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JULY 1,  2017

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

CRIME STORY – FROM BREITBART:  When the City of Phoenix ended its sanctuary city status crime began to fall, the Arizona Police Association reports. Their statement contrasts sharply with politically motivated chiefs of police from around the country.  “When we eliminated our sanctuary policy back in 2008, we saw crime, violent and stolen vehicles fall by 25 percent,” former Phoenix police officer and Executive Director of the Arizona Police Association Levi Bolton told Fox News Channel’s William La Jeunesse in an interview. “We saw a 20-year low crime rate. When we were allowed and had the discretion to contact our federal immigration partners, crime fell drastically.”  Lajeunesse reported data from City-Data.com revealing that from 2008 to 2009, the murder rate in Phoenix dropped by 27 percent. Other crimes fell as well.  Those are the facts.  As the story notes, police chiefs elsewhere tell a different story.  But remember that police chiefs are politically appointed officials.  They follow the line.

NORTH KOREA HEATS UP – FROM BBC:  US President Donald Trump says that years of "strategic patience" with North Korea have failed and it is now time for a "determined response".  "Together we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime," Mr Trump said at a press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Mr Trump called on North Korea to "choose a better path... quickly".  Separately, Mr Moon said that it was necessary to continue to engage in dialogue with North Korean leaders.  The South Korean president added that his country would pursue defence reforms and continue to build up the capacity to defend itself.  Mr Moon said the North Korea issue was a top priority during the talks, stressing that "only strong security can bring about genuine peace" in the Asia-Pacific region.  North Korea has been completely unresponsive both to American demands to curtail its nuclear and missile programs, and to appeals for a peaceful resolution to its conflicts with other nations.  It's clear that Trump won't tolerate the North's intransigence much longer.  Obama tolerated it, and look where we are.

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SINKING – FROM AP:  COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A major financial ratings agency has downgraded the University of Missouri system's credit outlook from stable to negative, citing enrollment declines on the flagship campus in Columbia and declining state revenue.  Moody's Investor Services on Thursday also affirmed the university's Aa1 credit rating, the second highest rating possible. Moody's said the university's revenue and overall financial health give it the flexibility to deal with year-to-year financial challenges.  System President Mun Choi said in a news release Friday that the university recognizes the financial challenges presented by declining enrollment and state funding cuts.  Moody's acknowledges that the university has planned options for revenue growth and cost reductions, but said the new management's ability to deliver on those plans is not yet proven. Choi has been president since March 1.  This all began with absurd, extremist, student demonstrations.  Missouri isn't California.  Taxpayers did not appreciate their state-funded university being taken over by nutjobs.  The result has been a withdrawal of many students and a reluctance of others to attend.  The "social justice" warriors who caused all this have yet to apologize.

July 1, 2017       Permalink

STILL STRONG, AND SUING, AT 101 –  AT 1:53 P.M. ET:  Olivia de Havilland is the last remaining star of 1939's "Gone With the Wind."  She's about to turn 101, and what is she doing?  She's filing a lawsuit.  Why not?  Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it.  From AP:   

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood great Olivia de Havilland has launched her own sequel to the TV series "Feud" — a lawsuit.

The double Oscar-winning actress filed suit Friday against FX Networks and producer Ryan Murphy's company, alleging the drama inaccurately depicts her as a gossipmonger and is an invasion of privacy.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles on Friday — one day before de Havilland turns 101. The actress, whose credits include the role of Melanie Hamilton in "Gone with the Wind," lives in Paris.

De Havilland's suit alleges that "Feud: Bette and Joan," about the testy relationship of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, used her name and identity without permission or compensation.

FX Networks declined comment Friday. Representatives for Murphy, who co-created the hit series "American Horror Story" and "Glee," didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Catherine Zeta-Jones played De Havilland in the series, which aired earlier this year. The anthology series' next announced chapter is about the ill-fated marriage of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

While De Havilland is "beloved and respected by her peers" and has a reputation for integrity and honesty, the series depicts her as "a hypocrite, selling gossip in order to promote herself" at the Academy Awards, the suit says.

This is false, the suit against FX and Ryan Murphy Productions contends.

COMMENT:  Who knows what's true here?  But I'm glad Olivia de Havilland is still with us.  She is one of our last connections to a past, glorious age of film.

July 1, 2017       Permalink

UP NEXT – AT 12:50 P.M. ET:   Despair about the young generation is a regular political sport, but there are those who see some real, positive promise. Salena Zito, a Pittsburgh-based reporter, has emerged as one of the sharpest observers of the political scene, and she feels a new, young generation, offers much hope.  Let her be right.  From the New York Post: 

ERIE, PA — Max Bloomtine has a positive view of the nation’s growing diversity, believes the American dream is attainable (but doesn’t believe he’s entitled to it) and is more into the “we” instead of the “me.”

He is politically independent but leans conservative, attends church on a regular basis, and views his parents — not sports figures or celebrities — as role models.

Right now, though, two things weigh heavily on his mind: where to attend college next year (It’s either going to be the University of Pittsburgh or Rochester) and working on a summer job.

“I am a good entrepreneur when it comes to online gaming administration,” he said.

Say hello to Generation Z, the most recent to come of age. It is the youth of America, with its oldest members in their early 20s.

Sometimes referred to as the iGeneration, as they literally grew up with technology and social media in their hands, they are poised to dramatically change the cultural, economic and political landscape for some time to come.

And...

“Gen Z actually like and trust their parents, who have been transparent with them, much more than any generation before,” said Jeff Brauer, a political-science professor at Keystone College in suburban Scranton, Pa., who has produced one of the first comprehensive studies on the next generation.

Analyzing research from Wright State University in Ohio on 1,200 Generation Z students at 15 colleges and universities across the country, Brauer also used exit polling from CNN and census data to draw his conclusions.

“They are not as impressed with fame — celebrities, athletes, politicians — as are their predecessors, since fame in their lifetime has become rather easy to obtain with social media and reality TV,” Brauer added.

And...

Generation Z possibly had a major, yet completely overlooked, impact in this historic election. “Generation Z voters were likely attracted to Trump because of his strong stances on national security and economic recovery — the main concerns of that generation,” said Brauer.

“This generation is different, and they are about to have a profound impact on commerce, politics and trends,” Brauer concludes. “If politicians and business leaders aren’t paying attention yet, they better, because they are about to change the world.”

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Zito is one of the few reporters who can look beyond the race, gender, and ethnicity agenda of the mainstream media.  I've spoken to teachers who confirm what she is saying.

Maybe we'll yet be saved.

July 1, 2017       Permalink

THE FIGHTERS – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  As we enter our Independence Day weekend, we might note those who are fighting on behalf of this country and its tradition of freedom.  First, and always, our armed forces, whose role has, in a strange way, become anonymous.

There was a time when everyone knew a soldier, a sailor, an airman, a Marine, a Coast Guardsman or woman.  No longer.  With the end of the mobilization of World War II and, ultimately, the end of conscription in the early seventies, our armed forces have become a society apart, professionalized, but unintentionally distant from the civilian population they serve. 

A few nights ago I attended a dinner given by the Anglosphere Society to honor Winston Churchill.  Some of our service people were invited, and I was struck by how rarely I see those uniforms in my own daily life.  It wasn't always that way.  Growing up, I could walk down my block on Long Island and identify veterans and their stories, as Americans routinely did.   There was the guy who'd been hit by a mortar during "the war" – World War II – and walked with a severe limp.  Next door to him was Phil, who'd been a tail gunner on a B-17, and was the only member of his crew to survive.  Then there was Joyce.  She didn't serve herself, but her brother had been a merchant-ship captain, sunk twice in the Atlantic by German submarines.  Bob, further down the block, had been in World War II, and was called up for service in Korea.  Later, when we moved, one of our neighbors was a former Navy rear admiral, who'd been an air squadron commander aboard a carrier during the assault on Iwo Jima. 

We were a society close to our military. 

We must restore the connection.  I have no idea how to do it.  But I do know that the military link is carried on by teaching, both in schools and in the home.   Our schools, increasingly taken over by the left, will not do the job.  And our homes are increasingly led by parents who themselves never knew a soldier.  The task is great.

July 1,  2017     Permalink

JUNE 30,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

OH, ANOTHER ONE – FROM BREITBART:   The Associated Press is at it again, pushing more fake news. Sadly, the once-great news wire service is trying to cover up its mistake—nearly the exact mistake that cost three editorial staffers at CNN their jobs in a scandal that first exploded a week ago today.  A Breitbart News investigation has led to the correction by the Associated Press–which originally resisted–of the fake news it printed as deeper questions of responsibility, accountability, and journalistic ethics consume the AP heading into Fourth of July weekend.  This time, the Associated Press invented an imaginary meeting 
between EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, and then alleged that some kind of impropriety happened as a result.  This is exactly the same mistake CNN made a week ago, when it alleged that Anthony Scaramucci—the founder of SkyBridge Capital and an associate and ally of President Donald Trump—held “meetings” with Russian investment fund leaders and was under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee and Treasury Department as a result.  I hate to see this.  The mainstream media must get a grip and start insisting on fundamental journalistic standards.  Otherwise, it will pass into history.  Readers and viewers today have many choices in getting the news.  Names like AP and CNN are not written into Scripture.

ADVICE – FROM BBC:  Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women. The former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, says he is able to cope only with the help of God.  "A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC.  He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer.  "I don't go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them."  I've always felt that stopping at 70 wives is a good idea.  I see that others disagree.

NOT EXACTLY THE LAND OF LINCOLN – OBAMA MAYBE – FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:  CHICAGO — Road construction and bridge repairs may come to a halt.  At least one agency has threatened to downgrade Illinois’s credit rating to junk, a crippling borrowing position no state has ever seen.  And in perhaps the most visible and immediate sign of the pressure on Illinois leaders to solve their budget standoff at long last, the multistate lotteries — Mega Millions and Powerball — are to be suspended.  With hours left before Illinois begins an unprecedented third year without a full budget, warring leaders were still trying to strike a deal in a political and fiscal crisis that has engulfed the state since 2015.  After two years without a budget, many people who depend on state services — public university students, drug addicts, troubled teenagers, the elderly — have already felt the repercussions.   The states around Illinois are doing just fine.  One, Indiana, was run until recently by Mike Pence, now vice president of the United States.  But Illinois is sinking.  Nothing like a Democratic train wreck like Chicago to destroy a state.

June 30, 2017       Permalink

GOOD ADVICE – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 1:16 P.M. ET:  Lots of talk about journalism these days.  Some of it is actually worth hearing.    From the Washington Free Beacon:   

CNBC editor Nikhil Deogun said members of the press needed to stick to facts and remind themselves that their readers "are not as ignorant, as stupid as we think they are" during a discussion Wednesday on media in the Donald Trump era.

In a panel moderated by Katie Couric at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Deogun and Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker, The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, Time editor Nancy Gibbs, and USA Today editor Joanne Lipman delved into the challenges of covering Trump and declining trust in the news media.

In one portion, Couric brought up the problem of confirmation bias in the media.

"Consumers are increasingly gravitating toward outlets that basically tell them what they want to hear, reinforce their beliefs," she said. A friend of mine said they're seeking affirmation, not information. So given that, how do you restore trust in the media writ large if people are so divided about which media outlets are actually fair and accurate?"

Deogun said the media should not fall into the "trap" of applying one standard to one person and a different standard to everyone else. He pointed to his former Wall Street Journal colleague Paul Steiger's mantra that "in the end, stick to the facts."

"I think sometimes there's too much of a tendency to interpret a fact to a degree that it goes into opinion," he said. "And I think part of our job is to, again, remind ourselves that our … readers, viewers, users, are not as ignorant, as stupid as we think they are, and I think part of that is to be more transparent. Part of that is to be more forthcoming about what we know and what we don't know."

COMMENT:  I'm getting a sense that a number of journalists are waking up to the fact that their profession is in trouble.  One reason it's in trouble is that it talks down, or writes down, to its audience.  I was a "legitimate" journalist, at The New York Times, as readers know, and I saw that snobbery and condescension all the time.  We are the observers, and we are oh, so intellectual and so knowledgeable.  A number of journalists are not knowledgeable at all, outside their beat, and the word "intellectual" can be twisted to mean almost anything.

Charles Kuralt, who did the "On the Road" series for CBS, once told me how amazed he was at how well-informed Americans are.  He was correct.  The average American may not be able to articulate a news point the way a professor or journalist can, but he, or she, usually understands what is happening and its significance.  And Americans recall what has happened in their lifetimes.  We are not a stupid people,

June 30,  2017     Permalink 

THIS DEMANDS MORE ATTENTION – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   A Cabinet officer asserts he's being threatened for doing his job, and most of the press is silent.  From the Washington Times:

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly said Thursday that members of Congress have tried to “threaten” him over his department’s stepped up enforcement of the immigration laws they wrote, and called for even stiffer laws to punish sanctuary cities and repeat-illegal immigrants.

Mr. Kelly said he was “offended” by those lawmakers — who he didn’t name — who he said “often threaten me and my officers” when they try to enforce laws that call for the deportation of illegal immigrants.

It’s the latest blunt criticism from the retired Marine general, who has previously told members of Congress to “shut up” rather than criticize him over the laws they wrote.

He appeared Thursday on Capitol Hill with Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other Republicans, hours before the House was slated to vote on two new crackdown laws.

One would increase penalties on illegal immigrants who have been deported yet sneaked back into the U.S. and later committed other crimes. That bill is named Kate’s law, after Kathryn Steinle, the woman killed by an illegal immigrant two years ago while walking the San Francisco waterfront with her father.

The other new bill would punish so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to let authorities cooperate with federal immigration officers trying to deport illegal immigrants.

Mr. Kelly said sanctuary cities aren’t actually sanctuaries, but rather make their communities more dangerous by shielding illegal immigrants.

COMMENT:  Both bills passed the House, but will have an uphill battle in the Senate because of Democratic opposition.  Increasingly, the Democratic Party is siding with criminals, violent protesters in colleges, and other darlings of the left.

As far as Secretary Kelly's charge that he is being threatened, that should immediately be investigated by Congress.  It should be a priority item.  It is a very serious matter, but the Republicans will probably ignore it, as they ignore too many things while fighting amongst themselves.

June 30, 2017       Permalink 

THE COLLEGE PURGE – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  Direct from the Soviet Union, but with an American cast, comes the great college purge.  UCLA, true to its status as a left-wing state-supported California college, is disappearing a professor, clearly for his conservative views.  From College Fix: 

A conservative professor at UCLA wildly popular with students has been terminated after he failed an employment review he claims his department rigged against him in an effort to oust him.

Dean of Social Sciences Laura Gomez told Keith Fink, an attorney and a free speech defender who’s been critical of UCLA for denying students’ free speech rights, in a letter he wouldn’t be appointed as a continuing lecturer. She wrote that Fink’s review found his “teaching does not meet the standard of excellence.” UCLA’s ousting of Fink was first reported by The Daily Wire.

The university’s decision ends a months-long saga between the UCLA administration and Fink, who said his superiors blocked students from taking his free speech courses and put him through a “star chamber” review process because they don’t like his right-of-center politics.

In a statement to The College Fix, Fink’s teaching assistant Andrew Litt said “this outcome is entirely politically-motivated” by Fink’s superiors and others at the university “who do not like his message on issues [such] as free speech and due process which UCLA routinely flout.”

“His termination is an injustice to the students and the taxpayers of the state, a threat to all teachers and academic freedom and a slap in the face to the notion of due process and fundamental fairness. He will not give up the fight here based on principle,” Litt continued.

 A spokesman with UCLA told The College Fix via email Wednesday that Fink will no longer be a lecturer at the institution as of June 30, and the communications department “has thanked Mr. Fink for his service and has wished him well in the future.” He said the university couldn’t comment further on the review because it’s a personnel matter.

COMMENT:  Where do students fit in?  They don't, unless they're students willing to go along with the leftist order.  But Mr. Fink's popularity shows that there are plenty of students who'd like an alternative.  I hope they're allowed to stay.

June 30,  2017     Permalink