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DECEMBER 31,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:48 P.M. ET:

THE WAY THINGS ARE – From London's Daily Mail:  Panic spread across the German city of Munich just an hour before revellers celebrated the New Year, after police warned of a 'serious imminent threat' of an ISIS terror attack as crowds of people flocked to the city centre to welcome in the New Year.  A foreign intelligence service had warned German police that between five and seven suicide bombers from the terror group had been planning on attacking the southern German city.  Two railway stations - the city's main station and the Pasing station - were evacuated after indications of a planned attack which would target party-goers in the city.  Across Europe, capital cities were on high security alert, with Brussels and Paris both scrapping fireworks for New Year's celebrations.  At least they're taking it seriously.  Nothing has happened in Munich so far, but attacks usually don't happen in cities that are on high alert, and where residents have been warned.  We can speculate that the attack planners back off and start planning to attack somewhere else.

AND MORE APPEASEMENT – HAPPY NEW YEAR – From Breitbart:   The White House has delayed plans to slap new sanctions on Iran over its test-firing of ballistic missiles, a US news report said Thursday, amid fears it could jeopardize a hard-won nuclear deal with Tehran.  The Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed US officials, said that financial sanctions being developed by the US Treasury Department remain on the table, after the decision to delay them.  At one point they were scheduled to be announced Wednesday in Washington, the newspaper said, citing a notification the White House sent to Congress.  The officials gave no definitive timeline for when the sanctions would be imposed, it said.  Disgraceful.  Everything is done for the greater glory of Obama's "legacy."  American security seems a secondary consideration.

ECONOMIC DECLINE – From The Wall Street Journal:  U.S. stocks had their worst annual performance since 2008, closing out a rocky year that tempered investors’ expectations for gains in 2016.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a basket of 30 stocks, lost 2.2% in 2015, while the broader S&P 500 fell 0.7%.  The S&P’s loss ended three years of double-digit gains for the index, but was far from the nearly 40% dive it took in 2008, a year of financial crisis...But broadly, the market struggled. While an extended slump in commodity prices helped drag the stock market into negative territory this year, six of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 posted losses.    Obama, the economic genius.

December 31, 2015       Permalink

TERROR ARREST IN U.S. – AT 2:33 P.M. ET:  Apparently the warnings about New Year's Eve weren't exaggerated.  From CNN:

Washington (CNN) Justice Department officials announced Thursday they had thwarted a Rochester man's plans to kill New Year's Eve participants in the name of ISIS at an upstate New York bar and restaurant.

Emanuel Lutchman, 25, was charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"This New Year's Eve prosecution underscores the threat of ISIL even in upstate New York but demonstrates our determination to immediately stop any who would cause harm in its name," said William Hochul Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York.

Lutchman allegedly received direction from an ISIS member overseas and planned to attack revellers in order to join ISIS. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian Payson of the Western District of New York on Thursday morning.

COMMENT:  Inevitably, he'll be described as a "lone wolf."  There's really no such thing.  These "lone wolves" are radicalized and directed by others.  They are not alone.  A certain number of these people will go undetected and do very bad things.

December 31, 2015       Permalink

END OF A FANTASYLAND – AT 10:40 A.M. ET:   It's the season for fantasies, but sometimes they must come to an end.  From AP:

NEW YORK (AP) — After welcoming tourists for 14 years, the over-the-top Toys R Us in Manhattan's Times Square is closing its doors.

Wednesday marked the last day of business for the company's flagship location.

The 110,000-square-foot space was home to a 60-foot Ferris wheel, a 20-foot animatronic T-Rex and a life-size Barbie dollhouse.

The store's closing follows the July shuttering of another iconic New York City toy store, F.A.O. Schwarz.

A spokeswoman says company officials decided not to renew their lease to save money on rent.

COMMENT:   It's a sad thing.  Here in New York we've seen many iconic institutions close, one by one.  The cost of doing business here is just prohibitive.  There is, for example, only one pen store left in all of Manhattan – Fountain Pen Hospital.  J&R Music World, an icon, has been reduced to a department of another store.  Neighborhood bookstores are almost relics. 

Change must come, but some changes are not very encouraging.  I recall when the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York City in the 1950s.  I've never forgiven them...or for the city government that let them slip away.

December 31, 2015       Permalink

SECURITY PREPARATIONS – LATEST – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  As we've reported, security preparations for this New Year's Eve are intense.  From Fox:

Authorities are stepping up security for New Year's Eve celebrations across the U.S. as revelers prepare to welcome 2016 amid widespread nervousness after recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.

In America's two largest cities, officials assured the public Wednesday that there were no known credible threats against either New York or Los Angeles ahead of three of the most famous New Year's events on the calendar.

"Leave the worrying to the NYPD," said James O'Neill, chief of the department. "People should feel safest this New Year's Eve because we're there."

About 1 million people are expected to pack the blocks around Times Square Thursday night to watch the 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball drop, marking the official start of 2016.

At least 6,000 NYPD patrol officers will be assigned to the Times Square festivities, between 600 and 800 more than on New Year's Eve 2014. Visitors will see heavily armed counterterrorism teams and bomb-sniffing dogs. Rooftop patrols and NYPD helicopters will keep an eye on the crowd, and plainclothes officers will blend in with revelers. Newly graduated officers will take part.

And...

Partiers will be screened with hand-held metal detectors twice -- once when entering one of the 14 access points to the “secure zone” and again when they enter “pens” where people will be kept during the leadup to the countdown.

A bomb squad and a unit specializing in chemical and biological threats will sweep hotels, theaters, construction sites and parking garages. They also will patrol the Times Square subway station, and certain exits will be blocked off. The NYPD will rely on a network of thousands of closed-circuit security cameras blanketing lower Manhattan, parts of midtown Manhattan and the subway system. About 20,000 smartphones were handed out to officers this year that will allow police to quickly transmit information on potential threats.

And...

On Friday morning, hundreds of thousands will line the streets of Pasadena for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, while another 90,000-plus are expected to pack the Rose Bowl stadium that afternoon for the Rose Bowl game between Stanford and Iowa.

"Increased visible and non-visible enhanced security measures will be in effect along the Rose Parade route and at the Rose Bowl stadium." said William Boyer, spokesman for the city of Pasadena.

COMMENT:  We hope for the best, of course.  But police cannot be everywhere.  A terror threat was broken up in Israel today.  There were arrests in Turkey and Belgium earlier in the week.  We will have to learn to live with this, at least for a time.

December 31, 2015       Permalink

HAPPY NEW YEAR – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  We wish a happy New Year to all our readers, subscribers, donators and friends.

Now, in saying happy New Year I don't mean to offend those who celebrate some other new year.  If you are offended, I apologize for my microaggression and promise to take sensitivity courses at the nearest thought-control emergency center.

In fact, why don't we make a change.  Let's not say happy New Year.  Let's say happy Calendar Change. 

Now, in saying happy Calendar Change I don't mean to suggest that our calendar is better than other calendars.  All calendars have their own validity.  A calendar celebrating 12 jihadists is as valid as one celebrating the Founding Fathers.  Who am I, an American imperialist white male, to judge? 

In fact, why don't we make another change.  Let's not say happy New Year.  Let's say happy Annual Transition.  I think that does it.

Wait.  In saying happy Annual Transition I don't mean to marginalize trans people who may think that "transition" is a subtle hint that they should change.  Not at all.  We recognize all gender choices here.  I apologize for writing "transition."  May the battery in my Mac fail to recharge.  I feel terrible.

So happy Your Choice.  Whatever that is, it is equal to any other choice, in the same way that hip-hop is equal to Beethoven.

I feel so much better about myself.

December 31,  2015     Permalink

DECEMBER 30,  2015

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

SOBERING – From AP:   BRUSSELS (AP) — The New Year’s Eve fireworks display is being canceled in Belgium’s capital due to threats of an extremist attack.  Yvan Mayeur, the Belgian capital’s mayor, said the decision was taken Wednesday evening after consultation with government officials.  “We are forced to cancel considering the risk analysis done by the Crisis Center,” he told the French-language RTBF network.  Belgium has become a hotbed of Islamist extremism in Europe. 

ANOTHER FAKE "HATE CRIME" – They're now becoming routine.  From the Houston Chronicle:   A Houston man has been arrested in connection with a suspected arson at a mosque on Christmas Day, but the motive for the crime remains a mystery, with the suspect maintaining he was a regular at the mosque.  A spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that the suspect, 37-year-old Gary Nathaniel Moore of Houston, was arrested early Wednesday. Moore appeared in court at 7 a.m., spokeswoman Nicole Strong said, and bond was set at $100,000.  According to a charging instrument released by the Harris County District Clerk, Moore told investigators at the scene that he has attended the storefront mosque for five years, coming five times per day to pray seven days per week.  The cops nailed this one quickly, sparing us the required "interfaith solidarity rally" that follows virtually every report of a "hate crime."

THIS JUST IN – TRUMP DEFENDS HAIRSPRAY – From The New York Times:   Donald J. Trump appears to be more concerned about the quality of his hair than the quality of the air.  Mr. Trump has offered little in the way of an environmental policy during his presidential campaign, but on Wednesday he said that President Obama’s concerns about the environment were infringing on his rights as a consumer. More pressing than saving the ozone layer, he suggested, was the freedom to buy aerosol hairspray.  “You can’t use hairspray because hairspray is going to affect the ozone,” Mr. Trump said during a rally in South Carolina. “They don’t want me to use hairspray, they want me to use the pump.”  This is one of the great crises of our time, and calls for a special session of Congress.

December 30,  2015     Permalink

ANOTHER DOSE OF REALITY – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  Yesterday we learned that Belgium had arrested two men who allegedly were planning an Islamic terrorist plot tied to New Year's.   And now Turkey.  From The Hill:

Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants who were believed to be planning suicide bombings at New Year’s Eve celebrations in the nation’s capital, according to reports.

Authorities said the men were arrested in a raid on a cell house in the low-income Mamak neighborhood of Ankara. Police found a vest strapped with explosives and bomb-making equipment on the scene, according to the chief prosecutor’s office.

The men, who are Turkish nationals, were being questioned by anti-terrorism officials.
The would-be attackers had allegedly staked out possible targets during celebrations in the city, including two locations near bars and a shopping mall.

“They were caught before they had the opportunity to take action,” the prosecutor’s office told the Associated Press.

More than 100 people were killed in October when two suicide bombers detonated explosives outside of Ankara’s main train station during a peace rally.

More than 30 were killed in a July attack carried out by ISIS in a city near the Turkey-Syria border.

Turkish authorities said they foiled a terrorist plot in Istanbul on the same day as the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attack, in which 130 were killed, when they arrested five suspected ISIS militants.

COMMENT:  We are being constantly warned that ISIS is planning attacks in the United States.  There is concern about New Year's Eve, tomorrow night.  The New York Police Department is assigning 6,000 cops to Times Square alone.  I have never seen this much official concern. 

December 30, 2015       Permalink

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:55 A.M. ET:   From the distinguished African-American scholar, Walter Williams.  He's discussing the debate over whether black kids are better off at "elite" institutions, for which they might not be fully prepared, or at institutions that match their degree of academic readiness.  From WND.com: 

The issue for black parents is not whether their sons and daughters should be admitted to an elite college or one that is lower-ranked. The issue is whether their sons and daughters should be admitted to a college where they would not be admitted if they were white. The question for black parents and black people is: Which better serves our interests, a black student’s being admitted to an elite college and winding up in the bottom of his class or flunking out, or a black student’s being admitted to a less prestigious college and performing just as well as his white peers? I would opt for a black student’s doing well and graduating from a less prestigious college.

Think of it this way. Suppose you asked, “Williams, would you teach my son how to box?” I say yes, and after your son wins a few amateur matches, I set him up with a match against an elite boxer like Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis. Your son may have the potential to be a world-class boxer, but he is going to get his brains beaten out and have his career ended before he learns how to bob and weave.

It’s the same with any student – black or white. Pupils are less likely to succeed if they are placed in a fast-paced academic environment where their academic achievement levels do not begin to match those of their peers. Such students would have a greater chance of success in a slower-paced, less competitive environment, one more in tune with their preparation and where they might receive more personal help.

COMMENT:  So well stated, by a genuinely wise man.  Politically correct white college administrators seem less interested in guiding black students correctly than in feathering their own academic nests.  We are not serving these minority kids by putting them into high-pressure environments for which they're not prepared.

December 30, 2015       Permalink

HILLARY'S RECORD – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  Stop laughing.  She actually has one.  Trouble is, it's nothing to brag about.  Take her Senate record...please.  From the Washington Examiner: 

For eight years, Hillary Clinton toiled away in the United States Senate, sponsoring many landmark pieces of legislation and getting them signed into law, forever changing the country.

Just kidding. Only three pieces of legislation that Clinton sponsored became law. None were of much consequence.

One renamed a post office in a New York town with fewer than 2,000 people. Another renamed a portion of highway outside Buffalo after the late Tim Russert. The third established a brick house in Troy, N.Y., as a national historic site to honor a 19th century female union leader.

During her Senate career, Clinton sponsored 713 pieces of legislation. Those were the three that became law. That's a legislative batting average of .004, and none of the bills had much consequence outside New York. For the most part, Clinton's bills were merely facelifts of public grounds.

COMMENT:  Devastating.  She was an inconsequential senator and a failed secretary of state.  And now she presents herself as a presidential candidate.  It's kind of like Hollywood, where many executives fail upward.  If they flop at a job, they get a higher job on the grounds that they have real experience.  If they fail again, they go higher.  After all, they've had more experience.

I recall Clinton's years as our senator.  Nobody noticed that she was there, and nobody much cared.  She was a symbol.  When she announced for the Senate, reporters noticed the number of mink coats in the crowd.  That pretty much says it.

Clinton is the classic ticket puncher.  She punches tickets along the route, and never does much that succeeds.

December 30,  2015     Permalink