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MAY 9,  2016

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

CULTURAL CHANGE – From Breitbart:   Britain’s largest Islamic charity says it wants to “break down barriers” and portray Islam positively by launching a new advertising campaign which will slap the phrase “glory to Allah” on the side of London buses.  The new campaign by Islamic Relief is, ostensibly, targeted at raising donations for their Ramadan aid to Syria, but is attracting attention for the “hundreds” of buses which will be decorated with the phrase “Subhan’Allah”, or ‘Glory to Allah’.  Muslims reading the advert are told that to “gather the rewards of Ramadan”, they must to donate to Islamic Relief, an organisation which had its accounts with banking giant HSBC closed after “concerns that cash for aid could end up with terrorist groups abroad”.  Public transport has been chosen for the Islamic re-branding in London, Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham, and Bradford – all UK locations with high and growing Muslim populations, reports the Sunday Times.  Coming soon to a city near you.

MAJOR HEALTH NEWS – From London's Telegraph:   Parents’ immersion in smartphones has left some neglected children starting primary school unable to hold conversations, new research warns.  Almost a third of children starting school are not ready for the classroom, with many lacking social skills, having speech problems or not toilet trained, the survey of senior primary school staff has found.  Teachers warned of children suffering from a lack of attention and interaction from parents obsessed with their smartphones.  Why do I think that, if it weren't smartphones, it would be something else that would be occupying the time of below-par parents?

IT HAPPENS – We have all been mortified at some point.  From the New York Post:  A Big Apple mom tried to surprise her daughter at college by sneaking into her dorm, but wound up breaking into the wrong room and snapping a selfie on a stranger’s bed — completely mortifying her millennial offspring.   Deanna Pilling traveled from her Morningside Heights apartment to Utah State University last week to pick up 18-year-old McKenna, who had just completed her first year at the school.  But instead of telling her daughter she had arrived, Pilling decided to give the freshman a surprise. Pilling, 57, snapped a picture of herself sprawled out on the bed and sent her daughter a text that read: “Look where I am! Where are you?” McKenna wrote back: “Where’s that?  I’m in my dorm. Please tell me you’re not in someone else’s dorm.” Her embarrassed mother bolted from the room, telling her daughter through text, “I am in the wrong dorm omg.”  A selfie to remember.

May 9,  2016     Permalink

NORTH CAROLINA SUES – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:  This is fascinating.  We'll follow it closely.  From Fox: 

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory filed suit Monday against the Department of Justice in a bid to preserve the state’s controversial “bathroom” law, after the Obama administration said the policy violates the civil rights of transgender people.

The state was facing a Monday deadline set by the administration to respond to its demand that North Carolina either scrap the law or face legal action and risk losing federal funds.

McCrory refused, and instead filed suit.

"The Department’s position is a baseless and blatant overreach," the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, says. "This is an attempt to unilaterally rewrite long-established federal civil rights laws in a manner that is wholly inconsistent with the intent of Congress and disregards decades of statutory interpretation by the Courts."

The state law requires transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. McCrory says the North Carolina law applies only to government offices, universities and road-side rest stops, not every bathroom in the state.

The Justice Department, though, had sent McCrory a letter last Wednesday stating the law violates federal civil rights laws.

The governor, speaking over the weekend with “Fox News Sunday,” said he asked the department for an extension and was given only until the close of business Monday.

“I don’t think that three working days is enough time for such a pretty big threat,” he told Fox News. "It’s the federal government being a bully, making law.”

COMMENT:  I'm with North Carolina.  Reasonable accommodation of trans gendered people does not mean overturning centuries of understandings about privacy, especially the privacy of women. 

The federal government is truly involved in bully tactics, which have gotten dramatically worse in the last year of the Obama administration.  I dread to think what's coming.  We'll follow this case.

May 9, 2016       Permalink

SICKENING – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  A weekend in the president's home town.  This occurred while the chief executive was at Howard University talking about all kinds of grievances and getting cheers for existing.  From the Chicago Sun-Times: 

Eight people — including a 16-year-old boy — were killed and at least 39 other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago over Mother’s Day weekend.

The boy died in the latest homicide Sunday afternoon in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.

Nathan Hicks, 16, was found in the street about 3:20 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Arthington with multiple gunshot wounds, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 4700 block of West Gladys.

A couple hours earlier, another West Side shooting left one man dead and a woman injured in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.

Deshawn Thompson, 20, and a 19-year-old woman were sitting on a porch just before 1 p.m. in the 200 block of South Karlov when someone walked up and opened fire, authorities aid.

Thompson was shot multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the same block as the shooting.

The woman suffered a graze wound to the back and was also taken to Mount Sinai, where she was listed in good condition Sunday, police said.

A man was shot to death Sunday morning in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side.

Kourtney Young, 21, suffered multiple gunshot wounds about 8:45 a.m. in the 7600 block of South Prairie and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:35 a.m., authorities said.

Young lived in the 7300 block of South King Drive, authorities said. Police did not immediately have details on the circumstances of the shooting.

Earlier Sunday, a 35-year-old man was shot to death while riding in a car on Lake Shore Drive on the North Side.

COMMENT:   And it goes on.  Please notice the deep interest shown by the president.  Please notice the anguish of the "black lives matter" movement.  Oh, have you noticed the demonstrations on college campuses in reaction to this carnage?  I guess the network news crews were busy.

Too many people being buried.  Too many people being silent.

May 9, 2016       Permalink

SAD, AND DANGEROUS – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  We know, from the bitter experience of the 20th century, that military weakness brings war, not peace.  So this story is chilling, and tells us how reckless the Obama administration has been.  From Fox: 

The number of U.S. Army soldiers on active duty has been reduced to its lowest since 1940, according to a published report.

The Army Times reported this weekend that the Army's endstrength for March was 479,172. That's 154 fewer soldiers than the service's previous post-World War II low, which was reached during the Army's post-Cold War drawdown in 1999.

The current number is still well above the 269,023 soldiers on duty in 1940, the year before America entered World War II. However, the report says the active force has been reduced by more than 16,500 troops over the past year — the equivalent of about three brigades.

According to the Army Times, the Army is on track to reach its goal of reducing the number of active duty troops to 475,000 by Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2016. Under a drawdown plan unveiled last July, the number of active-duty soldiers would be reduced to 460,000 soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2017 and 450,000 by the end of fiscal year 2018, barring action by Congress or the Pentagon.

If those targets are met, the number of soldiers on active duty would be down 20 percent from 2010, when there were nearly 570,000 soldiers on active duty.

COMMENT:  Enemies note these reductions.  And they note the reductions in air wings and naval ships.  They are pleased.

I note that the Republican Party hasn't been much better than the administration.  There are many post-Reagan Republicans who are just numbers crunchers, and have abandoned the post-World War II consensus of "power for peace."  That is reckless and irresponsible.

Oh, by the way, the population of the United States in 1940 was 132 million.  The population of the United States today is 319 million.  As a proportion of population, our military today is much smaller than in 1940.  And that inadequate military, and the attitudes and policies behind it, invited enemy confidence.  It also raised American casualties.  We not only lacked trained manpower, we lacked technological development in aircraft, tanks, and ship design. 

May 9, 2016     Permalink

MAY 8,  2016

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

GREAT ADVANCES IN EDUCATION – From The Wall Street Journal:  One day in January, Eric Wilson dashed off a message to the teaching assistants for an online course at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  “I really feel like I missed the mark in giving the correct amount of feedback,” he wrote, pleading to revise an assignment.  Thirteen minutes later, the TA responded. “Unfortunately, there is not a way to edit submitted feedback,” wrote Jill Watson, one of nine assistants for the 300-plus students.  Last week, Mr. Wilson found out he had been seeking guidance from a computer.  Since January, “Jill,” as she was known to the artificial-intelligence class, had been helping graduate students design programs that allow computers to solve certain problems, like choosing an image to complete a logical sequence. “She was the person—well, the teaching assistant—who would remind us of due dates and post questions in the middle of the week to spark conversations,” said student Jennifer Gavin.  I'm sure the Ivy League will soon discover a way to build a left-wing computer.  After that will come a computer that chants, "Computer lives matter."

HILARIOUS – From the New York Post:   The Castro brothers — Julián and Joaquín (not Fidel and Raúl) — are said to be studying Spanish very hard in the event that either one is picked as Hillary Clinton’s running mate.  Julián, the US Housing and Urban Development Secretary and former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, is on the short list of vice presidential potentials, along with Elizabeth Warren. His twin Joaquín — a congressman — is lower down on the list.  “Surprisingly, they don’t speak Spanish,” one insider told me. “They are cramming with Rosetta Stone.”  That is hilarious.  Guys who might be picked to bring a Hispanic flavor to the Dem ticket may need a translator to talk to Telemundo.  I mean, how absurd does it get?

STUCK – The tomtom GPS people put out an annual traffic index showing the most traffic-congested cities around the world, or within major countries.  In the U.S. the worst ten cities for traffic turned out to be, starting with the very worst:  1)  Los Angeles; 2) San Francisco; 3) New York; 4) Seattle; 5) San José; 6) Honolulu; 7) Miami; 8) Washington; 9) Portland; and 10) Chicago.  If I'm not mistaken, all are run by liberals.  And the same people who direct traffic run the schools.

May 8, 2016       Permalink

WARNINGS TO THE SANDERS CROWD – AT 12:27 P.M. ET:   This got my attention.  Curious.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell said the key to a successful 2016 democratic convention is whether or not Bernie Sanders' supporters "behave" when their candidate inevitably loses the nomination.

"It's going to be a great convention, but of course the key to it is the Sanders people," Rendell, the former Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania governor, said in a radio interview with supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis in New York on Sunday morning. "We're going to have a roll call. There's going to be a demonstration in support of Bernie. He's going to lose the roll call. His supporters have to behave and not cause trouble. And I think they will, and I think Sen. Sanders will send them a strong message."

Although Hillary Clinton is set to officially become the Democratic nominee in July, Sanders has refused to drop out of the race. He claims the DNC has "rigged" the system against him.

On Friday the Vermont senator warned current DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz that if the DNC doesn't change their "overly partisan" rules favoring Clinton, his supporters would not hesitate to fight on the convention floor.

COMMENT:   It's clear the Dems expect trouble, and why not?  Bernie is the leader of the far lefties and the kids, a toxic combination.  Democrats have in mind their 1968 convention in Chicago, which was plagued by violence outside the hall, instigated by the far left.  That image helped elect Richard Nixon, a political has-been, president in November. 

Bernie's warning is typical of fringe operators who get a little power.  We'll see if it materializes.  More important, we'll see what the Dem platform looks like.

May 8, 2016        Permalink 

BAD MOVES – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  There is some real ugliness in the wake of Speaker Paul Ryan's announcement that he cannot yet endorse Donald Trump for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.   We should note, in Mr. Ryan's defense, that Trump is only the presumptive nominee.  He has not yet been nominated.

And yet the response to Ryan has been mean-spirited and inappropriate.  Sarah Palin, ever determined to destroy what's left of her career, has announced she will work to defeat Ryan in his Congressional district.  From CNN:

Washington (CNN) Sarah Palin will work to defeat House Speaker Paul Ryan by backing his primary opponent in Wisconsin, the former Alaska governor told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Palin said in an interview that airs Sunday on "State of the Union" that her decision was sparked by Ryan's bombshell announcement to Tapper last week that he wasn't yet ready to support Donald Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee. Palin endorsed Trump back in January.

"I think Paul Ryan is soon to be 'Cantored,' as in Eric Cantor," Palin said, referring to the former Republican House majority leader who was ousted in a shocking upset in 2014 when challenger Dave Brat ran to his right in a Virginia primary.

"His political career is over but for a miracle because he has so disrespected the will of the people, and as the leader of the GOP, the convention, certainly he is to remain neutral, and for him to already come out and say who he will not support is not a wise decision of his," Palin continued.

COMMENT:  I used to be such a Sarah fan, but that romance is over.  Ryan never said he wouldn't support Trump, only that he is not ready to give an endorsement.  He clearly wants to bargain over the platform, which is entirely appropriate.  He is also the highest-ranking Republican in the country, and some respect is due him. 

And Trump is now saying he may try to engineer Ryan's removal as chairman of the convention.  Another bad move.  Someone should tell Donald that he doesn't own the Republican Party.  It's not a piece of real estate.  It's a time to heal within the GOP, and it's a time to assert party principles.  Trump has work to do to convince leading members of the party, who have, after all, won elections, that he is worthy.  If he does not show some respect, he may lose the support of Republicans he desperately needs to win election, and to govern. 

Trump is now saying he doesn't need party unity – that he will attract Bernie Sanders Democrats to his candidacy.  Hmm.  What Republican principles will he use to attract them?

Trump, by his continued cruis risking that a third party will be formed, one that could make it impossible for him to be elected.   He's also risking a "Republicans for Hillary" movement.  There are already rumblings. 

We're constantly told that Trump will be more "presidential."  I'm waiting.   Trump ran a successful, if brutal, campaign to win the nomination.  But the nomination is not the presidency, as President McGovern or President Dukakis could have told him. 

May 8, 2016        Permalink

V-E DAY – AT 11:15 A.M. ET:  When I was a child, everyone knew what V-E Day meant.  It was the day we celebrated victory in Europe (V-E) in World War II.  It was the day the war against Nazism was won.  The war against Japan would go on for another three months. 

Now V-E Day is largely forgotten.  The youngest veterans of World War II would be in their late 80s now.  Soon they will all be gone.  We used to depend on newspapers to remind us every year, but I'd be surprised if most young "journalists" today have ever heard of V-E Day.  After all, learning about Western civilization is not considered chic in the colleges they attended.  And the only things many high-school students know about World War II is that we used the atomic bomb and interned Japanese-Americans. 

But some patriots will always remember the sacrifices, not only of Americans, but those of Allied nations, in defeating Nazi Germany and imperial Japan.  And we recall those who, before World War II, warned of what was coming, and were called warmongers in return.

Today Germany and Japan are allies.  That shows that horrible ideologies can be defeated, and replaced by societies that are much better.  But the defeat must come first.  I fear we're forgetting that important lesson now.

May 8,  2016     Permalink