

The report said: “North Korea could collaborate with Islamist terrorists or criminal elements for an attack in America.

“North Korea is officially a communist, Stalinist dictatorship, but that hasn’t stopped it from crossing the ideological divide to embrace Islamist regimes and, reportedly, even jihadist groups.”

They said, despite a strict anti-religion policy in North Korea, Islam was growing in the hermit state. They added the anti-American nature of society in North Korea would increase the likelihood of extremism. 

The report said: “North Korea is isolated now but don’t assume that Islamists won’t be able to enter the country and make contact with its black market as the regime becomes unstable.

“The extreme anti-Americanism and anti-democracy thought that is instilled in the population means this Muslim population will probably be inclined towards radicalism.”

COMMENT:  An excellent, sophisticated report.  We may well be facing new coalitions in the future, coalitions that at first sound illogical.  But remember that Nazi Germany, a profoundly racist state, had no problem having Japan, populated by people of another race, as an ally. 

Our opponents are growing in power, not weakening.  The negligence of the Obama administration is partly at fault, but so is the relaxed attitude we adopted after defeating the Soviet Union in the cold war.  We may face a struggle, against multiple enemies, of many decades.  I'm not sure we have the will to win.  That will be one of the great question marks of the 21st century.

September 16, 2017       Permalink

ARREST – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  British police have arrested the man they believe planted the bomb yesterday on a train, wounding 30 people.  From the Daily Mail:

Armed police are this afternoon raiding a house in Surrey hours after arresting the 18-year-old man believed to have planted the Parsons Green bomb.

One nearby resident told MailOnline that officers had found a bomb at the site in Sunbury-on-Thames after 'around 60 people' were evacuated from their homes.

Earlier today police apprehended a suspect in the 'port area' of Dover as it was thought he was attempting to flee the country.

Hmm.  Wonder where he was going.  I don't think it was Bermuda.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd described the arrest as 'very significant', but added: 'The operation is ongoing.'

The suspect was taken to a local police station and will be transferred to south London during the course of the day, officers said.

It comes after the Prime Minister last night announced Britain's terror threat has been raised to its highest level amid fears the bombing could inspire copycat attacks.

The raid in Surrey took place at a residential address just before 2pm this afternoon.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'Residents in the buildings immediately surrounding the address are also being evacuated as a precautionary measure.

'Cordons are being put in place at a 100 metre radius to facilitate the Metropolitan Police Service's operation, which is being supported by colleagues from Surrey Police.

'A search of the address is ongoing and the cordons will remain in place until the operation is complete.'

Sunbury-on-Thames is just a 37-minute train journey from Wimbledon station, where the tube that was bombed yesterday began its journey.

Security minister Ben Wallace said today the threat level has been raised to critical because a new attack is likely to be 'imminent' as an increased presence of armed officers was seen in cities across the country. 

COMMENT:  We've gotten much too used to these attacks.  We're taking them for granted.  We've got to raise our guard because we may well be next.

September 16,  2017     Permalink