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JANUARY 30,  2018

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

THE STATE OF THE UNION – Perfectly good speech, too long, reasonably well delivered.  Nothing surprising, except the refusal of Democrats to applaud for lines everyone should applaud, like the one about the low unemployment rate among minorities.  They seem determined to act like losers, and to yield entirely to the most extreme part of their already extreme base. 

LEFTIES GRIPE – FROM BREITBART:  Some left-wing activists are not thrilled that Democrats selected Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA)—a privileged “white man”— to give the response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening, arguing that it will be tougher for Democrats to attack Trump as a white guy who inherited his wealth with another white liberal who inherited his fortune. They are also slamming Democrats for selecting someone who is not progressive enough.   The left-wing media outlet Splinter blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for believing that “a white man from a storied political dynasty who is, by all accounts, not one of Capitol Hill’s pioneering forces—will ‘do an excellent job in making clear that Democrats are laser-focused on enacting policies to benefit middle class Americans, not special interests or the wealthiest."'  The left will destroy the Democratic Party.  It tried and failed in the 1930s.

TRUMP GIVES A SIGN – FROM DAILY CALLER:  President Trump will “100 percent” release the controversial FISA memo, according to comments heard directly after the State of the Union.
The President was leaving the House Chamber when reporters heard Rep. Jeff Duncan call out to Trump to ask him to release the House Intelligence Committee’s FISA memo.  The memo was compiled by Republicans and allegedly reveals the FBI’s mishandling of federal wiretaps in the Obama administration. The House Intelligence Committee voted this week to make the memo public and now the White House must approve the move.  Trump stopped and turned to Duncan and said “Oh yeah, don’t worry, 100 percent.”  I'm guessing that will happen soon, and will create an uproar. 

January 30, 2018       Permalink

NOW THIS IS SERIOUS – AT 12:54 P.M. ET:   The federal government has now investigated the recent "false" alert in Hawaii.  The conclusion is startling, and disturbing.  From Fox: 

The Hawaii employee who issued a ballistic missile alert to residents — causing mass panic for nearly 40 minutes earlier this month — intentionally sent the message thinking the island was being attacked, the FCC said Tuesday in a stunning reversal after officials had insisted the alert was the result of a mistaken keystroke.

In a written statement, the employee, who was not identified, said he believed there was a real emergency on Jan. 13 after hearing a recording that stated “THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” But the employee did not hear the first half of the message that stated “EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE,” the FCC said in its preliminary report Tuesday. Though the recording also ended with the "EXERCISE" message, the officer did not hear it.

“While other warning officers understand that this is a drill, the warning officer at the alert origination terminal claimed to believe, in a written statement provided to HI-EMA [Emergency Management Agency] that this was a real emergency, not a drill,” the FCC said.

The employee followed emergency protocol and transmitted the “live incoming ballistic missile alert to the State of Hawaii,” selecting “yes” when reaching a page asking: “Are you sure that you want to send this Alert?”

The FCC said the incident was caused by a "miscommunication" during a shift change between the overnight and day crews. Three other officers reported hearing the "exercise" portion of the message.  

COMMENT:  That is chilling.  Clearly, retraining is required.  But also required is a top-to-bottom review of all procedures, and the operation of all equipment.  While it's highly unlikely that someone could start a war with a false alert, "highly unlikely" is too low a standard when dealing with nuclear weapons.

Post-accident reports by the National Transportation Safety Board have resulted in major improvements to air safety.  We expect the same kind of response and thoroughness on this occasion.

January 30, 2018       Permalink

THE PRESIDENTIAL STANDING – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  Tonight the president delivers the annual State of the Union message.  I guess I'll have to watch, as you'll expect me too, but I'd rather be watching a good story on Investigation Discovery. 

A few words about the State of the Union message:  No one actually cares.  News about the speech will probably disappear in a few days.  The news networks build up the SOTU because they'll be broadcasting it live, and the buildup is part of the show.  But few such presidential speeches are memorable.  Indeed, there was a time when the president simply sent the written speech up to Congress without actually delivering it.  We should go back to those days.

I do look forward to possible disruptions in the House gallery, where visitors sit.  Tickets are given out by members of Congress, and some mischievous members, probably most or all from the California delegation, manage to give tickets to certifiable nutjobs, just so we can have a moment of disruption.  We will then never be told, of course, who gave tickets to whom. 

Gallup is publishing, before the speech, a survey of where the president stands in the states.  We should note that Gallup generally has underpolled Mr. Trump, so I'm assuming the president's actual numbers are a bit higher.  But the comparison among states is interesting.  From Gallup:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's job approval rating averaged 38% throughout the U.S. in 2017, but at the state level it ranged from a high of 61% in West Virginia to a low of 26% in Vermont.

Trump averaged 50% or higher approval in 12 states in total, primarily in the states where he received the most votes in the 2016 election. In addition to West Virginia, the states where at least half the respondents approved of Trump included several western states (Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Alaska), several southern states (Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas) and two Midwestern states (North and South Dakota).

Trump earned between 40% and 49% approval -- above his national average -- in 20 states. These were predominantly in the Midwest and South, and included several of the key rustbelt states that were critical to his 2016 victory: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Fewer than 40% of respondents approved of Trump in the remaining 18 states, 14 of which are located in the East and West -- his worst performing regions in the election. In addition to Vermont, his ratings were particularly low -- below 30% -- in Massachusetts (27%), California (29%) and Hawaii (29%). Maryland, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island round out the states where fewer than one-third of the respondents approved.

These results are based on 171,469 Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted nationally throughout 2017. Gallup interviewed more than 1,000 respondents in 39 states in 2017, and no fewer than 471 in any other state. Each state's sample is weighted to match U.S. Census Bureau demographic parameters for that state's adult population.

COMMENT:  Mr. Trump currently stands at 43% approval in the Rasmussen tracker, which has tended to be pretty accurate.  Please recall that on election day, 2016, he was well behind in the traditional polls.  He is not doing badly at all – Obama spent a good chunk of his presidency in the mid-forties – and Mr. Trump's strong economy will help him in 2018.

January 30,  2018     Permalink

THE REAL NEWS – AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  The story broke this morning, and can have major consequences for the country in the months and years ahead.  From Bloomberg: 

It’s no secret Jeff Bezos has been looking to crack health care. But no one expected him to pull in Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, too.

News Tuesday that Bezos’s Amazon.com Inc., Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., led by Dimon, plan to join forces to change how health care is provided to their combined 1 million U.S. employees sent shock waves through the health-care industry.

The plan, while in early stages and focused solely on the three giants’ staff for now, seems almost certain to set its sights on disrupting the broader industry. It’s the first big move by Amazon in the sector after months of speculation that the internet behemoth might make an entry. The Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan collaboration will likely pressure profits for middlemen in the health-care supply chain.

Details were scant in a short joint statement on Tuesday. The three companies said they plan to set up a new independent company “that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints.”

COMMENT:  Fascinating.  Will it be a positive thing?  Negative?  Neutral?  Don't know.  But the sheer power of the participants tells us it will be important.

Maybe this combo will come up with needed ideas in an area stale with rhetoric.  We should welcome the development.  Only in a free society can something like this happen.  We hope the country will be richer for it.

January 30,  2018     Permalink

JANUARY 29,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

GOOD MOVE, AND RARE – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  College students have often exercised the heckler’s veto against campus events featuring conservative speakers.  The obvious aim is to convince universities to block such events (as DePaul and New York University did) or make them unreasonably expensive for student clubs that invite these speakers and are required to pay steep security costs to deal with leftist thugs. (Sometimes it backfires.)  Columbia University is taking one step toward making the heckler’s veto less effective.  The Columbia Daily Spectator reports the Ivy League school has pledged to pay security costs for student events it judges at risk of “significant disruption,” and will retroactively cover two College Republicans events targeted by student protesters.  The CRs were the target of defunding efforts by the Black Student Union last fall for inviting conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.  I hope other colleges follow this example.

AWARDS SHOWS NO LONGER HOT – FROM VARIETY:  Bruno Mars’ big night at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards generated plenty of controversy Sunday. It did not generate much interest from television viewers.  In the key 18-49 demo, Sunday night’s Grammys telecast hit an all-time low, according to Nielsen early numbers, with a 5.9 rating. The show averaged 19.81 million total viewers, its lowest tally since 2008. That’s a 24% drop from the previous year  — the greatest year-to-year declines for the awards show since 2013.  But this year’s ratings slide is more problematic than the one experienced five years ago, and should worry Grammys broadcaster CBS, as well as Oscars broadcaster ABC.  Add that to the decline in NFL ratings over the season.  Maybe the public is sending a message:  Cut out the politics and just give us a good show, or a good game.

THE END OF VEGAS? – FROM CNN MONEY: Elvis just started a new, somewhat boring job. When a guest at the Renaissance Hotel in Las Vegas needs a toothbrush or an extra towel, he brings it to their room.
Three-feet tall and covered in decorative stars, Elvis is a robot. And while it doesn't replace any human employees at the moment, it is a sign of what's next for Las Vegas.  Earlier this month, Las Vegas hosted CES -- one of the largest technology shows in the world. Self-driving cars, cleaning robots, and AI-powered systems offered a peek into the city's own automated future.  But Las Vegas is also the U.S. city most at risk for losing jobs to automation, according a study from the University of Redlands. In 20 years, about 65% of the city's jobs could be automated. Vegas always reinvents itself and always survives.  They'll bring in former President Trump for advice. 

January 29,  2018     Permalink

WE ARE INSTRUCTED – AT 12:30 P.M. ET:   It is important, to be accepted in the new society, to know the latest in political correctness.  Please take notes, and don't get this wrong.  People are being reported.  From the Washington Examiner: 

While many individuals, especially those who grew up in the American South, have historically used the words “hon” or “honey” as a polite term of endearment in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are taking issue with the practice.

According to a recent editorial in the Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s official student school newspaper, calling someone “honey” makes the individual who is being addressed “feel inferior from the implied imbalance of power, especially if she is a woman.”

The editorial, written by the student paper's editorial board, also claims “such behavior should not be accepted, as it promotes the automatic dismissal of someone’s worth.” According to the editorial board, “Using this type of sexist language in the simplest of situations, such as a party, is still just as damaging as in the workplace or the classroom.”

On the whole, the argument is patently absurd, especially coming from a school in North Carolina. Anyone, male or female, who has walked into a small town diner or restaurant in the American South, has likely been greeted with a phrase along the lines of “I’ll be with you in a moment, hon,” or a “May I start you off with some coffee, sweetie?” on at least one occasion. Rather than implying an “imbalance of power,” such phrases are designed to make a person feel warm and welcome, similar to a waiter or waitress saying “God bless, and come back soon!” as a person is exiting a diner after their meal.

At UNC, apparently, "honey" and "sweetie" are terminologies “especially directed in a condescending way toward women.” Because of this reprehensible history, “the way in which people address each other should be less about being cute and more about establishing respect.”

Despite best efforts to regulate welcoming language used on a daily basis between friendly individuals all over the United States, one should not be surprised or offended if you are greeted with an “I’ll be with you in a moment, honey,” the next time you walk into your local Waffle House or small town diner. In fact, take it as a sign that the workers want you to feel welcome in their establishment. Life is better when you aren’t looking for a reason to be offended.

COMMENT:  Wonderfully stated...sweetie.

January 29, 2018       Permalink

TRUTH-TELLIN' FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  There are people who theorize about the economy, and people who live it.  I prefer listening to people who live it.  From Dailywire.com:   

On Saturday, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus appeared on Fox News. During his segment with host Neil Cavuto, Marcus slammed the Democratic politicians who opposed the GOP tax bill:

You wanna talk about somebody who is off the charts, that doesn't understand reality, that's your last guest, it's Schumer and Pelosi. $1,000 is so meaningful – and I'll give you an example, Neil. I spent my life on the floor of the stores at Home Depot. That's what I did. Almost every week of my life, I was in stores all over the United States, and I talked to customers, and I talked to employees. And I can tell you that $1,000 is more than meaningful – it could be paying the mortgage; it could be paying for a car repair; it could be paying for a past-due bill. These are things that the Pelosi/Schumer group don't have a clue about. That's why they lost the election. It's as simple as that.

Marcus lambasted politicians who repeatedly refer to the bonuses being handed out by companies following the passage of the tax bill as "crumbs," adding that while we hear about all the large companies like Home Depot and Google, what matters even more are "the 30 million small businesses in America."

The Home Depot co-founder then recounted to Cavuto his conversations with two small business owners who planned on hiring more workers, noting that what may appear minor becomes something major when "you start adding that up to millions of businesses."

In the end, Marcus called on Democrats to think about what’s best for the American people rather than what’s politically expedient:

I just don't get their thinking. You know, what's good for America, Neil? What's good for the American people? Let's stop thinking about politics. Is this good for the Democratic Party? Does this mean we can take the presidency? I mean, let's start thinking in terms of really lifting up the lives of the American people, creating more jobs, taking more people off of food stamps – I mean, that's what it's all about.

COMMENT:  Yup, that's what it's all about.  I couldn't say it better.  This guy has walked those floors.

January 29, 2018        Permalink 

NIKKI TELLS IT – AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  Nikki Haley is becoming perhaps the most important point person for the Trump administration.  The president doesn't restrict her to comments about the United Nations, where she serves as our ambassador.  From Daily Mail: 

Nikki Haley was not impressed with the Grammy Awards' producers and their decision to have a number of recording artists and Hillary Clinton read excerpts from Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury.'

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations quickly took to Twitter after the segment aired on Sunday night, writing: 'I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.' 

Haley's complaint came almost three hours after the show opened with a performance from Kendrick Lamar that featured dancers in red hooded sweatshirts falling to the ground one-by-one as gunshots rang out.

It also came after former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello spoke out against President Trump's decision to deport Dreamers in an impassioned speech, which she delivered just moments after paying tribute to the #TimesUp movement by joining Ke$ha to sing her nominated song 'Praying.' It marked the second time in the past week that the normally reserved Haley had very publicly attacked Wolff, having previously hit out at the writer last week after comments he made caused some to believe she was having an affair with President Trump.

COMMENT:  I have to believe that Nikki is being groomed to become secretary of state should Rex Tillerson decide to spend more time with his family.  Either that or something higher.   She'd be good at anything.

January 29,  2018     Permalink