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DECEMBER 29,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:07 P.M. ET: 

PROTECTION – FROM BRITAIN'S EXPRESS:  MASSIVE lorries weighing 35 tonnes will surround Manhattan’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve in security measures designed to prevent a deadly Berlin-style truck attack.   New York Police Department will station 65 of the hulking vehicles – weighing 20 tonnes on their own and loaded with an extra 15 tonnes of sand – at intersections surrounding the iconic celebration in New York due to take place on Saturday evening.  The celebration is already a heavily policed event, with 7,000 officers deployed every year, including armed anti-terror units and bomb-sniffing dogs.  At least the NYPD takes these things seriously.  New York is still considered a major terrorist target.

CHARITY...OR SOME GIMMICK? – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The Clintons are redoubling their commitment to their family foundation — pledging to donate $200,000 to their family charity after Donald Trump pulled off a stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election.  Clinton Foundation chairman Bruce Lindsey, a longtime Clinton crony, announced the family’s latest move in an email Wednesday to supporters.  “As we prepare for a new year, President Clinton and Chelsea remain dedicated to our work providing everyone a chance to succeed,” Lindsey wrote.  The email message asked for donations, claiming Bill Clinton would personally triple “every gift” up to $200,000.  Look, if they do some good, I'm all for it.  But why do I suspect there's some political motive here?  We'll find out.  Remember, 2020 is only four years away.

CHANGING TIMES – FROM MARKETWATCH:  In recent years, somewhere between endless Tinder swipes and countless OkCupid matches, the dinner date has fallen by the wayside.  As online dating surges in popularity, few millennials have the time, money, or desire to sit with a stranger over a long meal. Only 7 in 10,000 messages in a recent OkCupid IAC survey suggested “grabbing some dinner” and a somewhat less scientific survey this reporter conducted of several dozen actively dating 20-somethings found that dinner has become a highly taboo first date. Last month, Moody’s Investors Service slashed its operating-profit growth forecast for the restaurant sector. (This appears to complement another trend noted by market researcher NPD Group that suggests 57% of meals In the U.S. are eaten alone.)  There’s good reason why people don’t want to sit through a meal with a stranger for an hour or, often times, longer. One singleton this reporter spoke to called it her “worst nightmare” and another said the idea of sitting through an unspecified number of hours of food, drinks or dessert makes her anxious. A recent article in Cosmopolitan detailed, “Why First-Date Dinners Suck,” listing similar reasons: the date category is antiquated, the time frame of the event is too long if there is no chemistry, and eating is too “intimate.”   Okay, okay I get it.  There may be good reasons.  But I sense the influence of anti-romantic left-wing intellectuals.  Resist!  Resist!

December 29, 2016       Permalink

DEBBIE REYNOLDS – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:   The death of Debbie Reynolds, coming just a day after the untimely passing of her daughter, Carrie Fisher, is heartbreaking enough.  But Debbie Reynolds also leaves an important film legacy. 

Until her death yesterday, Debbie was one of only two surviving stars from the great age of MGM film musicals.  Now, only Leslie Caron lives.  She played Gigi in the last of the MGM musical classics, and earlier starred opposite Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris."  Both films won the Academy Award for best picture.  No, they don't make films like that anymore, and how sad.

The MGM musicals were produced by the "Freed unit," run by Arthur Freed, himself an accomplished lyricist. 

Debbie Reynolds was known primarily for her starring role (with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor) in "Singin' in the Rain," considered by many to be the most perfect screen musical ever produced.  When it was released in 1952, it made little noise, got no awards, and faded away.  But over the years the audience for the movie grew, helped by exposure on television, and it made Debbie an enduring star.  She recalled how grueling the work was – and how Fred Astaire privately taught her the finer points of screen dancing. 

Her film stardom did not last long.  Although she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as the lead in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (1964), film musicals were falling out of favor, and her image as the innocent "America's sweetheart" was being challenged by a new generation of assertive women.  Her offscreen life seemed to get more attention than her roles, especially her being dumped by husband Eddie Fisher, who proceeded to marry Elizabeth Taylor.  Debbie got public sympathy, but little else.  Eddie Fisher got Elizabeth Taylor for a short time, and little else. 

She worked to the end, running a hotel and a film museum in Las Vegas, celebrating a glorious but past age.  She had pleaded with the "businessmen" who ran MGM in the 1970s to preserve their back lots, still filled with film sets, as a tourist destination, but they didn't see the potential that Debbie saw, and sold the land at the bottom of the market.   

Debbie is gone now, but Leslie Caron still lives.  And we will always have those movies, and that music.

December 29, 2016       Permalink  

MORE TRUMP EFFECT – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:   It must be frustrating to be a Democrat and watch President-elect Trump have an impact even before he takes office.  But it does appear that companies are now trying to outdo each other in showing that they can create jobs in the United States.  A great new form of competition.  From Fox: 

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday the addition of roughly 8,000 new jobs for Americans, including 5,000 that telecommunications giant Sprint will bring from “all around the world.”

“They’re coming back to the United States, which is a nice change,” he said.

Trump, who takes office January 20, said the other 3,000 jobs will be hires from a new company called One Web.

Trump was elected in part on the promise to return to the United States jobs that American companies had moved overseas, in search of cheaper labor costs.

Last month, he announced that Carrier would keep roughly 1,000 jobs in Indiana, after months of criticizing the air-conditioning corporation on the campaign trail for plans to move the jobs to Mexico.

Trump spoke Wednesday from his Mar a Largo estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

COMMENT:  A real leader can create a mood, an atmosphere, a level of excitement, that can lead to visible progress.  Churchill understood that language is a weapon.  Well, Trump isn't exactly Churchill, but he understands the importance of words, of ideas, in moving a country forward. And things are starting to happen. 

I wonder if the mainstream media will give Trump any credit.  The answer is no.

December 29, 2016       Permalink

OBAMA'S AMERICA – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  We are still in the midst of holiday season, and there is fear as to what might happen in American malls this weekend.  From the Chicago Tribune:

CHICAGO — An unusually high number of teen fights at shopping centers across the U.S. over the Christmas weekend is prompting some mall operators to re-examine security policies and consider controversial restrictions on when and how teens may shop.

Security task force members from malls across the U.S. conducted a conference call Tuesday to discuss strategies for preventing mayhem, which may include more mall security or even bans on teens coming to malls alone, after multiple reports of teen fights over the four-day holiday, said Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The need for more restrictions is “becoming somewhat more of a reality,” Cegielski said.

Still, mall operators worry expanding or initiating new limits could hinder retailers’ efforts to woo consumers away from internet shopping carts and back to the malls.

“There are a lot of properties that are hesitant to do it,” Cegielski said. “We’re all cognizant of what online shopping is doing and they want to keep people coming in. They don’t want to stifle that foot traffic at all.”

In Aurora, Ill., eight teens have been charged after what police described as a “large disturbance” that temporarily closed Fox Valley Mall Monday night. On Dec. 24, another fight broke out at the mall that did not appear to be related, according to a statement from Dan Ferrelli, an Aurora Police Department spokesman.

And on Christmas Eve in Gurnee, Ill., two small groups started fighting each other at Gurnee Mills. All the suspects were identified through security video, but no arrests have been made yet, authorities said.

While security task force members for the ICSC noted that Dec. 26 historically prompts an increase in fights, this year’s incidents seemed more prevalent perhaps because Christmas fell on a Sunday, offering teens and other shoppers one extra day to run into trouble, Cegielski said.

The incidents are prompting some mall operators to beef up security in anticipation of the upcoming long New Year’s weekend. Others are debating the need for parental guidance policies — rules that require children under the age of 18 to be accompanied by a parent. About 100 shopping centers already have some kind of teen restrictions, the ICSC said.

COMMENT:  Of course, any new crackdown on teen mobs will immediately be denounced by the usual suspects as "oppression."  There will be panels on CNN pointing to lack of opportunity, the election of Donald Trump, and even the impact of Israeli apartments in Jerusalem.

I suspect most mall customers would appreciate beefed up security so they can freely go to stores rather than simply order online.  They shouldn't have to risk their lives to do so.

December 29,  2016     Permalink

DECEMBER 28,  2016

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

THE MARCH OF COLLEGE ABSURDITY – FROM COLLEGE FIX:    The invitation of Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s pick for White House press secretary, to the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics (IOP) is not sitting well with some folks.  According to The Chicago Maroon, the Spicer announcement “drew criticism from some students who say they may protest the IOP’s perceived normalization of hostility toward the press by the incoming president.”  This leads me to wonder if Trump himself will receive any invitations to give addresses at colleges, other than the service academies.  The left is so militant, and threatening, that I'd be willing to bet it would be successful in barring Trump from almost any college.

CHILLING – FROM REUTERS:   A pro-Islamic State group on Wednesday urged supporters of the jihadists to carry out attacks on targets such as markets and hospitals in Europe over the Christmas holiday period and urged Muslims to stay away from Christian celebrations.  The threat came as European authorities have stepped up security following an attack claimed by Islamic State in which a truck ploughed into crowds in a Berlin Christmas market and killed 12 people this month.  The Nashir Media Foundation, which backs Islamic State, posted its message online, accompanied by images of fighters with guns and knives, Santa Claus, reindeer and a Christmas tree, according to the according to the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant groups online.  "Their celebrations, gatherings, clubs, markets, theatres, cinemas, malls and even their hospitals are all perfect targets for you," the online message to Islamist "lone wolves" in Europe said.  I'd take this very seriously, considering past mass killings.  But I fear that people in the West are "normalizing" terror, considering it a part of modern society.

DE-FUND THE UN? – FROM FOX:   Mike Huckabee suggested, in the aftermath of the United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements, that the United States pull its portion of the international body's funding.  He said the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars could be better allocated to serve American veterans.  Eric Bolling reported that United States funds account for 22 percent or about $600 million of the UN's operating budget, while we have spent as much as multiple billions of dollars on peacekeeping and other UN initiatives.  Not a bad idea.  Spend the money on veterans, who have done more for peace than the UN ever has. 

December 28,  2016    Permalink

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED, TO LEARN THIS – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  Who would have thought it, in our politically correct, fuzzy world?  From Deutsche Welle: 

Christmas market attack suspect Anis Amri visited 15 mosques in Germany and had contact with two men with ties to IS, according to a media report. Security authorities also reportedly labeled him a threat back in May.

Tunisian-born Anis Amri traveled to 15 different mosques - 12 of which were located in the western Ruhr region, according to a report from German public broadcaster WDR's "Aktuelle Stunde" television program.

Amri used one of eight aliases to apply for asylum in the western German city of Oberhausen, the report said citing a multi-page profile on the Berlin attack suspect put together by security authorities.

Starting in February 2016, Amri was located mostly in Berlin although he should not have been allowed to leave the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where he registered for asylum.

The state criminal investigation office in Düsseldorf classified him as a threat on May 10.

The profile stated that Amri behaved in an especially conspiratorial manner when he was in Berlin and had frequent contact with people who security services said had ties to the radical Salafist-Islamist scene. Two of the men Amri came into contact with were under suspicion of planning a terrorist attack.

Back in North Rhine-Westphalia, Amri also had two contacts in Dortmund who had ties to the so-called militant "Islamic State" (IS) group, the report said.

COMMENT:  And yet nothing was done.  That's some security.  Political correctness in Europe – we must not upset our new guests – has been carried to an extreme, and people are dying because of it.  Maybe, with the impact of President Trump, that will change.

December 28, 2016     Permalink

MORE CLASS FROM THE LEFT – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  I'm always inspired by good manners.  From Fox: 

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters said she will not accept any invitation to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, and plans to obstruct much of his platform.

"I don't trust him, I don't believe him, I have no intentions of sitting down with him; I'm going to fight him every inch of the way," Waters told MSNBC.

The South Los Angeles Democrat said Trump has "stepped on everybody and has no respect for his colleagues" nor his ideological opponents.

Waters said, in contrast, Democrats are "nice" and "bend over backwards" to work with Republicans when in the majority.

However, Waters comments conflict with the stated position of incoming Democratic leader Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) who said he plans "not to oppose something simply because it has the name Trump on it."

COMMENT:  Maxine Waters is so far out in left field that she can't even see the pitcher.  And, no, I haven't noticed that the Democrats are "nice."  The majority seem to be narrow and mean-spirited.  And the majority would side with Waters.

I think we're in for warfare.  I'm not sure that Chuck Schumer will survive long as Senate minority leader. 

December 28, 2016     Permalink

GRAND ADMIRAL KERRY TO SPEAK – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  Kerry will speak today to outline the Obama-Kerry vision of an Israel-Palestinian peace agreement.

The act itself is unbelievably tacky and small-time.  Great nations do not announce major foreign-policy positions in the last three weeks of an administration.  And decent presidents do not try to tie the hands of their successors. 

Obama has been in office for eight years.  Why now, as the moving vans are pulling up to the White House, does he have his secretary of state announce a new vision for the Mideast?  The answer is easy.  He no longer has to submit any of his ideas to the American people through elections.  He's taking the route of political cowards, the route of no political risks.

Obama tried the same stunt when announcing that the Iran nuclear deal would be treated as an executive agreement, rather than a treaty.  All previous arms agreements had been treaties, ratified by the Senate.  Obama knew that the Iran deal was unpopular, so, poof, it suddenly became a non-treaty, meaning it didn't have to be ratified by the Senate.  And it was signed by Obama and delivered to Iran.

We await Kerry's oration with no sense of anticipation.  And we await a new administration that will understand the American tradition, and act with some class.

December 28,  2016     Permalink