Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas yesterday, along with Melanie Sturm of the Aspen Times.  It's here.

AUGUST 25,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

COMING HOME TO ROOST – From The Wrap:  "Some 550 buyouts are to be offered at Time Warner's Turner network this week, including a large number of those at CNN and HLN, which will lead to layoffs if they are not taken voluntarily, according to an individual with knowledge of the network's plans.  The buyouts will come across the Turner division, with a couple of hundred expected at CNN and HLN, the individual said.  A CNN spokeswoman had no immediate comment."  Another sign of trouble at CNN.  I monitor CNN, which seems blind to the cause of its ailments – a persistent left-wing tilt that turns off half the potential audience before a program even starts.

BUT HEALTH AT FOX – From Variety:  "A busy week in news was a good one for Fox News Channel, which logged its second highest-rated frame of the year, but a weak one for MSNBC, which found itself deep in third place.  FNC, with several shows hitting 2014 highs, won in adults 25-54 and total viewers on both a primetime and total-day basis for Monday through Friday of last week. Tune-in was above average across the news board due to coverage of the protests in Ferguson and the murder of James Foley.  Looking at the Nielsen numbers, Fox News averaged 443,000 adults 25-54 in primetime to finish ahead of CNN (361,000) in the key news demo, with both networks more than doubling the tally of MSNBC (179,000). CNN had narrowly won in the demo on Monday and Tuesday, before Fox News asserted itself Wednesday through Friday.  In total-day numbers, FNC averaged 272,000, to 241,000 for CNN and just 106,000 for MSNBC."  And those numbers are only in the 25-54 group.  Fox is even stronger if all viewers are included.

FERGUSON POLLS MOVING – From Breitbart:  "A very useful YouGov poll that tracks public sentiment about Ferguson over time shows that despite the 24/7 racial demagoguery from cable news network's like CNN and MSNBC, public opinion is moving in the exact opposite direction of what the media is aiming for.
Between August 14-17 a plurality of only 45% believed Ferguson residents reacted unreasonably following the shooting of Michael Brown. Four days later that number jumped to a clear majority of 56%. Those who consider the resident reaction reasonable only increased from 25% to 27%.  Despite a week of heavy and heavily biased reporting, support for the Ferguson police has also jumped. A plurality of 40% now believe the Ferguson police have been 'reasonable' in 'reaction to the protests.'  That's up from 32% four days ago. The percentage of those who say the police have been unreasonable has stayed the same at 33%.  In both cases, those who had been undecided during the first poll almost all moved against the media position."

AND AMERICAN BOYS WERE THERE – From Fox:  "PARIS – President Francois Hollande has kicked off a day of commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of France in World War II.  Unfazed by a downpour on Ile de Sein island in Brittany, Hollande made a speech Monday recalling the scores of locals who joined Gen. Charles de Gaulle's expatriate administration in London after the Nazi invasion in 1940...Later, Hollande was to attend ceremonies at the Paris police prefecture and City Hall in recognition of the Aug. 25, 1944, liberation of the capital by American and French troops."  General Eisenhower, ever the diplomat, graciously allowed French troops to march into Paris first, even though American units had done far more fighting.  Ike's greatest gift was his understanding of people."

August 25,  2014     Permalink

THERE ARE SOME STORIES I JUST LOVE – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:  I say, pay those kids!  From Breitbart: 

Little League Baseball CEO Steve Keener suggested that Little Leaguers who appear on national television could get some compensation in the future.

"I've always felt we need to be as progressive an organization as we can," he told Yahoo Sports. "We don't know what's coming. If at some point in time that would be deemed to be appropriate, we'll consider it. At the moment, I don't see the necessity and don't think we should be compensating kids right now.

Little League Baseball reportedly signed an eight-year deal with ESPN worth $76 million, and Keener said, "whether at some point down the road any funds could be put aside to help them with college I don't know. Down the road that's something we might take a look at even if it's feasible."

Now get this:

Keener reportedly "made $430,844 in salary and benefits between October 2012 and September 2013, and was one of seven employees with six-figure compensation packages," according to Yahoo Sports. In addition, "Little League paid a Connecticut company called SJX Partners $472,062 last year for a 'corporate sponsor search,'" and critics have said they could use some of that money to set up scholarship funds for players who make it to Williamsport.

I certainly think so!  Keener is paid more than the president of the United States.

A federal judge recently found that the NCAA was in violation of antitrust laws by not compensating players for certain uses of their images and likeness. Ed O'Bannon, the lead plaintiff in that case, testified that he felt that Little Leaguers should be compensated if networks are profiting off of them.

This year, the issue came to the fore after, as Yahoo Sports noted, Mo'ne Davis, the 13-year-old female pitcher from South Philadelphia's Taney Dragons, "drew a higher rating for ESPN than any MLB game since April 2007" in her last game. She was the first Little Leaguer to make the cover of Sports Illustrated. She has endorsement opportunities on the table, but her family will not accept any because it may jeopardize her dream of playing college basketball for the UConn Huskies.

COMMENT:   It is outrageous that funds are not set aside for the kids and their families.  And then when you look at the salaries of some of the "executives" of Little League baseball, you see the pattern you see in so many other places – the guys in the front offices get the checks, the people doing the work get shafted.

Yes, yes, I know, athletes are paid too much.  They certainly are.  It's part of the excess we see in our economic system.  But at one time they were paid so little that major stars often wound up in menial jobs after their athletic careers were over.

There is a balance – but first let's get some money to the kids. 

August 25, 2014       Permalink

MORE ON THE PROBABLE EXECUTIONER OF JAMES FOLEY – AT 9:18 A.M.  Like father, like son.  From London's Daily Mail: 

The father of the man suspected of being 'Jihadi John' is accused of being one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants and is currently awaiting trial in the US for his part in the bombing of two US embassies in which 224 people died, MailOnline can reveal.

Adel Abdel Bari, 54, is now locked up in New York awaiting trial for the bombing of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania after being extradited from Britain along with hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Bari was allowed entry into the UK when he was granted political asylum from his native Egypt in 1993.

Two years later he was sentenced to death in absentia for a 1995 plot to blow up a market in Cairo's bazaar district. In a separate Egyptian trial in 1999 he was also sentenced to life in prison.

Jihadi John — who cruelly beheaded American journalist James Foley in a video released by the terror group Islamic State last week — is believed to be Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, Bari's 23-year-old son, who left the million-dollar home in Maida Vale, London, which he shared with his mother Ragaa and five sisters, to fight with the ruthless group which has run rampage through Syria and Iraq.

Bari showed his barbarism when he posted a grisly picture of himself holding a severed head to his Twitter account.

He captioned it 'Chillin' with my other homie, or what's left of him.'

In another picture, captioned 'Fireworks', he stands in front of dozens of bags of plastic explosives.

Videos posted to YouTube show Bary, who used the names Lyricist Jinn and L Jinny, show him praising his father in rap.

'Give me the pride and the honor like my father, I swear the day they came and took my dad, I could have killed a cop or two.

'Imagine then I was only six. Picture what I’d do now with a loaded stick. Like boom bang fine, I’m wishing you were dead. Violate my brothers and I’m filling you with lead.'

Other lyrics express his disgust with drugs and drink.

COMMENTS:  Although the guy now says that he disavows those earlier statements, we have to wonder if he really does. 

We do not have absolute confirmation that he is the one who executed James Foley, but that is clearly the thinking of both British and American intelligence services.

August 25, 2014       Permalink

ANOTHER WARNING ABOUT ISIS – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Former CIA Director Michael Hayden has been one of the more clear-headed commentators about the challenges this country faces.  What I like about him is that he seems to proceed from facts, not ideology.  From CNN: 

(CNN) -- An ISIS attack against the West is a question of timing -- "not of inevitably, not of intent," according to the former head of the CIA, retired Gen. Michael Hayden.

Speaking to CNN's Jim Sciutto on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Hayden said he expects ISIS to attempt an attack on targets in the United States or Europe.

"ISIS is a very powerful local organization, and probably a reasonably powerful regional terrorist organization," Hayden said. "But it's one that has global ambitions -- and it has the tools."

There's no clear consensus inside the intelligence community as to whether ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, is currently capable of striking the West.

That debate came to the forefront last week after the Sunni militant group beheaded American journalist James Foley in retaliation for the airstrikes -- an act that Michael Morell, the former deputy director of the CIA, called the group's "first terrorist attack against the United States," in an interview with CBS.

"It's expressed the intent," Hayden said. "There's no way more powerful way to express their street credentials among the jihadist community than a successful attack against the West."

The U.S. military has conducted targeted airstrikes in order to stop ISIS's progress in the region. The Obama administration initially said the strikes were carried out in order to protect U.S. personnel at the consulate in Irbil, Iraq, and prevent the genocide of the Yazidi people, a religious minority in the country.

COMMENT:  I have a rule of thumb about international threats:  If someone says he wants to kill you, he wants to kill you.  That should be the governing assumption.  When a failed circus clown like Jimmy Carter refers to the murderous Hamas charter as "ancient history," he reminds us of other humorists from the 1930s who dismissed Hitler"s "Mein Kampf" as mere rhetoric. 

I've not seen a single case in international affairs where a threat of death wasn't meant.  True, the perpetrator may not have carried out the threat, possibly because he couldn't, or was stopped, but he meant it.  All crimes begin with intent.

August 25, 2014      Permalink

ANOTHER DAY IN FERGUSON – AT 8:28 A.M. ET:  Michael Brown's funeral will be held in Ferguson, Missouri, today.  It will be, of course, a sad event for the family, but the only question that seems to intrigue journalists is who will benefit from it.  The cynicism and careerism surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer are remarkable.  From Howard Kurtz at Fox: 

Al Sharpton is again working both sides of the street, and it’s paying off for him.

As he’s inserted himself into the tense situation in Ferguson, he’s had an assist from none other than the president of the United States.

And he continues to bask in the spotlight at MSNBC, where he uses his nightly cable show to advance the causes he fights for as a civil rights activist.

But these two roles are increasingly coming into conflict. It happened last year with the killing of Trayvon Martin, and it’s happening again with the death of Michael Brown.

Sharpton is scheduled to deliver the eulogy at Brown’s funeral today. On Saturday, he led a rally on Staten Island to protest the death of a black man who police had placed in a chokehold. Tonight, on his show “Politics Nation,” he’ll undoubtedly be covering the very same events.

This is wrong on so many levels, and most news organizations wouldn’t allow it. MSNBC has defended this outrageous conflict of interest, saying people know who Sharpton is and where he stands.

But you can’t be a player and cover the game at the same time. That’s especially true now that we know more about Sharpton’s role as essentially an Obama operative.

In Ferguson, Politico reports, “Sharpton established himself as a de facto contact and conduit for a jittery White House seeking to negotiate a middle ground between meddling and disengagement.”

COMMENT:   Nothing is surprising here.  We in New York know "Reverend" Sharpton (he apparently was ordained at the age of nine) as a cynical race baiter and incendiary speaker who produced little for the "community" and much for himself. 

Sharpton will be on display today.  And in a few weeks, when the story fades, the networks will pull the plug on their cameras and lights, and Ferguson will go right back to its depressed state, with little interest shown.

As for MSNBC, and its employment of Sharpton, it is simply another example of the deterioration of journalism. 

August 25,  2014     Permalink

AUGUST 24,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:46 P.M. ET: 

HE'S BAACK – From The Hill:  "President Obama boarded a plane back to Washington late Sunday after a two-week trip to Martha's Vineyard plagued by criticism from Republicans and some Democrats.   Republicans continuously criticized Obama during the trip for vacationing while events unfolded in Iraq and Ferguson, Missouri."  Now the idea is for Obama to roll up his sleeves and get down to work, planning his next vacation.  It's a burden, but I think he's up to it.

A WAY TO REDUCE CRIME? – From the Washington Times:  "Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low."  It's hard to assess cause-and-effect, but there are serious studies that point to a lowering of crime rates when the criminals don't know who is and who is not armed.  Sounds logical.

THE INSANITY GOES ON – From Breitbart:  "Local Winooski, Vermont restaurant Sneakers Bistro has removed a sign that read, 'Yield Sneakers Bacon,' citing opposition from a Muslim community member and safety concerns.  The sign was put up as part of a city program that allows businesses to post an advertisement in an area where they have helped maintain city flowerbeds. The sign that read 'Yield Sneakers Bacon”' was removed after a woman, identifying herself as a Muslim, posted in an online community forum, stating she was personally offended by the sign, according to a WPTZ News report. WPTZ wrote that the woman who complained online called the sign 'insensitive to those who do not consume pork.'"  It's those pork lovers again.  Always starting wars.

August 24, 2014       Permalink

A SENSE OF PROPORTION? – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  We note first that President Obama never sent representatives to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, one of the great British prime ministers.  But there will be reps at another funeral.  From CNN: 

CNN) -- The White House is sending three officials to Michael Brown's funeral Monday, including one who attended high school with his mother.

Brown,18, was fatally shot on August 9 by officer Darren Wilson while walking down the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.

His death sparked days of violent protests in the St. Louis suburb. In the past three days, things have calmed down, and the town is slowly coming back to life.

The officials attending the funeral are Broderick Johnson, who leads the White House's My Brother's Keeper Task Force. He'll be joined by Marlon Marshall, a St. Louis native who attended high school with Brown's mother, and Heather Foster. Both Marshall and Foster are part of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Brown will be eulogized at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis.

Two weeks after the shooting sparked violent protests, the mood turned more tranquil Saturday with smaller crowds and lots of music. Gone were police in riot gear glaring at defiant protesters. The tear gas, rubber bullets and Molotov cocktails were nowhere to be seen, either.

In their place were clusters of officers, hanging around businesses, chatting with one another.
Race has been at the forefront of the tensions; Brown was African-American and the officer who shot him is white.

St. Louis authorities released details of the racial and gender makeup of the grand jury, which started hearing testimony on Wednesday.

It comprises six white men, three white women, two black women and one black man, said Paul Fox, the administrator for the St. Louis County Circuit Court.

St. Louis County is 70% white and 24% black, according to last year's estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau.

COMMENT:  Look, if this sinking administration wants to send representatives to the funeral, fine.  But they should realize how many Americans will feel excluded, especially the families of other teenagers who have been killed who weren't politically useful. 

Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy.  It is disgraceful.  This man is low-life and a racial agitator.  But I guess the family wanted a celebrity preacher.  We in New York had our fill of this guy.  But Eric Holder apparently likes him.

August 24, 2014       Permalink

THE THREAT HERE – AT 7:30 A.M. ET:  Those who are awake in Washington are focusing on the threat the Islamic State poses to the United States.   Chilling stuff.  From The Hill: 

The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is spurring calls for major changes to a visa program that allows for easy entry into the United States for people with Western passports.

Some lawmakers say the program, which allows citizens from 38 countries to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa, has created a major security weakness for groups such as ISIS to exploit.

House Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said Friday that as many as 12,000 members of ISIS have U.S. or European passports and could slip into America undetected.

“The biggest fear is that there are 10,000 to 12,000 foreign fighters that have joined ISIS and various estimates but many of them have Western passports,” Thornberry said on CNN.

“They're either American or they're Western European passports. So they can come here to the United States homeland without a visa. And they can bring … what they've learned about bomb making and about assassinations with them here at home.”

But lawmakers have mostly talked about expanding the program, not scaling it back.

The State Department currently allows participation in the visa waiver program to citizens from more than three dozen countries, the majority of which are in Europe.

Tourism groups have pushed to expand the visa waiver program to Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Israel, Panama, Poland, Romania and Uruguay.

That proposed expansion was included in a bipartisan bill that was introduced in Congress that known as the “Jobs Originated Through Launching Travel” (JOLT) Act (H.R. 1354).

The sponsors of the legislation in the House, Reps. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), said in an op-ed that was published by The Hill earlier this year that that the measure would boost “the number of high-spending international travelers to the United States without compromising national security.

“Each overseas visitor spends an average of nearly $4,500 per trip to the U.S., adding nearly $130 billion to the economy in 2012. One American job is created for every 33 international visitors—meaning over one million domestic jobs were supported by inbound travel in 2012,” the lawmakers wrote in February.

COMMENT:  This cries out for common sense.  There has got to be a way to modify a program that has positive aspects so that the negative aspects don't prevail.  I believe that some of these people who want the visa program expanded will understand the crisis we face, and agree to modifications, especially if they want to get re-elected.

August 24, 2014       Permalink

EXECUTIONER IDENTIFIED?  – AT 7:26 A.M. ET: – A number of media reports tell us that both the American and British governments are working hard to identify the executioner of American journalist James Foley, whose beheading was seen worldwide on videos.  The identification may have been made.  From the Sydney Morning Herald: 

British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have identified the man suspected of the horrific beheading of American journalist James Foley, according to UK media reports.

The hooded man with an English accent is believed to be 23-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, known to fellow Islamic State militants as Jihadi John.

The former rapper left his family home in an affluent west London suburb last year to fight in the civil war in Syria.

In early August he tweeted a photo of himself wearing military camouflage and a black hood, while holding a severed head in his left hand.

British SAS forces are hunting Mr Foley's killers, using a range of high-tech equipment to track him down and potentially free other hostages.

The Mail on Sunday is reporting that a "significant force" of SAS personnel has been deployed to northern Iraq over the past two days, joining local units fighting IS. They have fanned out into four-man teams, accompanying Iraqi and Kurdish troops in an effort to find British jihadis.

The Sunday Times reports that Bary is the key focus of the man hunt. He is one of the British jihadists former hostages referred to as the Beatles because of their British accents. The two others were called "George" and "Ringo".

And please note this:

Bary is the son of an Egyptian-born militant who is awaiting trail on terrorism in Manhattan, due to his alleged involvement in the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

COMMENT:  Oh, groan.  So right in the middle of all this we'll have a trial in Manhattan – near schools and businesses, of the father of a guy who allegedly kills people for the Islamic State.  Real nice.  Can't we have these trials on military bases, or in areas without civilian populations?  This just proves the folly, and arrogance, of Eric Holder, who has indicated that the execution of James Foley will be seen as a law-enforcement problem.

August 24,  2014     Permalink