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NOVEMBER 28,  2015

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

QUOTE OF THE DAY – From the Daily Caller:  “If Churchill were on Twitter today, he would be shouting against this deal with Iran and saying that this is the second most unwise thing we have ever done, the first being allowing Hitler to rise,” Sir Winston Churchill’s great-grandson Jonathan Sandys tells The Daily Caller. “And he would be warning the world to sit up and wake up.”  The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action adopted by the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, the Russian Federation, and Germany with the Islamic Republic of Iran gives the sworn enemy of Israel the privilege of doing business with the U.S. provided they promise to tame their nuclear program. Implementation begins in early 2016.  Iran has never formally accepted the agreement.  The hardliners oppose it.  We have no guarantee that Iran will carry out its end of the bargain.  However, the Obamans and their princes of appeasement will probably "interpret" Iran's actions favorably, letting the agreement go forward.  We're saying to our children, "You deal with this."

HONORED MEMORY – From Fox:  The officer killed in the shooting Friday at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic had lived a life devoted to his job, his family and his Christian faith, according to his friends.  The body of the fallen University of Colorado at Colorado Springs officer Garrett Swasey was transported from the crime scene to the El Paso County Coroner’s office early Saturday, accompanied on the snowy 10-mile trip by a long line of police vehicles.   Officers who participated told KRDO-TV they wanted to honor Swasey, 44, who left behind a wife and two young children.  Swasey was killed as cops exchanged gunfire with 57-year-old suspect Robert Dear during a five-hour standoff Friday at the clinic Planned Parenthood runs in Colorado Springs. Dear, of Hartsel, Colo., later surrendered to police. His life mattered.  And of course the Planned Parenthood crowd, including Hillary Clinton, has already tried to politicize the tragedy by suggesting it was an attack on Planned Parenthood.  No evidence of that thus far.

THE SHOOTER – This refers to the post just above.  From London's Daily Mail:  The man accused of the Planned Parenthood massacre spent the last year living in an isolated shack and rarely spoke to anyone, it has been revealed.  Robert Dear, 57, moved from North Carolina to Colorado and set up home in an area where people 'like to be by themselves'.  But he never gave any hint of any political views when he ate his meals at the only cafe in the isolated town of Hartsel, eight miles from his remote cabin.  Dear is due to be arraigned on Monday over the deaths of three people at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.  Sounds lie a nutjob, and little else.  What a tragedy for the families affected.  Did mental-health agencies ever check on this guy?

November 28, 2015       Permalink

NOTHING TO SEE; THIS IS SO LAST MONTH – AT 12:38 P.M. ET:   Remember Iran?  There's still this matter of the Iran nuclear deal, which depends on rigorous inspections.  Not going so well, we think.   From Reuters: 

VIENNA A U.N. report on whether Iran has in the past carried out work related to nuclear weapons will not reach a definitive conclusion on the subject, the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is required under a landmark deal between major powers and Iran, which provides for a lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

A clear verdict that weapons-related work occurred would have made it difficult for the deal to proceed, but diplomats have said for weeks that they do not expect the report to be clear-cut, which IAEA chief Yukiya Amano confirmed on Thursday.

"The report will not be black and white," Amano told a news conference when asked about the final assessment of possible military dimensions, or PMD, file which is due next week.

In November 2011, the IAEA issued an annex to a regular report on Iran, listing twelve issues which could indicate Iran might have had a nuclear weapons program.

Iran denies these allegations, but the IAEA, which says it takes no information at face value, has described the intelligence from its member states which formed the basis of the PMD file as "overall credible".

COMMENT:  Sounds awfully vague, and very political, to me.  The powers that be want this deal to proceed.  Some will adjust their "conclusions" accordingly.  It is Obama's crowning "achievement" in foreign policy, even though it may not achieve anything.  The next president will have to look at this very closely, if he or she wants to prevent a catastrophe.

November 28, 2015       Permalink

TRUMP SLIPS – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  After a series of gaffes, Donald Trump slipped in the Reuters daily tracking poll.  

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump's support among Republicans has dropped 12 points in less than a week, marking the real estate mogul's biggest decline since he vaulted to the top of the field in July, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Trump was the favorite of 31 percent of Republicans in a rolling poll in the five days ended on Nov. 27. That was down from a peak of 43 percent registered on Nov. 22.

The dip follows criticism of Trump for comments he made in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

Following the attacks, Trump told an NBC News reporter that he would support requiring all Muslims within the United States to be registered to a special database, which his critics have likened to the mandatory registration of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Trump has also been criticized for flailing his arms and distorting his speech as he mocked a New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, who is disabled.

Trump mocked the reporter as he defended his unsubstantiated assertion that during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, he watched on television as "thousands and thousands" of people in New Jersey cheered while the World Trade Center fell.

Still, Trump is not the only front-runner to slide in the latest survey.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has seen his poll numbers drift downward and now trails Trump by more than half, with just 15 percent of Republicans polled saying they would vote for him in the same Nov. 27 poll. As recently as late October, Carson trailed Trump by only six points.

Following Carson, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz are tied for third place, with more than 8 percent each.

COMMENT:  And yet, Trump is still the frontrunner by quite a bit.  He is still seen as the rebel candidate, and his coarseness hasn't destroyed him.

I'm hoping that the "insider" group, currently represented by Cruz and Rubio, will eventually come down to one of the two, to take on Trump for the nomination.  That will be the key battle.

As we've noted before, there is a real possibility of a brokered convention, which would be terribly exciting, and possibly result in a nominee who's not even running.   High electricity coming.

November 28, 2015       Permalink

A PRANK, OR SOMETHING OMINOUS – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Some disturbing "art work" has been found on airliners...in France.  From London's Express: 

AIRLINE officials have launched an investigation after Arabic graffiti was found daubed on planes in France.

The graffiti was found covering fuel tanks of four easyJet planes at airports which cannot be named for security reasons.

The probe comes two weeks after 130 people were killed by twisted Islamic State terrorists in co-ordinated attacks across Paris.

Airports in the capital have tightened security since the horrific shootings and bombings amid fears of follow-up attacks.

Airline security expert Philip Baum said: "Graffiti in itself won't hurt anybody.

"But the ability of anyone to place a prohibited item near fuel tanks is a concern, of course."

He added: "We know there are people working in restricted areas of airports with extremist sympathies."

COMMENT:  They know?  Is anything being done about those with extremist sympathies, or would that be considered "Islamophobia"?

I find the report chilling.  The extremists will not yield.  And we're now seeing the expected left-wing backlash against strong action toward ISIS building in the West.  A major leftist demonstration is already scheduled for London.  The left, too, being a religion, will not yield.

There was a time when leadership was provided by the United States.  That time is gone, at least temporarily.  Today we have a pro-Islam president with little regard for his own country.   He'll be with us for another year and two months.  No leadership.

November 28,  2015     Permalink

NOVEMBER 27,  2015

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

TRULY BLACK FRIDAY – From Fox:  Two civilians and one police officer were killed Friday after a five-hour standoff at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood building that ended with the gunman's surrender.  The University of Colorado in Colorado Springs police department identified the officer killed as 44-year-old Garrett Swasey, a six-year veteran of the force.  Nine other people, including five police officers, were shot and are in good condition, police said.  Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department said the gunman, described as wearing a long coat and armed with a rifle, gave up after officers inside the building shouted at him. He previously had been firing at police who entered the facility.  We don't know what the gunman's motive was – opposition to Planned Parenthood, personal dispute, robbery, or what.  That hasn't stopped Hillary Clinton from tweeting her support of Planned Parenthood, immediately politicizing a tragedy.

NOT MY KIND OF TOWN – From Breitbart:   As of November 23, there had been 2703 shootings which resulted in 440 deaths year-to date in heavily gun-controlled Chicago.  That is an increase of approximately 400 shootings over the same time last year.  The Chicago Tribune reported these numbers as part of their broader coverage of the 11 people shot, five killed, over the course of last weekend alone. Half of those wounded were shot on November 22 “between about 12:25 p.m. and 8:40 p.m.” Three of those killed were shot on that same day, between those same hours as well.  It is worth noting that while this violence proves the impotency of gun control in general, it is especially damning when juxtaposed with some of the most recent gun control endeavors in particular.  The standard leftist line is to blame the gun manufacturers – the same manufacturers that supply guns to Vermont, with its remarkably low murder rate.  In Chicago politics you can't tell the truth about the role that inner-city culture plays, even though it is obvious. 

RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF MARS – From the New York Post:   Our moon might not be the only thing in outer space made of cheese.  Images taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover show that the Red Planet appears to have a mouse problem, according to an amateur astronomer.  The image looks like a “possible gigantic mouse or other rodent on Mars in Gale Crater sitting on a ridge plain as day,” Joe White writes on his YouTube channel, ArtAlienTV.  He quickly adds the more plausible explanation: that the object is “probably an optical illusion.”  Still, White insists, “other people including myself have found rodents up there before so it could be. Estimated size 2 – 3 feet.”  The Curiosity rover has spent more than three years studying the planet, and whether it can support life — rodent or otherwise.  Hillary Clinton is seeking endorsement from the Mars mouse.  She points to her years of service in support of other rodents.

November 27, 2015       Permalink

CALLING IT RIGHT ON OBAMA – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  The hypocrisy of this man is record-breaking.  From the Washington Times:

Republicans accused President Obama this week of “hypocrisy” after his administration sent threatening letters to states warning they could lose federal funding if they don’t cooperate with his plan to resettle 10,000 refugees this fiscal year.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that was stunning because the president has repeatedly refused to pull federal funding from locales that refuse to cooperate with federal deportation agents — so-called sanctuary cities.

In fact, Mr. Obama has threatened to veto legislation that would force him to withhold funds from sanctuary cities, saying it would “lead to mistrust” between the illegal immigrants and state and local police.

But at a time when Americans already deeply distrust his refugee program, his administration warned governors Wednesday that they could lose federal money if they don’t cooperate in helping resettle Syrians in their states.

“States that continue to use ORR funding must ensure that assistance and services are delivered without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex or political opinion,” the Office of Refugee Resettlement said in a stern warning.

COMMENT:  Yes, we are an immigrant society, but common sense is required to continue that tradition.  The Constitution, as it is said, is not a suicide pact. 

Our screening procedures are inadequate.  And we can certainly ask some of our Arab "friends" to take some refugees, at least temporarily.  We can also provide generous financial aid to make sure they receive proper health care, nutrition, and education.  But we are at war, whether Field Marshal Obama wants to see it or not.  Americans are asking for increased security, not for bigotry. 

The basis of Obama's policies is not compassion for refugees.  It is the doctrinaire ideology of the hard left, of which he is a part.  If the refugees were coming from Britain, he'd make them stand in line in a snowstorm.  Payback for colonialism, you know.

November 27, 2015        Permalink

COMMON SENSE – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  A former president of France speaks common sense following the attacks.  From Financial Times: 

Nicolas Sarkozy has a plan for national recovery after the deadliest Islamist terror attacks on French soil: bring back “eternal France”.

At the centre-right opposition leader’s first political rally since Isis assailants murdered 130 people in Paris earlier this month, the former French president told supporters in Alsace, eastern France, on Wednesday, that multiculturalism is what has made western democracies vulnerable to Islamist extremists.

“France is not a supermarket, it’s a whole,” Mr Sarkozy said to the overcrowded room in the small Alsatian town of Schiltigheim. “There is no French identity, no happy identity in a multicultural society.”

For Mr Sarkozy reviving la France de toujours goes well beyond emergency powers for the police or tough border checks, as instigated by socialist president François Hollande. It means everything from fighting “cultural conformism” caused by unbridled globalisation to restoring homework, standards and discipline to schools.

Squeezed between a rebounding Mr Hollande and a resurgent National Front (FN), the anti-immigration party led by Marine Le Pen, Mr Sarkozy has opted to veer to the right. It is a strategy reminiscent of his presidential campaign in 2012, when he was defeated by Mr Hollande.

Ten days before the first round of regional elections in which the FN is expected to make a historic breakthrough — and 18 months before the next presidential poll — Mr Sarkozy’s speech highlights his struggle to project a distinctive voice at time when the entire French political scene has shifted to the right.

COMMENT:  In the United States we still have a president who is far to the left and refuses to budge.  The left to the Reverend Obama is a religion. 

The left in France will wait a bit, then try to fight back, going right back to the old, stale, and failed ideas. I'm not sure it will work this time.

November 27, 2015       Permalink

FBI ON THE CASE, BUT IS IT ENOUGH? – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  The issue here is resources.  The FBI is tracking a number of possible ISIS followers in the U.S.  But experts on ISIS claim there may be many more.  From Fox: 

With as many as 1000 active cases, Fox News has learned at least 48 ISIS suspects are considered so high risk that the FBI is using its elite tracking squads known as the mobile surveillance teams or MST to track them domestically.

“There is a very significant number of people that are on suspicious watch lists, under surveillance," Republican Senator Dan Coats said.

Coats, who sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence, would not comment on specifics, but said the around the clock surveillance is a major commitment for the bureau. "The FBI together with law enforcement agencies across the country are engaged in this. It takes enormous amount of manpower to do this on a 24-7 basis. It takes enormous amount of money to do this," Coats explained.

These elite FBI teams are reserved for espionage, mob violence and high priority terrorism cases, like a joint terrorism task force case last June, where a 26 year old suspect Usaama Rahim, was killed outside a Massachusetts CVS. When a police officer and FBI agent tried to question him, the Boston Police Commissioner said Rahim threatened them with a knife, and was shot dead.

With at least a dozen agents assigned to each case, providing 24/7 coverage, this high level of surveillance reflects the severe risk associated with suspects most likely to attempt copycat attacks after Paris.

COMMENT:  The law of averages tells us that some operatives have probably evaded the FBI screen, no matter how good it is.  Also, terror groups change tactics when they know they're being watched.

Remember the old notion that we have to be lucky every time.  Terrorists have to be lucky only once.

November 27, 2015     Permalink