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JANUARY 13,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

I WOULD HOPE SO – FROM DAILY MAIL:   A Civil Defense employee is set to be retrained after a shocking blunder on Saturday morning, when a mistaken alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile sent thousands fleeing for shelter.  The false alarm was caused by a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee who 'pushed the wrong buttons' during an internal drill timed to coincide with a shift handover at 8.07am. The all-clear phone alert was not sent until 38 minutes later.  Incredibly, officials said the employee who made the mistake wasn't aware of it until mobile phones in the command center began displaying the alert.  'This guy feels bad, right. He's not doing this on purpose - it was a mistake on his part and he feels terrible about it,' said EMA Administrator Vern Miyagi in a press conference Saturday afternoon.  Retrained?  Was he ever trained in the first place?  I don't think we've ever had an incident like this.  It requires a major investigation, probably at the Congressional level. 

GREAT MOMENTS IN GOVERNMENT – FROM REUTERS:   WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Chelsea Manning, the transgender U.S. Army soldier who served seven years in military prison for leaking classified data, is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, according to Federal election filings seen on Saturday.  Manning, who was granted clemency by former U.S. President Barack Obama, was released in May from a U.S. military prison in Kansas where she had been serving time for passing secrets to the WikiLeaks website in the biggest breach of classified data in the history of the United States.  Democratic Senator Ben Cardin was elected in 2006 to that seat and is expected to run for re-election this year. He is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  Cardin was easily re-elected in 2012, beating his Republican challenger by 30 points in the heavily-Democratic state.  Manning had been working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. She was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for furnishing more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, an international organization that publishes information from anonymous sources.  What a total jerk.  What an embarrassment to the Democratic Party that Manning is seeking its nomination.  The party should make it impossible for this dubious character to run...based on her service record.

I WILL NOT DO THIS! – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   In an era during which rules seem meant to be broken — and more and more people are calling for gender equality — it should surprise no one that the fashion world is the head cheerleader for change. Case in point: the Fall 2018 Menswear designers presenting a variety of skirts on their runways.  A wrap skirt paired with a matching jacket showed up at the Astrid Andersen show in London, as well as a flasher-worthy trench dress at Alex Mullins, and a a flirty full skirt bounced along at Bobby Abley.  Then, Undercover presenting a plethora of pleated maxi skirts in Florence. Designer Jun Takahashi opened with five looks ranging from minimalist monochromatic to grungy, head-to-toe plaid. But the literal showstopper was the finale: a parade of topless men in white maxiskirts.  This is the end of civilization as we know it.

January 13, 2018       Permalink 

IRAN – THE RUMBLES CONTINUE – AT 11:41 A.M. ET:   We're getting more and more reports to the effect that the Iranian rebellion, presumably put down by the government, is still alive and festering.  From Fox: 

They are risking their lives to bring freedom to Iran, and vow to continue their protests.

"These uprisings have just begun. People are not at all willing to give up," one activist told Fox News from the streets of Iran.

"Their patience has come to an end and they have nothing to lose. Iran will surely not fall down and people will not retreat from their demands."

The defiance comes as President Trump announced Friday that he is waving sanctions against Iran under the controversial 2015 nuclear deal one last time, and gave the European allies four months to change the terms of the agreement or he may seek to scrap it.

The protesters we talked to demand even harsher sanctions.

"They should impose major sanctions on the regime," one protester demanded. Another added there "should be sanctions for human rights violations."

The protesters are members of the long banned opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, also known as the MEK). The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, has been directly blamed by the Iranian government for fomenting the unrest.

Social media videos show supporters unveiling large banners with Rajavi's photo over highway overpasses, and continuing their opposition.

COMMENT:  We have to be ready in case the protests erupt again.  President Trump was vigorous in his verbal support for the demonstrators last time, but did little else.  The Europeans, ever conscious of the money they're making in Iran, did nothing. 

January 13, 2018      Permalink

THAT PRESIDENTIAL REMARK – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:    We haven't commented about the president's allegedly obscene remarks this week about certain foreign countries, because we still don't know all the details.  If the president said it, shame on him. 

But shame on others, who seem gleeful over the president's blunder.  The fact that Mr. Trump's ill-advised statement can damage the United States means nothing to this crowd.  They care only about bringing down this president.  Consider these wise observations by Roger Kimball, at American Greatness: 

It is curious how close certain seemingly contrary emotions can be. Consider, to take just one example, the feelings of glee and outrage. At first blush, they seem very different. Glee occupies a positive register in the metabolism of human emotions. There is such thing as malicious glee, of course—the German word schadenfreude captures that perfectly. But by and large, I believe, glee is a sunny, allegro emotion.

Outrage, on the contrary, is a dour beast. It glowers. It fulminates. It glories in moral indignation, which it eagerly manufactures whenever it is in short supply.

And it is there, in the manufacture, affectation, the pretense, of moral indignation that that outrage shades in smarmy gleefulness. You can see this in operation right now, today, by the simple expedient of turning to CNN and watching commentator after commentator explode in gleeful outrage over Donald Trump’s alleged comments about the relative desirability of immigrants from countries like Norway, on the one hand, and countries like Haiti, El Salvador, and various apparently unnamed African countries on the other. (I say “alleged” not because I doubt the substance of the report, but simply because the president has disputed some details of the reporting.)

Two questions: Were all those commentators at CNN (and the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other purveyors of sanctimony)—were they more delighted or unhappy about the president’s comment? Think carefully before answering.

Sometimes, the experience of outrage, and its accompanying moral indignation, is essentially a feeling of displeasure—at a wrong done or suffered, an injustice or cruelty observed, etc.

But sometimes, outrage is but a patina of indignation whose chief motive is incontinent delight. Which is it for the talking heads at CNN?

COMMENT:  Very well stated.  Some of these commentators are overjoyed.  They will hurt their country, but they will serve themselves.  And, after all, which is more important to them?

January 13, 2018       Permalink

FLU – AT 10:11 A.M. ET:  Far too little attention is being given to the fact that we have a serious flu epidemic, and many of our hospitals are poorly equipped to handle it.  This is a case study in what might happen if we have a national catastrophe.  From Texas Tribune: 

Big-city hospitals in Texas have been overwhelmed this week by an influx of flu patients, and state health officials say influenza activity is widespread across the state.

At Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, waiting rooms turned into exam areas as a medical tent was built in order to deal with the surge of patients. A Houston doctor said local hospital beds were at capacity, telling flu sufferers they might be better off staying at home. Austin's emergency rooms have also seen an influx of flu patients. 

Parkland, of course, is where President Kennedy died.

But high emergency room volumes and filled hospital beds are "not uncommon" for this point during flu season, which runs from October to May, said Lara Anton of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

"We definitely know it's widespread," Anton said this week. "We have been at widespread for the past three weeks." But she added that it's too early in the season to know whether this year's flu impact is extraordinary.

On Monday alone, Parkland's emergency department had seen 930 patients — double what the hospital typically sees for people with flu symptoms by this time of year, Dr. Joseph Chang, associate chief medical officer for Parkland, told CBS11.

Across town on Sunday, Methodist Dallas Medical Center rerouted non-emergency ambulance patients to different area facilities in order to take care of “emergency patients like trauma, stroke, and sexual assault" due to the lack of bed availability from flu patients. The hospital said the move was consistent with state and federal laws, The Dallas Morning News reported. 

The Houston and Austin areas are also seeing high volumes of patients. In Houston, area hospitals have filled up, including Texas Children’s Hospital, where a quarter of patients are being treated for the flu. Austin doctors have reported high volumes of patients in emergency rooms, and “the number of visits at health care systems, physician offices and urgent care centers over the past week has really exploded,” Dr. Ken Mitchell of St. David’s Healthcare told KXAN.

As of Thursday, no Texas hospitals had requested state help to deal with flu activity, Anton said.

COMMENT:  A number of deaths have been reported.  Flu is dangerous.  We have perhaps become too complacent.  The flu shots available may not be all that effective against the current strain of flu, but medical people have told me that having the shot can reduce the severity of flu, once it attacks the body.

And what happens with our hospitals if we're hit by a biological-warfare attack?  I hope that's being studied.

January 13,  2018     Permalink

JANUARY 12,  2018

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

TRUMP DECIDES ON IRAN – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:  President Donald Trump waived nuclear-related sanctions on Iran on Friday, keeping the US in an international deal governing its nuclear program for the time being.  But in doing so, a senior administration official said that Trump would not sign any more such waivers going forward— starting a 120-day clock for negotiations over what the White House describes as a supplemental accord with Europe that will impose new terms on Iran over its future nuclear work.  The move creates a deadline on talks over a nuclear deal the European Union says is working, and that it will not touch. Should Trump fail to issue future waivers, European entities and businesses will bear the brunt of secondary sanctions, creating a potential crisis in US-EU relations, in addition to whatever actions Tehran might take in response.  The president decided wisely.  The EU is demonstrating once again that it is not our friend, only our ally when convenient for them.  Their main interest in Iran is money.  The president may have to confront the West Europeans at some point, and note that we have interests, we have a nation, we have a civilization, and we have a religious ethic.  That may have to be translated into Europeanese.

SHRINKS WARNED – FROM THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON:   The American Psychiatric Association is pleading with its members and all psychiatrists to stop analyzing President Donald Trump, saying it is "unacceptable and unethical" to engage in "armchair psychiatry."  The APA, which is the largest psychiatric association in the world, released a statement this week decrying members of the profession who are violating the "Goldwater Rule"—commenting on a public figure's mental state from afar.  "We at the APA call for an end to psychiatrists providing professional opinions in the media about public figures whom they have not examined, whether it be on cable news appearances, books, or in social media," the organization said. "Armchair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical."  The organization said it is impossible to diagnose someone from their tweets, adding that it "undermines the credibility and integrity of the profession."  "A proper psychiatric evaluation requires more than a review of television appearances, tweets, and public comments," the APA said. "Psychiatrists are medical doctors; evaluating mental illness is no less thorough than diagnosing diabetes or heart disease."  They are correct, and the media should do its part by discouraging the quack medicine of psychiatrists who violate the Goldwater rule. 

WELCOME TO THE HOOD – FROM THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON:  A Democratic candidate running for Illinois attorney general was robbed at gunpoint on Thursday afternoon while taking promotional photos for his campaign, according to his campaign manager and authorities.  Aaron Goldstein, 42, and several members of his campaign team were taking publicity shots in the middle of the afternoon when three men in their early 20s approached them, according to the Chicago Tribune:  "One of the men flashed a handgun and demanded the camera equipment and other personal belongings from the team, according to police.  The gunman and two other men robbed Goldstein and four others of camera equipment and their cellphones before they ran away, the law enforcement source said. As of Thursday evening, no one was in custody, police said."  Since he's a Democrat, I hope the candidate remembered to blame the gun manufacturers.

January 12, 2018       Permalink

MILESTONE – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:   Technological progress brings with it nostalgia.  From Fox: 

When you look up at a plane flying overhead in America, there's one thing you'll know for sure: It's not a Boeing 747.

After nearly 50 years, the venerable aircraft is being retired in the United States for good.
The commercial airliner, which was once hailed as the “Queen of the Skies,” has been embraced by every major U.S. carrier since the first model rolled off the line in 1968. At one point in 1990, there were 130 of the jets in operation throughout the country, but many airlines gradually retired their fleet with cheaper, more efficient models including Airbuses or newer Boeings in more recent years, Flight Global reports.

And on Wednesday, Delta Air Lines is flying the last of the country’s 747s from its hub in Atlanta to Pinal Airpark — an “airport graveyard” — in Manara, Ariz.

COMMENT:  I recall my first flight in a 747, back around 1970.  I was amazed by the sheer width of the aircraft.  I always loved it.  If the plane wasn't full, you could often stretch out over the middle four seats.  At least that's the way I remember it. 

One 747 flight we took went sour.  We were almost halfway out over the Atlantic on a flight to Rome, when the plane lost an engine.  Under flight rules in place at the time, because the flight hadn't reached the halfway point, we had to fly all the way back to Kennedy Airport in New York...with a one-year-old baby.  But at least we flew in style, and PanAm provided a bassinet for the baby.

January 12, 2018       Permalink

TAX BILL ALREADY WORKING – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:   Democrats are already, and desperately, trying to play down the impact of the new tax-reform legislation.  But the truth cannot be denied, especially as it is attached to paychecks.  From Conservative Treehouse: 

The recently passed Tax Bill continues to enhance the MAGAnomic policy of the Trump administration, leading to more great economic and jobs news amid the headlines.

Do the math.  The three single-day announcements below will add more than 6,500 new jobs, average around $50,000 per job, and contribute tens-of-billions to a revitalized new America-First economy.  This is MAGAnomics in action.  This is a direct result of economic policies initiated by President Trump.  This is part of the reason why the U.S. GDP will easily exceed 4% growth in the next three years of Trump’s first term.

Economic Nationalism – America’s largest private employer, Walmart, has announced their plan to increase their minimum wage to $11/hr and give out bonuses between $200 to $1,000 to each of their more than one million employees:

CNBC – […] “We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders,” he added. “However, some guiding themes are clear and consistent with how we’ve been investing — lower prices for customers, better wages and training for associates and investments in the future of our company, including in technology.”

Walmart said the changes will benefit the retailer’s more than 1 million hourly employees across the country and will go into effect as soon as February. 

Additionally, as a direct result of the new tax landscape in combination with the one-time write-offs for investment, Chrysler has announced they are moving the majority of their Heavy Truck manufacturing from Mexico to Michigan.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  It's good news.  What Trump has done is not only make it possible for corporations to do better for their employees, he has put pressure on them to do so.  He has also changed the national economic psychology from mixed to decidedly positive.

Now, if the president can avoid bad moments, in which he steps all over his accomplishments with foolish tweets or comments, he will be riding high.

January 12, 2018       Permalink

RISING AGAIN – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:  Despite controversy surrounding him, President Trump continues to rise in the Rasmussen poll:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 30% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 43% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13.

COMMENT:  We fully recognize that other polls have the president lower, in some cases dramatically lower.  But Rasmussen is the only daily tracking poll left, and has a history of accuracy in polling Trump, who traditionally underpolls.

I'd imagine that we will get a pretty accurate overall picture of the president's standing later in the year when the effects of tax reform take hold, and the campaign for the midterms reveals what the Democratic Party actually stands for. 

Thus far the biggest political news coming out of the Democratic camp is the deep yearning for Oprah Winfrey for president.  Translated:  They really haven't got anybody. 

January 12,  2018     Permalink