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APRIL 2,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET: 

TROUBLE ALREADY – It didn't take very long for trouble to develop with the new nuclear "framework" agreement with Iran.  From the Washington Free Beacon:  "LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Just hours after the announcement of what the United States characterized as a historic agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the country’s leading negotiator lashed out at the Obama administration for lying about the details of a tentative framework.  Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people and Congress in a fact sheet it released following the culmination of negotiations with the Islamic Republic."  In other words, the two sides can't even agree on what the agreement actually says.  Are you feeling optimistic?

IRAN CELEBRATES – The president insists it's a good deal, but I didn't see any Americans dancing in the street.  I did see Iranians doing that, however, which may tell us which side won.  From AFP:  "Tehran (AFP) - Hundreds of Iranians took to the streets in Tehran early Friday to celebrate a breakthrough in talks with the West that may end the country's 12-year-long nuclear crisis.  The capital's longest street, Val-e-Asr Avenue, was lined with cars as drivers sounded their horns in approval of a framework deal intended to lead to a comprehensive agreement with world powers in June.  'Whatever the final result of the negotiations, we are winners,' 30-year-old Behrang Alavi said on Val-e-Asr at around 1:00 am as the noise reverberated around him."  I'm sorry to say that's probably true.

NO GOOD – American incomes are not doing well.  From AFP:  "Washington (AFP) - Most Americans' incomes continued to fall last year, but the richest 20 percent saw theirs rise, a new Labor Department report showed Thursday.  In fresh data that adds fire to a growing debate over income inequality, the department said that Americans on average saw income decline for the second straight year in the 12 months to June 2014.  The average pre-tax income fell 0.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, to $64,432.  But broken down into quintiles, those in the top 20 percent of incomes saw their money stream grow by 0.9 percent to $166,048 on average.  Every other group lost ground, with the bottom 20 percent losing the most: their average income dropped 3.5 percent to $9,818."  Another Obama accomplishment.

RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA – From the Washington Times:  "Two women who were inspired by the Islamic State group have been arrested outside New York City for allegedly attempting to build a bomb.  The suspects, in their 20s and 30s, are supposed to appear in a federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., later today, sources told ABC News.  ABC’s sources said that the public was never in danger because the women were watched as part of a lengthy undercover FBI operation."  But I wonder how many we don't know about.

April 2, 2015       Permalink

AND YEMEN – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  And Yemen, which is descending into chaos, after Field Marshal Obama described it as an American success story.  There has now been a spectacular prison assault, which has freed more Al Qaeda fighters, who will not be doing missionary work.  From CNN:

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)  Al Qaeda fighters attacked a prison in the coastal Yemeni city of Al Mukallah early Thursday, freeing at least 270 prisoners, a third of whom have al Qaeda links, a senior Defense Ministry official has told CNN.

Khaled Batarfi, a senior al Qaeda figure, was among the escapees, officials said.

Dozens of attackers took control of government buildings, including the city's Central Prison, Central Bank and radio station during the assault early Thursday, according to officials.

Government troops arrived early Thursday and clashed with the al Qaeda fighters, and most of the militants fled, the officials said.

Last month, hundreds of inmates escaped from Al Mansoorah Central Prison in Aden after clashes between Shiite Houthi rebels and forces loyal to ousted Sunni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

Yemen has been descending into chaos in the weeks since Shiite Houthi rebels removed Hadi, a Sunni, from power.

The sectarian nature of the conflict is drawing in regional rivals Saudi Arabia, which is predominately Sunni -- and is the country to which Hadi ultimately fled -- and Iran, which is predominately Shiite and supports the Houthi rebels.

COMMENT:  It's all Bibi's fault.  If Bibi hadn't addressed Congress, none of this would've happened.  And BUSH!  And CHENEY!!!!   And Bob Menendez.  And Tom Cotton sending that letter.  It's all their fault.

April 2, 2015       Permalink

KENYA ATTACK – AT 8:28 A.M. ET:  This is still breaking.  We don't know full details.  From Fox: 

Al-Shabaab reportedly claimed responsibility for an attack at Garissa University in eastern Kenya Thursday that left at least 15 people dead, dozens more injured and hundreds of students unaccounted for.

The National Disaster Operations Center said on Twitter that three of four dorms at the university have been evacuated, with the gunmen cornered in one dorm. No further details were immediately available and Kenya Defense Forces have surrounded the area, journalists said, impeding their access.

A spokesman for the terror group told the BBC that it attacked the school because “it’s on Muslim land colonized by non-Muslims.”

The spokesman also said the gunmen had separated non-Muslims from Muslims and had freed 15 of the latter group.

Kenyan Cabinet Interior Secretary C.S. Nkaissery said in a statement that "280 of the 815 students have been accounted for," but 535 are missing.

The students at Garissa are predominantly non-Muslim, a source told Fox News.

The attack occurred at 5:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Wednesday E.T.) during morning prayers at the university mosque, according to Augustine Algana, a student at the school who survived the attack and spoke to the Associated Press.

Algana said gunfire rang throughout campus while students were still sleeping.

Terrified students sprinted out of buildings as police officers arrived on the scene. The gunmen had opened fire at guards triggering a “fierce shootout” with police guarding student dorms, Kenya’s National Police said in a statement.

COMMENT:  Have you noticed that we're now seeing frequent Islamic terrorist attacks?  The tempo seems to have picked up.

Kenya was the home of Barack Obama's father.  It was said that, during Obama's brief time in the Senate, he showed a particular interest in the country.  He's scheduled to visit Kenya in the near future for the first time as president.

No, the war on terror isn't over.  It is just beginning.  Africa.  The Mideast.  Europe, as in the recent Paris attacks.  And, inevitably, the United States.

April 2, 2015       Permalink

CRUZ IS CRUISING – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  No matter what you may think of him, no one doubts Ted Cruz's intelligence or drive.  His grassroots supporters are responding to his announcement that he's running for president by writing the checks.  From the Washington Post: 

CONCORD, New Hampshire -- Sen. Ted Cruz has raised $4 million in the eight days since officially launching his White House bid, his campaign confirmed Wednesday night.

And in a sign of his appeal to grassroots conservatives, his campaign said that 95 percent of the contributions came in amounts of $100 or less.

Cruz, who formally announced his presidential campaign on March 23, remains the only major candidate in either party to officially launch a White House bid. He raised $1 million within a day of his formal announcement, and $2 million within the first three days, according to his campaign. Cruz's campaign said bundlers accounted for one-third of the money raised and that 300 donors maxed out on their contributions to Cruz.

Word of his latest fundraising figures was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

“Often you have an establishment candidate, usually the moderate, who will be well funded,” Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said in a statement. “Here we have a candidate who is conservative and can raise money.”

COMMENT:  Cruz is a terrific guy, but I must honestly say that I think he's too ideologically rigid to be a successful presidential candidate.  I'm willing to be proved wrong, though, for that was exactly the same charge made against Ronald Reagan.

Expect Rubio, Bush and Walker to get in soon, and probably Carly Fiorina as well.  It's going to be exciting.  The excitement on the Democratic side may lie in how soon Hillary faces an indictment.

April 2, 2015       Permalink

THE CHILL FROM RUSSIA – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  Obama told us he had "reset" our relations with Russia.  Yeah, he did reset them – in the wrong direction.  Now Putin is threatening the use of nuclear weapons.  From London's Independent, a left-wing paper: 

Russia has threatened to use “nuclear force” to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the “same conditions” that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of NATO.

According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Times newspaper - Moscow threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military” if NATO moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met “forcefully including through the use of nuclear force”.

And they said if NATO sent arms to Ukraine this would be seen as “further encroachment by NATO to the Russian border” and “the Russian people would demand a forceful response”.

They added that “the same conditions that existed in Ukraine and caused Russia to take action there” existed in the three Baltic states, which like Ukraine have significant numbers of people who regard themselves as ethnically Russian.

Russia was considering taking steps in the Baltics, according to the notes, but this would most likely be “destabilising actions that would be even harder to trace back to Russia than those of eastern Ukraine”.

COMMENT:  A move by Russia into the Baltics automatically means a military clash with the West, as the NATO treaty would come into play.  But who in the West would actually confront the Red Army?  Given Obama's weakness, it may be that no one will, as no one could count on backing from the United States.  Putin may see the Baltics as his great prize, and his almost for the asking.

April 2,  2015     Permalink

APRIL 1,  2015

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

KERRY STAYS – John Kerry will stay in Switzerland, at the Iran nuclear talks, for another day, although other foreign ministers have left town.  It is rumored that Kerry is getting bonus points at his hotel, and will soon be eligible for a free upgrade to a room with hot water.  As for the talks, it's pretty clear there won't be a major breakthrough.  Some of the diplomats are talking about a memorandum of understanding, or even a note from mother.

DISGRACE – From London's Daily Mail:  "In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams.  The defendants - including teachers, a principal and other administrators - were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.   The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told."  The level of corruption, incompetence and dishonesty in American education never ceases to amaze me.  A backlash is coming. 

ODD TIMING – From WaPo:  "Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted on federal corruption charges Wednesday, accused of using the influence of his office to advance the business interests of a longtime friend and political supporter in exchange for luxury gifts, lavish vacations and more than $750,000 in campaign donations.?  Federal prosecutors laid out the charges in a 14-count indictment charging Menendez with using his office to help Salomon Melgen, a Florida-based eye doctor with whom Menendez had maintained a long personal and political friendship. Menendez intervened on Melgen’s behalf in at least two disputes, one with federal regulators over Medicare charges and the other involving a bid by Melgen to secure a port-security contract in the Dominican Republic, according to the indictment."  I make no judgment about guilt or innocence.   Menendez will get his day in court.  But the timing is very odd.  Menendez is Obama's most severe critic on Iran and the Mideast.  Suddenly, he's indicted.  Coincidence?  Hard for me to believe that considering the thug nature of this regime.

FARCE – Just as we're suspicious about the Menendez indictment, we're suspicious about this.  From The Politico:  "The Justice Department will not seek criminal contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner, the central figure in a scandal that erupted over whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative political groups.  Ronald Machen, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a seven-page letter this week that he would not bring a criminal case to a grand jury over Lerner’s refusal to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in March 2014. The House approved a criminal contempt resolution against Lerner in May 2014, and Machen’s office has been reviewing the issue since then.  Lerner and other IRS officials, however, are still under investigation by the FBI for the tea party targeting matter — which is a separate probe entirely."  I dunno.  Mendendez, an Obama critic, is indicted.  Lerner, an Obama stooge, is cleared.  You think there's a message here?

April 1, 2015       Permalink

BOEHNER IN ISRAEL – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  It isn't being given much publicity by the mainstreamers, but Speaker Boehner is in Israel, and sounding far more presidential than the guy in the White House.  From the Washington Post: 

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), in Israel visiting newly reelected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, said that despite "political disagreements from time to time, the bonds between our two nations are strong."

Speaking to the media with Netanyahu ahead of their meeting in Jerusalem, the two leaders sought to emphasize that amid threats to Israel and the United States in the Middle East, the relationship between the two countries is unwavering.

"One thing remains rock solid: our friendship, our alliance, our partnership," said Netanyahu. His office posted video of the remarks online.

Neither man mentioned the Obama administration's ongoing efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu has voiced opposition to such a deal. So have Boehner and many Republicans.  Negotiators were scrambling to try to reach an agreement Wednesday as they blew past a self-imposed Tuesday deadline.

COMMENT:  It is being reported that Obama may well meet in coming weeks with one of the Castro brothers at an international conference...but he won't meet, at least for now, with the prime minister of Israel, and he gives the back of his hand to allies like France and Canada. 

I can't wait for the end of this foul administration.  In the interim, it will be up to people like Speaker Boehner and other members of Congress to carry on a kind of shadow foreign policy, assuring our friends in the world, like Israel, Egypt and Jordan, that we're still friends and that Obama will not be in office much longer. 

April 1, 2015       Permalink

IDIOTS – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  One of the things I learned at The New York Times and in Hollywood is that people who reach "the big time" are often no better and no more talented than people stuck in the small time.  They may have simply had a break, or knew someone in high places. 

The Comedy Channel, a very hot, successful enterprise, has just announced the replacement for Jon Stewart, who is leaving.  You'd think that big-time TV would have a thorough vetting process to be sure there were no surprises lurking in the background of their choice.  You'd be wrong.  Now there's a big mess.  From Gateway Pundit: 

Trevor Noah, the Jew-bashing South African comic picked by Comedy Central to replace Jon Stewart as host of the leftist Daily Show, trashed Americans as stupid at an appearance in London three weeks ago, saying “most of them don’t know much about anything.”

Noah insulted his soon-to-be nightly audience at the March 13 Red Nose Day 2015 Comic Relief charity show during a riff on being a South African flying to the United States and being questioned about possible exposure to Ebola.

“…Flying in to America particularly has been the worst. You go through different lines, there’s extra checks. You know, especially if you come from what they consider a high risk Ebola region–which is apparently the whole continent—we’re all coughing on each other in one big hut.

“I don’t really blame them, ‘cause look, the truth is most Americans don’t know much about South Africa. So, well, they don’t know much about Africa as a whole, uh, most of them don’t know much about anything. But still…”

Last December, as reported by Newsbusters, Noah put down the United States during a guest spot on the Daily Show where he did the ‘hands up don’t shoot’ shtick.

"NOAH [HOLDING HIS HANDS UP]: No, no, seriously, I’ve been holding my arms like this since I got here. I never thought I’d be more afraid of police in America than in South Africa. It kind of makes me a little nostalgic for the old days back home. "

Noah is scheduled to start a month-long tour of America with a sold out seven show run at a club just outside Washington, D.C. starting April 9.

After hearing about his contempt for Americans, President Barack Obama will probably want to hang out with fellow progressive Noah like he did with the South Korean rapper PSY who sang of wanting to kill Americans.

COMMENT:  It probably won't matter to the Comedy Central audience, which tends to have an adolescent mentality, the kind Jon Stewart played to.  Television today is increasingly run by the children of the sixties generation.  That generation was bad enough.  Imagine what the kids are like. 

April 1, 2015       Permalink

POOR HILLARY; HAVE SYMPATHY, HAVE COMPASSION – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:   Finally, after months of scandal, Hillary Clinton is starting to slip in the polls.  If this continues, her nomination may well be in jeopardy, even though the Dems don't have a replacement who is known to more than 10 people.  From The Hill: 

Hillary Clinton’s email problems are taking a bite out of her approval ratings, raising the GOP’s confidence that she can be defeated in 2016.

A new poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University found Clinton trailing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Sunshine State and enjoying only a 2 percentage point lead over Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

In February, she led both — with a 10-point lead on Rubio.

The same poll found Clinton ahead of the GOP field in the must-win state of Pennsylvania but with only a 1-point lead over Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). And her favorability rating in both states has plummeted, by 4 points in Florida and 6 points in the Keystone State.

Quinnipiac pollster Peter A. Brown attributed the figures to news stories about Clinton’s decision not to use a government email address while she served as secretary of State, saying it was “taking a toll” on her public image.

Republicans have seized on the controversy to tarnish the clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. On Tuesday, the GOP chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi asked Clinton for an interview before May 1 to discuss her use of a private email account at the State Department and reports that she wiped her private server clean.

COMMENT:  The fact is that the Clinton scandals will go on and on because some of the investigations are only in the early stages.  There could conceivably be legal action against Clinton.  There could even be indictments, or threatened indictments.

Of course, at one point the mainstream media will realize that their candidate could be defeated in 2016, and will generate an alternative "narrative" that will put her in a better light.  Or, it will trot out the old "sexism" charge if anyone dares question her.  It would be a repeat of the media's work on behalf of Barack Obama in 2008.  But it may not work this time.  Clinton is old news.  Obama was not. 

April 1, 2015       Permalink

IRAN LATEST – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  The Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland are in overtime, you know, just like your average labor negotiation.  (I guess we'll find out in the morning if the trains are running.)  Clearly there are obstacles.  We are talking about risking the lives of millions of people, and look at that farce.  From the Washington Post: 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Negotiators scrambling to chart Iran’s nuclear future said Wednesday that several “key issues” remain unresolved, casting doubt on earlier, more optimistic predictions that an agreement was ready to be drafted.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said progress has been made but characterized it as “slow going.”

“I’m optimistic that we will make further progress this morning, but it does mean the Iranians being willing to meet us where there are still issues to deal with,” he told reporters. “Fingers crossed and we’ll hope to get there during the course of the day.”

That contrasted with remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after talks broke off in the overnight hours early Wednesday. He said an understanding had been reached on all the major sticking points.

“I think we have a broad framework of understanding, but there are still some key issues that have to be worked through,” he said. “Some of them are quite detailed and technical, so there is still quite a lot of work to do, but we are on it now and we’ll keep going at it.”

COMMENT:  The only way an agreement can be reached is for the United States to cave in, which we may well do.  It's been widely noted that Barack Obama wants an agreement more than the Iranians do, although they need it more.

Obama wants his legacy on the left, and his legacy within Islam. 

April 1,  2015     Permalink