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JANUARY 27,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:47 P.M. ET: 

MR. MODESTY – From PJ Media:  "President Obama, speaking to an audience of mostly young people celebrating India’s Republic Day in New Delhi on Tuesday, told the crowd, 'I realize that the sight of an American president as your chief guest on Republic Day would have once seemed unimaginable. But my visit reflects the possibilities of a new moment.' He pointed out that he was the first American president to participate in the country’s Republic Day and boasted, 'And I’m the first American president to come to your country twice!'  The president went on to refer to himself an astonishing 118 times in the short 33-minute speech, touching on injustices in the United States and in his own personal life."  All about Barack.  He sees himself on Mount Rushmore.  Or on his own mountain.

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE EVER – From Ahramonline:  "When Michelle Obama joined US President Barack Obama on his visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, many Saudis on Twitter focused on the fact that she was not wearing a headscarf rather than the outcome of the diplomatic visit.  The couple were visiting to offer condolences after the death of the late King Abdullah, and strengthen US ties with his successor King Salman. Members of the US delegation crossed party lines and included former Bush-era officials, according to AFP.  On Twitter, Saudis launched the hashtag #Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled in criticism of the first lady for not covering her hair.  In contrast to Saudi women, who are required to dress head-to-toe in black, Michelle Obama wore dark slacks and a blue top with her hair uncovered, reported AFP."  Does this mean World War III?

INSPIRING CONFIDENCE – From The New York Times:  "WASHINGTON — It was 42 degrees and raining lightly around 3 a.m. on Monday when an inebriated off-duty employee for a government intelligence agency decided it was a good time to fly his friend’s drone, a 2-foot-by-2-foot “quadcopter” that sells for hundreds of dollars and is popular among hobbyists.  But officials say the plan was foiled, perhaps by wind or a tree, when the employee — who has not been named by the Secret Service or charged with a crime — lost control of the drone as he operated it from an apartment just blocks from the White House.  He texted his friends, worried that the drone had gone down on the White House grounds, and then went to sleep. It was not until the next morning, when he woke and learned from friends that a drone had been found at the White House, that he contacted his employer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He then called the Secret Service and immediately began cooperating with an investigation into the incident."  Please sleep well tonight knowing that an inebriated intelligence agent who flies drones onto the White House lawn is keeping you safe. 

DECLINE OF THE WEST – From AFP:  "Dubai (AFP) - Dubai airport has soared ahead of London's Heathrow, riding a boom in long-haul flights between Asia and the West to become the world's top international travel hub, it said Tuesday.  Traffic at the airport increased 6.1 percent last year to 70.47 million passengers, Dubai Airports said, adding that it expected a further surge in traveller numbers in 2015.  Dubai International is home to Emirates, the Middle East's largest carrier, which along with Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Qatar Airways has seized a significant portion of travel between the West, Asia and Australasia."  All dictatorships.  How sad.

January 27,  2015     Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 10:40 A.M. ET:  As you know, there's a bit of a dustup over House Speaker Boehner's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.  Something about breaking traditional protocol because the White House wasn't consulted.  Well, speaking of protocol, nobody breaks it better than Barack Obama.   The hypocrisy just flows.  From Breitbart: 

Just days after the Obama White House accused House Speaker John Boehner of “breaking protocol” by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, a team of up to five Obama campaign operatives has reportedly arrived in Israel to lead a campaign to defeat the Israeli Prime Minister in upcoming national elections scheduled for March 17.

The anti-Netanyahu, left wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports a group called “One Voice,” reportedly funded by American donors, is paying for the Obama campaign team. That group is reportedly being led by Obama’s 2012 field director Jeremy Bird.

As Jerusalem Post columnist and putative Knesset candidate Caroline Glick reported on her Facebook page, “Obama won’t meet Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington when he addresses the Joint Houses of Congress in March because of Netanyahu’s visit’s proximity to the Israeli elections. And Obama, of course believes in protocol and propriety which is why he won’t get involved.” And yet, Glick adds, “He’s just sending his 2012 field campaign manager to Israel to run a campaign to defeat Netanyahu.”

For all the harsh accusations of foreign interference currently being leveled against GOP Speaker John Boehner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, reports of Obama operatives actively working to unseat a democratically elected leader of a strong U.S. ally is hardly the news it might appear to be.

The Obama White House has aggressively worked to defeat allied leaders it has not liked and to elect or re-elect foreign leaders it does like. As the Times of Israel recently reported, the list of Obama Administration meddling in foreign elections is a long one.

COMMENT:  Let's see if anyone in the White House press corps has the guts to ask Obama about this.  I'll bet he'll say he didn't know.  Choke.

January 27, 2015       Permalink

WHOOPS – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:   Again.  Another wildly inaccurate weather forecast for the New York metropolitan area.  I know the huge storm is hitting New England hard, but New York City and its surroundings were spared the worst.

In our area we were told to expect 20 inches of snow.  I look out and see traffic moving, people walking, the black in the roads showing.  We were told to expect high winds, power lines down, catastrophe.  I barely heard the wind.  What I see outside are the remnants of a routine snowstorm.  No blizzard here.

I'm not complaining.  Well, yes, I am.  We've had too many of these false alarms, and each one costs tens of millions of dollars to city governments.  Average citizens, especially those on fixed budgets, spend on extra food, fuel, batteries and shovels they never turn out to need.  People who are paid only when they work stay home.  And it's happened time and time again.  It's always the same pattern - forecasting a far worse storm than we actually get.

Am I being paranoid when I say I suspect that some of this over-hype is intentional, that it covers the butts of the forecasters, who'd be skewered if they'd underpredicted a storm?  Am I completely nuts in wondering why TV news outlets never investigate these overwrought predictions?  Hey, they drive the ratings sky high.

At least this time the National Weather Service provided a bit of an apology: 

The storm has moved further east and will be departing faster than our forecasts of the past two days. The result is much less snow than previously predicted for the western half of our region. The heaviest of the snow will be over Long Island and southern Connecticut with lighter snow elsewhere through the morning hours.

The science of forecasting storms, while continually improving, still can be subject to error, especially if we're on the edge of the heavy precipitation shield. Efforts, including research, are already underway to more easily communicate that forecast uncertainty.

Rapidly deepening winter storms are very challenging to predict, specifically their track and how far west the heaviest bands will move. These bands are nearly impossible to predict until they develop. Our science has come a long way, but there are still many moving parts in the atmosphere which creates quite the forecast challenge. The heaviest snows have struggled to move west of the Hudson River. We have updated our storm total forecast. Highest totals when the event is over Tuesday night will be across Long Island and southern Connecticut.

COMMENT:   Think of that explanation the next time "climate experts" tell us they can predict global warming 50 years from now.  Maybe they should concentrate on predicting storms 50 hours from now.

January 27, 2015       Permalink

OUR NEW FRIENDS – SMILE FOR THE CAMERA – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  The collapse of the pro-American Yemen regime is bad news for grown-ups, who understand the implications.  But what about the kids in American journalism, for whom every story must reflect the greater glory of Barack.  The New York Times rewrites the news to tell us things really aren't so bad.  From PJ Media: 

The New York Times launched some weapons-grade stupidity on Sunday with an article by Rod Nordland and Eric Schmitt citing “experts” claiming that the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen that have swept though critical parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, are not just moderates, but possible U.S. counter-terrorism partners.

Because of the ongoing Houthi offensive, Yemen’s information minister admitted last week that the government had lost effective control of the country.

Thankfully, the Times is here to assure us that when the Houthis shout “Death to America” they really don’t mean it:

At first glance the official slogan and emblem of the Houthis, who are now the dominant force in Yemen, does not offer much hope to American policy makers.

It includes the words “Death to America, death to Israel, damnation to the Jews.” Houthis shout it when they march, wear it on arm patches, paint it on buildings and stick it onto their car windows. When pictured, those words are rendered in red, framed by “God is great” and “Victory to Islam” in green, on a white background.

Sometimes the red words are shown dripping blood.

But for all their harsh sloganeering, the Houthis may be a lot more moderate than it suggests, according to many diplomats and analysts who have followed them closely. They say it would be premature to dismiss them as Yemen’s Hezbollah, despite their alliance with Iran.

And...

In fact, they could be U.S. counter-terrorism partners if they only dropped their “Death to America” sloganeering (!!) the “experts” continue:

April Alley, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group in Sana, said: “Theoretically there is quite a bit of common ground in Yemen between the Houthis and the U.S., particularly when it comes to security issues and Al Qaeda. But so far it’s not been enough to overcome the obstacles. The Houthis have their own limits in which they can engage the Americans given the political narrative they have propagated.”

It should be noted that last week a U.S. Embassy vehicle carrying U.S. personnel was shot up at a Houthi checkpoint.

COMMENT:  The illusions continue.  Barack's fantasies must be protected.  The left must be protected.  Our collapsing foreign policy must be protected.

And the president of the United States won't call Islamic terrorism by its real name.  Even Tom Friedman of The New York Times is appalled.  When you've lost Friedman...

January 27, 2015       Permalink

TERROR ATTACK IN LIBYA – AT 8:28 A.M. ET:  But remember, we have no right to judge other cultures.  From London's Telegraph: 

Islamist gunmen have stormed a hotel in Libya used by foreigners, killing at least three guards and taking a number of hostages, it was reported today.

The attack on the five-star Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli was carried out by fighters from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), according to a US-based intelligence monitoring organisation that quoted a message put out on Isil's Libyan Twitter feed.

Details of the attack were still unclear, but according to security sources at the scene, four armed men had detonated a car bomb in front of the hotel, killing a guard, before rushing inside.

The men, who were wearing masks and bulletproof vests, then began firing randomly at staff in the lobby. It is understood that a number of hostages have been taken, but the nationalities were unclear.
Security forces have now surrounded the building, while residents fled out of emergency exits.

Security forces have now surrounded the building, while residents fled out of emergency exits.
Related Articles

One member of staff said the hotel had Italian, British and Turkish guests, but the hotel was largely empty at the time of the attack. Other reports said that the claims of hostages having been taken were not yet confirmed.

Another report, from The New York Times: 

TRIPOLI, Libya — An affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an armed assault on a luxury hotel that killed as many as five people here on Tuesday, the most significant in a string of terrorist attacks against Western interests and government institutions in the capital since the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi more than three years ago.

Four or five gunmen stormed the hotel, the Corinthia, in the early morning, firing their guns into the lobby, battling guards, and shooting a Filipino woman and possibly other civilians, according to news reports and people in contact with associates inside the hotel.

COMMENT:  We're still piecing together details.  This occurs on the same day that President Obama visits Saudi Arabia.  Welcome, Mr. President.  Nothing to see in the Mideast, nothing to see.

January 27,  2015     Permalink

JANUARY 26,  2015

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

AS THEY WERE SAYING – The New York Times wrote early last year:  "Officials canceled two Olympic test events last February in Sochi after several days of temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a lack of snowfall had left ski trails bare and brown in spots. That situation led the climatologist Daniel Scott, a professor of global change and tourism at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, to analyze potential venues for future Winter Games. His thought was that with a rise in the average global temperature of more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit possible by 2100, there might not be that many snowy regions left in which to hold the Games. He concluded that of the 19 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics, as few as 10 might be cold enough by midcentury to host them again. By 2100, that number shrinks to 6."  The reporter might visit New York and New England in the next few days.  We're exporting snow.

OBAMA APPROVAL UP – From The Hill:  "Half of Americans approve of President Obama's job performance for the first time in 19 months, according to a new poll released Monday.  It is the first time that Obama has held a 50 percent approval rating in the Gallup daily tracking poll since June 2013. He's now 5 percentage points above water, with 45 percent of Americans disapproving of his job performance."  It's depressing, considering Obama's dismal performance.  But I'm guessing events will overtake the president once more and send his numbers down to their usual levels.

A MYTH DEBUNKED – From Breitbart:  "It looks as though the Left and the mainstream media gathered in their hollowed-out volcano over the weekend to cook up another anti-science Narrative to destroy Clint Eastwood’s 'American Sniper.'  The latest lie is that the film is inspiring a surge of death threats against Muslims. A thorough search of the countless stories launched by this well-coordinated Narrative found exactly three Twitter examples in a country of nearly 350 million."  Americans reacted toward Muslims with great restraint after 9-11, and they are reacting with great restraint now.  The "death threats" surge appears to be propaganda.

ON GUARD, HO HUM – From The New York Times:  "WASHINGTON — A White House radar system designed to detect flying objects like planes, missiles and large drones failed to pick up a small drone that crashed into a tree on the South Lawn early Monday morning, according to law enforcement officials. The crash raised questions about whether the Secret Service could bring down a similar object if it endangered President Obama.  The drone, which was about two feet in diameter and weighed about two pounds, was operated by a government employee whom the Secret Service did not identify. The agency said the employee was flying the object near the White House around 3 a.m. for recreational purposes when he lost control of it. Officials did not explain why the man, who does not work at the White House and who has not been charged with a crime, was flying the drone at that hour."  Oh, come on.  Flying drones near the White House at 3 a.m. is a national tradition.  Everyone does it. 

January 26, 2015       Permalink

AMERICANS ARE MAKING A STATEMENT – AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  "American Sniper" is turning into a historic movie phenomenon.  From AP:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “American Sniper” hit the mark with moviegoers again.

The military drama starring Bradley Cooper as Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle topped the box office for a second weekend in a row with $64.4 million in first place, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“American Sniper” is up for six Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for Cooper. The total haul for the Warner Bros. film now stands at $200.1 million.

“We’ve never quite seen anything like this at this time of year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at box-office tracker Rentrak. “‘American Sniper’ is helping to propel the box office, which is already 9.3 percent ahead of the same time last year.”

The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, already broke box-office records when it expanded to wide release last weekend, easily surpassing “Avatar” to become the biggest January opening for a movie and immediately becoming the top grosser among best-picture Oscar nominees.

In a distant second place, the saucy Universal thriller “The Boy Next Door” featuring Jennifer Lopez as a teacher who engages in an affair with a younger man played by Ryan Guzman, debuted with $15 million.

COMMENT:  I'm delighted to see a patriotic film become so popular.  We still have in America a population that respects the soldier and what he (or she) does for us. 

I had a chance over the weekend to see "Still Alice" on disk.  (As a Writers Guild member I get the top films sent to me each year.  Members can then vote on awards.)  The movie deals with a relatively young college professor facing Alzheimer's disease.  The performance by Julianne Moore, who's been nominated for an Oscar, is superb.  The movie is worth seeing for that alone.  In the end, Moore's performance is life-affirming rather than depressing.

I also recommend "The Imitation Game," which is the story of Alan Turing, the British scientist and mathematician who was one of the inventors of modern computing, and who was instrumental in breaking the Nazi Enigma code.  Terrific story, and a great performance by Benedict Cumberbatch (yes, that's his name).  One fine thing about the movie is that it explains computing in ways that a layman can easily understand.  Although the action takes place in the early 1940s, you can feel yourself Googling while watching the film.

January 26, 2015       Permalink

THAT WAS FAST – AT 10:03 A.M. ET:   Uh, let's see, the reset with Russia was a flop.  Ending the Iraq war was a flop.  The war on terror was supposed to be over, but isn't.  Now we have just what Obama really needs, another apparent failure.  Once again it's Cuba si, Yanqui no.  From AP: 

HAVANA - The start of talks on repairing 50 years of broken relations appears to have left President Raul Castro's government focused on winning additional concessions without giving in to U.S. demands for greater freedoms, despite the seeming benefits that warmer ties could have for the country's struggling economy.

Following the highest-level open talks in three decades between the two nations, Cuban officials remained firm in rejecting significant reforms pushed by the United States as part of President Barack Obama's surprise move to re-establish ties and rebuild economic relations with the Communist-led country.

"One can't think that in order to improve and normalize relations with the U.S., Cuba has to give up the principles it believes in," Cuba's top diplomat for U.S. affairs, Josefina Vidal, told The Associated Press after the end of the talks. "Changes in Cuba aren't negotiable."

What principles are those?  Keeping the Cuban people in slavery?  What a concept!

It's not clear if Cuba's tough stance is part of normal negotiation tactics or a hardened position that could prevent the talks from moving forward.

Hey, they're negotiating with Obama, Mr. Appeasement.  Why should they give in on anything?

The Obama administration has dedicated significant political capital to rapprochement, but closer ties with the economic giant to the north also could have major importance for Cuba, which saw growth slow sharply in 2014 and is watching with concern as falling oil prices slam Venezuela, which has been a vital source of economic support.

In a wide-ranging interview, Vidal said that before deciding whether to allow greater economic ties with the U.S., Cuba was seeking more answers about Obama's dramatic of loosening the half-century trade embargo.

COMMENT:  I'll bet Field Marshal Obama is prepared to give back Guantanamo.  That would electrify the Democratic Party left, and sicken the rest of the country.  But Obama ain't runnin' for nothin' no more.

January 26, 2015       Permalink

HILLARY THE LOSER? – AT 9:22 A.M. ET:  A recent poll showed Hillary Clinton beating any potential Republican challenger, but we argued here that the numbers weren't all that impressive.  In fact, they were flashing red for the Clinton campaign.  Andrew Malcolm of IBD has looked at the same numbers and adds his perspective.  Yes, Hillary has problems:

Well, that didn't take as long as expected.

In just the past month, when no one with a real life was thinking about the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton's massive poll lead over every single potential Republican opponent has collapsed.

In a hypothetical match-up, her margin over Jeb Bush, the closest GOP president, was cut in half to eight points this month, 45%-37%, according to Zogby. That's down from a whopping 15-point lead in December. Similarly, the former first lady's 15-point margin over Mitt Romney slid to nine points, 46%-37%.

Still sizable margins, to be sure. But trending uncomfortably in the wrong direction even before an announcement, as Clinton goes to ground to plot her campaign, assemble staff and devise a credible rationale other than gender for why Americans should let her move back into the White House, this time in the West Wing.

Most Democrats won't take much convincing. She's her party's overwhelming heir apparent, which actually hasn't worked out too well in recent U.S. political history for Al Gore, John McCain, Romney or Hillary herself in 2008.

But she'll need to convince significant numbers of independents and even Republicans on a shifting political landscape that's been trending toward conservative states, both in the census and recent elections.

Even with veterans of the president's winning campaigns jumping over for Obama 3.0, that could be a hefty challenge given Clinton's quarter-century of public controversies; HillaryCare's website didn't fail, but that's because she didn't have one. Her brief Senate career was highlighted by nothing really.
And her four years as the well-traveled face of Obama's disastrous foreign policies that allowed Syria to decay into bloody chaos, Iraq to go it alone militarily, permitting ISIS to fester and spread, and post-Gaddafi Libya to become one large al-Qaida training camp.

Then there's the deadly Benghazi debacle with its inexplicable security lapses, still under investigation by a House Select committee.

COMMENT:  By 2016 Hillary Clinton will have been a national figure for more years than Franklin D. Roosevelt.  People simply may be tired of her.  And her absence of a record of true accomplishment, as noted by Andrew Malcolm, won't help.

We're being told that Hillary is readying her campaign.  Maybe she'll decide to spend more time with her grandchild instead.

January 26, 2015       Permalink

STUNNING – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  The Iowa political beauty contest was held over the weekend.  The buzz is that Scott Walker emerged much, much stronger than before, and a virtual political unknown also scored heavily.  From the Washington Times: 

For the last several months, the likes of Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have dominated the media coverage of the still-nascent contest for the White House.

But when the 2016 Republican presidential race roared to life this weekend with twin events in Iowa and Louisiana, two lesser-known contestants left indelible impressions on the GOP faithful.

Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and current American Conservative Union Foundation Chairwoman Carly Fiorina and battle-tested Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker left the crowds stirring after a nonstop ten-hour festival in Des Moines that exposed voters to 27 speakers and at least 10 GOP presidential hopefuls.

“Carly Fiorina, whom most people had never heard of, got the best response. She came across as a highly intelligent woman and a strong leader as the ex-chief executive of the biggest tech firm in the world,” said former Oklahoma GOP Chairman Gary Jones, who flew from his home state to the Iowa event. “She did herself the most good.”

Mr. Walker, who has won two election battles in the swing state of Wisconsin since taking on public unions, also did plenty to dispel perceptions he was an under-stated speaker lacking in charisma.

“Scott Walker was the other one who most improved his position, walking from one end of the stage to the other, with sleeves rolled up and no teleprompter, talking substance — what he would actually do as president,” Mr. Jones added. “We had heard he can be a lackluster speaker. He wasn’t.”

COMMENT:  Many political people with whom I've spoken believe that Walker is the real sleeper candidate, the one who'll keep creeping upward and will emerge as the man to beat.   He doesn't lose elections.  And, if he sees something needs fixing, he fixes it.  He was aware of his reputation as a so-so speaker, so he clearly fixed it.  A great governor and a very capable candidate.

Carly Fiorina is a highly impressive woman who served as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.  That is both a plus and a liability.  It's a great credit, but her performance was highly controversial, and she was forced out.  That will come up in the campaign.  She ran for the Senate from California against Barbara Boxer and lost, but no one holds that against her.   My guess is that she's running for vice president, and she may well be seen as a potential asset to the ticket.  We'll watch her work.

Again, I'm struck by the sheer depth of talent on the Republican side.  The Democrats are not as fortunate.

January 26,  2015     Permalink