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NOVEMBER 25,  2017

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

WE CAN DREAM – FROM DAILY STAR:   Devices plugged into people’s skulls are being developed, funded by the US military’s research division DARPA.  These implants will use electronic pulses to alter the chemicals in people’s brains in a process called “deep brain stimulation”.  This will then change people’s moods and is believed to be able to treat mental illness and provide therapy.  Artificial intelligence in implants will detect and study the brain to know what pulses to send – described by scientists as a "window on the brain".   DARPA has handed the cash to teams from the University of California and Massachusetts General Hospital.  Do you think this can eliminate liberalism? 

LOYALTY – FROM FOX:   A German man took parking lot forgetfulness to a whole new level — misplacing his Volkswagen for 20 years.  The unidentified 76-year-old reported to Frankfurt police back in 1997 that his Passat had been pilfered, but it turns out he had merely forgotten where he parked the car, the Augsburger Allgemeine reported.  He was finally reunited with the long-lost automobile, which was found rusting away in the garage of an industrial building slated to be demolished.  Police were able to track down the owner and reunite him with the vehicle, according to the news outlet.  Unfortunately for the man, though, the car was in no shape to provide Fahrvergnügen — or “driving enjoyment,” as described in an old ad campaign — and was sent to the junkyard to be scrapped.  I dunno about this.  Didn't the car have a license plate?  A VIN number?  Didn't the garage have attendants?  A phone?  This is a very strange story, but no further facts are provided. 

TEACHING OUR CHILDREN – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  CHICAGO – A “border studies” professor says she is upset with National Geographic for two of its reality tv shows which she contends exalt border patrol agents in various ways.  The pair of reality television shows portraying border agents on the U.S.-Mexico border and U.S.-Canada border could be considered propaganda, the professor said at a recent academic conference.  Anita Huizar-Hernandez, a professor at the University of Arizona, said editing techniques used in two television shows, “Border Wars” and “Border Security: Canada’s Front Line,” help perpetuate popular stereotypes that have emerged about the two borders.    Yeah, those border patrol agents really are a threat to civilization.  Must not portray them favorably.  The madness continues, doesn't it?

November 25, 2017       Permalink

OH, SUCH AMATEURISM – AT 3:21 P.M. ET:   Unacceptable in a show, even a light show, that claims to be journalistic.  From Page six: 

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” tried to fool viewers into thinking Friday’s pre-taped show was live and host Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski even discussed their Thanksgiving meals – even though the holiday hadn’t occurred yet when they taped the show.

Brzezinski opened the show by saying, “Day after Thanksgiving… I’m stuffed,” while Scarborough nervously laughed as if he knew the engaged-to-be-married co-hosts were being dishonest. The opening to the show is still available on MSNBC’s website.

The move, which TV insiders consider disrespectful to viewers, specifically because the network tried to create a deceit that high-paid morning show stars would come to work in the early morning hours following a national holiday. The Washington Post reported that the show was taped on Wednesday.

An MSNBC spokesperson declined comment when reached by Fox News.

The second segment of Friday’s “Morning Joe” brought the fraudulence to another level, when Brzezinski joked that she forgot to remove the guts from the turkey before cooking it and that is was still a little frozen when she served it.

COMMENT:  You just don't do that.  You just don't.  When I worked on the Tonight Show, everyone knew the show was taped.  Johnny never tried to fake it.  We taped at 5:30 p.m. and the tape was aired at 11:30.  During the taping, there were pauses for commercials that would be inserted later, so the tempo of the show would be maintained.  The band's play-in music, introducing the show segments after commercial breaks, would change during the show, into music more appropriate for later in the night.  That helped produce the right mood in the audience.  But never was there any suggestion that what went out on the air was live.

I don't know why broadcasters engage in fraud.  It's completely disrespectful, and harmful to credibility.

November 25, 2017       Permalink

IN THE MATTER OF ROBERT MUELLER – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:  Mueller is heading an investigation, commissioned by the Justice Department, about possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.  Mueller himself is a former director of the FBI. 

But how much do we actually know about Robert Mueller?  Typically, today's press is more interested in opinion than facts.  Research is usually thin.  Mueller is a key man these days, but how much about him, as a person and as an FBI director, have you actually read?

Fortunately, the Los Angeles Times has produced an excellent history of Mueller, which presents, to the Times's credit, a remarkably mixed picture of the man who may have the president's fate in his hands:

When he was named special counsel in May, Robert S. Mueller III was hailed as the ideal lawman — deeply experienced, strait-laced and nonpartisan — to investigate whether President Trump’s campaign had helped with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The accolades squared with Mueller’s valor as a Marine rifle platoon commander in Vietnam and his integrity as a federal prosecutor, a senior Justice Department official and FBI director from 2001 to 2013, the longest tenure since J. Edgar Hoover. He was praised by former courtroom allies and opponents, and by Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

But at 73, Mueller’s record also shows a man of fallible judgment who can be slow to alter his chosen course. At times, he has intimidated or provoked resentment among subordinates. And his tenacious yet linear approach to evaluating evidence led him to fumble the biggest U.S. terrorism investigation since 9/11.

Now, as he leads a sprawling investigation aimed at the White House, Mueller’s prosecutorial discretion looms over the Trump presidency.

On what terms would Mueller offer immunity from prosecution to investigative targets? How broadly will he interpret his mandate to probe not only the 2016 campaign but also matters that “may arise directly from the investigation”?

Will he target Trump’s sprawling family business and financial empire and the years before the developer ran for the White House?

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  This is good journalism, fairly delivered, and rare.  Mueller is getting into murky territory.  Will we see real justice, or what some are calling the criminalization of politics?  Mueller will hold the key.

November 25,  2017      Permalink

NOVEMBER 24,  2017

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

VERY SAD – FROM FOX:  PHOENIX – Charlie Rose, who was fired this week by CBS News and whose program was cancelled by PBS in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women, had accolades from two universities rescinded Friday.   Panels at both Arizona State University and the University of Kansas met this week and coincidentally came to the same decision on the same day.   Arizona's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication gave Rose an award for journalism excellence in 2015. But the actions reported about Rose were too "egregious" to ignore, according to Dean Christopher Callahan.  Probably deserved, but again it makes me uneasy.  People within the industry tell me that Rose's reputation for treatment of people was poor, and established years ago.  Did not any of the people making these awards know of that reputation?  Or didn't they care?  After all, getting Charlie Rose to come and accept an award was a big deal.  I wish people would wait a bit longer before making drastic judgments.

NOT GOOD FOR SURVIVAL – FROM DAILY MAIL:  Women are having fewer children than ever before and more are staying childless, new data reveals today.  Women who turned 45 in 2016 had an average of 1.80 children, down from 2.21 for their mothers' generation, who turned 45 in 1944.  The same generation also had fewer children by their 30th birthday, suggesting women are having children later in life. Women who turned 45 last year had 1.06 children by 30 compared to 1.8 in their mother's generation.
In total, 18 per cent of women who turned 45 last year had no children at all, compared with 11 per cent of women in their mother's generation.  The ONS said the figures, collected from birth registration data going back to the 1930s, defined 45 as the age by which most women had stopped having children.  Regardless of any aspect of feminist doctrine, birth rates are important.  You cannot reproduce a population, a culture, a nation, without a birth rate high enough to do it.  Some of the major countries of Europe, like the Netherlands, Italy and even Germany, are in danger of eventually disappearing because of low birth rates.

ANOTHER REASON WHY TRUMP WAS ELECTED – FROM AP:   AMHERST, Mass. –  A group representing gun owners says a "social bias" against firearms was behind a decision by the University of Massachusetts to nix a 4-H youth program that teaches competitive shooting sports.  A university center runs Massachusetts 4-H. University officials tell the Hampshire Gazette (http://bit.ly/2lKWvNY ) they decided against the program because they wanted to develop a broader youth development initiative that includes instruction in hunting and fishing.  Some version of the 4-H shooting sports program is offered in every state except Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Supporters say it emphasizes safety.  The head of The Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, Jim Wallace, says the program would not have cost UMass anything and would have served more than 1,000 young people. He says UMass has a bias against "gun-owning families and their children."   Yeah, the bias is real.  Teaching a thousand young people about gun safety is worthwhile in itself.  UMass is being narrow and silly.  Big surprise.

November 24, 2017       Permalink

FRANKEN FRIED – AT 1:58 P.M. ET:   Al Franken is desperately trying to hold on to his seat in the U.S. Senate.  Minnesota may be a Democratic state, but Franken has never been overwhelmingly popular there.  From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: 

WASHINGTON – Sen. Al Franken plans to stay in the U.S. Senate and try to win back Minnesotans’ trust.

The Minnesota Democrat, who has been accused by four women — two of them anonymously — of inappropriate contact, issued a Thanksgiving afternoon apology and pledge. He wrote that he “feels terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly.” He called himself “a warm person” who likes to hug people when they’re being photographed with him, but clearly, his embrace “crossed a line for some women.”

Although his statement did not directly address the question of whether he might resign, he vowed to move ahead with an effort to regain the trust of his constituents. A spokesman for Franken said Thursday that the senator has no plans to resign.

The accusations, which have left Franken facing a Senate ethics investigation, have touched off a fierce debate among his progressive supporters over what level of sexual misconduct should force a politician with a record of support for women’s rights to resign from office.

“Because he happens to be a good guy on some other issues, people are confused,” said Erin Vilardi, head of VoteRunLead, a national group that aims to elect more women to public office. It held a national convention in Minneapolis last weekend.

COMMENT:  The hypocrisy flows.  Bill Clinton got a pass from "women's" groups because he was pro-choice and invited the leaders to the White House.  I'd imagine there'll be forgiveness all around when this rash of charges is over.  The left will find it in its heart to forgive politicians, or journalists, who've followed the party line.

November 24, 2017      Permalink

OH DEAR, CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:  Caught in the act – a major reporter openly participating in politics.  Clearly a dismissal offense.  From Fox:   

Allegedly unbiased Washington Post reporter Janell Ross spoke at a top-secret meeting of liberal influencers last week, where Democratic donors including billionaire George Soros outlined the future of the progressive agenda.

A Post spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon that Ross presented at the California event “without notifying her superiors that she would be attending.”

The Democracy Alliance, which hosted the event, bills itself as “the largest network of donors dedicated to building the progressive movement in the United States” on the group’s official website. The liberal group also claims to “play a leading role in fostering the infrastructure necessary to advance a progressive agenda” in the United States.

The group intended to keep “the identities of its members and guests confidential,” according to the Beacon, but the paper obtained a “detailed conference agenda that lists both events and featured guests.” Once the Beacon revealed the attendees, the group reportedly beefed up security and asked participants to keep details off social media.

COMMENT;  Outrageous for a journalist to participate in something like this.  The Post must respond and the reporter must face punishment.  This is way over the top.

November 24, 2017       Permalink

HORROR – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  Horrible terror in Egypt.  From Fox: 

President Trump denounced Friday's deadly bombing and shooting attack on a Sufi mosque in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, calling it "horrible and cowardly."

The attack, which claimed at least 200 lives and wounded 130 others, was suspected of being carried out by Islamist militants.

Trump tweeted Friday: "Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!"

The White House also released a statement condemning the attack and offered their condolences to the families affected.  

The extremists launched an attack on the al-Rawdah mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, some 25 miles from the North Sinai provincial capital of el-Arish, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported. Officials suspected a local affiliate of ISIS of carrying out the attack. Islamic militants consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith, The Associated Press reported.

The security officers said the men opened fire on worshipers during prayers while driving in off-road vehicles. A Ministry of Health spokesman said the terrorists set off a bomb during the attack.

"[the extremists] were shooting at people as they left the mosque," a resident told Reuters. "They were shooting at the ambulances too."

COMMENT:  The Egyptian government is not soft, and I'm certain they'll go all-out to punish the murderers.  This will also add momentum to Saudi Arabia's dramatic attempts to change, to get away from sponsoring terror and move closer to the civilized world.

November 24,  2017     Permalink