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NOVEMBER 24,  2016

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

TERROR PLOT BLOCKED IN FRANCE – FROM AFP:   A jihadist terror ring was planning to attack Paris on December 1 and had researched sites including a Christmas market and Disneyland outside the capital as potential targets, a police source said Thursday.  Seven suspects were arrested in police raids last weekend in the eastern city of Strasbourg and Marseille in the south following an eight-month investigation by security services, although two were later released.  The source said investigators found the suspects had made internet searches on sites including the Christmas market on the prestigious Champs-Elysees avenue, the Disneyland Paris theme park, cafe terraces in the northeast of the capital, the Paris criminal police headquarters and a metro station.  Five of the suspects have had their custody extended under legislation covering investigations into an imminent terror attack.   They only have to be lucky once.

ANOTHER POINTLESS DEMONSTRATION – FROM PJ MEDIA:   Black Lives Matter agitators plan to disrupt Black Friday shopping in at least two cities this year in an attempt to draw attention to what they call unjustified police shootings. Organizers in Chicago and Seattle are planning demonstrations that they hope will attract thousands of protesters.  In Seattle, as many as 2,700 people may attend a Black Lives Matter protest downtown on Black Friday, according to a Facebook page set up by the "Black Freedom Front of Seattle."  And yet, when black children are murdered in Chicago, this "movement" has nothing to say.  The "statements" it puts out are often right out of the Marxist playbook.  BLM is going nowhere, and does not have the skills of successful movements – including a building of support.

OH DEAR, WHAT DOES A TRENDY CLIMATE GUY DO? – FROM LONDON'S TELEGRAPH: Antarctic sea ice had barely changed from where it was 100 years ago, scientists have discovered, after poring over the logbooks of great polar explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.  Experts were concerned that ice at the South Pole had declined significantly since the 1950s, which they feared was driven by man-made climate change.  But new analysis suggests that conditions are now virtually identical to when the Terra Nova and Endurance sailed to the continent in the early 1900s, indicating that declines are part of a natural cycle and not the result of global warming.  It also explains why sea ice levels in the South Pole have begun to rise again in recent years, a trend which has left climate scientists scratching their heads.  Head scratching is good.  It leads to truth.

November 24, 2016       Permalink

THE DEMOCRATS' THANKSGIVING – I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:   What do today's Democrats do to prepare for Thanksgiving?  Why, they teach their relatives to debate Republicans, that's what they do.  You've gotta read this.  From Powerline: 

Those Democrats sure know how to have a good time. While the rest of us are looking forward to family reunions and delicious turkey dinners, the Democratic Party is coaching its faithful on how to win political arguments. This is from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a “Guide to Thanksgiving With Your Republican Relatives.”

Click to enlarge:

It's best to go to the link to read this adolescent stuff.

It isn’t worth the trouble to fact-check this whole mass of talking points, but I note that it requires some nerve to allege that “Under Trump, it’s estimated that the national debt would rise by $5.3 trillion over the next decade,” when we have just seen the debt rise by more than $9 trillion in less than eight years of the Obama administration. What they’re saying is that the increase in the debt would be slowed under Trump’s policies by more than 50%.

One of the things I am thankful for this year is that there won’t be anyone at our Thanksgiving dinner who comes armed with partisan talking points in hopes of winning arguments with his or her relatives.

COMMENT:  A Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers, including Democrats and saboteurs.  Even Hillary.

November 24, 2016       Permalink

SECURITY IN NEW YORK – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is underway.   Always a wonderful show.  But this year there is extra security, reminding us that some people in this world see Thanksgiving as a holiday of infidels.  From Fox: 

NEW YORK – Fans of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade who come to see the soaring SpongeBob and Snoopy balloons may get a far less heartwarming sight this year: giant dump trucks filled with sand.

More than 80 city sanitation trucks will be used at intersections and other strategic spots along the 2 ½ mile parade route to create an imposing physical barrier to terror. The trucks weigh about 16 tons empty and up to twice that with sand.

"You can ram a New York City Sanitation Department sand truck with a lot of things, but you're not going to move it," said John Miller, the New York Police Department's top counterterrorism official.

While the trucks have been used like this before — most recently to protect Trump Tower — the New York Police Department says they will play a bigger role at this year's parade in the wake of the cargo truck attack in Nice, France, that killed more than 80 people and a recent posting in an English-language Islamic State magazine that called the parade "an excellent target."

COMMENT:  One of the things President-elect Trump will have to deal with is the rise of new terror threats.  Who will be the new ISIS?  And where will the old ISIS strike next?  And which terror group will be the first to use weapons of mass destruction?

The battle is far from won, and our efforts under Field Marshal Obama have been lacking.

November 24, 2016       Permalink

MICHIGAN IN – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  Many people don't realize it, but Michigan has, until now, been counted as "undecided" in the presidential race.  We think that's now over.  From Detroit Free Press:

In the closest race for president in Michigan's history, Republican Donald Trump is hanging on to a 10,704 vote win over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The Michigan Secretary of State posted results Wednesday that were submitted by the state's 83 county clerks on Tuesday after the votes were reviewed and certified by each county.

Before that compiled count, Trump held a 13,107 lead over Clinton. But after each county certified its results, the lead shrunk to 10,704, with the biggest chunk coming from Wayne County, which showed that Clinton had gotten 565 more votes than originally tallied by the county.

The state's Board of Canvassers will officially certify the results on Nov. 28. The electoral college in all the states, including Michigan's 16 electors, will cast their votes on Dec. 19.

"Many people have asked about Michigan’s process for counting ballots and certifying election results. Please be aware that all 1,521 Michigan cities and townships completed ballot counting and reported unofficial results by the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 9," according to a statement on the Secretary of State's website. "The county canvassing boards, as they do after every election, then began their work to review and certify the results from each precinct."

COMMENT:  This should settle Michigan, although there are now attempts by die-hards to recount Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, claiming that voting machines were hacked.  No evidence given.

Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president, has been raising money for recounts, and has raised millions.  Kind of the ultimate conspiracy theory. 

November 24,  2016     Permalink

NOVEMBER 23,  2016

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

COWARD – FROM MEDIAITE:    Democratic Congressman and candidate for the next DNC chief Keith Ellison canceled an interview with The New York Times Tuesday after learning they planned to ask about his ties to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.  Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, but his first congressional run in Minnesota in 2006 prompted questions about his ties to Farrakhan. While a student at the University of Minnesota Law School, he wrote several articles defending Farrakhan, and later worked with the Nation of Islam for eighteen months.  Farrakhan is a rabid anti-Semite, has accused Jews of being behind 9/11 and the slave trade, and once said that God was the one who “put them in the oven.” In addition, he teaches that white people are “a race of devils” created by a black scientist named Yakub 6000 years.   You'd think the Democratic Party would seek a wise, relatively centrist practitioner to rebuild the ranks.  But Ellison is the favorite.  The party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy is no more.

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – FROM DAILY CALLER:    Protesting students at George Washington University (GWU) claim forcing them to accept police protection during their marches is “violence,” because many police officers supported President-elect Donald Trump.  In a list of demands assembled by several progressive student groups, GWU protesters say school officials should find a way of guaranteeing their safety during marches that doesn’t involve police.  “The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the United States, has formally endorsed President-Elect Donald Trump,” the list says. “The FOP includes over 10,000 members in Washington D.C., many of which have jurisdiction over GW’s campus. Placing us in these officers’ care is an act of violence, especially for Black students.”  Elsewhere, the students call for GWU administrators to declare the school a “sanctuary campus” that will protect illegal immigrants from deportation.  These "students" have the intellectual maturity of 10-year-olds, placing them slightly ahead of the faculty.

STRIKING BACK AT MEDIA BIAS – FROM BREITBART:  Apple App Store and Google Play users are taking their displeasure out on CNN and other news sites by giving the companies’ mobile apps one star reviews, citing the outlets’ liberal bias.  According to Digiday, in the last few weeks CNN has been hit by a wave of one star reviews, with over half of these reviews accusing the company of having a liberal bias.    Other targeted publishers include Mic, Quartz, and USA Today, who have also been slammed by users upset over the companies’ biases, with two-thirds of reviews on USA Today citing its liberal leanings.  Due to the fact that CNN’s app is well established and has received thousands of reviews over a number of years, the negative reviews haven’t had a significant impact on the the app’s overall rating.  However, for recently released apps such as Mic’s, which was launched two weeks ago, the negative reviews are having a greater affect on the average rating.  “Low reviews affect the ranking of an app in the top charts, which decreases app discoverability and, in turn, means fewer downloads, which would continue driving them further down the top charts,” said Amir Ghodrati, a director of market insights at the app analytics business App Annie.  There are a number of ways that citizens can express their displeasure at the press.  This is one of the most modern.  The traditional method is to stop subscribing and stop viewing.

November 23, 2016       Permalink

OH PLEASE – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  The nerds are in revolt, and believe the presidential election should be recounted.  Not that they found anything wrong, just that they suspect.  And also, the wrong candidate won, and they're unhappy.  From CNN:

(CNN) Hillary Clinton's campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of the request.The computer scientists believe they have found evidence that vote totals in the three states could have been manipulated or hacked and presented their findings to top Clinton aides on a call last Thursday.

The scientists, among them J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, told the Clinton campaign they believe there is a questionable trend of Clinton performing worse in counties that relied on electronic voting machines compared to paper ballots and optical scanners, according to the source.

The group informed John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, and Marc Elias, the campaign's general counsel, that Clinton received 7% fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic voting machines, which the group said could have been hacked.

Their group told Podesta and Elias that while they had not found any evidence of hacking, the pattern needs to be looked at by an independent review.

Neither Halderman nor John Bonifaz, an attorney also pressing the case, responded to requests for comment on Tuesday evening. Their urging was first reported by New York magazine.

COMMENT:  This looks ridiculous.  There isn't even an analysis of how these areas traditionally vote.  Some elements of the press will make a big deal out of this story, but they shouldn't do a thing until digging deeper to see if there is anything of substance here.

November 23, 2016       Permalink

AND ANOTHER – AT 9:33 A.M. ET:  It's now five officers shot in one week.  From Fox: 

A Michigan college police officer was released from surgery and is fighting for his life after being shot in the head while on patrol near campus Tuesday night and a person of interest was arrested.

The Wayne State University officer was identified as 29-year-old Colin Rose, a five-year veteran of the department who works in the canine unit. Detroit Police Chief James Craig was on duty when he radioed to say he was investigating possible thefts of navigation systems from cars and SUVs, and was about to speak to someone apparently on a bike.

Officers who arrived on the scene found the officer injured on the ground, Craig said...

...A woman who witnessed the shooting told Fox 2 Detroit it happened while Rose was attempting to apprehend someone.

"The officer was trying to get him to put his arms behind his back." the woman said. "And I'm assuming he didn't want to and he just shot him. We heard one shot and we looked, and the officer was down."

COMMENT:  Let's see if the mainstream media, which is whining over criticism it received from President-elect Trump, will make anything of this.  It's five officers shot in one week, with one dead.  As we've noted, shootings of police officers are up dramatically since last year.

The officer who died had been a member of the San Antonio, Texas, force.   The president-elect phoned his family.

November 23,  2016     Permalink