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DECEMBER 17,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

CANCELING CHRISTMAS – FROM FOX:  The iconic Rockettes dance company has announced that the coronavirus has forced them to cancel the remainder of their shows this year.  "We regret that we are unable to continue the Christmas Spectacular this season due to increasing challenges from the pandemic," the group said in a statement Friday. "We had hoped we could make it through the season and are honored to have hosted hundreds of thousands of fans at more than 100 shows over the last seven weeks. We have loved bringing back this cherished tradition that helps usher in the holiday season in New York City and look forward to welcoming fans back to Radio City Music Hall in 2022."  Ticket holders will receive refunds for the canceled shows, MSG Entertainment says but some on social media have expressed frustration with the late notice and poor communication.   No Rockettes?  No foreign enemy would be permitted to do this.  Symbolically, it is a significant blow to New York City's attempts to come back from the pandemic.   Notice the deep concerns of city leaders.  Yawn.

December 17, 2021       Permalink

MITCH DANIELS TAKES ON THE COMMUNIST CHINESE – OVERNIGHT:  One of the great Republicans of our time, Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana and today president of Purdue University, has now done what many "educators" refuse to do.  He's publicly criticized China.  Shock.  Shock.  How can America survive?  From College Fix:   

Purdue University president Mitch Daniels this week called the continued harassment of a pro-freedom Chinese student on his campus “unacceptable and unwelcome on our campus.”

Daniels was responding to a recent article in ProPublica that detailed the intimidation and harassment faced by Chinese Purdue student Zhihao Kong after he spoke out against the Chinese government.
Kong, an engineering student, had recently gone public with his complaints against China, saying he was appalled that the Communist regime had claimed the COVID-19 virus originated in the United States. He further said China had worsened the pandemic by covering up the presence of the virus.
Finally, he posted an open letter praising the Tiananmen Square protesters who died at the hands of the People’s Republic of China three decades ago.

“The future of democratization in China remains bleak,” Kong wrote. “We are young Chinese students who share the values of democracy and freedom, and we are fortunate to learn the message of the free world thanks to God. Thirty-one years ago, students who fell at the gun of PLA on the streets of Beijing became a topic that China could not mention. … We refuse to be silent.”

Chinese officials saw his post and paid a visit to his parents, trying to intimidate them into getting Kong to stop posting pro-democracy statements. When he finally talked to his parents, Kong said they “were crying in the phone call. My father was urging me to stop such activities.”

Members of the Purdue Chinese Students and Scholars Association began threatening Kong in an online chat.

“Suspicion of participating in espionage organization that aims at overthrowing the government, we can call 12339,” wrote one student, referring to the number used to report anti-China activity to the Ministry of State Security, China’s spy agency.

“For now you have violated PRC’s ‘Anti-Secession Law,’” said another student. “According to this law we can indeed report your real name.”

COMMENT:  What an appalling situation, and a salute to Mitch Daniels for doing the right thing.  We can only imagine how many Chinese students on American campuses are facing threats and intimidation from the Communists.  They get little support.  Money talks, and many power centers in this country benefit from Chinese cash, including our so-called "prestigious" universities. 

The only students on most American campuses who get "safe spaces" are those popular on the political left.  All the others have to go it alone.

December 17, 2021       Permalink

DECEMBER 16,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

WHAT A DISGRACE – FROM AMERICAN MILITARY NEWS:   The National Football League (NFL) appears to have caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party, publishing on Wednesday a map that showed Taiwan belonging to China.  The map was published as part of the NFL’s announcement that “18 teams have been granted access to 26 International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) across eight different countries.”  Among the countries listed is China, which includes Taiwan, according to the league’s map.
“NFL fandom begins with our clubs,” Christopher Halpin, NFL Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, said in a statement. “This important initiative enables NFL teams to develop meaningful, direct relationships with NFL fans abroad, driving fan growth and avidity globally. We were very pleased with the number, creativity and level of commitment of club proposals across the board in this initial application period and look forward to teams launching their efforts early next year.  Blah, blah, blah.  The reality is that our major sports organizations are kowtowing to Chinese propaganda demands.  Some heroes.  Maybe some player will eventually take a knee for America.

December 16, 2021       Permalink

CRIME IS GRIPPING THE ELECTORATE – OVERNIGHT:  One of the first rules of journalism is that you cannot tell people they don't see what they actually see.  Democrats tried that once before, in the seventies and eighties.  Crime wave?  What crime wave?  The American people reacted to the Dem fantasies by sending realist Ronald Reagan to the White House.

The Dems are doing it again.  Crime?  You mean there's crime?  A few Democratic officeholders are sane enough to concede that there is indeed crime, but the reality of the situation doesn't seem to bother the great philosophers of the Democratic Party.  The polls tell the story.  From the Washington Times:

Almost 90% of U.S. voters are concerned about the wave of violent crime spreading across the country, according to a new survey by a nonpartisan group.

Rasmussen Reports released the survey on Wednesday that shows 89% of likely voters are concerned about violent crime, including more than half (69%) of whom are “very” concerned. The statistics are up from July when 79% said they were concerned, including 49% who were very concerned.

The telephone and online poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted between Dec. 13-14 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

It comes as criminal justice experts are warning that the rise in homicides in 2020, the biggest one-year increase in 60 years, continued into this year.

FBI statistics show that homicides jumped by nearly 30% last year compared with 2019, from 16,669 to 21,570.

According to the Council on Criminal Justice, the number of homicides in 22 cities was 4% higher during the first nine months of this year than in the same period in 2020 and 36% higher than in 2019.

“Homicide increases above and beyond normal seasonal changes remain deeply troubling and require immediate action from policymakers,” the D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank said last month.

The report notes that the homicide numbers are significantly lower than the nationwide historical peaks of the 1990s.

COMMENT:  Now that we see the very leftish mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, call for law and order, we know that the crime issue is taking its toll on the "let's defund it" princes and princesses of her party.  Pretty soon she'll be wearing a badge and packin' a Glock 9mm. 

Crime, a weak foreign policy, and inflation, are sinking the Democratic Party...for now.

December 16, 2021       Permalink