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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cancelled by PBS in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women, had accolades from two universities rescinded Friday.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

NOVEMBER 23,  2017

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

ESPN NOSEDIVES – FROM BLOOMBERG:  ESPN lost 2 million subscribers last fiscal year, underscoring the challenge owner Walt Disney Co. faces attracting young people who don’t pay for cable.  The network, one of the most watched on the cable dial, had 88 million U.S. subscribers at the end of September, including people paying for online versions, Disney said in its annual report Wednesday. That’s down from a peak of 100 million in 2010 and marks the lowest total since 2003.  To ensure the long-term future of one of its most profitable businesses, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger is negotiating to include ESPN in new digital forms of pay TV, such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now. He’s also planning the rollout of an online-only ESPN subscription service that would include live games that aren’t available on the network’s regular channels.  Hopeless thinking.  ESPN has become politicized, and until the politics is taken out of its programming, it will continue to fade.

ENCOURAGING TREND – FROM DAILY MAIL:   The abortion rate has dropped to an historic low in the US, the latest data reveals.  A new CDC report released on Wednesday confirmed the rate dropped two percent from 2013 to 2014, continuing the steady decline seen over the past few years.  In 2014, there were 12.1 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age - down from 19.4 in 2008.  The biggest decrease was seen among teenage pregnancies, and now more abortions than ever are performed before 8.5 weeks' gestation.  While the drop mirrors the closure of abortion clinics nationwide, experts say the figure is likely down to more effective use of contraception and the falling pregnancy rate.   No matter how you feel about abortion, the fewer abortions the better.

AND NOW HOCKEY – FROM CITY NEWS SERVICE:  LOS ANGELES >> The man who appears at Los Angeles Kings games as team mascot “Bailey” was sued Wednesday by a dishwasher for allegedly groping the defendant’s buttocks in a Staples Center elevator in 2016.  Maso Griffin’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Tim Smith and his employer, Kings’ owner Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc., as well as Levy Restaurants Inc. and Compass Group USA, which both provide food services to Staples Center. The suit seeks unspecified damages.Smith did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.  Even hockey is contaminated.  What is next?  Chess?

November 23, 2017       Permalink

THE PARTY POOPERS SHOW UP – AT 11:24 A.M. ET:   Leave us alone for a day, would you?  From London's Telegraph: 

Healthy eaters may have something to feel extra smug about.

Fried fatty food not only has an impact on waistlines, it is also affecting our weather systems, according to scientists.

Chemists at the universities of Reading, Bristol and Bath have discovered that when droplets of cooking fat are released into the atmosphere they form complex structures which attract moisture and form into clouds.

In large cities like London, cooking fat is known to be responsible for 10 per cent of small particles in the air, so researchers believe frying food could have a noticeable impact on cloud formation and rainy weather.

In fact, the effect is so large it could even have a cooling effect on the planet, and potentially slow down global warming.

“I think it could he having an impact on cloud formation,” said Dr Christian Pfrang, Associate Professor of Physical and Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Reading.

COMMENT:  I'm having my turkey.  Period.  Stuffing, too.  And apple pie.  Try to stop me.

November 23, 2017       Permalink

ECONOMIC SURVIVAL – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Thanksgiving is a time for joy, but for the employees of brick-and-mortar stores, it's also a time for apprehension.  Will these stores still be standing next year?  From AFP: 

New York (AFP) - The photo op with Santa Claus has long been a holiday mainstay for American children. But this year, shopping malls in several states are scheduling glamour shots for man's best friend.

As the Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, portraits of St. Nick with a family's beloved dog are just one way retailers are looking to attract customers in the face of exploding e-commerce.

Brick-and-mortar stores have expanded their bag of tricks -- and gotten increasingly bold -- as they look to lure shoppers who might otherwise be happy to stay on the couch and pick up gifts while still in their pajamas.

The flagship Bloomingdale's store in New York has held yoga classes, and Nordstrom has displayed Tesla cars near the section for men's suits.

A number of shops now ply visitors with food and drink.

For the holiday shopping season, malls are hosting gingerbread decorating sessions, visits from the Grinch -- Dr. Seuss's beloved Christmas villain-turned-softie -- and ugly Christmas sweater nights.

Temporary ice skating rinks and magical winter decor are also being used to draw customers intent on an in-person holiday experience.

Wal-Mart Stores plans to throw more than 20,000 "holiday parties" at which children can pose for "selfies with Santa."

"All of these retailers are desperate to get people into their stores," said analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail..."

COMMENT:  I would hate to see the big stores go.  There is still something wonderful about viewing and feeling an actual, physical product, and mixing with real people.  But I have to concede that I do most of my buying online because it's so convenient, so I'm violating my own argument.

November 23, 2017       Permalink

THANKSGIVING IN NEW YORK – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  A time for joy and parades, but also a time for vigilance.  From Fox: 

The NYPD is doubling down on a new breed of security to defend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade: an elite team of Labrador retrievers specially trained to detect explosives on roving targets in large crowds.

The dogs have completed the 18-month patent-pending "Vapor Wake" training program, which was developed at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Unlike normal bomb-sniffing dogs, which are adept at identifying explosives in stationary objects such as trash cans, Vapor Wake dogs keep their noses up and look for mobile threats.

The Labradors are dialed into the "thermal plumes left behind in a person's wake," Paul Hammond, the president of Vapor Wake training program VWK9 LLC, told Rolling Stone.

The dogs, which are trained to avoid the distractions of large crowds and loud noises typical of large events, can sense explosive particles and even firearm residue in this wake, Wired reported. 

Hammond told Wired that the NYPD will deploy 14 of the Vapor Wake dogs to the parade, along with its usual contingent of traditional bomb-sniffing dogs.

COMMENT:  The NYPD is on its game, but frustrated by obstruction from leftist judges and New York's profoundly leftist mayor.  I hope the police are permitted to do their jobs.

November 23,  2017     Permalink