SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

OBAMA AND THE REAL PEOPLE – From the Washington Times:  President Obama’s relationship with blue-collar unions has hit an all-time low, with several powerful labor groups ripping into the administration — and the Democratic Party as a whole — for its rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and its promotion of the highly controversial trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Mr. Obama’s decision to reject Keystone on environmental grounds, which he announced Friday after a review process that lasted nearly seven years, deeply angered the president’s traditional supporters in the labor movement.  In addition to unprecedented verbal criticism of Mr. Obama — including from the Laborers' International Union of North America, which branded the president “cowardly” and his actions “shameful” — other unions hinted that they may rethink their support for Democrats in 2016.   This could be a serious problem for Hillary – the return of the Reagan Democrats.  Or, it could provide stimulus for the emergence of an independent candidate.  The Democratic Party has been traditionally contemptuous of many of its own voters.  Some of the voters have noticed.

YA THINK? – They're experimenting again in LaLa Land, trying to show how humane the schools are.  Yeah, right.  Humane for whom?  From AP:   LOS ANGELES — Teachers in the nation's second largest school district say a new policy aimed at reducing suspensions is also having another effect: More unruly students in their classrooms.  Los Angeles Unified School District was the first to ban suspending students for defiance in California and began instituting restorative justice policies that emphasize counseling and conflict resolution.  Teachers now blame LA Unified for failing to provide the necessary staff and training to effectively implement those policies, the Los Angeles Times reports.  Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he agrees: While he supports the discipline policy pushed through by his predecessor, Cortines said the initiative has been poorly executed.  Crime is rising again because the liberals are in charge, and they yearn, with great passion, to return to the wonderful years of the 1960s.  Ah, for the golden days of mass riots and chaos in the schools.  Who could ask for anything more? 

A GOOD RETURN TO THE PAST – Sometimes we use the word "obsolete" too loosely.  There's a phenomenon going on in the music business – the return of vinyl records.  From NBC News:   The entertainment industry always loves a good comeback story, and music's latest resurgence is no exception. Despite an explosion in digital and streaming music — including Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and Tidal — consumers are spending more money on vinyl records, and more vinyl buyers are millennials.  In 2014, more than 13 million vinyl long-playing albums, or LPs for short, were sold in America. And the first half of 2015 is showing similar sales strength with more than 9 million LPs sold, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.  The association says the last time it has seen such high LP sales was a quarter century ago, in 1989. At that time, nearly 35 million LPs were sold. Then in 1990, compact disc sales took off, and vinyl sales fell by the wayside.  The current surge in LP sales is partly being driven by younger consumers. Industry researcher MusicWatch reports half of vinyl record buyers are under 25, and men are more likely to buy LPs than are women.  Great.  I'm an old audiophile, and I love vinyl.  There is nothing that sounds as good as a well-made vinyl record.  There is a warmth to the music, and a subtlety, that you can't yet get in digital.  And young people love the large record jackets, the jacket copy, and the art. 

November 8, 2015