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

GOOD WORK – FROM AP:  CANBERRA, Australia (AP) —  Police disrupted a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane and arrested four men on Saturday in raids on homes in several Sydney suburbs, the prime minister said on Sunday.  Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said security had been increased at Sydney Airport since Thursday because of the plot. The increased security measures had been extended to all major international and domestic terminals around Australia overnight.   The latest is that it was Islamist-inspired (shock!), but no specific groups have thus far been named.

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – FROM FOX:   University of California, Irvine officials have rescinded hundreds of admission offers for the upcoming fall semester.  The Los Angeles Times reported that offers to 499 UC Irvine students were withdrawn — 290 of them for transcript issues and the rest for poor senior-year grades, according to campus data.  KABC-TV reported Friday that the university’s Student Government Association has since demanded officials apologize to impacted students, reimburse all fees and guarantee future admission.  I love it.  Clearly, the university is saying that a number of admitted students had, uh, problematical transcripts.  Does that mean faked transcripts?  And the rest went down the academic tubes.  Please note that the so-called "student government" makes it plain it doesn't care about those little things.  Just admit the snowflakes.  Who needs standards?

A MAJOR POWER CENTER – FROM FOX:   Incoming White House Chief of Staff John Kelly plans to bring in one of his deputies from the Department of Homeland Security when he begins his new job Monday.  Kirstjen Nielsen, who has served as chief of staff under Kelly at DHS, will follow her boss to the White House, a Trump administration official told Fox News.  Nielsen will be White House deputy chief of staff, the source said.  "She’ll be the one person Kelly brings with him,” an administration official told Politico.   She's very well regarded.  Kelly is making it clear it will be his chief of staff's office, not beholden to anyone outside the White House.  An exciting moment.

July 29, 2017