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APRIL 4,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

CULINARY NEWS – From Reuters:  "McDonald's Corp said on Friday it had closed its restaurants in Crimea, prompting fears of a backlash as a prominent Moscow politician called for all of the U.S. fast food chain's outlets in Russia to be shut.  Crimea's annexation by Russia, which Ukraine and the West do not acknowledge, has worried companies with assets in the Black Sea peninsula as it is unclear how the change may affect their business.  McDonald's said the decision was strictly based on business and had 'nothing to do with politics.'"  Michele Obama is sleeping more easily tonight, knowing that Crimean children will not be consuming Big Macs, or any other imperialist food.

BAD MATH – When you work the numbers on Obamacare, you get very dizzy very fast.  From CNS:  "The head of the Maryland Health Insurance Exchange testified Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only 60,000 people have signed up for Obamacare through the state’s exchange - 13,000 less than the number of individuals reported to lose their insurance due to Obamacare."  I love liberal progress, don't you?

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – From the Weekly Standard:  "In late March, President Obama took a week-long trip through Europe which included a stop of less than 24 hours in Brussels, Belgium for meetings with the European Union and NATO. The president stayed at The Hotel, a twenty-seven story hotel in the center of the city. The estimated cost for the president's stay, including about two weeks for an advance team, was $1,522,646.36."  I demand to know if they at least got Reward Points. 

INCREDIBLE – My friend Banafsheh Zand alerts us to this.  From Fiscal Times:  "The State Department has no idea what happened to $6 billion used to pay its contractors.  In a special 'management alert' made public Thursday, the State Department’s Inspector General Steve Linick warned 'significant financial risk and a lack of internal control at the department has led to billions of unaccounted dollars over the last six years.'  The alert was just the latest example of the federal government’s continued struggle with oversight over its outside contractors."  Ahem, who was the secretary of state during the greater part of these six years?  I think it was Hillary something.

April 4, 2014       Permalink 

WEAKNESS SPEAKS – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  The Obama administration is sounding very grand again.  Is anyone listening?  Does anyone care?  From Reuters: 

(Reuters) - China should not doubt the U.S. commitment to defend its Asian allies and the prospect of economic retaliation should also discourage Beijing from using force to pursue territorial claims in Asia in the way Russia has in Crimea, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

Daniel Russel, President Barack Obama's diplomatic point man for East Asia, said it was difficult to determine what China's intentions might be, but Russia's annexation of Crimea had heightened concerns among U.S. allies in the region about the possibility of China using force to pursue its claims.

"The net effect is to put more pressure on China to demonstrate that it remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the problems," Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Russel said the retaliatory sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and others should have a "chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a model."

COMMENT:  I'm sure the Chinese are chilled and frightened by our threats.  Do we laugh now, or do we laugh later?  Our words are not backed up by action, which is the only thing that foreign enemies care about.

April 4, 2014       Permalink

TROUBLING – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  The names of the six jurors in the George Zimmerman case – you'll recall that he was charged with murdering Trayvon Martin – have been made public.  Apparently this is required by Florida law.  From the Orlando Sentinel: 

The names of the six-member jury panel that acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin have been made public for the first time, after a new court order, records show.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson, who had previously ordered the jurors' identifying information be kept confidential, granted access to the names in a ruling March 21.

Zimmerman's defense asked the judge in June to keep the names secret until six months after the verdict. The judge set no timeline then, but noted in her new order they have been withheld more than eight months.

Attempts to reach the jurors by phone and in-person Thursday were unsuccessful.

In Florida, the names of jurors are typically public and are announced and used by the judge and attorneys during jury selection.

Nelson's order follows an inquiry last month by the Sentinel.

In a letter, Sentinel attorneys asked Nelson for a specific ruling on how long she planned to maintain the jurors' anonymity, noting it was already "well past the six month 'cooling off' period requested by the defense."

The defense, in its motion, argued a delay was needed beyond the trial to allow "for any community passions to cool."

COMMENT:  I'm not sure passions have cooled.  I worry whether jurors in hot cases, knowing their names will be made public, will render an honest verdict.  The media will probably hound these jurors right now, and some race hustlers will call them racists.  It's the way the game is played.

There has to be some mechanism for maintaining juror anonymity in specific cases.  Otherwise you'll have jury intimidation, and that ain't justice.

April 4, 2014       Permalink

GOVERNMENT MOTORS IN CRISIS – AT 8:59 A.M. ET:  General Motors, "saved" by government money, is in trouble again.  This time is the failure of the company to act quickly to replace a defective part that could produce fatal accidents.  The company is turning to outside help, not to build better cars, but to manage its crisis.  From The New York Times:

As soon as she was excused from a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, the G.M. chief executive was hustled out the door and into an elevator, surrounded by a cadre of company officials.

It was a hasty retreat from what has become a searing crisis for Ms. Barra and a management team that had hoped the congressional hearings would buy the company time to start its recall of 2.6 million small cars and complete an internal investigation of why it failed to fix a deadly safety defect for more than a decade.

Instead, the hearings showed that G.M.’s strategy to put Ms. Barra front and center, relying on its own team of advisers, has not defused the growing anger among lawmakers and consumers’ disgruntlement with the company.

Now Ms. Barra is increasingly looking outside for help.

On Thursday, G.M. confirmed that it had hired a crisis management adviser, Jeff Eller, who cut his teeth in the Clinton administration and also represented Firestone in its tire recall in 2000. He joins Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who specializes in compensation claims for victims of disasters, and Anton R. Valukas, a former United States attorney who is conducting an internal investigation.

COMMENT:  GM's failure to fix a deadly defect is unconscionable.  The company is doing the right thing by bringing in outside experts.  GM has a culture, and it isn't always about cars. 

April 4, 2014        Permalink

SO-SO JOBS REPORT – AT 8:42 A.M. ET:  The administration will spin this as great economic news.  It's nothing of the kind.  It's mediocre.  From The New York Times:

The economy added 192,000 jobs in March, as the end of winter and better weather in many parts of the country encouraged employers to begin hiring workers slightly more aggressively.

The new data, released by the Labor Department on Friday morning, suggested businesses did a bit of catching up last month, but not as much as some analysts had predicted.

The unemployment rate remained flat from last month, at 6.7 percent.

After a surge last fall, job creation slowed noticeably in December and January, setting off a debate over whether wintry weather was to blame for the weakness or something more fundamental in the economy was at work.

COMMENT:  A likely story.  As we've noted, it takes about 150,000 new jobs every month just to keep up with population growth.  So our net growth last month was about 42,000 jobs.  That's nothing in an economy like ours.

And many of the jobs we "create" turn out to be part-time, or below the level of the last job the job seeker had.

We are not really making progress, and I think Americans know it.

April 4,  2014     Permalink

APRIL 3,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:33 P.M. ET: 

SOCIETY NEWS – From the New York Post:  "MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally divorced his wife, Lyudmila, after more than 30 years of marriage, a Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday, following a surprise breakup announcement last year.  'The divorce has taken place,' Dmitry Peskov said, without giving any further details."  Gwyneth Paltrow has undoubtedly sent her regrets. 

LETTERMAN TO RETIRE – CBS announced that David Letterman will retire next year.  We will now see the Mideast, the airliner, World War III and the burning of the Earth pushed off the news so we can concentrate on the really big story:  Who will replace David?  I say, give it the main guy who designed Obamacare.  He's proved he can get laughs.

WELCOME TO REALITY – From the National Journal:  "One of the biggest players in Obamacare's exchanges says 15 to 20 percent of its new customers aren't paying their first premium—which means they're not actually covered.  The latest data come from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose members—known collectively as 'Blues' plans—are participating in the exchanges in almost every state."  And let's not forget that while 7.1 million people signed up for Obamacare, 6 million Americans lost their former health insurance because of that same Obamacare law.  That's a net gain of only 1.1 million.  We were told before Obamacare passed that the goal was to cover 40 million "uncovered" Americans.  I think we've been taken.

BOY, AM I RELIEVED – From news.com.au (Australia) – "NOAH’S Ark would have floated — even with two of every animal on board, physicists have determined, based on the weight of the beasts and the buoyancy of the boat.  The students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester who came to this conclusion used the dimensions for the boat that were given in the Bible.
In the book of Genesis, Noah is commanded to build an ark which is 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high to house himself, his family and two of every species of animal.  For the study, the students settled on a cubit being 48.2cm long and found the ark could support the weight of 2.5 million sheep. The university said that previous research suggested there were approximately 35,000 species of animals in Noah’s time."  Of course, the scientists also determined that Noah named his ark, "Titanic."

April 3,  2014     Permalink

WARNING ON UKRAINE – AT 8:42 A.M. ET:  The news moves so quickly that sometimes we forget major stories that are still developing.  The West remains deeply concerned that Russia, with its newfound strength and propensity for chest thumping, may make a move on Ukraine.  From CNN: 

Brussels, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO's military chief warned Wednesday that Russian troops could begin moving on Ukraine within 12 hours of being given an order, amid fears that Moscow could seek to invade its eastern region.

Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, also told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that with 40,000 troops massed near the border, Russia has all the components necessary to move on Ukraine.

These forces are "supported by fixed-wing aircraft, rotary aircraft, all of the logistics required in order to successfully make an incursion if they needed," he said.

In terms of deterrence, Breedlove said NATO has a good air and sea plan and is working in the next several days on developing a land component to that reassurance.

Ukraine is not a NATO member, but many countries that are members -- such Poland and the Baltic states -- have voiced their increasing anxiety about Russia's recent actions.

COMMENT:  They're also expressing anxiety about American weakness.  They see an American president who clearly does not have a feeling for them, a president cutting defenses in the face of increasing threats, and a president who cannot count a single victory in foreign policy.

After the breakup of the Soviet empire, the nations of Eastern Europe cast their lot with us.  I wonder how long that will continue.

April 3, 2014        Permalink

RUBIO – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:  Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was down for a time because of his controversial views on immigration reform, but he's clearly making a comeback.  And most pundits have him back on the presidential possibility list.  He's sure acting that way.  From The Hill:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) indicated Wednesday that he may not seek to return to the Senate if he decided to mount a presidential campaign in 2016.

During an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Rubio said he agreed that Florida law was right to prevent candidates from seeking multiple offices.

"I think that's the right law," Rubio said.

Hewitt then asked the Florida lawmaker if it would be "okay for you to seek the presidency, [and] if it didn’t work out, then switch back to the Senate."

Rubio appeared to indicate that he would not look to return to Congress if he failed in a bid for the Republican nomination.

"You know, I think by and large, when you choose to do something as big as that, you’ve really got to be focused on that and not have an exit strategy," Rubio said.

Rubio was first eleced to the Senate in 2010 and his tem is up at the end of 2016.

Many states allow candidates to run both for Congress and higher office. Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) was reelected to the Senate despite losing his vice-presidential bid in 2000. Vice President Joe Biden also won his Delaware Senate seat when running in 2008, and was replaced by his longtime adviser, former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.).

COMMENT:  I've always maintained that Rubio is an attractive candidate.  Whether he is ready for the brutality of a presidential run is another matter.  But we have more than a year to go before candidates must really face hard decisions.  I'll expect Rubio to make moves soon, such as expanding his speaking schedule and, especially, campaigning for Republicans in this year's midterms.  After that, we'll be able to gauge him better.

April 3, 2014       Permalink 

ACTION? – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  Sometimes an uproar in the right places can bring results.  Iran got an uproar from many American quarters when it recently appointed a man associated with the taking of U.S. hostages in Tehran in 1979 as ambassador to the United States.  Even the Obamans are taking notice.  From Fox: 

The State Department is raising “serious concerns” over Iran’s new nominee for ambassador to the U.N., who was involved with the group that took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran for 444 days and held American diplomats hostage in 1979.

Critics were outraged after it was revealed Iran wants to send Hamid Aboutalebi to New York as its envoy, and some lawmakers want him barred from entering the U.S. Aboutalebi may now be a 56-year-old veteran diplomat, but also was apparently a member of the hard-line Muslim student group that took over the embassy.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday that the U.S. believes Aboutalebi’s nomination is cause for concern.

“We think this nomination would be extremely troubling,” she said. “We're taking a close look at the case now and we've raised our serious concerns about this possible nomination with the government [of] Iran.”

Harf did not say whether the U.S. would refuse to grant a visa to the envoy, as some have urged. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday joined calls to refuse a visa, calling the appointment a "slap in the face" to American hostages. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer have also raised concerns.

COMMENT:  We should refuse to grant the visa.  We have good grounds.  But I doubt if the Obamans have the backbone to do it.  Remember, we're trying to persuade Iran to play kissy-face over its nuclear weapons program.  The appeasers will argue that turning down an ambassador might "upset" the delicate egos in Tehran.  I'd argue that a pushback from the mush that we call our national administration is just what is needed.

April 3, 2014       Permalink

FORT HOOD – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  Again the name "Fort Hood" comes up.  This time, though, it looks less like a terrorist attack than the kind of assault by a mentally ill person that we see, over and over, in the civilian sector  From Fox:

A soldier suffering from "mental health issues" opened fire at Fort Hood Wednesday, killing three soldiers and injuring 16 before killing himself, a post Army general said.

Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer at the facility, also said at an evening news conference that there was no indication of terrorism, but added "we're not ruling anything out."

He said the shooter, identified earlier as Spc. Ivan Lopez, was armed with a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson and killed himself when confronted by military police in a parking lot.

Milley said he did not know any motive for the incident, but the shooter, who had served four months in combat in Iraq in 2011, had "behavioral and mental health issues" and was being treated for those.

COMMENT:  When will we finally realize that mental illness is a giant factor in many shootings, and yet it's often shoved in the background.  It isn't chic to mention mental illness, and significant mental-health information has usually been barred from background checks.

First thing I want to know is motive.  Second thing I want to know is how a man with behavioral and mental-health issues got hold of a .45.

April 3,  2014     Permalink