SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE

THE MALAYSIAN AIRLINER – Remember that one?  It was all the rage on CNN for weeks, until it was realized there was no new information, and all the conspiracy theories had been exhausted  It was also realized that "experts," who became our new TV fast friends, had nothing to say.  The only late word we have is this, from Emirates247.com:   "A new Sunday Times reports states that the official police investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has reportedly identified the plane's captain as the prime suspect.  According to the report Malaysian cops discovered that married dad of three Shah, 53, appeared to have made no social or work commitments for the future, unlike other members of his crew.  The report also claims that a probe found that he had programmed a flight simulator with drills practicing a flight far out into the southern Indian Ocean and landing on an island with a short runway."  I have nothing to add or subtract.  We'll await further "news," if we can call it that.

GRADUATES OF THE COMMON CORE – From the Washington Times:  "The White House press office misspelled the name of President Ronald Reagan twice in an email announcing President Obama’s Wednesday schedule.  'Later in the evening, the President will deliver remarks at the League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner at the Ronald Regan (sic) Building and International Trade Center. This event is open to pre-credentialed media,' the email said, The Weekly Standard reported.  The email again misspelled 'Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center' in the 7:10 time slot on the president’s schedule.
The White House’s online post of the president’s schedule also remained misspelled as of Wednesday afternoon.'"  Hey, it's just spelling.  Who needs to spell the way the dominant culture spells?  This is the new world, I mean whirld.

FROM FOX – Compassion, yes.  But let's be careful about symbols.  From Fox:  "The federal government has found a place in New Mexico to help house the tide of humanity pouring in from Mexico: The Border Patrol Academy, the very facility where agents are supposed to be trained to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S.  The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, a sprawling campus in the arid dirt plains of western New Mexico known for oil and dairy farms, could soon house hundreds of children and families that have crossed the southwest border. Tens of thousands of immigrants have crossed in through Mexico primarily from Central America, where they appear to have been led to believe that once in the U.S., they will be allowed to stay. The government is scrambling to accommodate them, but some critics say putting them up in the academy turns government policy on its head."  It's not the best signal to send, but the Obama administration's signal sender ran out of batteries long ago.

AND AGAIN – From The Hill:  "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the IRS share a problem: officials say they cannot provide the emails a congressional committee has requested because an employee’s hard drive crashed.  EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy confirmed to the House Oversight Committee Wednesday that her staff is unable to provide lawmakers all of the documents they have requested on the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, because of a 2010 computer crash. The revelation came less than two weeks after IRS officials told Congress that Lois Lerner, the official at the center of the controversy over the targeting of conservative tax-exempt groups, also suffered from a hard drive crash that makes it difficult to comply with records requests.  The committee suspects that Phillip North, who worked for the EPA in Alaska, decided with his colleagues to veto the proposed Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay in 2009, before the agency even began researching its potential impacts on the environment."  I dunno.  I have computers.  I have backup systems.  Never lose e-mails.  But, of course, I have nothing to hide either.

June 25, 2014