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MARCH 27,  2018

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

THE ANNALS OF JUSTICE – FROM FOX LOCAL:  MANSFIELD, Ohio -- A 54-year-old Ohio woman was arrested Saturday afternoon for allegedly making lewd comments to an Easter Bunny at a carousel park, WJW reports.  According to Mansfield police, LaDonna Hughett appeared to be drunk when she made the comments to the Easter Bunny while having her picture taken with it at the Richland Carrousel Park. She then began riding the carousel.  CNN is undoubtedly investigating the Trump connection. 

ACADEMY PRESIDENT CLEARED – FROM DEADLINE.COM:  After a review, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences concluded, based on its Standards of Conduct that they have cleared the allegation made against Academy President John Bailey.  The Membership and Administration Committee and its sub-committee thoroughly reviewed and considered the claim, Bailey’s response, and corroborating statements from both parties. The Academy took the claim very seriously and was aware of the rights of both the claimant and the accused, including consulting with outside counsel with expertise in matters related to harassment.  The Academy reportedly received three sexual harassment complaints earlier this month against Bailey, but contrary to those reports there was only one claim under consideration which was received on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.  Bailey's being cleared reminds us that a charge is only a charge until it's proved to be true. 

IDIOT – FROM BREITBART:  Documentary filmmaker and left-wing activist Michael Moore had a revelation about when Americans should be able to vote after Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people with a legally purchased AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  Michael Moore took to Twitter on Monday and shared “one thing” he says we’ve “learned” since last month’s horrific mass shooting.  “If there’s one thing we’ve learned since Parkland, it’s that the voting age should be lowered to 16. Other countries do it, we should too.”  How about twelve, or even eight?  Who needs maturity when you're governing a nation?  Young people tend to be liberal, before they grow up to real responsibilities, and this is a transparent attempt to guarantee votes for the Democratic Party.

March 27, 2018       Permalink

A CRITICAL THREAT – AT 1:54 P.M. ET:  We started to speak seriously about this threat in the 1990s, but it is still with us, and, in some ways, growing.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

The U.S. electric grid has become increasingly vulnerable to what the federal government is describing as an unprecedented wave of attacks that threatens to cripple the nation, according to a new investigative report that warns the energy industry is lagging in efforts to boost physical security of these critical sites.

Amid a wave of increasing attacks across the country on key power stations, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC, has been struggling to force the power industry to enact a series of security improvements meant to stop would-be attackers and terrorists from crippling the nation's infrastructure.

Since 2014, "security risks to the power grid have become an even greater concern in the electric utility industry," according to a new Congressional Research Service report that warns the power industry "has not necessarily reached the level of physical security needed based on the sector's own assessments of risk."

In the three years since federal overseers implicated a series of new standards for physical security of grid locations, the industry has worked to improve its defenses but has struggled to implement all of the government's recommendations, according to the report.

The slow moving pace of reforms, combined with an increased threat level and inability of the federal government to warn of upcoming attacks, has fueled concerns that the U.S. electric grid could be easily taken down by a rogue actor.

COMMENT:  This should be a national priority, as important as any other aspect of our defense.  I'm sure money plays a major role in our slow response – money, and the fact that the threat doesn't crash into the headlines periodically, as mass shootings do.

A major attack on the power grid could shut down large sections of the country in an instant, possibly leading to starvation, disease, and death.  And the economy would be destroyed.

Congress must holding serious, highly publicized hearings on this, in the hope that the press might even be interested.

March 27, 2018       Permalink

REVOLT IN CALIFORNIA – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:   There's a revolt brewing in some California towns and counties over the state's broad sanctuary laws.  This could provide an opportunity for statewide Republican candidates, if any show up.  From the L.A. Times: 

Just more than a week after tiny Los Alamitos voted to defy California's law protecting immigrants in the country illegally, Orange County is poised to become a counterpoint against the state's resistance to the Trump administration's policies.

On Tuesday, Orange County supervisors may consider whether to take up a resolution to condemn and possibly take legal action against the state's "sanctuary" laws.

"These state laws are preempted by federal law," Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson said. "Our officers actually face penalties under state law if they so much as talk to federal agents for the wrong thing. That's just unacceptable and it's contrary to federal law."

Nelson said he'll broach in closed session whether to join a federal lawsuit against the state or launch its own litigation.

Other cities in the county, including Yorba Linda, Buena Park, Huntington Beach and Mission Viejo are also starting to take action to voice their grievances against the state's sanctuary laws aimed at protecting immigrants from President Trump's immigration crackdown.

On Monday, Texas and more than a dozen other states led by Republican governors got behind the Trump administration and filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against California's sanctuary laws.

COMMENT:  This is fascinating, with the potential to shake up some important political arrangements in many states.  I find it hard to believe that a majority of voters in an entire state would favor sanctuary cities, which do violate federal law, but of course I can be wrong. 

Are we seeing a true, and rare, political revolt?  We should know within several months.

March 27, 2018       Permalink

TRUMP TO PUTIN – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  The fine analyst Benny Avni examines Trump's latest move against Russia, and finds it good.  From the New York Post: 

Monday’s coordinated Euro-American action against Russia may signal the end of an era: Goodbye, empty UN blather, hello again, coalitions of the willing.

And welcome to John Bolton, President Trump’s soon-to-be national security adviser. Caricatures of his “unilateralism” aside, Bolton is a big proponent of coordinated action among allies, like this week’s bright display of solidarity with Britain.

Trump announced the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats Monday and closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle on suspicion of espionage activities there. It was the most significant diplomatic retaliation to date for Russia’s chemical attack in Britain and the assassination attempt on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

America wasn’t alone — 21 countries, including France and Germany, as well as former Soviet satellites Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, expelled a handful of Russian diplomats each on Monday. All told, more than 100 Russian diplomats were told to leave world capitals in one day.

True, Vladimir Putin is riding a nationalist wave after “winning” a sham election that extended the term of his seemingly endless presidency, and his name is invoked in the elections of his Western democratic counterparts, so it may not force a change of his ways.

But it’ll get Putin’s attention.

And...

Contrary to his detractors, Bolton is no stranger to multilateralism. In 2003, while at the White House, he created the Proliferation Security Initiative, a coalition of like-minded countries determined to end the transfer of chemical, biological and atomic weapons to and from rogue regimes.

Initially, 10 allies joined America in the initiative, which authorized seizing shipments of WMDs and dual-use items on the high seas. Now 105 countries are PSI members. They can intercept malicious deliveries without authorization from the UN Security Council, where such actions necessitate agreement from all permanent members.

COMMENT:  And yes, welcome John Bolton.

March 27,  2018     Permalink

MARCH 26,  2018

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

GREAT MOMENTS IN JUSTICE – FROM THE GUARDIAN:  A French waiter fired for being “aggressive, rude and disrespectful” says his behaviour wasn’t out of line – he’s just French.  Guillaume Rey, who worked at a Vancouver restaurant on Canada’s Pacific coast, filed a complaint with British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal against his former employer, claiming “discrimination against my culture”.  The restaurant, operated by Cara Operations, accused Rey of violating its code of conduct and said he persisted in his behavior despite verbal and written performance reviews.  In alleging discrimination Rey said French culture just “tends to be more direct and expressive”.  He owes his sacking to his “direct, honest and professional personality”, which he acquired while training in France’s hospitality industry.  Another argument against the farce of multiculturalism.

THE GIANT STRATEGIST SPEAKS – FROM BREITBART:  Former President Jimmy Carter called President Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Ambassador John Bolton as his new National Security Advisor “a disaster for our country.”  Speaking to USA Today, Carter called Bolton “a warlike figure,” and elaborated: “Maybe one of the worst mistakes that President Trump has made since he’s been in office is his employment of John Bolton, who has been advocating a war with North Korea for a long time and even an attack on Iran, and who has been one of the leading figures on orchestrating the decision to invade Iraq.”  Carter’s mishandling of American foreign policy, particularly during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-80, was one of the keys to his political demise in the 1980 election.   Carter is an embarrassment, a product of the post-Watergate Democratic Party, where ego and moral certainty were far more important than ability.

ANOTHER WARNING – FROM NBC:  The military is investigating suspicious packages with apparent explosive components at several U.S. military installations in the Washington, D.C., area Monday, a law enforcement official said.  The National Defense University at Ft. McNair in D.C. received a suspicious package about 8:30 a.m., and the building was evacuated.  The package tested positive for black powder, according to Ft. McNair. An X-ray showed what appeared to be GPS and a fuse. It was rendered safe and the building was cleared about 1:15 p.m. The components are being investigated.  A suspicious package sent to Ft. Belvoir in Virginia Monday afternoon contained liquid in a vial and a circuit board, the law enforcement official said. It also was rendered safe. Ft. Belvoir did not provide any more information.  And a suspicious package is under investigation at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in D.C.  There are also reports of suspicious packages at the CIA, a Secret Service mail processing facility and a Navy base in Richmond, NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reported.  Is this a post-Austin copycat?  We have no way of knowing, but we periodically have serial bombers, and they're dangerous,

March 26, 2018       Permalink

DOES ANYONE CARE? – AT 2:22 P.M. ET:  Not too many hoorays for Hollywood these days.  TV is king in Tinseltown as the audience sends a message.  From Hollywood Reporter:

With less than a week to go, Hollywood's major March releases have failed to bloom at the North American box office, triggering the worst year-over-year decline for the month in recent memory.

March revenue through Sunday was an estimated $722.5 million, a 28 percent decline from the same time period last year ($997.3 million), according to comScore.

The last hope for redemption is Steven Spielberg's pricey Ready Player One, which Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment open in theaters on Thursday, the eve of Easter weekend.

Last year, films released in March ultimately generated north of $1.2 billion in domestic ticket sales, led by Beauty and the Beast ($504 million), Logan ($226 million), The Boss Baby ($175 million) and Kong: Skull Island ($168 million) And in 2016, that same stat was $939 billion, fueled by Zootopia ($341 million) and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice ($330.4 million).

While this year's crop of March titles are still in the heart of their runs, they won't match those numbers, considering not one title has come close to hitting $100 million. And without carryover revenue from February's Black Panther — as in $200 million-plus — the situation would be even worse.

COMMENT:  Hollywood might consider making movies that most Americans want to see, but Hollywood lost interest in most Americans long ago.  Deplorables, my dears.

March 26, 2018       Permalink

THIS IS NOT PROGRESS – AT 11:45 A.M. ET:   We don't disparage those with gender-identity issues, but please don't afflict all of society with this problem.  From Breitbart: 

Following State regulations to counteract traditional gender roles, a number of Swedish preschools have begun experimenting in innovative ways to blur the differences between boys and girls.

The Swedish government has been committed to the deconstruction of gender for decades, and in 1998, added a requirement to its national curriculum that all preschools “counteract traditional gender roles and gender patterns” and encourage children to explore “outside the limitations of stereotyped gender roles.”

At preschools across the country, toddlers are addressed by gender-neutral pronouns, encouraged to play at games commonly associated with the other sex, and forced to overcome natural tendencies toward aggression or passivity, according to a March 24 article in the New York Times.

The State curriculum “urges teachers and principals to embrace their role as social engineers,” the Times article declares, despite the fact that the effect of this teaching method on children “is still unclear.”

At the Seafarer’s Preschool outside Stockholm, for instance, teachers remove gender-specific toys like cars and dolls and have the boys play kitchen while the girls are made to shout “No!”

COMMENT:  I always thought that the purpose of the women's movement was to enhance the equality, safety, and dignity of women.  Apparently I was misinformed.  Now the political left, without, apparently, any dissent from feminists, is diminishing women, making them part of some vague blur.

Maybe some like it.  Some don't.  I don't think this is the proper role for a state-supported school.

March 26, 2018       Permalink

TRUMP ACTS ON RUSSIA – AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  The president has kept his pledge to bear down on Russia, exploding the myth that he's soft on Putin.  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and more than a dozen European nations kicked out Russian diplomats on Monday and the Trump administration ordered Russia's consulate in Seattle to close, as the West sought joint punishment for Moscow's alleged role in poisoning an ex-spy in Britain.

Warning of an "unacceptably high" number of Russian spies in the U.S., the Trump administration said 60 diplomats would be expelled — all Russian intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover, the U.S. said. The group includes a dozen posted to Russia's mission to the United Nations who the officials said were engaged in "aggressive collection" of intelligence on American soil.

The move was one of the most significant actions President Donald Trump's administration has taken to date to push back on Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Less than a week ago, Trump congratulated Putin by phone for his re-election but didn't raise the spy case, renewing questions about whether the U.S. president is too soft on the Kremlin.

The American penalties were echoed by announcements in European capitals across the continent, including those in Russia's backyard.

Fourteen European Union nations were expelling Russian diplomats, EU chief Donald Tusk said, with more likely to follow. An EU official put the total from those countries at more than 30 Russians. Germany, Poland and France each planned to boot four, the Czech Republic three and Italy two.

COMMENT:  The Europeans didn't exactly step up, as Washington did, but at least they participated.  They're kind of like the committee for the senior prom that arranges for free parking.

I'm glad Trump led.  No fool he.

March 26,  2018     Permalink