SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

GOOD MOVE – From Fox:  Islamic teaching states that “paradise lies at the feet of your mother,” and a group of Western moms who lost their sons first to radicalization and then on the battlefields of the Middle East are trying to use the lesson to stop other young men from turning to terrorism.  Christianne Boudreau, a Canadian whose 22-year-old son Damien was killed last year while fighting with al-Nusrah, the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, has joined forces with Daniel Koehler, director of the German Institute on Radicalization and De-Radicalization Studies (GIRDS), to form Mothers for Life. The organization functions as a support group for mothers whose children have become radicalized, as well as a podium to develop programs to counter ISIS’s slick recruitment propaganda.  Excellent move.  Of course, if some mothers tried it here they'd be called Islamophobic, and it's unlikely Obama would have them at the White House.

INEVITABLE – From CBS:  A Philadelphia attorney has opened what he says is the first LGBTQ divorce firm.  Philadelphia lawyer Conor Corcoran, who bills himself as the nation’s first gay divorce attorney, says he is ready to serve gays and lesbians who will need divorces following the Supreme Court’s ruling last week legalizing same-sex marriage across the country.  Corcoran says he celebrated the Supreme Court decision to have marriage equality throughout the United States, but he quickly realized it was unlikely all of the new marriages would end in bliss.  He says that is why he launched a new division entirely devoted to LGBT divorce.  Free enterprise entrepreneurship at work.  Must drive the left crazy.

WEBB IN – From CNN:  Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announced Thursday that "after many months of thought, deliberation and discussion" he has decided to run for president of the United States.  In an over 2,000-word blog post, Webb writes that he decided to run because the United States needs "proven, experienced leadership that can be trusted to move us forward from a new President's first days in office."  Highlighting his experience as a senator, decorated soldier and and secretary of the navy under Ronald Reagan, Webb cast himself as someone willing to fight on issues he cares about, including criminal justice reform, education and economic fairness.  Webb becomes the fifth Democrat to join the primary contest. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and first lady, is the race's frontrunner, with every poll showing her up by wide margins. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is experiencing a recent jump in the polls and in excitement, while former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee have stagnated since announcing they would run.  Webb is an interesting man, but out of synch with the leftist majority in his party, and the leftists control the nominating process.  But it will be interesting to see whether a moderate Southerner gets any traction at all.

July 2, 2015