Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

Our Angel's Corner ar

DECEMBER 2,  2017

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

TODAY –  Today, December 2nd, is the 75th anniversary of humankind's first sustained nuclear reaction, achieved under the stands at Stagg Field, a football stadium, at the University of Chicago.  As a student at that university, I passed the site of the experiment every day, and saw the plaque commemorating the experiment, which was under the direction of Enrico Fermi.  The sustained nuclear reaction made possible the development of the atomic bomb.  When the experiment succeeded,  Nobel laureate physicist Arthur Holly Compton telephoned James Conant, chairman of the National Defense Research Committee, and reported, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world."  "How were the natives?" Conant asked.  "Very friendly," Compton replied. 

TOO EXTREME? – FROM CNN:    ABC News announced Saturday that it has suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay after Ross was forced to correct a bombshell on-air report about Michael Flynn.  "We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process," ABC said in a statement. "As a result of our continued reporting over the next several hours ultimately we determined the information was wrong and we corrected the mistake on air and online."  "It is vital we get the story right and retain the trust we have built with our audience -- these are our core principles," the statement added. "We fell far short of that yesterday."  Citing a single anonymous source, Ross told viewers during an ABC special report on Friday morning that Flynn was prepared to testify that Donald Trump, as a candidate for president, told him to contact Russians.  During Friday's edition of "World News Tonight," Ross walked back his report, telling viewers that the source who had provided the initial information for his story later told him that it was as president-elect, not as a candidate, that Trump asked Flynn to contact Russians.  Okay, big mistake.  Poor editorial checking.  But ABC made a sincere and full effort to correct the error.   In my view, the correction was sufficient.  No need to go overboard in reprimanding the reporter.  Looks very pompous to me.

OH DEAR, CAN WE GET THIS RIGHT? – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Global warming has not accelerated temperature rise in the bulk atmosphere in more than two decades, according to a new study funded by the Department of Energy.  University of Alabama-Huntsville climate scientists John Christy and Richard McNider found that by removing the climate effects of volcanic eruptions early on in the satellite temperature record showed virtually no change in the rate of warming since the early 1990s.  “We indicated 23 years ago — in our 1994 Nature article — that climate models had the atmosphere’s sensitivity to CO2 much too high,” Christy said in a statement. “This recent paper bolsters that conclusion.”  I do wish that "science" would get this right.  Are we in danger, or are we not?  It seems to me we get more political science than real science.

December 2, 2017      Permalink

PASSED – AT 9:26 A.M. ET:   The United States Senate passed its version of the tax bill last night.  From CNN: 

(CNN) The Senate passed its tax reform bill in the early hour of Saturday morning, following a day full of Republican leaders making changes to bring enough members on board and a long night full of heated rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.

The vote was 51-49, mostly along party lines. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee was the only Republican to vote against the bill, citing concerns about growing the deficit.

Congressional negotiators continued to make changes to the bill -- including handwriting alterations on to the document -- up until just hours before the final vote, with Democrats sharply criticizing Republicans for not giving members enough time to read the sweeping legislation that would overhaul the US tax system.

The House of Representatives approved its own tax reform plan last month, and the two chambers are expected to go to conference to reconcile the two bills, but passing the legislation Saturday was a huge victory for Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump, both looking for significant legislative achievements.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a key holdout, announced just after noon that he would back the plan.

Republicans could pass the legislation with 50 members and a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, but after Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced her support Friday afternoon, Pence's would-be vote was unnecessary, as Collins' vote brought the tally to 51.

COMMENT:  Now the reconciliation process begins.  That will probably result in an even better bill.  President Trump may well have legislation on his desk by the end of the year.  But if it takes a bit longer, that's fine, as long as it's a good plan.

Watch for the Trump-hating press to mount a major campaign against the legislation.  Republicans must stay strong, and at least reasonably united.  And that begins with the president explaining the benefits of the plan directly to the American people, Reagan style, going over the heads of the journalists.

December 2, 2017       Permalink

CHALLENGING FUTURE FOR LABOR – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:   Robotics are here.  The robots refuse to go home.  For working Americans, they pose an enormous and painful challenge.  From the Washington Post: 

Over the next 13 years, the rising tide of automation will force as many as 70 million workers in the United States to find another way to make money, a new study from the global consultancy McKinsey predicts.

That means nearly a third of the American workforce could face the need to pick up new skills or enter different fields in the near future, said the report's co-author, Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute who studies business and economics.

“We believe that everyone will need to do retraining over time,” he said.

The shift could displace people at every stage of their career, Chui said.

By 2030, the researchers estimated, the demand for office support workers in the U.S. will drop by 20 percent. That includes secretaries, paralegals and anyone in charge of administrative tasks.

During the same period, the need for people doing “predictable physical work” — construction equipment installation and repair, card dealing, security guarding, dishwashing and food preparation, for example — will fall by 30 percent.

And...

The jobs most at risk involve repetitive tasks. About half the duties workers handle globally could be automated, according to the report, though less than 5 percent of occupations could be entirely taken over by computers.

Caretakers, psychologists, artists, writers — anyone who relies on empathy or creativity at work — can expect to have the most job security as automation continues to spread, said Jason Hong, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

“Artificial intelligence is now taking over even white collar jobs,” he said, “but those that require lots of human touch and communication won’t be easily automated.”

COMMENT:  So the future will belong to shrinks and writers.  I'm leaving.

December 2, 2017       Permalink

ABC MAKES A CORRECTION – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  It's good to see a major news organization correct itself when a serious error is made.  Consider this, from ABC News: 

JUST IN: @Brian Ross on @ABC News Special Report: Michael Flynn promised "full cooperation to the Mueller team" and is prepared to testify that as a candidate, Donald Trump "directed him to make contact with the Russians." https://t.co/aiagnvr8eS pic.twitter.com/r8u2LWAd0O
— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2017

(ABC News has deleted Ross's original and erroneous report)

UPDATE: ABC News has deleted the above video of Ross' report from Friday morning after investigative reporter Brian Ross retracted the explosive claim that Flynn would be willing to testify against Trump.

Ross said on ABC World News Tonight that incoming President Trump, not candidate Trump, instructed Flynn to speak to the Russians, a chasm between the original report that the Republican nominee made the request.

Ross also clarified the reason why Flynn -- the incoming National Security Advisor -- was told to speak to the Russian Federation whereas before he left it open-ended that Trump wanted the retired general to "make contact" with the Russians.

COMMENT: The lesson:  Be careful of all "first reports."  Indeed, be careful of journalism generally.  It is, as an editor once said, history's rough first draft.  The trouble is, we often don't get a second draft. 

The Mueller investigation drags on, disrupting the White House and holding the president under a cloud, while thus far producing very little.  These special counsels, while occasionally necessary, can easily turn into a burden on our democracy.  I hope Mueller wraps up his probe quickly.  We elected a government, and we are entitled to have one.

December 2,  2017     Permalink

DECEMBER 1,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:18 P.M. ET:

AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE – FROM THE BALTIMORE SUN:  Aleasha Bowie was recuperating at home from a surgical procedure Thursday morning when she heard a bang, and then a bang, bang, bang.
She screamed for her brother, who was just about to leave for work, then rushed to the front of the house to peer out the window, she said. On the corner outside, she saw a young man — a guy she’d watched grow up in the neighborhood — slumped on the street.  The 21-year-old man, who was not identified by police, was the 319th homicide victim in the city in 2017, tipping the annual count beyond the 318 killings that occurred in Baltimore in all of 2016.  That means this year is now Baltimore’s second-deadliest on record on a per-capita basis, with a month left to go. The record was set in 2015, when there were 344 homicides.  Since there's no anti-cop story here, the mainstream media doesn't seem to care.

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   The student newspaper at Evergreen State College has a section in its opinion pages described as “for people of color by people of color.”  “This should be a place where we can be us without it being overshadowed by the dark cloud that is living under white supremacy and having to see things from a white perspective. This is why when we do cover these issues it will be in the context and from the perspective of POC and POC only,” according to the section’s editors as they reintroduced it to readers in September.  The anonymous column, known as “POC Talk,” debuted in the bi-weekly Cooper Point Journal last year and returned this fall to the newspaper’s pages following racial unrest that erupted at the public university this past spring.  “Dear White people, please take a step back, this isn’t brown-people-answer-white-people’s-questions-hour, we’re asking specifically for submissions from POC,” the section’s editors added in their September intro. “As being told no seems to be a difficult concept for some of y’all I await your emails about the Irish, how the term white fragility is mean (great example of white fragility) and how we need to view people through a color-blind lens (just lol). You will 100% not get a response!!!”  How brilliant.  How intellectual.  And I'm sure many "white" professors will go along with it.  I have four words for these child revolutionaries:  physics, chemistry, math, engineering.  Study those and you'll be amazed how quickly your problems will be eased.  There is nothing better than to be needed.

TERRIFIC PROFESSORS – AND THEY DO EXIST – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Located in the South Bronx, Hostos Community College is in the middle of the poorest urban congressional district in the United States.  Hostos aims to improve the quality of life for its 6,500 students who seek to escape poverty through education.  In that spirit, Hostos professors Gregory Marks and Andrea Fabrizio are spearheading a unique initiative to broaden the horizons of students at Hostos. The two English instructors, along with other faculty members in the school’s English department, say they understand the importance of teaching these students about the greatest thinkers Western Civilization has to offer.  With that, these professors are at the helm of a project to bring elements of Columbia University’s 100-year-old core curriculum to Hostos.  “We feel as though the Core builds on the Hostos Mission,” Marks told The College Fix via email, “which is geared toward the South Bronx community. It is a diverse community in an underserved area of NYC. We felt that these students, who struggle with fundamental academic skills of reading and writing, deserve to be exposed to the same material and human questioning as students attending selective private colleges such as Columbia University.”  Among the most important goals of the program, according to Fabrizio, is “encouraging thoughtful, self-knowing reflection on these foundational texts among our students.”  That's what an education is.  I hope these professors aren't shut down by the usual red groups.

December 1, 2017       Permalink

THE OUTRAGEOUS VERDICT – AT 3:41 P.M.    The verdict in the Kate Steinle case has roused national outrage.  The illegal immigrant on trial, with a string of priors, was only convicted of a technical weapons charge.  The life of Kate Steinle meant nothing.  But now the Justice Department may intervene.  From Fox:

The Justice Department is considering bringing federal charges against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate after his not guilty verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial, department officials told Fox News on Friday.

A California jury acquitted Zarate of the more serious charges in the case, including murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon -- only convicting him of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. immigration officials had said they would deport Garcia Zarate – also known as Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez -- who already had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father.

The undocumented felon could spend three years in prison for the firearm charge but has already been behind bars for over two years as the case has made its way through court. 

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores acknowledged Friday that the DOJ is looking at federal charges. She suggested a possible charge could be felony re-entry or a charge pertaining to a violation of supervised release.

“We’re looking at every option and we will prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law because these cases are tragic and entirely preventable,” Flores said on “Fox & Friends” Friday.

She also urged local governments to “reconsider” sanctuary policies.

COMMENT:   The local governments will not consider these policies because they are run by liberals who want to be invited to the right cocktail parties. 

I haven't seen any interviews with the Steinle jurors.  I'm sure they regard themselves as noble, compassionate creatures.

December 1, 2017        Permalink

GOP HOPES ON TAX BILL RISE – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  After a night of maneuvering, there are smiles again on the faces of GOP senators.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans on Friday were confident that they had locked in enough votes to pass a sweeping tax bill later in the day. Wavering GOP senators offered their support and a holdout, worried it would add to the deficit, all but conceded defeat.

Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said the party had 50 votes to pass the legislation. Republicans control 52 seats compared with 48 for Democrats. With no Democrats expected to support the bill and Vice President Mike Pence able to break a tie if needed, Senate Republicans have the majority needed to clear the measure through the Senate and open negotiations with the House to iron out differences.

The emerging deal marks a sharp reversal from earlier this week, when a trio of Republican deficit hawks were working on a plan to automatically reverse tax cuts if the Republican tax plan failed to pay for itself through stronger economic growth. With one member of that group, Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.), firmly in support of the tax package, the two remaining deficit hawks appeared to be gaining no ground in their bid to build in safeguards against widening deficits. The U.S. debt currently stands at more than $20 trillion, and the bill could add $1 trillion to the U.S. budget deficit over the next decade compared with current policy.

“I realize that there’s probably enough votes right now to pass it,” said Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), who had tried to find a compromise that would reverse tax cuts if the tax legislation, which currently costs $1.4 trillion in tax revenue, failed to pay for itself through economic growth as Republicans hope. Mr. Corker, who has emerged as one of his party’s most steadfast deficit hawks, said he expected the tax cut would probably pass without his support.

COMMENT:  The key point here is that a Senate "aye" vote simply passes the Senate version of the tax bill.  That is far from final passage.  The Senate version will then have to be reconciled with the House version by a committee established for that purpose.  Then the agreed-upon package would have to be passed by both houses and signed by the president to become law.

December 1, 2017       Permalink

FLYNN TO PLEAD – AT 10:17 A.M. ET:  Michael Flynn, Trump's initial choice for national security adviser, is about to plead guilty to lying to the FBI.  From Fox: 

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been charged in the special counsel's Russia investigation with making false statements to the FBI and is expected to plead guilty at a hearing Friday morning. 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office released a one-count charging document ahead of the hearing.

The false statements charge pertains to Flynn's interactions with the Russian ambassador in late December -- specifically discussions about sanctions and other matters he apparently claimed never happened. 

According to the document, those false statements were that: 

• "On or about Dec 29, 2016, FLYNN did not ask the Government of Russia’s Ambassador to the United States ... to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day; and FLYNN did not recall the Russian Ambassador subsequently telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request."

• "On or about December 22, 2016, FLYNN did not ask the Russian Ambassador to delay the vote on or defeat a pending United Nations Security Council resolution; and  that the Russian Ambassador subsequently never described to FLYNN Russia’s response to his request.”

Flynn is accused of "willfully and knowingly" making the false statements to the FBI while serving in the Trump administration.

COMMENT:  The press is going hysterical on this, clearly delighted that Mueller is moving closer and closer to Trump. 

The details here are far less important than the overall political situation.  Mueller will probably come up with enough to at least raise questions about Trump.  If the Democrats take over the House next November, Trump is almost certain to be impeached, even if there are no sound grounds.  He could then resign or, as Clinton did, accept a trial before the US Senate.  Two thirds are required in the Senate for removal from office of a president, something that has never happened.

December 1,  2017     Permalink