SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:49 P.M. ET:

WELL, HE WAS IN TOWN, SO WHY NOT? – From the Washington Examiner:  In Paris for the international climate summit, President Obama made a surprise stop to the Bataclan concert hall early Monday morning, Paris time.  He was accompanied by French President Francois Hollande and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.  All three of them laid white roses at the site, while saying nothing to nearby media. The streets near the site were deserted, and the trip had been planned for a few days, but kept secret, according to Agence France-Presse.   Obama should have made this pilgrimage right after the attacks, when he was in Turkey.  It wouldn't have been a long side trip.  This is too little, too late.

IMPORTANT, OR LAST GASP? – From Fox:   Chris Christie won a key endorsement Sunday from New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, another sign that the moderate Republican presidential candidate could perhaps win the GOP primary in the early-voting state.  “We doubt that too many people across New Hampshire have politics front and center right now,” wrote Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid. “But in just 10 weeks, New Hampshire will make a choice that will profoundly affect our country and the world. We better get it right. … Our choice is Gov. Chris Christie.”  Political analysts have said that Christie could win New Hampshire, considering its voters' so-called “independent streak” and Christie’s ability to get elected and re-elected as governor in such a Democrat-leaning state as New Jersey.  “Christie is a solid, pro-life conservative who has managed to govern in liberal New Jersey, face down the big public unions, and win a second term,” McQuaid also wrote.  Christie won the primary endorsement despite struggling to break into the top tier of 2016 GOP candidates, even failing to qualify for the main-stage event in the last primary debate.  The Union Leader has influence, but I wonder if this isn't a bridge too far.  Christie has had many opportunities to prove himself to primary voters, and hasn't made much of an impression.

WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? – From London's Express: SCIENTISTS claim we are in for a decade-long freeze as the sun slows down solar activity by up to 60 per cent.  A team of European researchers have unveiled a scientific model showing that the Earth is likely to experience a “mini ice age” from 2030 to 2040 as a result of decreased solar activity.  Their findings will infuriate environmental campaigners who argue by 2030 we could be facing increased sea levels and flooding due to glacial melt at the poles.  I say let's not spend a red cent on this until 2035, 20 years from now, when we should know whether the global-warming panic has any legs to it, or is wrong and possibly a fraud.

November 29, 2015