Looking For the Magic Solution

For John, BLUF:  What appears logical often ignores second and third order consequences.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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SHOCKING:  Gun Confiscation Hasn’t Helped D.C. Crime Rate

Posted at 8:30 am on October 28, 2018 by Tom Knighton

Here is the lede plus two:

Gun control advocates routinely argue that gun control laws will reduce crime, that they take guns out of the hands of criminals.  Gun rights advocates typically counter with plenty of examples of places with sky-high crime and lots of gun laws.  This tends to not go over well with people who get their knowledge of firearms policy from MSNBC.

It doesn’t go over well because it’s true and they’re not prepared for that.

Kind of like how they won’t be prepared to see how gun confiscation hasn’t really helped the District of Columbia.

I am sure Novelist Sarah Hoyt was wearing her shocked face as she posted this item.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Squirrel Hill Ripple

For John, BLUF:  I understand.  The Second Amendment is about protecting individuals, from criminals, and from a Government gone rogue.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This Jewish Boy Is Going to Buy a Gun

From PJ Media, by Mr Roger L Simon, 28 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus four:

For some time I have been a supporter of the Second Amendment -- intellectually.  I agreed with the Founders' rationale for the right to bear arms.  I even joined the NRA.

But I never bought a gun.

Although I know the basics of how to shoot, I didn't want a pistol around the house. I didn't think I needed it.  I thought it too risky to own a weapon unless I practiced with it regularly and I didn't want to make time in my schedule for that.  Real physical exercise was more important at my age.  Also, I'm not a particularly fearful type who keeps a claw hammer secreted under the bed.  Beyond that, I didn't want to awaken my mother -- a devoted gun-control advocate -- from her grave.

Until now. Until Pittsburgh.  This Jewish boy is going to buy a gun.

The local and global situation with anti-Semitism has reached such a level I'd be a fool not to.  Between the rising anti-Zionism and Jew hatred on our campuses and in the Democratic Party (what were Barack Obama and Bill Clinton doing being photographed with Louis Farrakhan?), the bloodthirsty jihadists, and the neo-Nazi monsters like this Bower character, we are at a point I never thought we'd reach in my lifetime.  And as the co-screenwriter of two feature films about the Holocaust, I have a pretty good idea where it can lead.

I would hope there is no pogrom in America's future, but Mr Simon is right to arm himself.  As we know, when you are face to face with the threat, the police are just minutes away.  It isn't the fault of the police.  They can't be everywhere.  The Zero [zero seconds] Responders are the people on the scene.  If they can't move out of the way of harm they must fight back.

And, this Anti-semitism isn't a Pittsburg problem, or even a US problem.  This is a global problem.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Halloween

For John, BLUF:  Or you could just skip the whole thing and run into us down at the Long Horn.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Don't Get Caught by the Cultural Appropriation Police This Halloween, Follow These 4 Easy Tips!

From PJ Media, by Ms Faith Moore, 29 October 2018.

You know where this is going.  As the farmer said, "You can't get there from here."

I've got nothing.

There was a time when we used to pay tribute to other cultures, sort of, kind of, by adopting aspects of that other culture.  Like I used to like steel bands.  No more.  (Although I still like steel band music.  I just don't discuss it with other people.)

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

We Win

For John, BLUF:  Now I can go to bed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Red Sox Win World Series

Regards  —  Cliff

Squirrel Hill Shooting

For John, BLUF:  This is a terrible event, made worse by people chasing after irrelevant squirrels scampering all over the place.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Slaughter in Pittsburgh

Here is the sub-headline:

The shooter is to blame.

From Commentary Magazine, by Mr John Podhoretz, 27 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

The synagogue in Pittsburgh is called the Tree of Life.  The name is a translation into English of the Hebrew phrase etz chaim.  We sing those words as the Torah is put away on every Shabbat.  They are words from the Book of Proverbs: “She is a tree of life for those that cling to her and all who do are happy.”  The “she” in that sentence is “wisdom,” and the verse that precedes it is especially poignant in light of what has happened:  “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”  Today the paths of peace were befouled by a monstrous anti-Semite who stormed the Tree of Life shouting something about Jews needing to die as he murdered and injured and then shot at some cops for good measure.

In every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. In a classic act of anti-Semitic violence, which is what this is, Jews hear the echoes of every violent anti-Semitic act that has preceded it in history.  And we hear those echoes because they are there.  That which motivates Jew-hatred today is what has motivated it from time immemorial—the poisonously attractive idea that Jews need to be extirpated because our existence is an offense or a threat to an existing larger order.  The blessing of Jewish life in America is that this notion has largely been consigned to the dregs from which today’s human malignancy rose.  Despite the fact that most hate crimes in America are aimed at Jews, the actual number is vanishingly small—especially compared to France, from which Jews are now fleeing, and England, whose Labour Party is in the hands of an actual Jew-hater.

This is a horrendous event and one that embarrasses me as an American and as a Christian (no order implied).  But, I am also offended by the way some people try to put blame on our President for this.

Here is a post by Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds on this, with an extract from the above linked article:

NEVER-TRUMPER JOHN PODHORETZ IS NONETHELESS HIGHLY OFFENDED BY THE ANTI-TRUMP SMEARS:

Based on the early evidence, the shooter was not only consumed with a hatred of Jews but possessed a kind of sneering contempt for Trump on the grounds that Trump was basically a Jewish agent or a Jew-lover himself.  Trump can only be blamed for the murderous Jew-killing actions of someone who thought of him that way by people who are so consumed by hatred of him that there is nothing they won’t blame him for.

We need to pray for the victims, denounce anti-semitism, denounce political violence and rebuke those who try to tie the President to this terrible act.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Can You Trust Your Intel

For John, BLUF:  Maybe President Trump's caution with regard to the Intelligence Community isn't so foolish after all.  If Maggie Thatcher couldn't scare them into being frank with her, what chance does Mr Trump have?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How A KGB Double Agent Saved Britain And Won The Cold War For The West

Here is the sub-headline:

Historian Ben MacIntyre's new book, 'The Spy and the Traitor,' tells the thrilling story of how the KGB's Oleg Gordievsky helped check the Soviet Union as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan fought communism.

From The Federalist, by Mr Tony Daniel, 26 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

In his new book The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, veteran espionage historian Ben MacIntyre confirms a troubling decision—or lack thereof—that some had suspected for years.  This is the fact that in 1983 the man overseeing both British spy services MI6 and MI5, head of British Civil Service Robert Armstrong, knew that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s main opponent in the upcoming election was a KGB agent and did not tell her.

Labor Party leader, member of Parliament, and former employment secretary Michael Foot had been a paid KGB agent for decades, and was still on the KGB books as an agent of influence when he headed the British Labor Party and ran against Thatcher for leadership of England in 1983.  Foot would have become prime minister if Labor had won.

MI6 told MI5, its domestic sister agency, and MI5 told Armstrong, but Armstrong kept Foot’s duplicity to himself.  Nobody informed Thatcher.

Here is the Wikipedia article on Mr Michael Foot.

And here is the Wikipedia article on Baron Armstrong of Ilminster (Robert Armstrong).  It turns out that Baron Armstrong was "economical with the truth" when it came to not only Intelligence information, but also pedophiles in the UK Upper Crust.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reeducation Camps Thrive

For John, BLUF:  The Government of China is about Citizens not getting out of line.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Inside China's internment camps: tear gas, Tasers and textbooks

From Agence France-Presse, by an unnamed team of Reporters, 24 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus six:

On state television, the vocational education centre in China's far west looked like a modern school where happy students studied Mandarin, brushed up their job skills, and pursued hobbies such as sports and folk dance.

But earlier this year, one of the local government departments in charge of such facilities in Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture made several purchases that had little to do with education: 2,768 police batons, 550 electric cattle prods, 1,367 pairs of handcuffs, and 2,792 cans of pepper spray.

The shopping list was among over a thousand procurement requests made by local governments in the Xinjiang region since early 2017 related to the construction and management of a sprawling system of "vocational education and training centres".

The facilities have come under international scrutiny, with rights activists describing them as political re-education camps holding as many as one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.

Beijing had previously denied their existence.  But a global outcry, including from the UN and the US, sparked a PR counter-offensive.

Government propaganda insisted the centres were aimed at countering the spread of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism through "free" education and job training.

However, an AFP examination of more than 1,500 publicly available government documents –- ranging from tenders and budgets to official work reports —- shows the centres are run more like jails than schools.

Rumor Control has it that China has up to a million Muslim Uyghurs in re-education camps.

China is working on development of a "Social Credit System" to rack and stack all Chinese Citizens.  [From Wikipedia]

On June 14, 2014, the China's State Council issued an outline for the national social credit system, it was titled "State Council Notice concerning Issuance of the Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014–2020)".  Law scholar Rogier Creemers translated the document into English.

The plan shows the government wants the basic structures of the Social Credit System to be in place by 2020.[15] The goal being "raising the awareness for integrities and the level of credibility within society."  It is presented as a means to perfect the “socialist market economy” (完善社会主义市场经济体制) as well as strengthening and innovating societal governance (加强和创新社会治理).  This indicates that the Chinese government views it both as a means to regulate the economy at a business level and as a tool of governance to steer the behavior of citizens.

The outline focuses on four areas: "honesty in government affairs" (政务诚信), "commercial integrity" (商务诚信), "societal integrity" (社会诚信), and "judicial credibility" (司法公信).  The Chinese government's plans includes credit assessment of businesses operating in China.

The Social Credit System is an example of China’s “top-level design” (顶层设计) approach.  It is coordinated by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms.

It is unclear whether the system will work as envisioned by 2020, but the Chinese government has fast-tracked the implementation of the system, resulting in the publication of numerous policy documents and plans since the main plan was issued in 2014.  If the Social Credit System is implemented as envisioned, it will constitute a new way of controlling both the behavior of individuals and of businesses.

So, if your social credit score is poor you can't fly on airliners or put your kids in the good schools or gain other economic or social benefits.  This is not a good thing.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

There In Spirit

For John, BLUF:  We should be careful to not lose our political heritage in a narrow rejection of our common history.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This is the Feast of Crispin

Posted at Cat Rotator's Quarterly on October 25, 2018 by TXRed.

Here is the lede:

Ah, October 25, one of those dates that means a lot to a very few people.  A date immortalized by one of the greatest poems in English, a poem we don’t recall as poetry.

This is about the Battle of Agincourt, and King Henry the Fifth's speech.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

[The whole speech is on video at the link.]

Progressives assert that there is "White Privilege" in this nation, holding back others.  I would assert that they miss the fact that what bouys our spirits is Anglo-Saxon privilege, a privilege available to all, "we band of brothers (and sisters)," regardless of race, color or creed.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispin_and_Crispinian

Last Month's Illegal Immigration Data

For John, BLUF:  We need to get a handle on immigration.  Maybe after 1 January and the new Congress.  Maybe.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ivy League Study:  Illegal Population is 22 Million, Double Estb. Estimate

Here is the sub-headline:

The population of illegal migrants is roughly 22 million, or twice the establishment estimate of 11 million, say three professors from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From Breitbart, by Neil Munroe, 21 September 2018.

Here is the lede:

The shocking estimate will force establishment politicians and pro-migration advocates to recalculate the estimated impact of the huge illegal population on wages and salaries, on crime rates, welfare consumption, rental and real-estate prices, productivity rates, and the distribution of job-creating investment funds to coastal vs. heartland states.

Well, so much for Breitbart as predictor of future action.  I don't think this report moved the needle at all.

Maybe the Caravan from Central America will.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Violence is Wrong

For John, BLUF:  Hiding from acknowledging the source of violence is wrong, and weak.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Violence Against Gays on the Rise in Europe

From PJ Media, by Mr Bruce Baker, 24 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

On October 22, about three thousand people rallied in central Paris “to denounce assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and demand urgent action from the government.”  Among the many recent incidents that had sparked the protest, noted Reuters, were “the beating of a gay couple by their cab driver” the previous week and the murder in August, in the Bois de Boulogne, of a “transgender sex worker.”  Another report on the rally mentioned two additional, and particularly high-profile, incidents:  in September, an actor named Arnaud Gagnoud was beaten up after giving his boyfriend a hug outside a theater in Paris's 20th arrondissement;  on October 16, Guillaume Mélanie, founder of the gay-rights group Urgence, was gay-bashed in a Paris street.

People are people.  Everyone, as a human right, should be safe in their person.  This situation in Europe is ugly.  This brings to mind Germany in the 1930s.

Gaining social conformance by violence is just plain wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Flip Side of the Coin

For John, BLUF:  Artificial differences are not helpful.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Finally, Men Fight Back

Here I deplored this law suit, but Dr Smith sees it as the solution.

From PJ Media, by Dr Helen Smith, 22 October 2018.

Here is the paragraph that sums up Dr Smith's view:

Good, men have been getting law suits served against them for years by women and others who say they have no right to have male-only spaces or activities.  And what about men like Mark Judge who was accused in the court of public opinion in the Kavanaugh case?  He is apparently having to deal with legal issues and was fired from his job.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

I Hope Someone In Their Right Mind Fixes This

For John, BLUF:  This is dumb.  Dumb in the sense that we now have a system where folks can farm for money with dumb lawsuits.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Women-Only Craft Beer Forum Shut Down By Men’s Rights Activist

Here is the sub-headline:

Ting Su, co-founder of Eagle Rock Brewery and host of the event, now finds herself needing to raise money for a legal defense fund.

From Vice Munchies, by Ms Beth Demmon, 19 October 2018.

When someone poisons the well, then no one can drink from it.  And I don't mean Ms Su.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Identity Politics Shifts the Circle

For John, BLUF:  The term "white" with regard to race shows an inability to see shades of color.  It shows a willingness to ignore nuance.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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‘White Women’ Becomes a Disparaging Term

Here is the sub-headline:

The Left is lumping white women together into a giant bloc subject to absurdly broad stereotyping and vitriolic condemnation.

From National Review, by Mr Kyle Smith, 14 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Using “white men” as a putdown is no longer extreme enough for the Left.  Now it is moving on to doing the same for “white women.”

How rapidly this transpired.  It was less than two years ago that the approximately 98.7 percent of white women working in media who were openly rooting for Hillary Clinton saw their hopes dashed on Election Day.  The first murmurs of betrayal began.  Exit polls showed 52 percent of white women backed Donald Trump, and much sorrowful tsk-tsking ensued.  Sorrow turned to disbelief.  Disbelief turned to rage.

Today, white women are being lumped together into a giant bloc subject to absurdly broad stereotyping and vitriolic condemnation.  They’re being told to step back and know their place by writers in the New York Times (“white women benefit from patriarchy by trading on their whiteness to monopolize resources for mutual gain”), The New Yorker (“despite the enduring legacy of testimony by black women, white women have often played the protagonists in the history of sexual violence, and black women have been relegated to the supporting cast”) and NBC News (“white women who voted for Trump . . . clearly have no issue with the president’s openly misogynistic behavior, his demeaning of female reporters and his mocking of [Christine Blasey] Ford”).

If the Democrats find themselves on a losing streak it may be because the Democrats, with their identity politics, are shrinking the circle of who is acceptable.

If Ms Linda Sarsour isn't a "white woman", what is she?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Atrocious Timing

For John, BLUF:  With the string of unexploded bombs being delivered by mail to Democrats and supporters, this is most unfortunate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Civility:  New York Times now printing fantasies of President Trump being assassinated with help of Secret Service

Posted on Twitchy, by Brett T, at 6:29 pm on October 24, 2018.

Should this have surprised us? Because it kind of did.

This flows from a Tweet by a Mr Ben Domenech, on Twitter, at 5:39 PM.

Fantasizing about the Secret Service helping assassinate the president, now in the @nytimes.

I would call this very bad timing on the part of their Lordships at The Old Gray Lady.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Socialism Means No Civil Liberties

For John, BLUF:  Socialism, which means the elimination of Capitalism, also means restrictions on civil liberties.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Civil Liberties and Socialism Don’t Mix

Here is the sub-headline:

Democratic socialists say they believe in civil liberties, but their ideology is and will always be hostile to individual freedom.

From Reason Magazine, by ACLU Managing Editor Matthew Harwood, 18 October 2018.  His opinions are his own and not those of the ACLU.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

When Business Trumps Culture

For John, BLUF:  Cultural change often comes slowly, but there are many available levers.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sears’ ‘radical’ past: How mail-order catalogs subverted the racial hierarchy of Jim Crow

Here is the sub-headline:

The Sears catalog revolutionized rural black southerners' shopping patterns in the late 19th century, allowing them to avoid the blatant racism that they faced at small country stores.

From The Seattle Times, by Reporter Antonia Noori Farzan, 18 October 2018.

A fascinating story about how Sears and Roebuck helped penetrate the wall of Segregation in the Deep South in the Kate Ninteenth Century.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not Every Place is Economically the Same

For John, BLUF:  I blame Trump.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Most of Europe Is a Lot Poorer than Most of the United States

Here is the sub-headline:

Living Standards Are Markedly Higher in the United States

From , by Mr Daniel J. Mitchell, 2 April 2016.

Yes, an oldie, but it is a goodie.

There is some verbiage, some discussion of comparisons.

So, back in 2014, before our current economic takeoff, the Per Capita GDP was as follows (Samples from the table presented):

Rank	State	GDP<(p/c)/td>
1	North Dakota	$72,719
18	Oregon	$54,958
	United States	$54,629
36	Michigan	$45,988
	Germany	$45,802
38	Missouri	$45,721
	Sweden	$45,183
49	Idaho	$38,607
	Japan	$36,426

So, bad as things are, they are pretty good in the United States.  And, now, half of the people in the world are in the "Middle Class", even if only by their finger nails.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Jacobins

For John, BLUF:  I am sure it was a joke, like Candidate Trump asking for Russia to give us Hillary's missing EMails.  Well, I am reasonably sure.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Democrat Party Official Says Republicans Should Be Brought “to The Guillotines”

Here is the sub-headline:

From Life News, by Reporter Hen5ry Rodgers, 16 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party was suspended after saying Republicans should be brought “to the guillotines” after the November midterm elections.

The problem with revolutionaries is that they eventually eat their own.

Just saying

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Left Wants the SCOTUS Conservatism Justice Kavanaugh Promises

For John, BLUF:  I am thinking the next Trump appointment to the High Court will drive Justice Kavanaugh into the far background.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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America’s compromised Supreme Court

Here is the sub-headline:

With Kavanaugh on the bench, the court will struggle to retain its authority

From Prospect Magazine, by Washington based Canadian Writer Dahlia Lithwick, 12 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

As the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation nightmare sinks into American memory, some things will happen very quickly.  Donald Trump’s celebratory shouts will fade, and Kavanaugh will quietly settle into his seat on the Supreme Court.  The other eight justices, regardless of their personal view of his furious, partisan testimony at a Senate hearing dominated by sexual assault allegations, will give him cover, papering over the cracks to insist that the family is a happy one.  Elena Kagan, one of the justices picked by Barack Obama, said that the lone superpower of the court is public acceptance and respect:  “All of us need to be aware of that—every single one of us—and to realise how precious the court’s legitimacy is.”  The court had to guard its “reputation of being impartial, being neutral and not being simply an extension of a terribly polarising process.”  That’s always been the theory, but how feasible is it today?

Constitutional law professors have been wondering aloud how they can neutrally teach case law after signing a letter opposing Kavanaugh’s elevation (over 2,400 professors nationwide did so).  Some say they believe the court has now been irredeemably politicised.  And, of course, the #MeToo movement will surge on, with many women lining up behind Christine Blasey Ford, whose testimony of abuse they found credible and compelling.  November’s mid-term elections will be spiced up by the energy of furious women on one side, and vindicated Kavanaugh supporters on the other.  We wait to see which way that momentum plays out.

What I love about this is that the Progressives, who are all about the Court working with a living Constitution, now are worried about the Court hewing strictly to the Constitution and strictly avoiding politics.nbsp; I love the precedent they wish to set.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Collateral Damage

For John, BLUF:  I don't think the Democrats upstanding second and third order effects.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pelosi: If There Is ‘Collateral Damage’ for Those Who Don’t Share Our View, ‘So Be It’

Here is the sub-headline:

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Reporter Paul Crookston, 18 October 2018.

Here is a key paragraph:

"We owe the American people to be there for them, for their financial security, respecting the dignity and worth of every person in our country, and if there is some collateral damage for some others who do not share our view, well, so be it, but it shouldn't be our original purpose," Pelosi said.

There is "every person in our country" and then there are those "others who do not share [Ms Pelosi's] view.  It is like those who don't share Ms Peoosi's views are "illegal residents".

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

I admit this would be an experiment in which I would not like to participate.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dem Dog Whistles

For John, BLUF:  Representative Adam Schiff is draining the dignity away from Congress.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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GOP rep slams Dem’s ‘false’ charge of bigotry

From Fox News, by Reporter Maxim Lott, 19 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

On Thursday, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff accused a GOP colleague of bigotry against Koreans -- tweeting that New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur “says his Korean American opponent is 'not one of us'... The dog whistles of bigotry have been put away. Now they’re using trumpets."

The problem?

"I didn't say that," MacArthur, who is in a tight race this November and also happens to have two adopted Korean children, responded on Twitter within hours.

The claim from Schiff, the top intelligence committee Democrat, is based on a TV ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund in which a female narrator says of MacArthur's Democratic opponent: "Andy Kim is a Pelosi liberal.  He's not one of us."

The ad seems to criticize Kim as "not one of us" for being a "Pelosi liberal" and a "Washington insider" -- not for being of Korean descent.

The ad also was not authorized by MacArthur's campaign.

If you hear "dog whistles", does that not suggest you are the dog?  The people hearing the dog whistles appear to be Democrats.

Oh, and has Rep Schiff apologized or deleted the tweet?  Of course not.  The ends justify the means—for Democratse.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Chuck and DiFi Show

For John, BLUF:  This is more historic documentation than current event, but it could be a primar on next year of the Democrats win the Senate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A Little Story About Chuck and Dianne...

From PJ Media, by Commentator Stephen Kruiser, 26 September 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

As a third accuser crawled out from the seedy underbelly of attorney Michael Avenatti to smear Brett Kavanaugh with a story that actually makes her look like a monster, it became very apparent that none of this is going to play out quite like the Democrats want it to.  At least not completely.

It has been obvious since last week that the Democrats and their well-trained advocates in the MSM have been hoping all along that Judge Kavanaugh and the Republicans would just fold under pressure.  As soon as today's fantastical tale hit the news, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer immediately called for Kavanaugh to withdraw.  That's what they've been hoping for all along.

Schumer took his case to Twitter (the MSM never complains when a Democrat lobbies and attacks on social media), proving that he's either too stupid to know what "corroborated" means, or is simply a pathological liar:

Hat tip to Memeorandum.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

SCOTUS Compromised?

For John, BLUF:  I don't see the problems the author does, but this view is not isolated, but, rather, spread throughout the Democratic Party.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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America’s compromised Supreme Court

Here is the sub-headline:

With Kavanaugh on the bench, the court will struggle to retain its authority

From Prospect Magazine, by Canadian Dahlia Lithwick, who has her panties in a bunch, at least on 12 October 2018.

This article wanders over questions of the legitimacy of the Electoral College and the US Senate.  She considers the role of Chief Justice Roberts and how he might elect to be the new "swing vote".  She talks about how the Court will throttle its agenda to keep away controversial issues.  She does forget that President Franklin Roosevelt thought he was dealing with a partisan court.

On the other hand, a good summary of Democratic Party talking points.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Hillary in 2020

For John, BLUF:  I don't know if this is good for the Democratic Party.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A former Hillary Clinton adviser says there's a chance she will run in 2020

Here is the sub-headline:

Ready to go through the 2016 election all over again?

From The Week, by Mr Brendan Morrow, 19 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

Philippe Reines, who worked for Hillary Clinton going back to 2002 and was her senior adviser at the State Department, made the argument to Politico Friday that the former Democratic nominee might actually be the party's best hope for defeating Trump in 2020. He said no other Democrat has "anywhere near a base of 32 million people," especially not Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The party, he feels, shouldn't dismiss her as a failed candidate because she's "smarter" and "tougher" than most, and she "could raise money easier than most."

Would this be a "rematch" or a "grudge match"?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Time to Move On

For John, BLUF:  For, for the next three weeks we will be living in two worlds.  One is where the Democrats have a Blue Tsunami and the other is where they don't.  This nightmare, except for the recriminations, should end when we wake up on 7 November.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Feinstein wants Kavanaugh sexual misconduct investigation reopened if Dems take Senate

From Fox News, by Reporter Andrew O'Reilly, 17 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Wednesday that if Democrats took control of the Senate following November’s midterm elections, she would be in favor of reopening an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations levelled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Of course she does.  She embarrassed herself during the Hearings and now she wants a "Do Over", hoping for a better outcome.

I am blaming this, in part, on California's "Jungle Primary".  While, in theory, this system should produce more "moderate" candidates, in reality the mileage may differ.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Greenhouse Gases

For John, BLUF:  Crying Wolfe doesn't help as much as freeing people to innovate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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US CO2 EMISSIONS PLUMMET UNDER TRUMP WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD EMITS MORE

From The Daily Caller, by Energy Editor Michael Bastasch, 17 October 2018.

Here are two key paragraphs:

A recent report from the Climate Action Network Europe found that emissions cuts among most European Union members were “nowhere close enough” to meet the goals of the Paris accord. Trump pledged to withdraw from the Paris accord at the earliest possibility, in 2020.

On the flip side, the U.S. led the world in emissions cuts for the ninth time this century, according to the oil giant BP’s annual energy statistics. BP reported that European Union “emissions were also up (1.5%) with just Spain accounting for 44% of the increase.

Given that this success is based on, to some degree, investment, some credit could go to the previous Administration, as well as some to the current Administration.

The My Fair Lady question is, "Why can't the rest of the world be more like us?"

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Can One Correct a Wrong?

For John, BLUF:  File under life isn't fair.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Lynching of Mark Judge

Here is an historic quote from the Washington Post ombudsman, regarding a previous case of the Media getting it wrong:

“When you were accused, it was news but it wasn’t true.  Now you’re cleared — that’s true, but it isn’t news.”

From PJ Media, by Mr John Zmirak, 17 October 2018.

A Go Fund Me appeal for Mr Mark Judge, swept up in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination imbroglio.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Special Counsel Mueller to Report Out Soon.

For John, BLUF:  Is this 100% politics, and if so, how will that side of the problem be dealt with.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mueller Ready to Deliver Key Findings in His Trump Probe, Sources Say

From Bloomberg, by Reporters Chris Strohm, Greg Farrell and Shannon Pettypiece, 17 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

(Bloomberg) -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of the most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whether there were clear incidents of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and whether the president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of the officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about the investigation.

Not before the election, which is good.  No matter the outcome, it would be seen as election meddling beyond anything the Russians might have done.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Register to Vote—Today

For John, BLUF:  Participation gains respect.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Today (11:59PM) is the last day to Register to vote in the 6 November General Election.

If you don't vote don't complain to me about the outcome.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who is Worthy?

For John, BLUF:  The past is, for some, a risk strewn territory.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Alec Baldwin: We need to overthrow the government

"Overthrow" in an Electorial manner.

From The New Hampshire Union Leader, by Reporter Paul Feely, 14 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Fresh off his first appearance of the season as President Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” actor Alec Baldwin headlined the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner Sunday night at the Manchester Downtown Hotel.

“The way we implement change in America is through elections,” Baldwin said. “In that orderly way, we need to overthrow the government of the United States under Donald Trump. Not in a violent, awful way, but it must be overthrown nonetheless. Let’s make America great again, by making Donald Trump a casino operator again.”

I thought the name Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner sounded a little odd,  It turns out "Presentism" is narrowing the name choices.  Some former Democratic Party Presidents are no longer acceptable in polite company.  From the article:

Sunday’s event was previously known as the “Jefferson-Jackson Dinner” before being switched in 2016 to the “Kennedy-Clinton Dinner.”  The national controversy over sexual harassment fueled by the “#MeToo” movement earlier this year prompted the name change.

I worry about the Dems if they don't see their "Blue Wave" come 6 November.

On the other hand, I worry about our Nation if they do.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Be Regards  —  Cliff

Democrats Overplay Their Hand?

For John, BLUF:  Is the tribalism of the Democratic Party showing some internal cracks?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Women lied, black men died

Posted on 13 October 2018, at the anonymous New Neo[Con] Blog.

Here is the lede plus two:

The Democrats thought Brett Kavanaugh was a safe target.  Accusing a white prepster named “Brett” would be a great way to achieve several goals: stopping him from changing the balance of SCOTUS in favor of conservatives, and showing solidarity with women and with #MeToo.  Who on earth would identify with Kavanaugh except other white preppy guys on the right, and they weren’t going to vote for Democrats anyway, so no great loss.

Well, it turns out that some women are concerned about the men in their lives, too.  False accusations can ruin nearly anyone (women included, although I’m not sure how many women consider that aspect).

However, another obvious group that might look at the Kavanaugh hearings and become concerned about what was happening to him is black men.  If that sounds counter-intuitive to some people, it certainly doesn’t sound counter-intuitive to me.  It occurred to me, while watching the proceedings, that black men might not take too kindly to this little exercise in Believing Women No Matter What.

Sometimes people act in their individual self-interest, rather than just on race or gender.

If you would like a different presentation of the same viewpoint, go to National Review.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Clueless at Politico

For John, BLUF:  General Robert E Lee had a pre-Civil War mindset, in which his ultimate loyalty was to his home state of Virginia, rather than the Federal United States of America.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump praises Robert E. Lee during Ohio rally

From Politico, by Writer Brent D Griffiths, 12 October 2018.

However, here is the rest of the story:

President Trump, rightly, praises the Generalship of Robert E Lee.
But, it is a setup.
It is so the President can then heap even more praise on Ohioan Ulysses S Grant, as the general President Lincoln picks to lead the Army of the Potomac in defeating the genius, Lee.

I guess that a balanced approach to history is no longer an American virtue.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Portland, Oregon, Government Abdication

For John, BLUF:  If Government isn't about helping Citizens, it is just a drain on the Rate Payers.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Portland mayor stands by decision to allow Antifa to block traffic, hassle motorists

From The Washington Times, by Reporter Valerie Richardson, s14 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler came under fire over a viral video showing Antifa protesters blocking traffic and harassing drivers, but he says he supports the decision by police to watch from a distance without getting involved.

Commuting has enough challenges without folks deliberately disrupting the flow of traffic.

On the other hand, local police and public officials showing a lack of willingness to confront and control demonstrators without the proper paperwork is just negligence and dereliction of duty.  Replacement would seem in order.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trump's World, and We Live In It

For John, BLUF:  Folks can denigrate the President all they want, but he is still the President.  Perhaps more can be accomplished by working with him, rather than just putting him down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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TRUMP AND THE END OF SMUGNESS

From War on the Rocks, an on-line Magazine on National security, by senior fellow and director of the Asia program at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Devin T Stewart, 11 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Like most Democrats, I reacted to the stunning 2016 election of Donald Trump with a combination of confusion and dread.  After all, Hillary Clinton was the favorite and, to Democrats like me, a Trump victory seemed to portend certain economic disaster, nuclear war, and pretty much the end of America as we knew it.

But now nearly two years into his administration, Trump has presided over a “winning streak” that includes a booming economy and stock market, an unemployment level at a nearly 50-year low, two Supreme Court appointments, no new foreign wars or domestic terrorist attacks emanating from abroad, a significant degree of progress on trade relations with Canada and Mexico, a “needed reset” on the China relationship, and the prospect of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Perhaps it is time that even his opponents reconsider Trump.  Does Trump have a strategy that we can describe? Is Trump a return of Richard Nixon, of Ronald Reagan, or of something else entirely?  After several months of watching the news without gaining any answers, I finally canceled my cable subscription and sought out other sources.  I found some insights in unexpected places.

You will have to read the article to find the places Mr Steward rummaged around.  The magazine is free on line.

Here is the author's conclusions.  It is a call to recognize him, and his approach, for who he is and what it is.  The world President Trump inherited is not the world of 1990 and perhaps the approaches of 1990 no longer apply.

This essay was an attempt to put concepts to Trump’s actions, to describe Trump in a new way.  Critics may argue that in fact Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac who likes strongmen, but no one can actually know what he is thinking. They should give up on the efforts at amateur psychoanalysis.  If the political opposition wants to gain any ground, it needs to look for patterns in Trump’s actions and understand what it’s up against.  Most of all, Trump’s opponents should stop their condescending attitude.  Put up against Trump’s growing string of successes, such an attitude will ring increasingly hollow.  For now at least, the era of smugness is over.

I wish the era of smugness was over.  There are too many important issues we all need to be engaged on.

As an aside, you can get WOTR delivered to your in-basket daily.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Computer Driven Cars as a Danger

For John, BLUF:  Sure, it will be safer and more efficient, until someone hacks the program.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Driverless Cars Could Become WMDs

Here is the sub-headline:

Autonomous vehicles are giant security risk and the white hats need to get there before the black hats do.

From The Weekly Standard, by Mr Zach Aysan, 9 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Eight months ago I published my concerns about how autonomous vehicles could be weaponized at scale via cyber-attack.  (For those who missed it, here’s the gist:  Due to the all-or-nothing nature of certain classes of cyber-attack, self-driving cars and other autonomous systems can be utilized by hostile actors to create a coordinated mass attack.)  It’s time for an update.

At a closed-door Q&A session at the software hacking conference DEF CON, Elon Musk said that a fleetwide attack was Tesla’s “nightmare scenario” and announced that they were going to open-source their security modules so that automakers could work together to secure a safe self-driving future.  (He later announced the security open source initiative on Twitter.)  Musk’s announcement is a great start, and I’m encouraged, since an open source initiative is the single most important step to securing autonomous vehicles.  But there have been other developments as well.

At an offensive cybersecurity conference earlier this year, former GCHQ information security specialist, Matt Tait, presented the keynote.  (Lawyers know Tait as a Lawfare contributor and hackers know him as @pwnallthethings. It’s fun and strange when worlds collide.)  One of Tait’s concluding remarks was that there are now numerous strategic threats to the world from a mass cyber-attack.  Military planners call nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction strategic threats because they impact military planning at the level that concern the national defence strategy.  Tait used the specific example of a hijacked Windows update since it could wipe out complex logistics chains, or the power grid.  The same type of strategic threat exists for autonomous devices as well.  Tait then implored his fellow cybersecurity researchers to be careful with the consequences of their actions.  To illustrate this, he displayed a mushroom cloud as the slide’s background image.

I don't see a major threat during rush hour, but just before or just after rush hour, with lots of cars moving at speed, there could be thousands dead.  Another 9/11, only more so.  The reason is that once you hack all the cars on I-495 around Lowell you have probably hacked all the self-driving cars from Portland, Maine, to Washington, DC, and beyond.  At that point it is only a question of how fast you can get out your signal before someone hits the kill switch.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The "It Girl" Scores Again

For John, BLUF:  Yes, this does seem to be the year of the crazies.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reveals Her Plan to Overthrow the Supreme Court

Miss Ocasio-Cortez is running for the US House from New York.

From PJ Media, by Mr Tyler O'Neil, 12 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

On Saturday, Democratic Socialist starlet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for the abolition of the Electoral College.  On Thursday, she revealed her plan to undermine the U.S. Supreme Court. It's not very original...

Although maybe the voters don't care.

I care.  The Constitution has served us well the last two hundred or so years.  Messing with it is like playing a game where you pull blocks out of a tall structure, until it collapses.  We don't need a collapse of the Constitution.  We need a baseball like attitude of "there is always next year.  Because there is, unless we destroy the Constitution.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Controlling Dissent

For John, BLUF:  "O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play."—Rudyard Kipling, 1890.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Tommy Robinson, Untouchable

That would be "Untouchable" in the sense of the Indian Cast System.

Mr Tommy Robinson is a British Citizen who has been agitating against rape gangs in certain Midland cities and towns.

From PJ Media, by Mr Bruce Baker, 11 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one and a part:

Day by day, it seems, Britain is descending even further into the madness of dhimmitude.

On October 8, Tommy Robinson was at a service station along the M1 [Motorway] in Northamptonshire when he encountered four cars full of young British soldiers in uniform.  They asked to take a picture with him.  He happily complied.  In the picture, they're all smiling.  It's a lovely photo.  Apparently all of the soldiers in those four cars (reportedly twenty-eight in all) knew very well who Robinson is, and apparently all of them were delighted to pose for a snap with him.  They also let him take a brief video of the encounter, in which they can be seen chanting his name.  Both the picture and the video were shared online.  Posting the video on Facebook, Robinson wrote:  “A moment like this makes it all worth while.  Today I met real British heroes.”

And then, of course, all hell broke loose.

First off, Mr Tommy Robinson is an activist, who has jumped all over certain sexual crimes being committed in England.  Second, the British Authorities have been on him for his supposed "Racist" views.

What is missing is the understanding that while Mr Robinson may well be over the top, being over the top should not be a crime.  Maybe, after Brexit, things will calm down again.  However, for now the treatment of the soldiers, as described in the article, seems a little harsh, at least by US Standards.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Families With Alternative Viewpoints

For John, BLUF:  If you haven't raised your children to explore other viewpoints and to feel free to adopt them, you are probably not a perfect parent.  My respect for Ms Susan Rice has gone back up some.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Susan Rice's Conservative Son Allegedly Assaulted at Stanford

From PJ Media, by Reporter Debra Heine, 12 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Stanford College Republicans (SCR) president John David Rice-Cameron is pressing charges after a left-wing student at Stanford University allegedly “hit him” and “forcefully pushed him back” during a pro-Brett Kavanaugh event Tuesday afternoon.

Rice-Cameron is the son of Obama administration official Susan Rice and, surprisingly, a conservative Republican and outspoken supporter of President Trump.

I wonder what ThanKsgiving will be like at the Cameron household this year?  Maybe Jake will stay at Stanford this year.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Did 2016 Cause Hurricane Michael

For John, BLUF:  Of course "climate change" is real.  The question is, are those who write about it for real?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Victims of Hurricane Michael are represented by climate deniers

Here is the sub-headline:

Elections have consequences.  Denying science has consequences.  And we are reaping what we sow.

From The [Manchester] Guardian! By Commentator John Abraham, 11 Octover 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Floridians are staring down a very powerful Category 4 typhoon that is causing extensive damage.  The high winds, heavy rains, and storm surge will cost billions of dollars.

We know that climate change is making these storms stronger.  The storms feed off of warm ocean waters, and those waters are much warmer now because of climate change.  I have written about the science in more detail here and here.  But basically, Michael strengthened because it passed over really warm waters.  Waters that were hotter because of human-caused warming.

I do wonder what was causing all those hurricanes I experienced in the Philly area, up through eighth grade (up to 1956).  I remember a bunch of folks moving into built but not yet sold houses, in our sub-division, Vermillion Hills.  Nice of the builder to make that housing available on a temporary basis.

Then there is the question, softpedeled here, of why the Party of Science eschews Vaccinations.  Back in 2014 Ms Kara Brown wrote, "Rich People in Hollywood Aren't Vaccinating Their Children".  "Rich People in Hollywood" is not a euphemism for Republicans.  And this next article shows that the problem isn't going away—"Growing number of U.S. children not vaccinated against any disease".

All that said, the US Greenhouse Gases trendline, per the EPA is downward.

Yes, The climate does change.  Otherwise we would all be speaking Norwegian.  The question is, to what extent is it caused by industrialization, or big agri or some other anthropomorphic cause?

The other issue is from Aesop's Fables, numbered 210, The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  Being older, I first heard this, back in the 1970s, in terms of global cool, and then, later, global warming.  But, the promised disaster kept missing its promised scheduled date.  It doesn't inspire confidence in the those who are properly scientifically skeptical.

. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mr Trump's Supporters

TRIGGER WARNINGS:  It may turn out you are a Normal.

For John, BLUF:  As President Abe Lincoln said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Militant Normals:  How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy
Author:  Kurt Schlichter
Kindle Version:  288 Pages
Publisher:  Center Street
Language:  English
ASIN:  B07B8G25M3
Publication Date:  2 October 2018

The Author divides Americans into two groups, the Elite and the Normals.  In his telling, the Elite are a self-selected group that thinks it should run the Country, and often do.  The Elite includes politicians, bureaucrats, academics, media and experts of various kinds.  The normals are pretty much everyone else.  They are people focused on family, work and religion.

In Mr Schlichter's telling of the story, the Elites want to run things and shape society in certain ways.  The Normals don't much care what the Elites are about, as long as they keep to "The Bargain".  The Bargain is that the Elites keep the Government running tolerably well and allow the Normals to carry on without undue interference.

In the Author's mind the Elites, who have lost touch with the Normals, have not been holding up their end of The Bargain.  He traces this back to the 1960s, when the new Elite began replacing the older Elite, an Elite who understood the Normals, and had many of the same values as the Normals.  Today's Elites are beaming off in a different direction from the Normals and the Normals recognize this.

The Normals wouldn't care about this path divergence, except they have begun to think the Elites are not holding up their end of The Bargain.  The first big sign of this was the Tea Parties.  The next big sign was the 2016 campaign of Mr Donald Trump.  In Mr Schlichter's telling of the story it wasn't so much that Mr Trump picked his voters as they were waiting for him and adopted him.

The book is about how we got to where we are and the fact that the Elites have to recognize this situation or they will find themselves cast aside, to be replaced by a new political elite, one more in tune with the Normals, who will then go back to letting the Elites decide things, until that Elite goes off the beam.

Regards  —  Cliff

Perverse Incentives

For John, BLUF:  "incentive", a noun, "a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something."  From the Latin incentivum "something that sets the tune or incites, from incantare "to chant or charm."  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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One Year After #MeToo and 'Weinstein Effect':  What's Changed?

Here is the sub-headline:

The October 2017 news article detailing accusations of sexual assault and harassment against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein boosted the #MeToo movement into the nation's awareness.  What's different in the workplace today?

From Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Here is a key paragraph:

"One troubling trend," [Johnny C] Taylor said, "is executives going as far as to not invite female colleagues on trips, to evening networking events or into their inner circles to avoid any situation that could be perceived incorrectly, thus reducing the opportunity for women."

One might think of it as the Pence Rule, named after Vice President Mike Pence, who does not meet with women alone.

Then, in the area of hiring, there is this:

Research continues to show that laws prohibiting employers from asking about a job applicant’s criminal record encourage employers to discriminate against young African-American males.

There is a term for this.  Heuristic.  If you can't get the information you want, you look for ways to approximate the information.  In this case it results in increased discrimination.

Then there is the question of California's requirement for Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards.

Lawyer Ilya Somin, writing 4 October 2018:

California's new law requiring corporate boards to have a minimum number of women is both unconstitutional and likely to do more harm than good.

The point about the three items is that trying to artificially change human action without the proper incentives is going to produce distortions in the system.  You may like distortions, because you see some social value, but not everyone does.  Some of us may actually find it kind of creepy, or may find it just plain inefficient and a little fascist.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Is Mandatory School of Value

For John, BLUF:  We need to rethink our vision of how to educate our youth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Compulsory Schooling Laws:  What if We Didn't Have Them?

Here is the sub-headline:

Eliminating compulsory schooling laws would break the century-and-a-half stranglehold of schooling on education.

From the Foundation for Economic Education, by Ms Kerry McDonald, October 05, 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

We should always be leery of laws passed “for our own good,” as if the state knows better.  The history of compulsory schooling statutes is rife with paternalism, triggered by anti-immigrant sentiments in the mid-nineteenth century and fueled by a desire to shape people into a standard mold.

History books detailing the “common school movement” and the push for universal, compulsory schooling perpetuate the myths that Americans were illiterate prior to mass schooling, that there were limited education options available, and that mandating school attendance under a legal threat of force was the surest way toward equality.

In truth, literacy rates were quite high, particularly in Massachusetts, where the first compulsory schooling statute was passed in 1852.  Historians Boles and Gintis report that approximately three-quarters of the total U.S. population, including slaves, was literate.  There was a panoply of education options prior to mass compulsory schooling, including an array of public and private schooling options, charity schools for the poor, robust apprenticeship models, and homeschooling—this latter approach being the preferred method of Massachusetts education reformer Horace Mann, who homeschooled his own three children while mandating common school attendance for others.

This is a discussion well worth having.  There are two reasons for that.  The first is because it is about the education (and thus the success) of our children.  The second reason is because we spend large amounts of tax money on education and some of it might not be efficient spending.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A "Right-Wing" Court?

For John, BLUF:  A lot of inflammatory rhetoric, but not a lot of clarity of thinking regarding both Justice Kavanaugh or the Supreme Court as a whole.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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WE DON’T HAVE A "RADICAL RIGHT-WING SUPREME COURT"

InstaPundit commentary, by Mr David Bernstein, 9 October 2018.

Here is what a "radical right" Supreme Courtwould bring us:

1. Ban abortion nationwide as a violation of the right to life protected by the due process clause;
2. Rule that publicly-provided (but not funded) education is unconstitutional because it inherently involves viewpoint discrimination by the government, or at least require vouchers for those who object to the public school curriculum;
3. Overrule an 1898 precedent and completely abolish birthright citizenship;
4. Use the First Amendment as a sword to require “fairness” in the left-dominated media.

And roll back Congress' promiscuous use of the [Interstate] Commerce Clause

This is very unlikely, even if RBG were to be replaced by a clone of Justice Kavanaugh.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Students Running the Asylum?

For John, BLUF:  This seems like a "Red Pill / Blue Pill" issue.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Wisconsin Student Outraged Because Terrorism Course Discusses Jihad

From PJ Media, by Writer Robert Spencer, 5 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

How divorced from reality are our nation’s college and university campuses today?  This divorced from reality: a terrorism class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has become the focus of controversy for daring to discuss Islamic jihad in connection with terrorism.  The connection between Islamic jihad and terrorism is as obvious as the fact that water is wet, but not on campus today.

“Lectures slated for October,” the College Fix reported Wednesday, “include topics such as ‘Islam and the West,’ ‘The origins of Jihad,’ ‘Al Qaida,’ ‘9/11,’ ‘The Islamic State’ and ‘Jihad in Africa,’ according to a syllabus screenshot.”

That all seems fairly straightforward -- but only in the real world, not at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State do exist, 9/11 did happen, and there is jihad activity against the West and in Africa.  However, Muslim student Ali Khan “took to social media to express outrage over the content of ‘Political Science 347: Terrorism’ and the way the professor approached the subject.”

It seems to me that Student Ali Khan wants a different course taught, a course the instructor, Professor Andrew Kydd may or may not be qualified to teach.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Diversity is Good, No?

For John, BLUF:  What you see is determined from your point of observation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Steven Crowder Challenge

Check out the photo at the link.

Happy Columbus Day.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Alvin C York, MOH

For John, BLUF:  A humble guy out of Tennessee, doing what he thought was his duty.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Story Of Sgt. York, The Man Who Killed Or Captured More Than 100 Germans In A Single WWI Battle

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

From Task and Purpose, by Staff Writer James Clark, 8 October 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

On Oct. 8, 1918, while serving on the Western Front, Army Cpl. Alvin C. York led a charge against a German machine-gun position during World War I, which resulted in 20 enemy casualties attributed to York alone, and the capture of 132 German soldiers.

He did it with just seven men.

At this point the Armistice was just over a month away, on 11 November.

Regards  —  Cliff

Rule 13

For John, BLUF:  For not being a politician, President Trump seems to be a quick study.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump goes full Alinsky in the midterm race

From The American Thinker, by By Thomas Lifson, 8 October 2018.

That would be Mr Saul Alinsky, an American community organizer and the author of the 1971 book Rules for Radicals.

President Trump, either by native instinct or reading Mr Alinsky's book or by getting a good background briefing on the book, seems to be implementing its rules.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Columbus Day

For John, BLUF:  I don't think this holiday is about Christopher Columbus.  I think it is about a small civilization that managed to grow in ideas and hopes and economic development, when others were shutting down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds blogs about it:

Many in the West will demonstrate their fierce originality and intellectual independence today by condemning Christopher Columbus using the same shopworn cliches they used last year.  For those of a different bent, I recommend Samuel Eliot Morison’s Admiral of the Ocean Sea:  A Life of Christopher Columbus, which takes a somewhat different position.  Here’s an excerpt:

At the end of 1492 most men in Western Europe felt exceedingly gloomy about the future.  Christian civilization appeared to be shrinking in area and dividing into hostile units as its sphere contracted.  For over a century there had been no important advance in natural science and registration in the universities dwindled as the instruction they offered became increasingly jejune and lifeless.  Institutions were decaying, well-meaning people were growing cynical or desperate, and many intelligent men, for want of something better to do, were endeavoring to escape the present through studying the pagan past. . . .

Yet, even as the chroniclers of Nuremberg were correcting their proofs from Koberger’s press, a Spanish caravel named Nina scudded before a winter gale into Lisbon with news of a discovery that was to give old Europe another chance.  In a few years we find the mental picture completely changed. Strong monarchs are stamping out privy conspiracy and rebellion; the Church, purged and chastened by the Protestant Reformation, puts her house in order; new ideas flare up throughout Italy, France, Germany and the northern nations; faith in God revives and the human spirit is renewed.  The change is complete and startling:  “A new envisagement of the world has begun, and men are no longer sighing after the imaginary golden age that lay in the distant past, but speculating as to the golden age that might possibly lie in the oncoming future.”

Christopher Columbus belonged to an age that was past, yet he became the sign and symbol of this new age of hope, glory and accomplishment.  His medieval faith impelled him to a modern solution:  Expansion.

The idea that people ought to stay where they are makes little sense, given the history of human beings.  For example, the Native Americans didn't start in the Western Hemisphere.  They came over the Bearing Straits from Asia.  There is the explosive expansion of the Mongels under Genghis Khaan and then the movement of the Golden Horde.  And, by the time of Columbus the Chinese had sailed bigger ships, in larger fleets, to the Coast of Africa.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Tribalism in American Politics

For John, BLUF:  If one side or the other will not grant their opponents the right to be wrong then we will be in political trouble.  Trouble if those seen wrong are shunned.  Deep trouble if they are rooted out and punished.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Progressive Tribalism Beats The War Drums

From The American Conservative, by Mr Rod Dreher, 7 October 2018.

Here is the lede:

I would like fair-minded liberal readers to take a look at this op-ed from The New York Times, and consider that this is exactly the kind of left-wing racist rant that drives many of us white people into the arms of the Republican Party — not out of any particular love for the GOP, but out of fear of what this progressive racism would do in power.  Alexis Grenell, the author, is a white woman and a Democratic strategist.  Here’s the headline on her article.  Note well that authors do not choose their headlines.  This was written by someone at the Times:

White Women, Come Get Your People

.

They will defend their privilege to the death.

As an aside the headline is a bit awkward.

Here is the conclusion of the article, and it points to a bad future if we don't mend our ways:

Alexis Grenell — who earned her master’s degree in 2015 from an Ivy League school (Columbia) — is the face and the voice of elite liberalism.  The Times editors read her savage essay and considered it within the mainstream of commentary, whereas no responsible editor of any serious publication would have published the same kind of rhetoric wielded against people of color.

Rivers of blood … blood pact … gender traitors … defend their privilege to the death.

This is the language of tribalism.  This is blessed by elite liberal gatekeepers, as long as it is wielded by the Righteous Tribe, against the Deplorable Tribe.

Members of the Deplorable Tribe are fools if they fail to notice this, and to respond to it.  And you’re a fool if you don’t recognize that you are part of the Deplorable Tribe whether you want to be or not.

I prefer not to be.  I prefer to be part of the American tribe, judging people not on the basis of their reproductive organs or the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  That’s the America I want to live in.  It’s the America that people like Alexis Grenell and the editors of The New York Times want to end.

Useful to get that learned.  These people are Jacobins.

So the accusation of being a Jacobin may not mean much to you, but if that is so, it is because you don't know your history.  Let us cheat and check the dictionary:

jacobin | noun

historical  a member of a democratic club
established in Paris in 1789,  The Jacobins were the
most radical and ruthless of the political groups
formed in the wake of the French Revolution, and in
association with Robespierre they instituted the
Terror of 1793-4.

The Terror?  Here is a statistic:

Between June 1793 and the end of July 1794, there were 16,594 official death sentences in France, of which 2,639 were in Paris.

In the Comments of Mr Rod Dreher's article:

I’m just waiting for the day when the NYT changes it’s tagline to “White People are our Misfortune”.

A classic reference.

Like Mr Dreher, "I prefer to be part of the American tribe".  And I prefer that we give others the space to be wrong, and they us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Presumption of Innocence

For John, BLUF:  Laws, if they are to protect all, must allow no exceptions for station or party.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Those Who Unmake Civilization

From PJ Media, by BY SARAH HOYT SEPTEMBER 27, 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

I've been listening to crazy people saying things like, "someone isn't entitled to the presumption of innocence," or an accusation that is not only unproven but unprovable is "corroborated" in growing alarm. What goes through my mind is that this is the way you un-make civilization. Part of the problem is that our civilization – arguably, at least in terms of keeping the most people alive and in relative comfort – is not normal in the history of the world. This strange idea that each individual has rights, that the rights are inherent to them, that they deserve to be given due process and not simply destroyed because someone – anyone, or one of their betters – accused them of something is not only bizarre in terms of historical societies. It’s also something that took a long time to work itself through. And ever since it’s been created there have been attempts to take it back to “normal human society.” The attempts are usually the result of people who don’t understand the full horror that society used to be. People who think that society without all these “ridiculous” protections for normal individuals will be somehow better. Or people who understand how horrible it will be but think they will emerge on top and be able to make things serve a greater good somehow.

Sarah Hoyt tells it like it is.

So, here is the argument between Sir Thomas More and his son-in-law, William Roper:

Roper: "So now you'd give the devil the benefit of law?"
More: "Yes.  What would you do?  Cut a great road through the law to get after the devil?"
Roper: "I'd cut down every law in England to do that."
More: "Oh, and when the last law was down, and the devil turned on you, where would you hide, Roper, all the laws being flat?  This country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast, man's laws not God's, and if you cut them down -- and you're just the man to do it -- do you really think that you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?  "Yes, I'd give the devil the benefit of the law, for my own safety's sake."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Presidential Alert

For John, BLUF:  I am glad it worked.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THE LONG, STRANGE HISTORY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TEXT ALERT

From Wired, by Reporter Garrett M Graff, 3 October 2018.

Yes, at 2:18, I received my text from FEMA.

The story mention Ukulele Playing Entertainer Arthor Godfrey.  I once met Mr Godfrey. The Fall of 1966, at DaNang Air Base, in Viet-Nam. He was visiting the troops, and in this case the 390th (Blue Boars) Tactical Fighter Squadron Ops Building.  He told a ribald joke, which everyone appreciated, and made us feel appreciated.  People visiting the troops is a good thing.

Even SNL Alumni and even US Senators, current and retired.  But, the most appreciated that year at DaNang was Ann-Margaret.

Hat tip to my Brother John.

Regards  —  Cliff

Pick A Side

For John, BLUF:  I don't recall my Mother needing this kind of "protection" from the real world.  She was active and engaged.  Ditto my wife.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Students Filed Title IX Complaints Against Kavanaugh to Prevent Him From Teaching at Harvard Law."

From a Harvard Crimson Report.

A blog post, yesterday, by Law Professor Ann Althouse.

Here is the key point:

Terrifying to see a person accused of a serious crime?  Kavanaugh's temperament is being questioned, but what about the temperament of these potential lawyers? Do they not feel called to deal with the difficult world of legal problems?  This made me think about one of the most reviled Supreme Court cases, Bradwell v. Illinois, which allowed the state to bar women from the practice of law, back in 1873.  rom the concurring opinion of Justice Bradley:

The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life....

Why don't activist, feminist women aspire to strength?  Promoting the timidity and delicacy of women and running to the authorities with specious, backhanded complaints — what lowly, destructive activism!

Back in the old days, back before the earth started to cool, so it could warm again, we used to use the expression "man up".  We need a similar expression for today, one that calls for all People, men and women, to have the courage of their convictions, to move beyond their feeling to the place where their intellect informs them as to right and wrong, and what to do about it.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff