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DECEMBER 12,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:43 P.M. ET: 

HYPOCRITES – From the Washington Examiner:   The Democratic National Committee drafted a resolution, expected to pass Saturday, which accuses the Republican presidential candidates of engaging in "anti-Muslim rhetoric."  The resolution, according to CNN, says the DNC is "sickened by the vile personal attacks that denigrate Islam" from the GOP candidates. It says the candidates have "incited disturbing levels of fear mongering and demagoguery against racial, ethnic and religious minority communities."  I hadn't noticed the DNC passing any resolutions denouncing anti-Christian rhetoric, which is commonplace on the political left.  Maybe that page fell out.

TED ROMPS IN IOWA – From the Washington Examiner:   A new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll, the most respected survey in Iowa politics, has Ted Cruz with a solid lead in the first-voting state. The Texas senator has 31 percent in the new survey, to Donald Trump's 21 percent, Ben Carson's 13 percent, Marco Rubio's 10 percent, and Jeb Bush's six percent.In the last Register poll, in mid-October, Cruz was at 10 percent, meaning he has more than tripled his support in the last eight weeks.  "From the beginning of this campaign, we've talked about uniting courageous conservatives to reignite the promise of America and keep our nation safe," said Cruz Iowa State Director Bryan English in an email statement. "We have more work to do, but we can definitively say the message is working. We have the right candidate, motivated supporters and the financial strength to take us to the nomination and the White House."  I'd be careful about reading too much into early polls and primaries, no matter who wins.  They are not necessarily indicative of the political winds to come.

TERROR ARRESTS IN SWITZERLAND – From CNN:   (CNN) Swiss police have arrested two people with Syrian passports and found traces of potential bomb-making chemicals in a car as security remains high around Geneva amid a terrorism alert and a hunt for suspects, authorities said Saturday.  Authorities have been looking for at least two people with indirect links to suspects in the November 13 Paris terrorist attacks. It was not immediately clear whether Saturday's arrests were linked to the attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed.  The two were arrested Friday and charged Saturday, according to a statement Saturday from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland.  They were arrested on suspicion of the manufacture, concealment and transport of explosives or toxic gases, as well as on suspicion of violating the prohibition of groups such as al Qaida, ISIS and similar organizations.  I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding.  Maybe Obama should just invite them to live here, out of the way of obnoxious stares.

SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS – From Breitbart:  President Barack Obama is not scheduled to attend any of the funerals for the victims of the San Bernardino terror attack nine days ago, Breitbart News has learned. He has yet to visit the town in the wake of the deadliest terror attack since 9/11.  The White House did not return a request for comment about the president’s schedule.  It is unknown to the public whether he will attend any funerals, the first of which took place on Thursday for victim Yvette Velasco...Obama delivered the eulogy at the memorial service this year for the victims of a racist mass murder at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Obama used his remarks to push for gun control.  Small-time president.  No class.

December 12, 2015       Permalink

THE CHAIRMAN – AT 11:55 A.M. ET:   Today is the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra, generally ranked as America's finest male popular singer.  (On the female side I think the honor is shared by Ella Fitzgerald and Jane Froman.) 

Bing Crosby, noting that Sinatra's was a voice that appeared once in a lifetime, asked, "Why did it have to be my lifetime?"

Why does Sinatra remain important?  Why are so many commemorating his centennial?  Even CBS ran a Sinatra TV special this past week, although Sinatra died 17 years ago.  His importance as a singer can be understood just by listening to any of his mid-career recordings.  The kid from Hoboken, who'd been a teenage heartthrob, had developed into a mature singer who respected the songs he sang and those who created them.  (He would even credit the arranger when announcing his songs at a live appearance.)  His voice was mellow and pure, his interpretation of the lyric unsurpassed.  Sinatra studied English grammar in the 1950s, the better to understand what words meant.

He was also important because he came along during the years when the Great American Songbook was being written.  Opinions on dates will differ, but the Songbook consists of songs written from roughly 1911 through the early 1960s.  The Songbook was pushed aside by the music industry in favor of rock 'n roll and some of the later forms, but it was never replaced.  Sinatra remained true to the great tradition.  He refused to go along with the latest trend, and yet retained his audience.  He constantly taught America what a great song sounded like, that melody was key, and that lyricists could be minor poets.

He was also important because he symbolized, musically, the World War II generation.  When he died in 1998, I genuinely believed it marked the passing of that era, an era of greatness.  Sinatra was part of the golden age of American music, the golden age of Hollywood, and the golden age of television.  Not much gold today. 

So we celebrate 100 years of Frank Sinatra.  He is still with us.  The Sirius XM satellite radio service has a channel called "Siriusly Sinatra."  I listen every time I'm in my car.

December 12, 2015       Permalink

MAJOR ADVANCE...OR HOAX? – AT 11:17 A.M. ET:   A "climate change" agreement has apparently been reached in Paris, subject to approval by the nations participating in an international conference.  Aren't we lucky?  From Fox:

An accord negotiated at climate talks in Paris will be a “historic turning point” if the final draft is adopted by delegates from 190 nations, France’s foreign minister said Saturday.

The deal on climate change will limit warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), Laurent Fabius said, according to Sky News.

“The world is holding its breath, it’s counting on all of us,” the minister added.

I haven't seen too much breath holding.

If adopted, the pact known as “the Paris agreement” would take effect in 2020 and strive to limit global temperature even more, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

We are reminded by some skeptical scientists that there hasn't been any global warming in about 18 years, so maybe the "goal" is more achievable than we'd thought.

Sky News reported that countries most vulnerable to climate change had lobbied for the 1.5C limit while big polluters such as China, India and Saudi Arabia preferred 2C.

Why are certain countries more "vulnerable" than others?  Or is that a codeword for "gimme money"?

Negotiators had a few hours to analyze the draft before going into a meeting for possible adoption. French President Francois Hollande, who joined the meeting Saturday to underscore the deal’s importance, urged approval.

A few hours to analyze the draft?  Isn't this worth a little more time?

“The decisive agreement for the plant is here and now,” Hollande said. “France calls upon you to adopt the first universal agreement on climate.”

France is trying to take most of the credit.  It's Hollande's legacy, as he probably won't be re-elected.

The agreement sets a goal of limiting global gas emissions to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb them by the second half of the century.

A top climate scientist who was critical of draft negotiation texts on Friday has praised the final draft as being consistent with science.

John Schellnhuber, director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, says that "if agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades."

COMMENT:  The most interesting fact I've read is that the draft is written in such a manner as to not require approval by the U.S. Senate.  In other words, like the Iran agreement, this won't be submitted as a treaty.

It's hard to determine without further analysis what this will cost us, or whether it will cost us anything at all.  It's also hard to determine whether it will have any actual effect.

What isn't hard to determine is that there's a great deal of money involved.  Already we're seeing reports that some of Hillary's largest contributors are getting into the "green energy" business.  Translation:  they will be applying for federal grants. 

Follow the money.

December 12, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA TO TAKE CROSSTOWN CAR TRIP!! – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:  Our dynamic leader, Field Marshal Barack Obama, will risk it all in a hazardous crosstown car trip to the Pentagon to take personal command of the nation's destiny.  There's Mount Rushmore talk.  From The Hill:

President Obama is making a rare trip to the Pentagon on Monday, to meet with his top national security advisers to discuss the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

But don't expect any serious reevaluation of the current strategy against ISIS, the White House said Friday.

"At this point ... it is an update," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

However, the last time the president went to get such an update at the Pentagon in July, it led to a decision to send about 50 U.S. special operations forces into Syria, among other steps to intensify the campaign.

During that meeting, the president "reaffirmed to all of us in the room that he was willing to hear all options of doing more in Iraq and Syria, as long as they would produce strategic success not just tactical success," a senior defense official told Pentagon reporters during a background briefing on Oct. 30, after the White House announced the new steps.

COMMENT:   There is really no strategy for success, and even Obama's own hand-picked military leaders are expressing deep concern over our non-course.  Should there be another attack here, Obama's first response will be 1) to warn Americans about stereotyping and 2) to see it as another opportunity to push gun control. 

December 12,  2015     Permalink

DECEMBER 11,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

TRUMP EXPECTING IOWA TROUBLE – From Bloomberg:   The normally confident Donald Trump is anticipating unwelcome headlines from a Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll set for release Saturday evening.  At a rally in Des Moines Friday night, the Republican presidential front-runner warned the crowd he's being set up by a hostile media. "The Des Moines Register is the worst. The worst," he declared of the newspaper, which earlier this year editorialized that he should leave the race. "Everytime I have a Des Moines Register Poll, I do poorly. I also do poorly with the Bloomberg polls. I don't know why."  Trump's comments came several hours after Bloomberg Politics tweeted that results of the latest poll, commissioned in partnership with the Register, will be published Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.  I have no idea what these early polls mean in such a volatile, odd race.  But, clearly, there is a major move within the GOP to defeat Donald Trump and bar him from the nomination.  This could get bloody.  If he gets angry enough, Trump can break his pledge to support the Republican nominee and run as an independent, probably guaranteeing Hillary's election.

CALL IT WHAT IT IS – From Fox:   The California college student who stabbed four people last month in a campus spree that ended when he was killed by campus police was described by his roommate as "an extreme Muslim" and carried a manifesto and a photocopy of an ISIS flag -- more than enough to convince John Price he was a terrorist.  Yet, more than a month after the Nov. 4 attack at University of California Merced, local and federal authorities continue to insist that Faisal Mohammad, 18, carried out the vicious attack because he'd been banished from a study group. Price, whose son Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction manager for the family business who was working nearby and was stabbed when he heroically intervened, suspects the White House's reluctance to identify acts of radical Islamic terror has trickled down to investigators who are still probing the Merced attack.  “Why don’t we just call it what it is -- domestic terrorism?" said Price. "Everyone is afraid to be politically incorrect. I do believe in law enforcement and believe they will do their job, but it seems like to me we aren’t getting the whole story. I just wonder how much of this is driven from way higher up and is politically driven -- I just don’t know.”  His suspicions are correct.  The president of the United States is a leftist, not a liberal, with strong pro-Muslim leanings.  His behavior on the issue of terror has been disgraceful.  I cannot think of a parliamentary democracy that would allow a man like this to remain in office.  Maybe we need a Constitutional change to prevent this kind of disaster in the future.

CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT ON TERROR PLUMMETS – From Reuters:   NEW YORK - Confidence in the US government to protect its citizens from militant attacks has fallen to its lowest in more than a decade after a pair of suspected militant Islamists gunned down 14 people at a holiday party in California, a poll released on Friday found.  Only 55 percent of respondents said they had "a fair amount" or "a great deal" of confidence that authorities could protect the country from further attacks, according to data collected by Gallup on Dec. 8-9, just days after the San Bernardino massacre.  The finding represents a drop of 12 percentage points since June and extends the gradual erosion in confidence that began soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by militant Islamists in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. It is the lowest reading since Gallup began asking the question, following the 2001 attacks.   It's all about Obama.  The American people are on to him, despite the efforts of the Obama press to keep the peasants in line.  One more attack and you may see a major political upheaval in the United States.

December 11, 2015       Permalink

LET'S GET OUT THOSE SIXTIES GUITARS – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:   Hillary Clinton, whose honesty might be found by the Hubble Telescope on a clear day, is turning to "love" as a campaign theme.  Let's get into the attic and get down those tie-dyed jeans.  LSD anyone?  From AP:

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) -- Hillary Clinton had just finished detailing the dangers of terrorism, recalling tough calls in the White House situation room as secretary of state and lashing out at her Republican rivals for threatening the safety of Americans.

But when an Iowa man broke into her riff with a question about how the country could confront a new wave of hate and fear, her response sounded less like that of a commander in chief than of a soothing self-help guru. "We've got to do everything we can to weed out hate and plant love and kindness," she told a crowd of several hundred.

The lovey-dovey message seems surprising coming from a Washington veteran so battle-hardened that she often cites Eleanor Roosevelt's mantra about women in public life needing "skin like a rhinoceros." But as she grapples with Donald Trump's prominence in the Republican race, she's embraced a little love and kindness as a near-constant refrain.

COMMENT:  She'll say anything, and there's a good chance she'll be elected.  She's right out of the 60s, and has never changed. 

December 11, 2015       Permalink

PROBABLY A MISUNDERSTANDING – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:   All these busybodies, suspecting terror attacks.  And in Geneva, Switzerland?  Why, they just make watches.  From NBC: 

GENEVA — U.S. officials warned Americans living in or visiting Switzerland on Friday that they should be extra vigilant following a CIA tip-off that prompted the country to raise its terrorism threat level.

Swiss officials said they had information of a possible planned attack on the city of Geneva. The country's public prosecutor said it was hunting suspects linked to groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS.

The U.S. Embassy in Bern issued a statement advising Americans of steps they should take.

"In this time of elevated threat, the U.S. Embassy in Bern reminds U.S. citizens to review personal security plans, remain aware of surroundings at all times, and monitor local news stations for updates," the statement said.

"We also recommend maintaining a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance personal security," it added.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News that the CIA tipped off the Swiss authorities about the potential threat.

More law enforcement and security personnel have been deployed on the ground, and U.N. security guards in Geneva were stationed with MP5 sub-machine guns at entry points for cars, a highly unusual measure at the sprawling complex near the French border.

Europe has been in a state of tension following the November 13 attacks in Paris that saw 130 killed by a ground of Islamist extremists in several sites across the city.

COMMENT:  If the CIA warning is accurate, it might well mean that terror groups plan to continue the string of attacks that have gone on for months.  We should be on high alert here, although, if an attack does occur on our homeland, our president will go out of his way to avoid using the word "terror."

December 11, 2015        Permalink

MARCHING FORWARD TO SAVE THE WORLD – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:  All the dedicated idealists at the Paris share-the-wealth, uh, I mean the Paris climate-change conference, are having a bit of bother in coming up with a proposal that can actually be signed.  When you're working on a fraud, it gets sticky.  From AP: 

LE BOURGET, France — High-stakes climate talks outside Paris will not end Friday as planned but will continue at least one more day as diplomats try to overcome disagreements over how — or even whether — to share the costs of fighting climate change and shift to clean energy on a global scale.

Negotiators from more than 190 countries are trying to do something that's never been done: reach a deal for all countries to reduce man-made carbon emissions and cooperate to adapt to rising seas and increasingly extreme weather caused by human activity. Secretary of State John Kerry zipped in and out of negotiation rooms as delegates broke into smaller groups overnight to iron out their differences.

Please note how AP accepts the premise of the conference, no questions asked.

After all-night talks wrapped up at nearly 6 a.m. local time (midnight ET), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he is aiming for a final draft Saturday.

The two-week talks, the culmination of years of U.N.-led efforts for a long-term climate deal, had been scheduled to wrap up Friday. The U.N. talks often run past deadline, given the complexity and sensitivity of each word in an international agreement.

"I will not present the text Friday evening, as I had thought, but Saturday morning," Fabius said on BFM television. "There is still work to do ... Things are going in the right direction."

Fabius said he wanted to consult with various negotiating blocs so that "this is really a text ... that comes from everyone."

He added: "This represents all of the countries in the world and it's completely normal to take a bit of time, so we will shift it."

COMMENT:  This could wind up costing us hundreds of billions of dollars, money that will probably go down the UN rathole.  But think of it – our elites will feel so good about themselves.  How can we deny them that wonderful feeling, and the selfies they'll take with "third-world" leaders, who will get their checks soon enough?

December 11,  2015     Permalink