SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:14 P.M. ET:

MAJOR CULTURAL NEWS – Headline from the Hollywood Reporter:  "'American Sniper's' Fake Baby Mocked by Critics, Moviegoers."  Yes, you got that right.  The left-wingers who hate "American Sniper" have now discovered that the movie uses a fake baby.  A mechanical baby.  This may be the end of the American film industry, its mask ripped off, its use of fake babies exposed to the world.  What do I tell the kids of America?

WEIRD POLL RESULTS – Dems are in ecstasy over a new Washington Post/ABC News poll showing Obama's approval rating hitting 50%, with disapproval at 44%.  But, as George Gobel used to say, wait a gosh-darned second.  The Fox News poll shows Obama with an approval of 42% and disapproval at 52%.  That seems more consistent with other polls.  The WaPo/ABC poll appears to be an outlier.  Obama gives his State of the Union speech tomorrow, and that may move the numbers a few points.

YOU MUST ALWAYS BE ON GUARD – From the Washington Examiner:  "An autistic student, previously expelled from his college for mistakenly hugging a stranger, has been reinstated.  Brian Ferguson, a 20-year-old with autism attending special-needs classes at Navarro College in Texas, had been expelled for sexual assault. But what he did that constitutes sexual assault will leave you scratching your head.  Ferguson is 6’5” and gives hugs to his friends with a kiss on the top of their head since he towers over them. A week ago, that got him expelled. The problem arose when Ferguson thought he saw a woman he recognized and gave her one of his trademark greetings — except that the woman was a stranger."  Gotta watch 'em.  Gotta watch 'em.  Kiss on the head?  Sounds like a life sentence to me.

THE PASSING SCENE – From Bleacher Buzz:  "Tony Verna, a television producer credited with bringing instant replay to live sports, died Sunday after a battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was 81.  Verna's daughter, Tracy Soiseth, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. The longtime producer and director came up with the idea for instant replay during a CBS broadcast of the Army-Navy football game in 1963.  Per the AP, 'Verna developed a method to cue the tape to pinpoint the play he wanted to immediately air again.' Vernon used that technology to show Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh scoring a touchdown, prompting a warning from the announce team to the audience that what they were watching was not live.  The moment would forever change the way we consume televised sports."  One little technical advance, and look at the effect it had.  Reminds me of another technical advance, the seven-second delay, which made talk radio possible because a "live" conversation could be delayed seven seconds before actually going out on the air, allowing obscenities to be blocked.

January 19,  2015