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JULY 3,  2015

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

DID SOMEONE SAY THAT LIVES MATTER? – From Breitbart: The city of Chicago is gearing up for a violent Independence Day holiday, and already on Friday, 12 were shot and five killed before evening even fell.  The violence began Thursday evening when several were shot and killed on the city’s South Side.  Several more were killed on Friday morning, and by Friday afternoon, ten were shot and four killed.  Please notice the deep interest of the leftist intellectuals.

WHAT A JOKE – More hollow words from Iran's mouthpiece in Geneva.  From Fox:  Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged world powers in a video message Friday to stop the “coercion and pressure” at the nuclear talks, suggesting a favorable agreement could open the door to cooperation on fighting extremism in the Middle East.  Though Zarif didn’t mention the U.S. by name, the seemingly bilateral talks between the two sides make his words clearly directed at the Americans, who have been the primary drivers of the crippling economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.  Any deal would result in an end to the sanctions, but with the July 7 deadline approaching, talks remain bogged down.  Let us celebrate Independence Day by showing some real independence and walking away from these ridiculous talks.  The Iranians might just get the message.  But I'm afraid that's not the message Field Marshal Obama wants to send.

AMERICANS INCREASINGLY SKEPTICAL OF COURTS – From Fox: Likely Americans voters are warming to the idea that individual states should have the right to turn their backs on the federal courts in the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Obamacare and gay marriage. A third of likely U.S. voters now believe that states should have the right to ignore federal court rulings if their elected officials agree with them according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released Friday.  There’s a partisan divide: 50 percent of GOP voters now believe states should have the right to ignore the federal court rulings, compared to 22 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of unaffiliated voters.  “Interestingly, this represents a noticeable rise in support among all three groups,” the poll stated.  No, we don't have the right to ignore federal courts, but we do have the right to express our dismay when courts become legislatures and start making laws instead of interpreting them.  The Supreme Court is being sent a message.  Social policy is reserved for the people's representatives.

July 3, 2015       Permalink

CUTTING OFF THE RUMOR MILL – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  Some of the usual suspects are trying to stir up stories of the burning of black churches in the South.  There have, of course, been arson incidents involving black churches, but a "burning" scare some years ago turned out to be false.  Now, when a black church has a fire, the media seems to be more careful in reporting.  From CNN:

(CNN) Lightning, not arson, caused the fire that gutted a traditionally black church in South Carolina this week, federal and state investigators have concluded.

Tuesday's fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville was caused by lightning, and there was "no criminal intent," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Thursday on Twitter.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division concurred, releasing a statement Thursday saying that the fire is "best classified as natural" and that investigators found no indications of wrongdoing.

The Greeleyville fire drew attention because there have been fires at least five other black churches since the June 17 racist killings of nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church.

Senior FBI officials said as early as Wednesday that lightning might have caused the Greeleyville fire, citing heavy storms that were in the area when it started. They also said investigators at the scene found no accelerants, which would have been an indicator of arson.

A forensics report by CNN meteorologists showed four lightning strikes in the church's immediate vicinity at 7:18 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Tuesday's fire was the Greeleyville congregation's second devastating one in 20 years. Arson destroyed a previous Mount Zion AME church building in 1995.

Two white men who reportedly said they were members of the Ku Klux Klan pleaded guilty to starting the 1995 blaze and another at a separate black church. They were sentenced to serve prison sentences of almost two decades.

COMMENT:  We don't know what caused the fires at the other black churches recently, but we don't know of any clearly determined arson cases either. 

July 3, 2015       Permalink

INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND IN NEW YORK – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  And the security is more intense than ever, with fear of a lone-wolf attack stimulated by ISIS.  From WABC: 

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There is heightened security for the Fourth of July celebrations in New York City and surrounding areas.

There is no specific threat, but the NYPD, after recent arrests of alleged ISIS sympathizers in our area and the attacks overseas, is ramping up security more than usual.

"Is there an enhanced initiative this year? There is," Police Commissioner William Bratton said.

The NYPD is working to make sure the only explosions heard on the Fourth of July will be those launched from the five barges carrying fireworks in East River.

"This may be the most complex counter-terrorism overlay for this event ever. Again, this is not driven by any information or particular threat as much as it's driven by the unfolding world events," said Deputy Chief John Miller, NYPD Intelligence & Counter-Terrorism.

Spectators should already be familiar with checkpoints to the viewing areas, like those in Times Square on New Year's Eve, but the enhanced presence will be things most people can't see.

"Radiation detection, which will range from everything from the radiation detection pagers that our police officers wear on their belts, to our radiation detection boats that will be out in the harbor scanning traffic leading up to this event and during this event, to our air assets that have the same capability," Miller said.

In addition they will have bomb sniffing dogs, thousands of uniformed and plain clothes officers, and monitoring of the city's 7,000 surveillance cameras and social media.

COMMENT:  At least localities are taking this seriously.  Obama is getting bad marks, even from some of his former national-security staff members, for his seemingly casual approach to the threat of ISIS and terrorism generally.

July 3, 2015       Permalink

IRAN TALKS NEAR THE END, WE THINK – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  And there is no guarantee of a deal.  From Reuters:

VIENNA - A year and half of nuclear talks between Iran and major powers were creeping towards the finish line on Friday as negotiators wrestled with sticking points including questions about Tehran's past atomic research.

Iran is in talks with the United States and five other powers - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - on an agreement to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

"We are coming to the end," said a senior Western diplomat, who added there was no plan to carry on for long past next Tuesday. "Either we get an agreement or we don't," he said, adding that the process "remains quite difficult."

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state television that "a lot of progress has been made, but still various technical issues remain that need the other party's political will."

Still, all sides say a deal is within reach. U.S., European and Iranian officials, including U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takhteravanchi, held a six-hour negotiating session that ended at 3 a.m. on Friday, a senior U.S. official said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Zarif were due to hold a bilateral session on Friday, though that meeting was delayed several times.

COMMENT:  My great fear is that Obama, who really controls our side, will cave at the end, or that European business interests will prevail and force the Europeans to cave.

The best outcome would be for us to walk away for a time, rattling Iran's cage.  They need this pact more than we do.  If finally convinced of our seriousness – and I'm not convinced at all – maybe they'd start to get real.

July 3,  2015     Permalink

JULY 2,  2015

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       Permalink

WHAT WE ARE AGAINST – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  At the end of World War II, General Eisenhower had American troops marched through Nazi death camps.  He explained that, while they might not understand what they'd been fighting for, he wanted them to understand what they'd been fighting against.  This is what we're fighting against.  From Fox: 

The blood-soaked executioners of ISIS have spared neither women nor children since the jihadist army established its caliphate a year ago, putting an estimated 74 kids and even more women to death for such offenses as practicing “magic” and refusing to fast during Ramadan.

A total of 3,027 people have been executed by ISIS since it declared itself a state under strict Islamic law in Syria and Iraq last June, according to a new report by the UK-based group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Many of the charges against those executed are recorded as blasphemy and spying, but others include sorcery, sodomy, practicing as a Shia Muslim," the report states.

Just this week, two children whose ages were not known were crucified in the Mayadin, Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria after ISIS accused them of not properly fasting during Ramadan. The children’s bodies, put on public display on crossbars, each bore a sign explaining their violation during the holy month for Muslims that runs June 17 to July 17. With each execution justified by ISIS' medieval interpretation of the Koran, the group is attempting to portray itself as the true practitioners of Islam, say experts.

COMMENT:  Just once I would love to see one of these fraudulent "multiculturalists" in our colleges ask, "Who are we to question these cultural practices of others?"  Just once.

July 2, 2015       Permalink

CARLY RISING – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  We've advised here repeatedly to watch Carly Fiorina.  She has a kind of political magic.  It's beginning to show, and to work.  From the Los Angeles Times: 

When it was Carly Fiorina’s turn to take the stage at a presidential forum in Oklahoma City, Noah Wolff was thinking of heading outside for a break.

“I thought of all the people, why is she here?” said Wolff, 19, a Republican and political science major at the University of Oklahoma.

But as Fiorina started speaking, Wolff was captivated by her message. While other candidates in the convention hall spent their time spewing standard conservative talking points and criticizing the current Democratic administration, he said, Fiorina outlined solutions, such as how she would negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran.

Wolff stood with the crowd in several ovations for the GOP presidential hopeful.

Previously, the only thing he knew about Fiorina was that Hewlett-Packard had fired her. “Maybe that’s why I was so impressed, I came in with very low expectations, and she was just far and away the best speech,” he said.

Fiorina, who lost a U.S. Senate race in California in 2010 by 10 points, has never registered above 3% in the national presidential polls. But she is showing signs of momentum. She cracked the top 10 in a national survey for the first time last week, a requisite to win a spot in the first Republican primary debate in August.

In Denver on Saturday, she placed second in a conservative gathering’s straw poll — not an indicator of her likelihood of winning the GOP nomination, but a sign of the enthusiasm she is generating among grass-roots activists.

Fiorina also is consistently drawing rave reviews on the stump.

COMMENT:  I don't think she'll get the presidential nod, but you never know.  I do think she'd be a strong vice-presidential choice, and a potential president.  She's one of the most effective speakers I've ever heard, and she wins people over. 

She'd also neutralize the "first woman president" advantage that Hillary would have.

Keep watching her.

July 2, 2015       Permalink

OH, THE EMBARRASSMENT – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Say this about Bernie Sanders, he is a very shrewd political operator.   He may be a socialist, but he understands the market.  He knows that big crowds draw press, and he knows where to go for the big crowds.  This is embarrassing to Queen Hillary, whose throne is getting wobbly.  From The Hill: 

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders drew 10,000 supporters, the largest crowd of his campaign thus far, according to reports.

"Tonight, we have more people at any meeting for a candidate of president of the United States than any other candidate,” Sanders told his fans at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wis., according to the Associated Press.

Sanders used the occasion to slam Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely Republican White House hopeful, for Walker’s battles against state labor unions.

"When you deny the right of workers to come together in collective bargaining, that's extremism," Sanders said. "When you tell a woman that she cannot control her own body, that's extremism."

Sanders continued beating his populist drum, to the delight of his supporters.

"The big money interests — Wall Street, corporate America, all of these guys — have so much power that no president can defeat them unless there is an organized grassroots movement making them an offer they can't refuse," he said.

Some in attendance took to social media to share images from the event.

COMMENT:  Okay, let's get to basics.  Yeah, 10,000 people is a very impressive number for a fringe candidate, but look at where the rally was held:  Madison.  That's the Berkeley of the Midwest.  If Fidel was run out of Cuba, he'd go to Madison.  Ditto Putin.  Ditto Stalin.  So the audience count was not all that shocking. 

Still, it's embarrassing for Hillary.  She was supposed to sail to the nomination, but the water is rising, and she is sinking.  No enthusiasm for her has surfaced at all, except among her staff and those contributors looking for ambassadorships.

July 2, 2015       Permalink

INCREDIBLE – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  I guess that one of the worst things you can be in the world today is a friend of the United States.  From Fox: 

The U.S. has reportedly blocked any attempts by Middle East allies to fly weapons to the Kurds fighting the Islamic State in Iraq.

The Telegraph reports that U.S. allies say President Obama and other Western leaders, including Britain’s David Cameron, aren’t showing leadership over the escalating ISIS crisis in Iraq, Syria and throughout the Middle East.

These allies are now willing to “go it alone” in giving heavy weaponry to the Kurds, even if it means defying Iraq and the U.S. who want all weapons to be funneled through Baghdad, according to the newspaper.

High level officials from Gulf and other states have told The Telegraph that plans to persuade Obama to arm the Kurds directly have failed. The Senate voted down an amendment for the U.S. to bypass Baghdad and send weapons to the Kurdish fighters.

The officials told the paper they are looking for ways to bypass U.S. permission to give the Kurdish fighters weapons.

“If the Americans and the West are not prepared to do anything serious about defeating ISIL, then we will have to find new ways of dealing with the threat,” a senior Arab government official told The Telegraph. “With ISIL making ground all the time we simply cannot afford to wait for Washington to wake up to the enormity of the threat we face.”

COMMENT:  We are at war with our friends and appeasing our enemies.  What a foreign policy for America.  It could have been designed in Moscow during the Cold War.  Whoops.  Mustn't say that.

Why not?

July 2,  2015     Permalink