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MAY 28,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

REPUBLICAN RACE – From The Politico:  "The Republican field for 2016 is growing increasingly top-heavy, with no clear frontrunner emerging in the latest nationwide Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.  Grabbing 10 percent apiece among Republican voters are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul received 7 percent, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 6 percent, Donald Trump at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Carly Fiorina each getting two percent.  'Safe to say, the 2016 Republican presidential primary is anyone’s race. With no front-runner and identical numbers for the top five contenders, it’s a horse race which can only be described as a scrambled field – at least so far,' said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll."  I'm growing concerned about the sheer number of candidates.  Voters and poll respondents will find it increasingly difficult to make a clear decision.  And I fear that great voices like Carly Fiorina will be cut out of debates because of their poll standings.

US NEGOTIATOR OUT-OF-THERE – From Times of Israel:  "Wendy Sherman, who has led American nuclear talks with Iran for the better part of two years, will resign her post after the June 30 deadline for a final deal, she told The New York Times on Wednesday.  'It’s been two long years,' she told the paper.  As undersecretary for policy, Sherman is the third-highest ranked official in the US State Department. She was brought to the job by Hillary Clinton, the predecessor to current Secretary of State John Kerry. Upon announcing her departure, she won high praise from administration leaders."  Looks like a standard resignation.  No indication she's been forced out.  Frankly, we can do better.  Sherman also negotiated the nuclear agreement with North Korea, which the Koreans immediately violated.  I'd like to see someone stronger in there, but that's not the Obama way.

AH YES, I REMEMBER IT WELL – From London's Independent: "Lost memories have been retrieved with the help of light in a study that could further the understanding and treatment of patients with severe amnesia following injury or disease.  A study on laboratory mice has found that a lost memory is still stored within the brain cells even though the animals had apparently lost their ability to retrieve it, scientists said.  Scientists have long debated the nature of amnesia, with many researchers suggesting that the problem is due to the storage of memory rather than the inability to retrieve it from long-term memory banks of the brain."  Gee, you think Hillary can be made to remember what was in those private e-mails?  I think she should be made part of the experiment.

May 28, 2015       Permalink

OUR PILOTS FRUSTRATED – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:   American pilots flying against ISIS are showing increasing frustration at the restrictions placed upon them.  From Fox:

U.S. military pilots carrying out the air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are voicing growing discontent over what they say are heavy-handed rules of engagement hindering them from striking targets.

They blame a bureaucracy that does not allow for quick decision-making. One Navy F-18 pilot who has flown missions against ISIS voiced his frustration to Fox News, saying: "There were times I had groups of ISIS fighters in my sights, but couldn't get clearance to engage.”

He added, “They probably killed innocent people and spread evil because of my inability to kill them. It was frustrating."

Sources close to the air war against ISIS told Fox News that strike missions take, on average, just under an hour, from a pilot requesting permission to strike an ISIS target to a weapon leaving the wing.

A spokesman for the U.S. Air Force’s Central Command pushed back: “We refute the idea that close air support strikes take 'an hour on average'. Depending on the how complex the target environment is, a strike could take place in less than 10 minutes or it could take much longer.

"As our leaders have said, this is a long-term fight, and we will not alienate civilians, the Iraqi government or our coalition partners by striking targets indiscriminately."

A former U.S. Air Force general who led air campaigns over Iraq and Afghanistan also said today's pilots are being "micromanaged," and the process for ordering strikes is slow -- squandering valuable minutes and making it possible for the enemy to escape.

COMMENT:   I trust the views of the pilots.  There is no real will to win on the part of their commander-in-chief, and, as they say, the fish rots from the head.

May 28, 2015       Permalink

AND MORE HILLARY – AT 9:36 A.M. ET:  She is the gift that keeps on giving...by the hour it seems.  From International Business Times:

Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States' oil-rich ally in the Middle East.

Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region's fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Department’s documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family.

But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At a press conference in Washington to announce the department’s approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been “a top priority” for Clinton personally. Shapiro, a longtime aide to Clinton since her Senate days, added that the “U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army have excellent relationships in Saudi Arabia.”

These were not the only relationships bridging leaders of the two nations. In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing -- the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15 -- contributed $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release.

The Saudi deal was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clinton’s State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire, an International Business Times investigation has found.

COMMENT:  The appearances are the worst.  I don't recall a candidate who carried this much baggage into a presidential campaign.  And yet, there are millions who are supporting her.  Our ethics as a nation have sunk as low as has our popular culture.  Concepts of integrity and honor are seen as relics of the past.

May 28, 2015        Permalink

THE DAILY HILLARY – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  The excitement surrounding the Clintons never ends.  Their troubles could support a good part of the legal profession.  From the Washington Free Beacon:

Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation have been hit with a racketeering lawsuit in Florida court.

The lawsuit, filed by Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, includes a legal request to have the Florida judge seize the private server on which Hillary Clinton and her aides hosted their emails while she served as secretary of state.

Klayman has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Clintons and other prominent politicians.

The racketeering, influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO, case alleges the former first couple and their family philanthropy traded political favors for donations or generous speaking fees for Bill Clinton while his wife was the nation's chief diplomat.

"Negotiations by email about influencing U.S. foreign policy or U.S. Government actions to benefit donors to ... The Clinton Foundation or sponsors of speaking engagements would not be captured on a U.S. Government email account because her emails would not be with a U.S. Government official," Klayman said in court documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

"Hillary Clinton deleted 32,000 email messages from her email server that included her communications arranging, negotiating, and agreeing upon speaking engagements by Bill Clinton in return for large speaking fees and donations to The Clinton Foundation," the documents, dated May 20, said.

Klayman pushed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to order a "neutral forensic expert ... to take custody and control of the private email server and reconstruct and preserve the official U.S. Government records relating to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy during Defendant Secretary Clinton's term as Secretary of State."

COMMENT:  Obviously, I have no idea whether the court system will allow the suit to go forward.  But the filing of it reminds voters, once again, of the shadiness with which the Clintons operate. 

Hillary and Bill back in the White House?  Kind of like having Bonnie and Clyde as your nannies.

May 28, 2015       Permalink

A POSSIBLE ELECTORAL BOMBSHELL – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Silvio Canto Jr. alerted us to this.  It is a growing story with profound implications.  From the New York Sun: 

Hang on to your hats, New Yorkers. That’s the word in the wake of this week’s decision of the United States Supreme Court to take a new look at the meaning of the constitutional mantra of “one man, one vote.” It could ignite an earthquake in American politics.

The case — known as Evenwel v. Abbott — is arising from Texas. It’s about whether voting power has to be apportioned equally by general population or by eligible voters. The impact could extend way beyond the Lone Star State, shifting political power away from cities.

Particularly cities with relatively high, non-voting immigrant populations like — oh, say — New York. The case has the potential to require authorities to strip away during the redistricting process population that isn’t eligible to vote — undocumented aliens, felons, children.

Edward Blum is the conservative constitutional sage who heads the Project on Fair Representation, which provided counsel in this case. He tells me the Nine could force redistricting. The court could, he said, “help upstate New York districts dramatically.”

Not just upstate. Mr. Blum reckons the case could lead to changes in city councils, too. He speculates that council districts in such big cities as New York, Houston and Chicago are among the “most mal-apportioned” in the country.

And...

Slate.com is already suggesting that a victory by Mr. Blum’s clients — two Texas voters who feel under-represented — could mean “more Republican districts.” This is because most states apportion districts based on total population, which, Slate says, “includes noncitizens, children, felons and others ineligible to vote.”

The riddle the case attacks was left unsolved by the series of Supreme Court cases known as the one-man-one-vote decisions.

COMMENT:  We certainly will be following this case closely.  My own guess is that the Court will be very reluctant to change the current system because the negative impact will be greatest on cities – in other words, minorities.  But you never know.  I'm also guessing that Justice Kennedy will break a tie on this one.

May 28,  2015     Permalink

MAY 27,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

FINALLY – From AP:  "MIAMI (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the relatively short amount of time he has left in office 'really concentrates the mind.'  For the first time.

GOOD IDEA? – From The Hill:  "Nebraska abolished its death penalty Wednesday after a political standoff over the use of capital punishment in the Cornhusker State.  Lawmakers in the unicameral Legislature voted 30-19 to override a veto issued by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) over their initial legislation ending the practice.  The landmark vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally red state to eliminate the death penalty since 1973, according to the ABC News affiliate in Omaha.  Nebraska now joins 18 other states and Washington, D.C., in banning executions."  One can argue the case either way, but at least this was done by a state legislature, and not some unaccountable court. 

PROFOUND – After the U.S. Justice Department announced indictments of major soccer officials of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), The New York Times ran an editorial headlined
FIFA’s Corruption Stains World Soccer.  We express appreciation to The Times for its deep insight.

OUT OF HIS MIND – From AP:   "WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul is blaming his own party for the rise of the Islamic State group.  The freshman senator from Kentucky said Wednesday that the GOP's foreign policy hawks 'created these people.' That assertion led potential 2016 rival Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's governor, to say Paul was unqualified to be president.  The Islamic State group, commonly referred to as ISIS, has seized one-third of Iraq and Syria and in recent days made gains in central Iraq.  'ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately,' Paul said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' He continued: 'They created these people. ISIS is all over Libya because these same hawks in my party loved — they loved Hillary Clinton's war in Libya. They just wanted more of it.'"  For months Rand Paul tried to separate himself from the extreme foreign-policy views of his father.  Now he's moving closer to dad.  I think that, from here on, he'll be seen as the fringe candidate that he really is.  He and his father use the Republican Party, but are not really part of it.  ISIS was created by an extreme ideology, not by John McCain.

May 27, 2015       Permalink

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. WOUK – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  Today is the 100th birthday of Herman Wouk, one of the best of the quality popular novelists of post-World War II America.   He is still with us, and will soon publish a memoir. 

When I was growing up, Herman Wouk was a literary giant.  His novel, "The Caine Mutiny," won the Pulitzer Prize.  Its main character, an eccentric Navy destroyer-minesweeper captain, was played on film by Humphrey Bogart, in one of his last performances.  "Caine Mutiny" introduced the term "paranoid schizophrenia" into the popular vocabulary, and remains one of the best novels of World War II. 

"Marjorie Morningstar" became the great American love story of the 1950s.  Although based on the coming-of-age of a Jewish girl in New York in the thirties, its themes were universal, and it was read and loved throughout the country.  Some colleges use it in literature classes.  Marjorie was immortalized on screen by Natalie Wood. 

In 1983 we were treated to a wonderful miniseries, "The Winds of War," from another of Wouk's World War II novels.  It starred Robert Mitchum in one of his few television roles.     

Wouk has always been a patriot, a man who believes in America and in defending the nation he believes in.  He also believes in tradition and religion, and understands their importance in the life of a nation and a family.  For these beliefs, of course, he has been somewhat marginalized by the literary "sophisticates" of the last 30 years or so.   But they cannot take away Herman Wouk's contribution.  From Lieutenant Commander Philip Queeg's rolling of steel marbles in his nervous hands in "Caine Mutiny," to Marjorie Morningstar's pursuit of, and abandonment of, her dreams, we remember the images that Herman Wouk created to make the great American story. 

May 27, 2015       Permalink

NEW WORLD OF ELECTRONIC WEAPONS – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:   It's remarkable.  But if we have this, it won't take long for others to have it.  From London's Daily Mail:

From Ocean's Eleven to Star Trek, weapons that wipe out enemy electronics are a staple of science fiction films.

For years, scientists have been attempting to create such a weapon as part of Champ, or the Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project.

Now, the US Air Force claims it has advanced the technology, and says it can deploy it using the stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM).

According to Foxtrot Alpha, once integrated into JASSM, Champ will be a 'first day of war' standoff weapon.

Because it can be launched by both bombers and fighters, Lockheed's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, is an ideal platform for Champ.

'The capability is real … and the technology can be available today,' said Major General Thomas Masiello, the Air Force Research Laboratory.

'That's an operational system already in our tactical air force'

In 2012, aircraft manufacturer Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military compound.

During Boeing's experiment, the missile flew low over the Utah Test and Training Range, discharging electromagnetic pulses on to seven targets, permanently shutting down their electronics.

COMMENT:  This reminds us of articles warning of an EMP (electronic magnetic pulse) attack on the United States, which would require a nuclear weapon to be set off high above our country.  The explosion's electronic pulses would, theoretically, destroy the electronics that run electric generating stations, hospitals, communications networks, trains, airliners, and commercial offices. 

It now appears, from the weapon described above, that miniature EMP attacks could be launched closer to the ground, using missiles or perhaps low-flying aircraft, without setting off a nuclear weapon. 

We have, as an advanced country, become almost completely dependent on electronics.  A successful EMP attack, or a series of strategically placed mini attacks, could paralyze the nation for days, weeks, or months.  Some say that a massive EMP attack could kill millions because food, water and fuel supplies could be cut off and emergency services brought to a halt.

Maybe digging that self-contained shelter, with supplies and protected generators, isn't so nutty after all.

May 27, 2015       Permalink

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SCANDAL – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  Why don't we just say that the Clintons are a public embarrassment, and that the election of Hillary Clinton would raise questions about the moral values of the American people.  From Fox: 

The newly released financial files on Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's growing fortune omit a company with no apparent employees or assets that the former president has legally used to provide consulting and other services, but which demonstrates the complexity of the family's finances.

Because the company, WJC, LLC, has no financial assets, Hillary Clinton's campaign was not obligated to report its existence in her recent financial disclosure report, officials with Bill Clinton's private office and the Clinton campaign said. They were responding to questions by The Associated Press, which reviewed corporate documents.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide private details of the former president's finances on the record, said the entity was a "pass-through" company designed to channel payments to the former president.

Under federal ethics disclosure rules, declared candidates do not have to report assets worth less than $1,000. But the company's existence demonstrates the complexity of tracking the Clintons' finances as Hillary Clinton ramps up her presidential bid.

While Bill Clinton's lucrative speeches have provided the bulk of the couple's income, earning as much as $50 million during his wife's four-year term as secretary of state in the Obama administration, the former president has also sought to branch out into other business activities in recent years. Little is known about the exact nature and financial worth of Bill Clinton's non-speech business interests.

COMMENT:  And the worst part is that some of the untrackable money may come from foreign enemies of the United States.  And who is backing these "business activities"?

It's hard to believe that America would elect a president like Hillary Clinton, with so many ethics clouds hanging over her and her husband.  But, of course, America elected Barack Obama, who had no visible qualifications for the job.

May 27, 2015       Permalink 

ISIS ACES SOCIAL MEDIA – AT 8:03 A.M. ET:  American intelligence operatives are being overwhelmed by ISIS's use of social media.  The implications are serious.  From Fox: 

U.S. investigators are becoming overwhelmed trying to keep up with the social media barrage by U.S.-based supporters of the Islamic State -- with the latest information suggesting "US military bases, locations, and events could be targeted in the near-term."

The warning comes in a new, six-page bulletin obtained exclusively by Fox News. It warns law enforcement and specifically military personnel to be vigilant during upcoming national holidays and military events due to the "heightened threat of attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)."

Sent one day before the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the joint bulletin -- from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center -- advised there is no "credible" threat information targeting events on U.S. federal holidays. But it said, "we are aware of recent information suggesting US military bases, locations, and events could be targeted in the near-term."

While the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have given generic warnings in the past, this bulletin spelled out the heightened chatter and advised precautions that should be taken. The list of "observable behaviors" also points to so-called insider threats, and warns about individuals asking "unusual questions" about building maintenance or security procedures.

Importantly, it speaks to the sheer volume of social media activity by pro-ISIS users, and the challenge that poses for analysts and investigators.

COMMENT:  A few years ago not many people had heard of ISIS.  Now the group controls large land areas in the Mideast and is clearly threatening the United States.  It's easy to dismiss it as nuts, but it isn't.  ISIS operates carefully, and with a full understanding of modern media and its impact.  With its viciousness it is very intimidating.  More frightening than Al Qaeda.

May 27,  2015     Permalink