The Pope Visits

For John, BLUF:  If you wish to take offense, you will.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I was dubious about this report when I first say it, even though it was in The Old Gray Lady. "Kim Davis, Kentucky Clerk, Is Said to Have Met Pope".  Bless her little heart.

Over at the Althouse Blog CWJ commented:

I believe this and the visit to the little sisters of the poor, both happening in Washington, were the Vatican's response to the White House's gay bishop, etc. guest list.  The Vatican has practised politics for centuries longer than Chicago has even been in existence.  Amateurs should not go up against professionals.

The strange part, for me, is that Ms Davis is a Protestant Pentecostal and not a Roman Catholic.  Why did she tag up with the Pope?

The thing is, we have to have a little space for people.  For the Franz Jägerstätters of the world.

Sure, Ms Davis should be removed from her official position, legally, with all due process, but we should acknowledge that she is doing what she is doing as a matter of conscience.  You may think she is a bigot, but unless you believe that culture is on a path to perfection, you will, privately, acknowledge that 100 or 200 years from now her view might be back in fashion.  I am not saying it should be, but it might be.♠

UPDATE:  Typos :-(

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  After all, slavery still exists in this world.  We hide from that fact, but that doesn't make it any less true.  We are lucky to live in a nation that thinks we should expand freedom of individual action.  We shouldn't become rigid about who is in and who is out of the circle.

Ms Clinton's Health Care Plan

For John, BLUF:  There is no free lunch.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I liked these quotes from Bloomberg View on Ms "Clinton's Plan to Mess Up Prescription Economics":

Hillary Clinton thinks drug development should be riskier, and less profitable.  Also, your health insurance premiums should be higher. And there should be fewer drugs available.

This is not, of course, how the Clinton campaign would put it.  The official line is that Americans are just paying too darn much for drugs, and she has a plan to stop that...

I think Columnist Megan McArdle is correct.

Controls don't make things cheaper.  The Soviet Union proved that.  As Bridge players say, "a cheap trick now costs you later."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

After Speaker Boehner

For John, BLUF:  People are seeing this even through their own narrow field of view.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the Blog Splice Today we have Mr Russ Smith writing "Democrats’ Sudden Embrace of John Boehner Is Infuriating".  The sub-headline is "One of the few liberals to tell the truth is The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin."

What was that line from Madame de Pompadour?  "Après nous, le Déluge" ("After us, the Deluge").♠

Those celebrating this resignation need to think about the unintended consequences.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Said to the French King, Louis XV, after the French loss as the Battle of Rossbach (5 November 1757).

Protecting the Secrets

For John, BLUF:  It seems so straight forward.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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While those supporting Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton are minimizing the impact of her conducting State Department business on a personal computer, some are concerned about the loss of data to other nations.  For example, Defense One has an article headlined "Pentagon Scrambling to Know What U.S. Secrets Iraq Tells Russia".

Pentagon officials do not know what secrets the Iraqi government may be telling Moscow, after Iraqi leaders unexpectedly entered into an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia this weekend.

The Defense Department’s second-in-command told the Senate on Tuesday the agreement came as a surprise to military intelligence and Pentagon teams are scrambling to make sure classified intelligence from the U.S. does not make its way into the hands of Russian, Syrian or Iranian authorities.

On the other hand, if Russia had been doing due diligence, it could have recovered a lot of good information from Hunny Bunny's home brew EMail system.

Regards  —  Cliff

CIA Pulls Officers from China

For John, BLUF:  The OPM Breach is major.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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While the Administration has avoided putting the blame for the OPM computer breach on the Chinese, apparently the CIA, per The Washington Post, is being careful—"CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records".

Regards  —  Cliff

The Preliminary is Over

For John, BLUF:  Democracy is worth the cost.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Mercier tops ticket, Mitchell out in Lowell preliminary election".

Not shocked by City Councillor Rita Mercier topping the ticket.

My condolences to Challenger Mayon Mitchell and I hope he does not drop out of participation in future elections.

If you didn't vote you should feel bad about it.

Regards  —  Cliff

Chinese Premier Goes to Turtle Bay

For John, BLUF:  Chinese is looking to be a respected player on the world state.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Chinese president Xi Jinping will arrive at the UN armed with a list of things he wants changed"

So writes Mr Richard Macauley, for Quartz.

Here is the lede plus 1:

On Sept. 28, Xi Jinping will make his first speech as China’s president to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.  Ahead of his talk, China’s foreign ministry helpfullypublished a list of amendments it would like to see the international body make, “so as to turn the vision of the UN Charter into reality at an early date.”

Some, such as the suggestion that, “the world needs to come together to make [the UN] a strong champion of peace and security,” allow China to sound authoritative without ruffling any feathers.  Others, such as a call to “respect countries’ right to choose their own path of human rights development,” offer a sharper insight into how China wants to reshape the organization to suit its own concerns.  All told, the list of 12 “priorities” that China wants the UN focus on show China both assuming the role of a major world power and also trying to shape the world order to better reflect how China does things at home.

As one would expect.

On the other hand, the UN Annual Budget is $2.8 billion.  The US pays $654.8 million.  China, the world's next biggest economy pays $139.7 million.  I am thinking the Chinese ought to be offering up about twice what they are paying now.

If they want respect.

Regards  —  Cliff