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

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE – As regular readers know, I am no fan of current popular culture, especially the music scene.  We used to have Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Rodgers, and Cole Porter.  Now we have "singer songwriters."  We used to have Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.  Now we have...I can't recall them, but they dress funny.  And so it was with a great sense of relief, surprise, and delight, that I watched and listened to Lady Gaga's rendition of the national anthem before yesterday's Super Bowl game.  Here is a woman who built her reputation on garish costumes and questionable taste.  But along the way there were many streaks of true musicality.  Her rendition of the anthem was strong, tasteful, respectful, and heartfelt.  She did a fine job, and has won praise across the internet.  So congratulations Lady Gaga.  You're a solid singer after all.

GOOD GOOGLE MOVE – From Fox:   Last week, Anthony House, the senior manager for public policy and communications at Google, revealed plans to show users anti-radicalization links in response to terrorism-related searches. The plan was outlined before a committee of the British parliament dedicated to counter-terrorism.  The program is still in its pilot stages, but House is hopeful that this new plan may provide a clever tool that protects the freedom of the Internet while protecting the livelihoods of the world's citizens. "We should get the bad stuff down, but it's also extremely important that people are able to find good information, that when people are feeling isolated, that when they go online, they find a community of hope, not a community of harm," said the Google manager.  Well said.  I hope they have the courage to see it through, because they'll get plenty of opposition from the professional multiculturalists.

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – From the Daily Caller:   In just the latest instance of taxpayer-funded censorship, students in one University of Florida course have been banned from using words such as “husband,” “wife,” “mom,” or dad” in the classroom and risk losing points off their grade if they don’t comply.  In the syllabus for her “Creativity In Context” class — a required course for any student pursuing a minor in Innovation — UF professor Jennifer Lee informs students of her four paragraph long classroom “communications policy” that she says will enforce “ethical conduct” in the classroom.  “The following policies and guidelines will be followed in this course,” the policy begins, followed by a bullet point instructing students to “Use inclusive language.” The policy mandates that students “[s]peak in a way that does not make assumptions about others based on “norms”, stereotypes, or one’s own identity or experience.”  The syllabus explains that this means replacing the words “boyfriend”/”girlfriend” with the more inclusive “partner” or “significant other.” The rule applies to conversations about married couples too: saying “husband” or “wife” is forbidden. Even the words “mom” and “dad” have a more “inclusive” alternative — students are told to use the word ‘family” instead.  Will some courageous members of the Florida legislature please stand up and suggest cutting off funds to the University of Florida unless this nonsense is stopped.

February 8, 2016