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DECEMBER 4,   2016

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

ITALY SAYS NO – FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:  ROME—Italian voters on Sunday rejected constitutional changes backed by the government, prompting Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to announce his resignation and handing populists a victory in the heartland of Europe.  With virtually all the votes counted early Monday, 59.6% were “no,” according to Italy’s Interior Ministry, marking a stinging rebuke to Mr. Renzi’s plan to overhaul Italy’s legislature to make it easier to pass laws, including measures meant to make the country more competitive.  Mr. Renzi said he would go to Italian President Sergio Mattarella Monday afternoon to tender his resignation...The result means uncertainty in Italy, the European Union’s fourth-largest economy, as the bloc struggles to revive growth and define its future. Mr. Renzi’s resignation could clear the way for the formation of a caretaker government and, possibly, new parliamentary elections next year.  Among the biggest winners from Italy’s vote is the antiestablishment 5 Star Movement, which campaigned against Mr. Renzi and his agenda, saying more radical change is needed. The party has called for a nonbinding referendum on Italy’s euro membership. It also wants to abandon EU budget strictures and has said it might favor printing a parallel currency.  It was a vote again the elites, a protest vote.  It's happening in many places, and the trend poses a threat to the centralized authority and standing of the European Union.

MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS – FROM LONDON'S TELEGRAPH:  It is that time of year when your guests tend to over-indulge and imbibe more than is good for them, leaving their hosts to pick up the pieces.  But pets are also likely to succumb to alcohol poisoning during the festive period, as a result of them sneaking a sip of any drink left lying around the house - with potentially dire consequences.  And with more people now drinking at home than in pubs the problem is likely to get worse.  Vets have warned that because pets such as cats and dogs are naturally inquisitive, they are likely to sniff out and taste any liquids left in glasses on the floor and because of their size it takes very little to make them drunk.  The drunken dog crisis will soon reach America, and we'd better be ready for it.  Do not let your dog drive a car unless first given a breathalyzer test. 

NO SERVICE CONTRACT – FROM BREITBART:  The Russian-made jeep carrying the ashes of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke down in the middle of his funeral procession on Saturday, forcing soldiers to push the vehicle until it could be repaired.  Nearly every major news website buried the news, though it was perfectly symbolic of the Cuban regime’s economic failures, and those of socialism in general...The Associated Press seemed to ignore the news almost entirely, except in photo captions of the incident: “The Russian jeep carrying the ashes of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro broke down and had to be pushed for a period on Saturday.”   President Obama rushed his favorite auto mechanic, John Kerry, to Cuba to address the situation.  The president also blamed Fox News for the breakdown.

December 4, 2016       Permalink

VIVA FIDEL?  HARDLY – AT 12:40 P.M. ET:   The old dictator is gone.  And while the left weeps and wails, another crushing blow after Hillary's defeat, others have another, more mature point of view.  From College Fix: 

Fidel Castro’s crimes against humanity “dwarfed” those of Augusto Pinochet, yet which Latin American dictator was arrested in London and which was greeted in Spain with “ample fanfare, unmolested,” around the same time in 1998?

Carlos Eire, Yale professor of history and religious studies, scolds the “many intellectuals, journalists and educated people in the First World” who enabled the Cuban strongman by falling for his lies, which were “beautiful and so appealing,” in a Washington Post op-ed.

Castro “imprisoned, tortured and murdered thousands more of his own people than any other Latin American dictator,” yet reminding Western elites of his real record was “usually futile,” says Eire.

Their defense of Castro had the intensity of “religious convictions."

And...

Castro was the “spitting image of Big Brother,” Eire says – persecuting gays, trying to eradicate religion, censoring “all means of expression,” creating an “apartheid society” where only foreigners had rights, delivering “inferior health care” to the masses, wiping out the middle class and jailing a greater share of his countrymen than even Joseph Stalin had done.

COMMENT:  I often get the feeling that the left is more of a distorted religion than a political program.  It is absolute belief, belief on faith.  Dissent is discouraged.  And there is an assurance of a kind of political Heaven, where you go if you've followed the party line.

The left controls American education.  But if the recent election is any indicator, a large contingent of Americans is turning against it.  Lack of results matters.

December 4, 2016       Permalink

ITALY VOTES – AT 11:54 A.M. ET:  And the result could be momentous.  From Reuters: 

Italians were voting on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional reform that will decide the political future of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has promised to resign if he loses.

Financial markets and Europe's politicians fear victory for the opposition 'No' camp could cause political instability and renewed turmoil for Italy's battered banks, pushing the euro zone toward a fresh crisis.

About 51 million Italians are eligible to vote on Renzi's plan to drastically reduce the role of the upper house Senate and claw back powers from regional authorities.

By noon, 20 percent of citizens had voted, the Interior Ministry said, more than the 17 percent who had cast ballots by the same time in May 2014 for the European Parliament election.

Italians living abroad have voted by post over the past days and the ballots flown to a hangar on the outskirts of Rome.

With all the opposition parties lined up against the reform, a victory for Renzi would be a surprise and represent an enormous personal triumph for Italy's youngest prime minister who often appeared to be fighting the campaign single-handed.

Renzi, 41, voted mid-morning in his Tuscan home town of Pontassieve, but made no comment.

All surveys published in the month before a blackout was imposed on Nov. 18 put the 'No' camp ahead. Private polls have continued to be conducted in the last two weeks and bookmakers say 'No' remains the clear favorite to win.

COMMENT:  If "no" wins, it will be another blow to the establishment, and could lead the way for other European countries to vote against the European order.  The question then would be whether the EU can survive.  Europe's future looks very unstable, and the massive flood of immigrants from the Mideast, a region that hardly practices Western values, isn't helping matters.

December 4, 2016       Permalink

TAKING IT SERIOUSLY – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:  The appointment of a secretary of state is clearly becoming a major problem for the president-elect.  Each of the leading candidates has important negatives – Mitt Romney's history of vicious anti-Trump remarks, Rudy Giuliani's "tough guy" image and undiplomatic demeanor (despite his record as a great public servant), David Petraeus's legal and personal mistakes, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker's position as a major Republican legislator, something the party doesn't want to give up.   From The Hill: 

President-elect Donald Trump is expanding his search for secretary of State, according to former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.

“I think there'll be additional interviews with other candidates for secretary of State and other Cabinet positions and deputy...positions as well,” Conway told pool reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower Sunday morning.

On Saturday, The Associated Press reported that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) is under consideration to be the nation’s top diplomat.

Conway said Trump “continues to talk to different people."

“It is true that he's broadened the search and the secretary of state is an incredibly important position for any president to fill and he has, he's very fortunate, to have interest among serious men and women who, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as secretary of State would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's 'America First' foreign policy, if you will, his view of the world,” she said.

Last week, Trump’s transition team confirmed it had narrowed the field down to four candidates: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Communications adviser Jason Miller did not say who the other two potential picks were, but retired Gen. David Petraeus and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) are reportedly being considered for the position.

COMMENT:  Huntsman is a thoughtful, creative man, who was also ambassador to China.  An interesting choice.  We're standing by on this one.

December 4,  2016     Permalink

DECEMBER 3,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 5:43 P.M. ET: 

A SICKENING MOVEMENT – FROM POWERLINE:   Black Lives Matter is mourning the death of “El Commandante,” known to the rest of us as Fidel Castro. BLM feels “an overwhelming sense of loss” at the passing of the communist dictator.  And well it should. BLM is a Marxist revolutionary movement — if you don’t believe me, read its sickening eulogy of Castro. Naturally, it views “El Commandante” as a hero to be mourned.  BLM praises Castro for harboring some its heroes: " [W]e are particularly grateful to Fidel for holding Mama Assata Shakur, who continues to inspire us. We are thankful that he provided a home for Brother Michael Finney Ralph Goodwin, and Charles Hill, asylum to Brother Huey P. Newton, and sanctuary for so many other Black revolutionaries who were being persecuted by the American government during the Black Power era."  Who are these people? Cop killers.  As usual, the mainstream media glosses over the real beliefs of this movement.  Leftist journalistic doctrine does not permit such a discussion.

UNBELIEVABLE – FROM JUDICIAL WATCH:    Requiring employees in the United States to speak a foreign language is not discriminatory but forcing them to speak English violates federal law under a sweeping order issued by the Obama administration to crack down on “national origin discrimination” in the workplace. The government’s new enforcement guidelines state that bilingual requirements don’t meet discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act but English-only rules do because they’re restrictive language policies.  The administration asserts that the new rules, which cover a broad range of scenarios that could get employers in trouble, were created because the American workforce is “increasingly ethnically diverse.” The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, made them public a few days ago. “The increased cultural diversity of today’s workplaces presents new and evolving issues with respect to Title VII’s protection against national origin discrimination,” the agency writes in the lengthy document. “This enforcement guidance will assist EEOC staff in their investigation of national origin discrimination charges and provide information for applicants, employees, and employers to understand their respective rights and responsibilities under Title VII.”  Fortunately, this administration and its nuttiness will be gone in about seven weeks.  But they'll probably try to do as much damage as possible during those weeks.

WHAT REAL OPPRESSION LOOKS LIKE – FROM BRITAIN'S SUN:   A YOUNG woman in Saudi Arabia is facing calls for her execution after she was pictured without a hijab.  Malak Al Shehri sparked fury on social media after she went out in public in the conservative capital Riyadh without a full body cloak – called an abaya – or a veil.   Some raged that she should be “thrown to the dogs” or “beheaded” for daring to stand against the country’s strict rules.  But hundreds came to her defence and praised her “bravery” for sharing the picture on Twitter...“Kill her and throw her corpse to the dogs,” one Twitter user wrote.  Another said: “We want blood.”  I want to be sure we're sensitive about this.  Would it be Islamophobic to object to her being executed? 

December 3, 2016       Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 9:39 A.M.:  We have seen too many of these stories, stories about Defense Department procurement programs that fall short of objectives.  Correcting this problem should be a major priority of the incoming administration.  From the Washington Examiner:   

The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program is behind schedule, hundreds of millions over budget, and incapable of conducting most of the basic missions it was intended to carry out. Senators on Thursday said they wanted to know why.

"Like so many major programs that preceded it, LCS's failure followed predictably from an inability to define and stabilize requirements, unrealistic initial cost estimates, and unreliable assessments of technical and integration risk, made worse by repeatedly buying ships and mission packages before proving they are effective and can be operated together," said Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., told Pentagon witnesses during a hearing.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was more blunt. "The process is completely broken. If you want this to stop, somebody needs to get fired."

The current fleet of eight ships "have a near-zero chance of completing a 30-day mission, the Navy's requirement, without a critical failure of one or more seaframe subsystems essential for wartime operations," Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's Director of Operational Test And Evaluation.

COMMENT:  Appalling.  Behind schedule.  Over budget.  Can't do the job.  There have always been problems with military procurement, but they just seem to persist.

Help wanted.  Marine General James Mattis will be secretary of defense.  He will care.

December 3, 2016        Permalink

WE'RE SEEING THE CHANGES ALREADY – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  Trump understands the bully pulpit, the power of the presidency to persuade.  Some major names in America are listening.  From Bloomberg:   

Ford Motor Co. was a target of Donald Trump’s criticism on the campaign trail for building cars in Mexico, and now that Trump will be president, Ford said it’s willing to work with him to keep jobs in the U.S. -- provided Trump puts the right policies in place, according to the automaker’s chief executive officer.

“We will be very clear in the things we’d like to see,” Mark Fields said in an exclusive interview Friday at Bloomberg offices in Southfield, Michigan.

Among them, according to Fields: currency-manipulation rules to promote free and fair trade, tax reform and safety guidelines for autonomous vehicles.

Fields said that Ford plans to lobby the new president to soften U.S. and state fuel-economy rules. They hurt profits by forcing automakers to build more electric cars and hybrids than are warranted by customer demand, he said.

“In 2008, there were 12 electrified vehicles offered in the U.S. market and it represented 2.3 percent of the industry,” Fields said in the interview. “Fast forward to 2016, there’s 55 models, and year to date it’s 2.8 percent.”

This isn’t exactly a formula for success, he said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to have customers, so obviously, there would be pressure on the business if there’s not a market,” he said.

COMMENT:  Of course Ford and others will ask for concessions.  They'll get some, and others will fade away.  Each company will be different.  But keeping jobs in America will be a major objective of the Trump administration, and dealmaking may well be in order.  That's Trump's specialty.  Give the man a chance to perform.

December 3, 2016        Permalink

THE LATEST COLLEGE DEMAND – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  They're getting more and more ridiculous, and there are more and more of them every day.  From The Columbia Spectator:

Building on demands for Columbia to acknowledge its involvement in the colonization of the Americas and the displacement of indigenous peoples, the Native American Council of Columbia University submitted a document proposing reparations from the University.

The proposal follows a success for Columbia’s Native American community in October, when a plaque honoring the Lenape people was installed outside of John Jay Hall. In the document, NAC calls for changes in financial allocations, admissions policies, and the names of buildings on campus.

The proposal also includes a timeline that indicates when NAC would like to see each change addressed, with the majority of changes expected by the fall of 2017. It also asks for a formal response from the University before the coming spring semester.

And...

One change that NAC has considered is the renaming of certain buildings.

“It wouldn’t be too much to ask to change the name of a building [named after someone] that sold guns to frontiersmen,” Ramage said. “Or to generals that fought against Native people in the frontier.”

Ramage pointed specifically to buildings like Hartley Hall and Earl Hall, both named after members of the Dodge family. Marcellus Hartley Dodge Sr. served as the chairman of the board of Remington Arms, a company that manufactured weapons used in frontier expansion.

Renaming buildings requires approval from the University’s board of trustees. The trustees took several months to approve the installation of a plaque acknowledging the Lenape people earlier this year.

Additionally, NAC has taken issue with the placement of statues of men like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, historical figures who supported the displacement of Native Americans.

COMMENT:  How far back in history do we have to go?  How about a thousand years?  Maybe two thousand years.  Hold Italy today responsible for the Roman Empire.  Some bad stuff went down.  And how about that Coliseum in Rome, which never accepted fair labor regulations.

Every time I see one of these aggrieved groups making these demands I feel like shouting back to them, "Physics, chemistry, math, engineering.  Those are the words that will set you free."

But no one would listen.

December 3,  2016     Permalink