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MAY 29,  2017

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

BOND, JAMES BOND –  There's a new academic journal available.  I'm not kidding.  From
JamesBondStudies:   The International Journal of James Bond Studies is an academic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing interdisciplinary scholarship on all aspects of Ian Fleming’s James Bond franchise.   The journal aims to develop contemporary critical readings of Ian Fleming’s James Bond across literary, filmic, and cultural history, and offers broader criticism of the popular appeal of Fleming’s creation and its relation to the spy genre.  That is an actual quote from the Journal's website.  I want to see "Feminist and Misogynist Interpretations of the Bond Girls, from an LGBTQ perspective."  Someone write it, quick.

OUR GREAT NATIONAL STRESS IS SOLVED – FROM USA TODAY:   President Trump’s election and the political cacophony that followed are driving waves of people to yoga and meditation, seeking a respite from the roller-coaster ride but also trying to recharge and build energy for a political pushback.  Yoga and mediation coaches say they are seeing increased enrollment and fewer dropouts from the annual "New Year's resolution" wave of signups. Part of this is stress relief — the American Psychological Association reports that stress nationwide is on the rise for the first time in 10 years.
But part of it is also meditation as resistance: Liberals see yoga as a place to reflect and recharge batteries for the political fights outside.  Well, I guess it keeps liberals out of trouble for 45 minutes.  A great contribution.

THE MAYOR OF PARIS GETS IT RIGHT – FROM AFP:  Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Sunday called for a black feminist festival in the French capital to be banned, saying it was "prohibited to white people."  The first edition of the Nyansapo Festival, due to run from July 28 to 30 at a cultural centre in Paris, bills itself as "an event rooted in blackfeminism, activism, and on (a) European scale."  Four-fifths of the festival area will be set aside as a "non-mixed" space "for black women," according to its website in French.  Another space will be a "non-mixed" area "for black people" regardless of gender. Another space would be "open to all."  The English version of the site does not use the word "non-mixed," but "reserved."  Hidalgo, a Socialist, said on Twitter that she firmly condemned the organisation "of this event, 'prohibited to white people'."  "I am asking for this festival to be banned," Hidalgo said, adding she also reserved the right "to prosecute the organisers for discrimination."  Smartest thing a socialist has done in years.

May 29, 2017       Permalink

WOODWARD SPEAKS ON JOURNALISM AND TRUMP – AT 2:45 P.M. ET:  Bob Woodward, the more thoughtful half of the Woodward/Bernstein Watergate team, has been cautioning his journalist friends for some time now to calm down.  They should take his advice, and take Zoloft as well.  From The Hill: 

Legendary reporter Bob Woodward urged reporters this week to "calm it down and listen more" when covering the Trump White House.

Woodward also cautioned those in the media broaching Watergate and impeachment in speaking about investigations into the Trump campaign and possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign. 

"In Watergate, when Nixon fired the special prosecutor (Archibald Cox), there was a mountain of evidence against him," said Woodward in a message to the media recorded in a video by The Atlantic.

"We are not at the Watergate level yet by any means."

The video echoes comments he made in recent weeks. The 74-year-old Washington Post associate editor also said Trump's "thermonuclear war" with the media serves either side no purpose.

Trump has a approach avoidance toward the media, criticizes, calls us fake. I think it serves no one, the media, or Trump, to have a thermonuclear war with each other."

The 18-time New York Times bestseller's final advice was directed at media members directly during a time when trust from the American people is at an all-time low.

"We need to calm it down and listen more," he said. "Be on the surface respectful, but never stop the inquiry.”

And...

"I worry, I worry for the business, for the perception of the business, not just Trump supporters, they see that smugness… I think you can ride both horses, intensive inquiry, investigation, not letting up… at the same time, realize that it's not our job to do an editorial on this."

COMMENT:  Good, sound advice.  I worry about journalism as well.  A free press has the potential to save a society and protect democracy.  It also has the potential to destroy a society and corrupt the minds of its citizens.  Witness the use of the press in Nazi Germany.

The American press right now is deteriorating rapidly.  Some organizations, like CNN, have become editorial pages with reporters attached.  They will learn that it can take as much as a generation for a news outlet to regain its credibility...if indeed it even tries.

May 29, 2017       Permalink 

VETERANS BACK TRUMP – AT 1:40 P.M. ET:  The president's approval ratings continue to languish among many American groups.  But one group backs him rather solidly.  From Townhall:

Pew Research Center highlighted findings Friday that President Trump’s job approval is higher amongst U.S. veterans than the overall public.

In April, 54 percent of military veterans approved of the president’s job performance compared to just 39 percent job approval among the American public according to the same April survey, conducted using Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.

Pew notes that “Both younger and older veterans gave higher approval ratings for Trump than did younger and older adults overall. Nearly half of veterans ages 18 to 49 (46 percent) approved of Trump’s job performance, compared with only 31 percent of all adults younger than 50. Among those 50 and older, nearly six-in-ten veterans (58 percent) supported Trump, while about half of all older adults (49 percent) said the same.”

The polling center also noted that Trump held a wide 60-34 percent advantage over Clinton among veterans, according to a national exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool.

COMMENT:  Veterans have seen the real world, not the quad at Evergreen State University.  We should take their opinions seriously.

May 29, 2017       Permalink

MEMORIAL DAY – AT 12:33 P.M. ET:  Occasionally, a number of readers will send us a link to the same article.  That happened today with a piece called "Reflections of an Army Widow," published by Fox.  It is written by Wesley Bauguess, widow of Army Major Larry Bauguess, who had been deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division, and was killed in a side mission to Pakistan.  She writes: 

So, this Memorial Day, enjoy the pool. Enjoy the beach trip. Relish in the fact that the school year is almost over and summer is right around the corner. But, please, remember those intrepid Americans who, for decades and decades, have given that last full measure of devotion. Remember those who have given their lives to provide the blanket of freedom that allows us to live free. Never forget their sacrifice. Pray for the families left behind. And always remember that, though it absolutely is worth fighting for, freedom isn’t free. 

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It's well worth it.  We use the term "military family" casually, but those are real people, and they make real sacrifices. 

After the Vietnam War, some returning soldiers were spat at by members of the fringe left.  That doesn't happen anymore, but we still have a long way to go to restore the closeness between civilian and soldier that existed at the end of World War II.  How many Americans today know a soldier?   The answer to that question is a sad commentary on the values of our society.

May 29,  2017     Permalink

MAY 28,  2017

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

I AM SHOCKED, SHOCKED AT THIS – FROM REDALERTPOLITICS.COM:   Young America’s Foundation (YAF) released their annual survey of commencement addresses at the nation’s top colleges, and the results are staggering. In the first year of the Trump presidency, liberal commencement speakers outnumber conservative speakers 11-to-1, according to their survey.  “YAF’s Commencement Speakers Survey scrutinizes the commencement addresses given at the top 100 national universities as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. With 45 liberal speakers imparting progressive ideas and just 4 conservatives addressing graduates, the contrast in this year’s survey is stunning,” the YAF press release said.  This year’s ratio of liberals to conservatives is particularly high, a potential sign of academia’s reaction to the 2016 election. Last year, the ratio was four-to-one — 45 liberals to 12 conservatives. In 2015, the ratio was six-to-one; in  2014, the ratio was four-to-one; in 2013, the ratio was 3.5-to-1; and in 2012, it was seven-to-one.  This will change only when students and alumni demand greater balance.  Editorials from some brave, mature newspapers would help as well.

THE FATE OF CHICAGO – FROM THE L.A. TIMES:   Chicago was the only city among the nation's 20 largest to lose population in 2016 — and it lost nearly double the number of residents as the year before, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  It's the city's third consecutive year of population loss. Chicago's population fell by 8,638 residents between 2015 and 2016, to 2,704,958. The year before, it declined by 4,934.  The population of the greater Chicago area, defined by the Census Bureau as the city and suburbs extending into Wisconsin and Indiana, is also declining. Numbers made available in March showed a drop of 19,570 residents in 2016 — the greatest loss of any metropolitan area in the country.
Illinois' population fell by more than any other state’s in 2016, down 37,508 people, according to census data released in December.  What a total disaster.  Years of bad government, and the terrible influence of Chicago politics, have led to this.   Chicago is Barack Obama's home city.  I wonder if he has any interest in what's actually happening there. 

SUPERB GUY, SUPERB ANSWER – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Secretary of Defense James Mattis, known for his frank quotes about the realities of war, offered up a line befitting his nickname, “Mad Dog,” during an interview airing Sunday.  “What keeps you awake at night?” CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson asked Mattis.  “Nothing,” a stonefaced Mattis responded. “I keep other people awake at night.”  Nothing more need be said.

May 28,  2017     Permalink 

PATHETIC – AT 1:47 P.M. ET:   Please contrast this story with the sacrifices of our armed forces, which we note this weekend.  From Daily Caller: 

Well over one-third of America’s adult college students believe that campus “safe spaces” are “absolutely necessary” to assist grown adults who are psychologically traumatized by hearing opinions with which they disagree.

The data comes from a recent poll of 1,659 students currently attending U.S. colleges and universities conducted by LendEDU, a student loan marketplace website.

According to the poll, 36 percent of American college students agree with the proposition that “safe spaces” are “absolutely necessary” on campus.

Just slightly more students — 37 percent — oppose “safe spaces,” agreeing instead that such environments “are completely out of touch from reality.”

The rest of the students — roughly 25 percent — said they are “indifferent” to the concept of “safe spaces.”

The poll, conducted from May 5 to May 11, is based on answers — just the three of them — to the question: “Do you agree with college campuses establishing safe spaces?”

COMMENT:   At least we're seeing some pushback from the more adult students.  But the idea that 36 percent of college students go along with "safe spaces" is pretty discouraging.  So delicate.  So sensitive.  So immature.

May 28, 2017       Permalink

SHE SHOULD BE ASHAMED – AT 12:48 P.M. ET:  Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is getting delusions of grandeur.   She seems to think she should be running the world.  From AFP: 

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) – Europe “must take its fate into its own hands” faced with a western alliance divided by Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday.

“The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Merkel told a crowd at an election rally in Munich, southern Germany.
“We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands,” she added.

Of course, she'll probably expect us to finance that fate.

While Germany and Europe would strive to remain on good terms with America and Britain, “we have to fight for our own destiny,” Merkel went on.

Special emphasis was needed on warm relations between Berlin and newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron, she said.

The chancellor had just returned from a G7 summit which wound up Saturday without a deal between the US and the other six major advanced nations on upholding the 2015 Paris climate accords.

Merkel on Saturday labelled the result of the “six against one” discussion “very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory”.

COMMENT:  My, my, my.  How rude.  Germany doesn't even come close to the NATO requirement that members spend two percent of their budgets on defense, but she's lecturing us. 

And thank you, Ms. Merkel, for telling us that Germany will strive to remain on good terms with Britain and America.   We're so flattered.

I think she's way past her sell-by date.

May 28, 2017       Permalink

MEMORIAL DAY – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  Do you get the sense that Americans are losing the meaning of Memorial Day?  Even the greeting, "Have a happy Memorial Day," is strangely disconnected from the reality of what the day means.  There's a good story running on just this theme.  From AP:

ANNVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Allison Jaslow heard it more than once as the long holiday weekend approached — a cheerful "Happy Memorial Day!" from oblivious well-wishers.

The former Army captain and Iraq War veteran had a ready reply, telling them, matter-of-factly, that she considered it a work weekend. Jaslow will be at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to take part in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She'll then visit Section 60, the final resting place of many service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You can see it in people's faces that they're a little horrified that they forget this is what the day's about," said Jaslow, 34, who wears a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen comrade. "Culturally, we've kind of lost sight of what the day's supposed to mean."

While millions of Americans celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer — think beaches and backyard barbecues, mattress sales and sporting events — some veterans and loved ones of fallen military members wish the holiday that honors more than 1 million people who died serving their country would command more respect.

Or at least awareness.

"It's a fun holiday for people: 'Let's party.' It's an extra day off from work," said Carol Resh, 61, whose son, Army Capt. Mark Resh, was killed in Iraq a decade ago. "It's not that they're doing it out of malice. It just hasn't affected them."

Veterans groups say a growing military-civilian disconnect contributes to a feeling that Memorial Day has been overshadowed. More than 12 percent of the U.S. population served in the armed forces during World War II. That's down to less than one-half of a percent today, guaranteeing more Americans aren't personally acquainted with a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine.

With an all-voluntary military, shared sacrifice is largely a thing of the past — even as U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and Iraq nearly 16 years after 9/11.

"There are a lot of things working against this particular holiday," said Brian Duffy, commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"It hurts," Duffy said. For combat veterans and Gold Star families especially, "it hurts that, as a society, we don't truly understand and appreciate what the true meaning of Memorial Day is."

Jaslow's group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is trying to raise awareness with its #GoSilent campaign, which encourages Americans to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Monday to remember the nation's war dead.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  When I was growing up, everyone knew a service member, and most had service members in their family.  You could enter almost any home and find a mounted photo of a service member. 

Not so today.  And we've lost something.

May 28,  2017     Permalink