SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:19 P.M. ET: 

ATTACK IN PARIS – FROM THE SUN:   TWO British tourists in Paris were among seven victims of a savage knife attack in the French capital, police said last night.  A suspect, reportedly of Pakistani or Afghan origin, began "slashing passers-by" on the Loire Quay in the north of the city on Sunday night, according to reports.  The knifeman, who was also armed with a metal bar, first stabbed three people outside the MK2 cinema complex, "including two English tourists", according to investigators.  One was particularly badly hurt after being "stabbed in the head",  while the other was "cut in the chest".  Petanque players who saw what happened then tried to intervene, throwing metal balls at the attacker, but it was reportedly not enough to stop him.  A security guard told French media he saw the suspect being chased by two men.  The knife has become the weapon of choice for terror attacks in London.  Apparently, it's getting trendy in Paris as well.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Please move on.

GETTING TO THE GREAT ISSUE OF OUR TIME – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  The University of Wisconsin-Madison student government has proposed “taking action” against a company which uses — gasp! — gelatin in its ice cream.  The Badger Herald reports that in its first meeting of the new school year, the Associated Students of Madison discussed how Babcock ice cream “marginalizes” religious and vegetarian students via its use of a beef-based gelling ingredient.  “There’s a real push to try to include everyone in the Wisconsin community in the ability to eat the Babcock ice cream, which is a part of the Wisconsin experience,” Representative Jared Lang said.  If the ASM legislation passes, Babcock Dairy would be “formally acknowledged” as marginalizing UW-Madison religious students. This means the ASM would recommend that the school administration, dining halls, and unions all follow suit, as well as formally “condemn[ing] UW sponsored events with Babcock ice cream.”  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  It's about time they dealt with this.  These kids have guts!

SWEDEN SHIFTS – FROM THE GUARDIAN – Sweden faces a period of political uncertainty after an election that did not leave either main parliamentary bloc with a majority  With more than 99% of the vote counted, the centre-left bloc is sitting on 40.6% and the centre-right on 40.2%  Analysts predict long negotiations, potentially taking weeks, will be needed to create a majority or a plausible minority government
The populist, anti-immigrant party Sweden Democrats won 17.6% of the vote, up on the 12.9% it scored in 2014, but well below the 25% predicted in some polls.  The governing Social Democrats, led by prime minister Stefan Löfven, saw their score fall to 28.4%, the lowest for a century but maintained their record of finishing first in every election since 1917.  Löfven said he would not be resigning, and urged cross-bloc cooperation.  Maybe the election will knock some sense into the leftists, who have governed Sweden, and ruined it, for too long.  It is far from the paradise portrayed by Western socialists.  Its neutral foreign policy is amoral at best, and its domestic policies have led to sloth and lack of imagination.  Kind of a glorified old-age home.

September 9, 2018