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.

Our Angel's Corner archive is here.

DECEMBER 8,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

YIPPEE – From the Miami Herald:   Venezuela said the coalition of opposition forces known as the MUD has won a two-thirds super majority in the country’s legislature, a major victory in Sunday’s elections.  The National Electoral Council published on its website Monday the final tally of election results showing that two previously undecided races had broken in favor of the opposition, giving them 112 out of 167 seats in the incoming National Assembly, the Associated Press reported. The ruling socialist party and its allies got 55 seats...With a super majority, President Nicolás Maduro could be facing a powerful legislature with the ability to fire ministers and the vice president, name Supreme Court justices and launch recall referendums. It’s a significant blow to Maduro after 17 years of socialist rule. The new parliament, which takes office Jan. 5, can even initiate a referendum that could lead to Maduro’s ouster.  There are some speculative stories that the new powers in Caracas may move to cut off Cuba's oil.  I don't see it happening.  In the past it might have had some effect, but you may be sure that Barack Obama would make up any oil shortage in Cuba.  The left sticks together.

IDIOT – It's hard to make this up.  From Britain's Guardian:   The climate change talks going on in Paris are too dominated by men, to the detriment of effective action on saving people from the ravages of global warming, the UN’s special envoy on climate change has said.  Mary Robinson, the former UN human rights chief and Ireland’s first female president, told the Guardian in an interview: “This is a very male world [at the conference]. When it is a male world, you have male priorities.”  She pointed to the line-up of ministers now leading the talks, few of whom are women. “If you don’t have women here, how can you say this is about people?”  Tuesday was officially designated as “gender day” at the fortnight-long talks, which began nine days ago.  Maybe we're finding out what the "climate change" issue is really about.  It's a left-wing feast, whose main purpose will be to transfer wealth from the accomplished world to the less accomplished.  Along the way, all the favorite causes of the left will be incorporated.  Mary Robinson, the clownish mouthpiece who provided over the disgusting anti-American and anti-Semitic Durban Conference in 2001, a few days before we were attacked, is the perfect messenger for this dribble.  She is, by the way, a favorite of Barack Obama.  Shocked?

LET THE JOKES BEGIN – From Reuters:   SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc on Tuesday released a version of its virtual personal assistant Siri for Arabic speakers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, potentially making its iPhones more attractive in a largely affluent market of more than 30 million people.  The move, part of Apple's latest software updates, means people in those countries will be able to use Siri in their native tongue on iPhones, iPads and the Apple Watch. It follows Google, whose Android phones' voice search function already offer some support in Arabic.  "This is part of the consumerization and personalization of IT-based services that we're seeing at all levels of the industry," said Paul Black, director of telecoms and media at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa.  Apple and its primary smartphone competitor, Google, have saturated the United States and Western Europe with their devices, leaving markets such as the Middle East, China and India as some of the prime places to grow.  What does a Saudi ask Siri?  "Oh Siri, direct me to the nearest school for martyrs.  No more than five kilometers."  Siri better have the answers.  I'd hate to see her imprisoned for impure thoughts.

December 8, 2015       Permalink

THE HYPOCRISY FLOWS – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:   Some governments run around the world lecturing others on morality.  What they do at home is another story.  From Britain's Independent: 

Norway is paying asylum seekers to return home as the refugee crisis continues.

Tens of thousands of kroner are being offered to each person who voluntarily leaves the country. They also have their flights paid for.

Katinka Hartmann, head of the immigration department’s return unit (UDI), said that many of the people arriving from Syria, Iraq, the Middle East and Africa expect to receive protection quickly and cannot wait the months or even years the process can take.

“They thought they would have the opportunity to work or take an education – and maybe even to get their family to Norway,” she told NRK television.

“Many cannot wait (for the asylum process to run its course). They have family at home who expect them to be able to help.

“For a long time, Norway has not been able to forcibly return people to Somalia, but now that we can, I think that more Somalis with an obligation to leave will opt for assisted return.

“It’s important to have more initiatives of this kind in the future.”

The UDI’s figures show that more than 900 people have applied to take financial support to leave Norway so far.

A couple with two children can receive upwards of 80,000 kroner (£6,200) in addition to having their flights paid for.

COMMENT:  Such liberalism, such multiculturalism, such commitment to the downtrodden.  And they are very quick to criticize the United States.

December 8, 2015       Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – FROM A RISING REPUBLICAN STAR – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  From NRO:   

Senator Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican elected just last year, traveled to the site of the shootings in San Bernardino, California, and offered these thoughts late last night:

We are not at war with terrorism, which is just a tactic. We are not at war with some empty sociological label called extremism. We are not even just at war with ISIS; though were obviously at war with ISIS, but there will be other enemies that will lift the black flag of death in the future even after ISIS has been routed in Syria and Iraq. This is not about workplace violence. This is not about global warming or gun shows. This is not about income inequality. This is not about kids from broken homes as tragic as that is. This is not about anything that we have done wrong. This is about who we are. This is about the nature of freedom so who are we were people who unite around the Constitution were people who come together around a First Amendment and we together, 320 million of us, believe in the freedom of religion, in the freedom of speech, and the freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press . . . . . .

We are most certainly though at war with militant Islam; we are at war with violent Islam; we are at war with jihadi Islam. We are not at war with all Muslims; we are not at war with Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan who want the American dream for their kids. But we are at war with those who believe that they will kill in the name of religion. President Obama said tonight he’s worried about a backlash against American Muslims. I am too, and you know what the best way to combat that is? With the truth. By being clear about who we are and what we stand for and by being clear about those who would try to kill us because we believe in freedom.

COMMENT:   Very well said.  Watch this guy.  If he does it right, he's headed for stardom.  It's nice to observe a clear mind at work. 

December 8, 2015       Permalink

A TRUE DISGRACE – AT 9:17 A.M. ET:   The madness on our college campuses is claiming victims.  The stench of fascism is in the air.  From Fox: 

Anti-free speech demonstrators at one of America’s most vaunted universities have claimed a pair of scalps – a husband-wife duo who say teaching is too much trouble in a campus climate “not conducive to civil dialogue.”

Yale University professors Nicholas and Erika Christakis, who both have always gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews from students, said they have had enough, after an email she sent sparked a campus-wide controversy that soon pulled him in.

“I have great respect and affection for my students, but I worry that the current climate at Yale is not, in my view, conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems,” she said in an email to The Washington Post.

The affair began in October, when Erika Christakis, a psychology professor and associate master at the school’s Silliman College, one of a dozen residential communities, sent out an email defending the right of students to wear costumes which may be “culturally appropriating.” That spurred outrage and led to one student confronting Nicholas Christakis on the campus quad and berating him in a shocking episode that was caught on video that soon went viral.

The video showed Nicholas Christakis, a physician and professor of social and natural science, calmly trying to reason with a student who was screaming at him for not keeping students “safe,” as others snapped their fingers in a trendy sign of approval.

Erika Christakis said she will quit teaching indefinitely and cited a campus atmosphere not “conducive to the civil dialogue and open inquiry required to solve our urgent societal problems.” Her husband said he would not teach scheduled classes in the spring, and would take a sabbatical.

Neither Yale officials nor the Christakises responded to requests for comment.

COMMENT:  A major loss to Yale students and to the spirit of inquiry that used to be at the heart of a college education.  Watching these stories unfold on television are plenty of superb students who were turned down at Yale and other "prestigious" institutions to make way for the whiners and babies currently demonstrating because their feelings have been hurt. 

There will be backlash and payback.  I wouldn't be shocked if, several years from now, there are serious suggestions that the federal government cut off all federal aid to higher education, outside the sciences, until colleges and universities clean up their collective act.

December 8, 2015       Permalink

DISGRACE!  DISGRACE!  Well...a bit of a disgrace – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:    When it happens at Fox News, it's important.  The other "news" organizations must be amused.  From CNN: 

Two Fox News commentators were suspended on Monday for using profanities while criticizing President Obama on Monday.

Ralph Peters, a Fox News "strategic analyst," called the president a "total pu---" who "doesn't want to hurt our enemies."

A couple of hours later Stacey Dash, a Fox contributor, said the president "didn't give a sh--" about Sunday night's terrorism speech.

"Earlier today, Fox contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air," Fox senior executive vice president Bill Shine said.

"Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel do not condone the use of such language, and have suspended both Peters and Dash for two weeks," he said.

COMMENT:  We don't use foul language here, but, being compassionate and kind, we do understand.  The sentences are appropriate and will be served under humane conditions.

I hope the condemned are welcomed back with huge parties.  They said what a lot of us were thinking.

December 8,  2015     Permalink

DECEMBER 7,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

SOCIAL JUSTICE – We have here a major breakthrough in the fight for social justice, equality, and nice stuff.  From NRO:   A petition addressed to Adele, President Obama, and Billboard on Change.org demands that the singer (Adele) admit that she has “little talent” and is succeeding mainly because of her white privilege. “Adele sold over 3.38 million copies of her album ‘25′ and the media is praising her as if Adele’s success has everything to do with talent,” reads the petition, written by Rhianna Jones. “Rather, it’s her white privilege that has put her on top,” it declares. The petitioners also “demand that Adele donates her money to African-American causes such as #Blacklivesmatter.” It’s not clear why exactly the petition is also addressed to President Obama — perhaps Ms. Jones is outraged that the leader of the free world hasn’t pushed the less important issues like ISIS aside to deal with the more serious ones like a singer’s being white and successful at the same time. (I mean, would an executive order requiring Adele to admit she is only successful because she is white and give away her money to people who are not white in order to stay in the country really be too much to ask?)  You'd think there'd be some black leaders who understand the damage that immature, asinine stuff like this does to the image of their community.  But I suspect they're frightened of the little monsters they created.

LYNCH WALKS IT BACK – From The Politico:   Attorney General Loretta Lynch Monday appeared to recalibrate remarks she made last week that suggested the Justice Department could investigate speech deemed hostile towards Muslims.  "Of course, we prosecute deeds and not words," she said at a press conference Monday to announce an unrelated civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department.
Some conservatives criticized Lynch for her comments to a Muslim civil rights group, where she lamented "the ability of people to issue hateful speech of all types from the anonymity of a screen."   Speaking to a Muslim Advocates dinner in Arlington, Va., Lynch affirmed that "this is a country that is based upon free speech." However, she went on to suggest that the Justice Department would "take action" when such speech "edges towards violence, when we see the potential to lift...that mantle of anti-Muslim rhetoric."  First Amendment precedents generally protect speech, even hateful speech, from punishment unless the comments are intended to incite direct action against specific individuals or in a specific place.  Occasionally sanity prevails.  There is no huge anti-Muslim movement in America.  Hate crimes against Muslims are actually comparatively rare.

NEWS NOTE – From NBC:   Since October 10, ISIS and its sympathizers around the world have killed at least 525 people in six attacks in six countries outside its so-called caliphate.  American counterterrorism officials say that of the six attacks, three were directed by ISIS from its territory in Syria and Iraq and another two were so-called "announcement" attacks -- local ISIS elements revealing their existence in dramatic fashion.  The Junior Varsity is becoming more and more effective.  But Field Marshal Obama assures us that his strategy is just right.

December 7, 2015       Permalink

OPPOSITION WINS IN VENEZUELA – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  The age of Chavez is fading in Venezuela.  For the second time in weeks – the first involving Argentina – a major Latin American country has rejected the left.  From Fox: 

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, trouncing the ruling party and altering the balance of power after almost 17 years of socialist rule.

The opposition coalition won at least 99 seats in the incoming 167-seat legislature, electoral authorities announced after midnight Sunday. The ruling socialist party won 46 seats. The 19 remaining races remain up for grabs, but if enough are won by the opposition it could give the coalition a two-thirds supermajority needed to strongly challenge President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power.

The streets of the Venezuelan capital of Caracas broke out in shouts of joy, fireworks and car honks after National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced the partial results six hours after polls closed. In the plaza in wealthy eastern Caracas that was the epicenter of last year's bloody anti-government protests, a small group of opponents, some of them sipping champagne, burned red shirts that are the obligatory revolutionary attire.

Within seconds, Maduro recognized the opposition's win, saying that despite an adverse result Venezuela's democracy had triumphed. But he recalled the long history of U.S.-supported coups in Latin America in blaming the "circumstantial" loss on a conservative "counter revolution" trying to sabotage the oil-dependent economy and destabilize his rule,

"I can say today that the economic war has triumphed," Maduro, surrounded by his party's top leadership, said from the presidential palace.

Opposition leaders meanwhile spoke in strident terms, a prelude to what's likely to be a period of intense political fighting in a deeply polarized country mired in an economic crisis. Voter turnout was a stunning 74 percent, near levels normally seen in presidential voting, as Venezuelans punished Maduro's government for widespread shortages, a plunging currency and triple-digit inflation that has brought the economy to the edge of collapse.

COMMENT:  It's impossible to say if the anti-left trend in Latin America will continue.  When Obama "normalized" relations with the Castro government in Cuba, he asked for nothing in return, so there's been no letup in that dictatorial regime's grip on power. 

France also went to the right in regional elections yesterday, although runoffs will be necessary.

Our side has a superb chance to take the presidency next year, if the GOP can get its act together and actually nominate a candidate with a chance to win. 

Meanwhile, we can enjoy the win in Venezuela.  Old Hugo Chavez must be turning over in his socialist-provided grave.

December 7, 2015       Permalink

LOOK NORTH – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  When we think of border security, we tend to look south.  But there are new concerns about our northern border, especially after the election of a leftish government in Canada.  From the Washington Examiner: 

The U.S.-Canada border is the likely path for terrorists to invade the country, according to top national security experts and Congress's most comprehensive review of America's 19,000 miles of coasts and land borders.

"The nexus between known or suspected terrorists in eastern Canada and the northern parts of the U.S. represent [sic] a significant national security threat," said a new report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a conclusion reached as Canada decided to settle 25,000 Syrian refugees by March.

"The border is not secure," Sen. Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the committee, told Secrets. He included the southern border, where he said that drug cartels are teaming with "potentially Islamic terror organizations."

He raised concerns about the rushed refugee plans of new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It is a concern with the new prime minister, Trudeau, opening up his border to refugees. They can come into America, so I would say that increases our risk," Johnson said.

COMMENT:  For years America had a wonderful friend in Canadian Prime Minister Steve Harper.  He was defeated for re-election, and his successor, Justin Trudeau, is a kid and a lightweight.  His father, the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was a bit on the anti-American side. 

We have reason for concern.  Getting into the U.S. from Canada is easy.  And escaping into Canada is just as easy.

December 7, 2015       Permalink

A BIT OF BOTHER – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  Apparently those party poopers in the intelligence community have some bad news for Field Marshal Obama.  From the Daily Beast: 

A new U.S. intelligence report on ISIS, commissioned by the White House, predicts that the self-proclaimed Islamic State will spread worldwide and grow in numbers, unless it suffers a significant loss of territory on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials told The Daily Beast.

The report stands in stark contrast to earlier White House assurances that ISIS had been "contained" in Iraq and Syria. And it is already spurring changes in how the U.S. grapples with ISIS, these officials said.

It’s also a tacit admission that coalition efforts so far – dropping thousands of bombs and deploying 3,500 U.S. troops as well as other coalition trainers -- have been outpaced by ISIS’s ability to expand and attract new followers, even as the yearlong coalition air campaign has helped local forces drive ISIS out of parts of Iraq and Syria.

The White House commissioned the intelligence report prior to last month's deadly strikes in Paris, and long before last week's terror attacks in San Bernardino, California, three senior U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to describe a confidential document and policy changes. It was also commissioned before Obama declared ISIS “contained” in Iraq and Syria — just a day before the Paris attacks — but it was delivered to the White House in the weeks afterward.

COMMENT:  I'd guess you can count on the fingers of one hand the senior people in the Pentagon who believe they have an effective commander-in-chief.  It may well be up to the next president to devise and implement an effective strategy, but by that time it may be too late.

December 7, 2015     Permalink