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APRIL 30,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:19 P.M. ET: 

THERE GOES THE VALUE OF MY DEGREE – From Fox:  "WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has chosen his hometown of Chicago to host his future presidential library, two individuals with knowledge of the decision said Thursday, placing the permanent monument to his legacy in the city that launched his improbable ascent to the White House.  Obama's library will be built on Chicago's South Side, where the University of Chicago has proposed two potential sites not far from the Obama family's home. It was unclear which of the two sites had been selected, but officials were expected to make an announcement within weeks."  Well, I went to that university, and I don't know how I explain this to friends and family.  I thought we had high standards.  They should probably use both the proposed sites – one for hope, the other for change. 

RIDICULOUS – From Fox:  "The head of a law school in the Washington, D.C., area told students Tuesday that they would be able to defer an exam if they offer legal advice to protesters in Baltimore.  The Washington Post reported that Dean Shelley Broderick from the David A. Clarke School of Law told the students that many of them have ties to the city and the school would like 'to support this activism.' She said that the school would help interested students find groups at the protest they could assist.  'The police accountability movement needs and will continue to need the best lawyers that we can train,' she wrote."  Just a second.  These aren't lawyers, they're law students.  They haven't passed the Bar exam.  Would you have surgery done by someone who hasn't finished med school?  It's the same principle.  Can't they supply real lawyers?

OH, PLEASE – From Bloomberg:  "One day when he’s done wrangling with the Iranians and congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama plans to get back to where he once belonged.  The most powerful man in the world wants to return to community organizing after he hands over the keys to the White House in 2017, he told middle-school students at a public library in Washington’s Anacostia neighborhood today."  Yeah, right.  Based on his record as president, the community might turn him down.

NO LEADERSHIP – From NBC:  "Nearly 100 officers have been hurt since violence broke out in the city on Monday, Baltimore Police said.  Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said Thursday afternoon that more than 40 officers required some sort of treatment at the hospital. Protesters have been throwing bricks, bottles and other items at officers trying to contain demonstrations after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered critical injuries while he was in police custody."   An awful casualty rate for a police force.  I don't see much interest on the part of the city administration, which has not let the police enforce the law.  If the chaos continues, the governor of Maryland, who is a Republican, may have to use National Guard troops under state control.

April 30,  2015     Permalink

A REMINDER OF FAILURES PAST – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  Remember the nuclear agreement with North Korea that was supposed to curb its nuclear-weapons program?  It was negotiated by Wendy Sherman, who's also negotiating our nuclear agreement with Iran.  The North Korea deal failed spectacularly.  I guess Sherman has now failed upward. 

And North Korea continues its rogue status.  From, ironically, Britain's left-wing Guardian: 

Satellite images taken between January and April show a North Korean nuclear reactor that can yield material for atomic bombs may be operating again at low power or intermittently, US experts said on Wednesday.

A report from David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini at Washington’s Institute for Science and International Security said the imagery also suggested that a centrifuge plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex had been operated and that North Korea may be preparing to conduct renovations at this plant.

The ISIS think tank said last year that satellite imagery from late August and late September indicated the Yongbyon reactor may have been partially or completely shut down.

The latest ISIS analysis comes at a time of rising concern about North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

The experts based their latest assessment on observation of melting snow patterns on the reactor and turbine buildings at Yongbyon, indicating that the insides of the buildings may have been hot. They also pointed to signs of warm water being discharged from the reactor.

North Korea has a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and the reactor has previously been used for plutonium production. Both materials can be used to make atomic bombs.

In February, Albright was among experts at the US-Korea Institute who presented three scenarios for North Korea’s nuclear capability, predicting its stockpile of weapons could grow to 20, 50 or 100 within five years.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that Chinese nuclear experts had warned that North Korea may already have 20 nuclear warheads and the capability to produce enough weapons-grade uranium to double its arsenal by next year.

These estimates, relayed to U.S. nuclear specialists, exceeded most previous US forecasts, which ranged from 10 to 16 bombs currently, the report said.

Early this month, US Admiral William Gortney, commander of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the US military believes North Korea has the ability to miniaturize a warhead and mount it on a ballistic missile, although there had been no tests.

North Korea is under an array of international sanctions for nuclear bomb and ballistic missile tests. It has conducted three nuclear detonations, the most recent in February 2013.

COMMENT:  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Notice the complete lack of interest by the Obama administration.  By the American media.  By the public.

But one day we may wake up and get a very big surprise.  Recall that mushroom cloud over Atlanta that Condi Rice warned about years ago?  She was laughed at.  Laugh no more.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

TELL IT, RUDY, TELL IT – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:  Rudy Giuliani analyzes Baltimore.  His analysis will not win him a place in the Diplomacy Hall of Fame.  From Newsmax: 

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said three decades of liberal Democrats running Baltimore have done little to help the plight of minorities.

Appearing Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said he was able to bring communities such as Washington Heights back to prosperity after a riot in 1992 and a blackout in 1999.

"That community went from being very high crime community to being a good community," Giuliani said. "I would ask all those politicians you saw there talking about the terrible conditions, economic conditions, they have been in charge of Baltimore for the last 30 years. This is a Democratic city."

Democrat Martin O'Malley was the governor for eight years and mayor of Baltimore eight years before then, Giuliani noted.

"If those people are suffering from economic depravation, then what the heck have they done?," he asked. "What has (Rep.) Elijah Cummings done for his city? … What kind of economic development have they done?"

COMMENT:  You would think there'd be more study of Giuliani's remarkable success as mayor New York.  But there isn't because the journalistic left doesn't want to give a Republican mayor credit, even though his record is clear.

To get credit these days you must be a member of the correct party, and you must prove, to a legal standard, that you are absolutely useless.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

BERNIE?  YOU DON'T SAY – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:   Bernie Sanders for president?  A socialist?  I mean, you gotta be kidding.  But Byron York thinks Bernie will be a serious candidate, if only because he's an alternative to Hillary.  From the Washington Examiner: 

As he formally announces his run for the presidency, it is nothing short of astonishing that Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont socialist who will be 75 years old on Inauguration Day 2017, has emerged as Hillary Clinton's leading opponent in the race for the Democratic nomination. But that is what has happened.

A new Iowa survey by the Democratic polling firm PPP finds Clinton with an overwhelming lead over the Democratic pack — no news there. But PPP also found that, while the former secretary of state is the choice of 62 percent of Democrats surveyed, Sanders is now in double digits, with 14 percent saying they support him. (Martin O'Malley is at 6 percent, Jim Webb at 3 percent, and Lincoln Chafee at two percent, while 13 percent say they are not sure who they support.)

Given the peculiar character of the Democratic race, just being in double digits qualifies a candidate as a legitimate opponent of Clinton. And PPP numbers also put Sanders in double digits in New Hampshire. "We've now found that in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders is the second choice," says PPP director Tom Jensen. "If there really is a desire on the far left for anyone else — now that they're not going to get Warren — Sanders may be their guy."

What appears to have happened is that Sanders has become a stand-in for Warren among those Democrats who wanted the Massachusetts senator to run and are disappointed that she has declined. They have now transferred their support to the next-best candidate to represent their point of view, and that is Sanders.

One indication of that is in the PPP data from Iowa Democrats who describe themselves as "very liberal." Among them, Clinton's lead over Sanders is 55 percent to 29 percent — still a big lead at 26 points, but far less than Clinton's 48-point lead among Democrats overall.

COMMENT:  Look, you never know.  Bernie, a decent man with whom I disagree on almost everything, has a certain appeal within the Democratic Party.  Look, this is a party, in its modern incarnation, that does odd things.  It nominated George McGovern.  It nominated the terminally obnoxious Jimmy Carter, who won and turned out to be one of the worst presidents in history.  It nominated John Kerry.   Bernie's a card-carrying socialist.  The Dems might find that just charming enough to cheer.  What chatter at Manhattan cocktail parties!

This could be fun.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

WITH CHARITY FOR ALL? – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  Well, bottom line, the Clintons are not inspired by Abraham Lincoln.  Turns out their super-charity, the Clinton Foundation, hasn't been overly generous with the poor and needy.  From Fox: 

The charity run by the Clintons has raised $2 billion since it was founded in 2001 -- $144.3 million in 2013 alone -- but only a small fraction of the take went to its “life-saving work,” according to analysts who monitor non-profits.

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation claims 88 percent of the money it raises goes to actual charity work, but experts who have looked at the books put the number at about 10 percent. The rest, they say, goes mostly to salaries, benefits, travel and fund-raising.

“That claim is demonstrably false, and it is false not according to some partisan spin on the numbers, but because the organization’s own tax filings contradict the claim,” said Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, a conservative online magazine.

The foundation, originally called the Clinton Global Initiative, has come under close scrutiny as Hillary Clinton prepares for a presidential run. Revelations in the soon-to-be-released book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” by Peter Schweizer, have spurred numerous media investigations into the relationship between Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, the foundation’s solicitation of foreign money and the ex-president’s lucrative speaking engagements around the world.

COMMENT:  Where there's smoke, there's Clinton.  We have all heard of "charities" that actually disburse very little of their income to those they claim to help.  This looks like one of those organizations.  The word "scam" comes to mind. 

The fact that the analysis is coming from experts in non-profits, and not from a partisan source, is particularly compelling.  It just keeps getting worse for Hillary.  When she spoke at Columbia today, you had the feeling that a farce was in progress.  Is this corrupt individual really going to be president?

April 30,  2015     Permalink

APRIL 29,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:49 P.M. ET: 

DEFIANCE – It is an honorable American tradition, civil disobedience.  From Fox:  "'We will not obey.'  That’s the blunt warning a group of prominent religious leaders is sending to the Supreme Court of the United States as it considers same-sex marriage.  'We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line,' read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage. 'We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve.'  'While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross,' the pledge states.  The signees are a who’s who of religious leaders including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, National Religious Broadcasters president Jerry Johnson, Pastor John Hagee, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse."  Whether one agrees or disagrees with the position of these religious leaders, their willingness peacefully to defy, and presumably to accept the legal consequences, is inspiring, and very much in the American tradition of peaceful protest.

OH PLEASE – Hillary Clinton did deliver her anticipated speech at Columbia University today.  She said it was important to restore trust in American life.  While no one fainted at that suggestion, the notion of Bill and Hillary Clinton being concerned about trust has the same ring of truth as Bonnie & Clyde being concerned about bank robbery.   You wonder whether Hillary ever means anything that she says.  She also said we have to rebalance the criminal-justice system.  Yeah, right.  Crime went down 80% under Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York, and I never once heard him praised by Hillary Clinton.  When Hillary talks about "rebalancing," you know that's a codeword for "soft on crime."

SPORTS NEWS – From Fox:  "As tempers smoldered and the cleanup of riot-ravaged Baltimore continued outside, the city's beloved Orioles beat the White Sox in an eerily empty ballpark Wednesday afternoon.  The game at Orioles Park at Camden Yards was played out before 47,000 empty seats amid safety concerns for spectators. Games on Monday and Tuesday had been postponed, but Wednesday's game had to be played to keep to the rigid Major League Baseball schedule. Inside the stadium, an unfamiliar quiet descended on the field."  Now you know what we unrepentant Brooklyn Dodger fans feel like.  We've had silence for 58 years.  But we're very patient. 

PASSING – From AP:  "PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Jean Nidetch, a New York housewife who tackled her own obesity, then shared her guiding principles with others in meetings that became known as Weight Watchers, the most widely known company of its kind, died Wednesday. She was 91.  She died at her home at a senior complex in Parkland, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, her son David Nidetch said.  Plagued by her weight since childhood and carrying 214 pounds on her 5-foot-7 frame, Nidetch went to an obesity clinic sponsored by the New York City Board of Health in 1961 and began picking up tips that slowly seemed to work.  No skipping meals. Fish five times a week. Two pieces of bread and two glasses of skim milk a day. More fruits and vegetables."  The woman was a successful entrepreneur, and one must admire the way she built a company.  Out of respect, I will have my next BLT without mayonnaise.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

EGO OUT OF CONTROL – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  There are a lot of problems in New York City.  And, at a time of racial tension, you'd think the mayor, who's made race a big deal, would be at home.  But Bill de Blasio has bigger plans.  From Bloomberg:   

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attracted the biggest crowd to Wisconsin Democrats’ annual dinner on Saturday since Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama attended seven years ago. The foray to the home state of expected Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker shows de Blasio’s determination to affect the 2016 election.

“I’m certainly going to be doing this with some regularity,” de Blasio said after getting a standing ovation for his speech in Milwaukee.

The 53-year-old mayor has in recent weeks ventured from the most populous U.S. city into the Midwest to inveigh against tax breaks for corporations, attacks on unions and income inequality. He has withheld a quick endorsement of Democratic candidate Clinton, emphasizing his power as leader of a city of 8.4 million and ensuring that his intentions remain a topic of speculation and conversation.

“I’m certainly going to be doing this with some regularity.”

De Blasio’s rise as the first Democratic New York mayor in 20 years and appeal to progressives can influence his party’s broad agenda while also being a thorn in the side of Republican candidates, said Mike Tate, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

“Outside of anyone named Obama or Clinton, I think Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren are the two biggest draws in the Democratic Party,” said Tate, referring to the Massachusetts senator who also champions progressive issues. “People are really looking at what he did and what he is saying as a real path forward.”

COMMENT:  The only serious change we've noticed in New York since Bill became mayor is an increase in murder.  Maybe that plays well with the "progressive" crowd, but it isn't playing well with the street folk.  I haven't seen any recent polls, but polls earlier this year showed de Blasio's approval at just above 50%, in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.  De Blasio has never had overwhelming popularity.  He was elected in 2013, almost by default.  The Republicans, reflecting the weakness of the New York Republican Party, barely ran a race.

He has national ambitions.  He might do the job here first, although Obama proved that a record in the Democratic Party is meaningless.

April 29, 2015       Permalink 

WARNING – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  Saudi Arabia, often an instigator of terror, is now taking action to rein in the monster it helped create.  From Fox: 

Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 93 suspected terrorists with ties to ISIS Tuesday, including two who were allegedly planning a car bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.

Other potential targets for some of those arrested included residential compounds and prisons.

Authorities said that the potential suicide car bombing at the Embassy involved three individuals -- a Saudi national and two Syrian nationals residing in a Gulf state. The plot was uncovered Mar 13. and authorities took precautions at the Embassy and surrounding area before arresting two suspects the next day.

The timing of the alleged attack coincides with a U.S. decision to halt all consular services for a week starting March 15 at the Embassy and diplomatic missions in Jiddah and Dhahran.

The list of targets recalls a wave of attacks launched by Al Qaeda inside the kingdom from 2004 to 2007, which killed dozens of people, including foreigners, and threatened the stability of one of the world's most important oil-producing nations. Saudi Arabia is also home to Islam's holiest sites, in Mecca and Medina.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told the Associated Press there have been five ISIS-related attacks across the kingdom in recent months that have killed 15 civilians and security personnel. But he said Saudis have largely ignored ISIS’s calls to take up arms against their government and attack the Shiite minority, security forces and foreigners living in the kingdom.

COMMENT:  Terrorism is spreading.  It is not contracting.  But, of course, the war on terror is over.  Field Marshal of the United States (including Baltimore) Barack Obama has told us so.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

SHE WILL SPEAK – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton will speak today at Columbia University, which happens to be Obama's alma mater, at least we think.  The Queen will speak on the subject of criminal justice.  Judging from the advance stories, just imagine you're back in the 1960s, Lyndon Johnson is president, Stokely Carmichael is on the march in black America, and Watts is rioting.  And, oh yes, one in eight New York City residents is on welfare.  From Bloomberg:   

Hillary Clinton will call Wednesday for sweeping criminal justice reform and an end to the "era of mass incarceration," delivering a message that has even more currency after days of rioting in Baltimore.

"Mass incarceration"?  Where do we have that?  In fact, our willingness over the years actually to put criminals in prison has produced dramatically good results. 

Clinton's comments will come in the first policy speech of her campaign, at Columbia University in New York, where she will outline her vision for criminal justice reform, a campaign aide said.

The former secretary of state plans to call for a changed approach to punishment and prison, including making changes to probation practices, finding alternative punishments for low-level offenders, and increasing support for mental health and drug treatment.

Notice that there is no mention of culture, of fatherlessness, of left-wing social theories gone crazy.  As I wrote, welcome back to the sixties.

“We have to restore order and security.”

Clinton will say that she supports seeing every police department in the country obtain body cameras "to improve transparency and accountability in order to protect those on both sides of the lens."

She will also discuss the "hard truth and fundamental unfairness in our country" that African-American men are much more likely than others to be stopped and searched by police, and charged with crimes.

The sad and hard truth is that African-American men commit a disproportionately high number of crimes.  Police assigned to black communities will, by definition, stop and search more black men than any other group.  One can argue about the "root causes" of crime, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Clinton offered a preview of her speech on Tuesday night, telling New York donors who had given $2,700 each or raised at least $27,000 that "Baltimore is burning" and that the situation there "is heartbreaking."

"The tragic death of another young African-American man. The injuries to police officers. The burning of peoples’ homes and small businesses. We have to restore order and security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system," she said, adding that she would say more Wednesday.

COMMENT:  This shows once again that modern liberalism isn't a series of political beliefs.  It's a religion.  No matter what the facts show, the party line just continues.  You either accept the faith, or are escorted out. 

There was a time when most African-American families were intact.  That is no longer the case.  Some eighty percent of the children living in Harlem don't know who their fathers are.  Unless this tragedy is addressed, nothing will work.

For more than a year, New York City has had a "progressive" mayor who is more critical of the police than of criminals.  Crime is already up.  But the left will never learn.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

ECONOMIC GRIMNESS – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The American economy has hit the brakes.  From the Washington Post: 

The U.S. economy ground nearly to a halt in the first three months of the year, according to government data released Wednesday morning, as exports plunged and severe winter weather sidelined construction projects and helped keep consumers indoors.

The gross domestic product grew between January and March at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding to the picture of an economy braking sharply after accelerating for much of last year. The first pace fell well shy of the 1 percent mark anticipated by analysts and marked the weakest quarter in a year.

The economy had expanded at a rate of 2.2 percent in the final three months of 2014.

Economists, employers and policymakers now face the challenge of determining whether the slowdown is temporary — stemming mostly from an unusually snowy winter in the Northeast — or a sign of broader problems.

COMMENT:  It's been my experience that people still have to eat in snowy weather, still have to buy fuel, still have to pay electric and cable TV bills, and still go to doctors and hospitals.  The fact is that there have been signs of an economic slowdown for some time.  There has also been an increase, for three weeks running, in the number of unemployment claims.

Now, of course, we all know that this is all caused by George Bush and global warming, but maybe an enterprising reporter will determine some other cause. 

Oh, by the way, wait 'til the next figures come out, and how the left will say how anything negative was influenced by racial rioting caused by...the police and their Republican allies.  Coming to a CNN channel near you.

April 29,  2015     Permalink