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

NOVEMBER 18,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 6:35 P.M. ET:

THE NOTHING NEWS CONFERENCE – Following on our earlier post, "Sordid," about the reopening of the probe into the death, 30 years ago this month, of Natalie Wood, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department held an eight-minute news conference today and said nothing.  There were "witnesses" described, but never named.  They gave no indication of the kind of material that would force the reopening of an investigation.  Frankly, it was a farce, giving rise to skepticism by a number of TV commentators.  We have the feeling that most of this is based on new remarks by the captain of the boat from which Natalie Wood disappeared.  He has a book... and that's all you need to know.  Do you hear those cash registers?  This will do nothing for the already blackened image of Hollywood law enforcement.

STUNNING – A new poll out could spell serious trouble for Mitt Romney, who aims to be the last man standing in the GOP presidential race.  A reliable Rasmussen poll yesterday showed Newt Gingrich well ahead of Romney in Iowa, the first state to vote in January.  But Romney's fallback has always been New Hampshire, which votes on January 10th.  Romney has always held a commanding lead in New Hampshire, right next door to Massachusetts, which he served as governor, and in the same TV coverage zone.  But the new poll just out is a shock – showing Romney and Gingrich essentially tied in New Hampshire.  The Magellen Strategies survey shows Romney at 29%, with Gingrich at 27%, within the margin of error.  If true, that signals a Romney collapse.  However, we must point out that a Bloomberg poll earlier this week had Romney at 40%, with Gingrich at 11%.  So we'll wait for the next series of polls.  We're getting awfully close to voting time.

SPAIN VOTES – Spain, a critical NATO nation with a seriously troubled economy, holds a national election on Sunday.  Since 2004 Spain has been ruled by a socialist government somewhat hostile to the United States.  We are hoping the current leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who once refused to stand for the American flag during a parade, will be voted out.  The polls are going our way, but we won't rest until the last vote is counted, and conservative Mariano Rajoy is sworn in.  He will have a backbreaking job rebuilding the fragile Spanish economy.

CHILL FROM THE ARAB SPRING – For months astute observers of the Mideast have been warning that the Arab spring is turning into a joke, that the original democracy advocates are being pushed aside by the Islamists.  Today we saw dramatic proof of that in a mass rally in Cairo’s Tahrir square, where the original democracy demonstrations in Egypt were held in the spring.  This time, though, the rally was run by the Muslim Brotherhood, whose front men in the West are trying to portray it as a "moderate" organization, when in fact it's radical, dangerous, and fanatical.  It is the best organized force in the most important Arab country, and it's making its move.  Our goofball State Department recently said it was okay with the Brotherhood.  And that German guy with the little mustache?  Don't take anything he says seriously.

November 18, 2011       Permalink

SORDID – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  We are about to be subjected to another bit of Hollywood hype.  The media is all abuzz this morning over the story that the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is reopening its investigation into the death of beloved actress Natalie Wood, who drowned in 1981.  The 30th anniversary is November 29th.

Both CNN and Fox featured this as a major story this morning.  And there will be a sheriff's press conference later today to explain why the case is being reopened.   I don't know the details yet, of course, but so far this looks like an opportunity for some people to make some money.  Wood was on the yacht owned by her and husband Bob Wagner, and disappeared in the middle of the night, her body found floating the next day.  Her death was ruled an accident.

The captain of the boat appeared on TV this morning, and suggested that Wagner had something to do with his wife's death, but provided no evidence whatsoever.  His story also contradicts, according to news sources, what he said originally.

This whole thing strikes me as sordid.  There's Hollywood justice, then there's real justice, and the two often don't meet.  There's money to be made and reputations to be inflated.  Natalie Wood was loved by many, and her grave in Westwood Cemetery, Los Angeles, not far from Marilyn Monroe's crypt, is always covered with flowers.  She is remembered by an entire generation.  Bob Wagner issued a statement pledging full support to the sherriff's re-investigation, but wondering whether the source of the "new" information the sheriff may have can be trusted, or is simply out for gain.  That's a very relevant question.

Well, we'll see what the sheriff has.  I'll bet this amounts to nothing, but there may be a book deal.

November 18, 2011       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:34 A.M. ET:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up, the news website Bikya Masr reported, in a move that could mark the latest repressive measure taken against women by the Islamic state.  A spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, said the committee had the right to stop women revealing "tempting" eyes in public.

I'm so glad that one country has the guts to take on the tempting eyes problem.  It was a really big issue for me in high school.  I couldn't concentrate on algebra.  If only I'd been born Saudi.  Ah, what could have been.

A QUICK TRIP TO THE SUPERMARKET – AT 9:03 A.M. ET:  I'm surprised this advance hasn't been killed by the Obama administration.  It is incredible. 

The U.S. Army has successfully tested a hypersonic aircraft that can travel five times the speed of sound and reach anywhere on Earth in under an hour.

Described by the Pentagon as a "glide vehicle, designed to fly within the earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speed and long range," the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) was launched aboard a rocket from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii.

It hit a target at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, some 2,300 miles away, in less than 30 minutes, according to Department of Defense and AP reports.

Hypersonic vehicles are assumed to fly faster than five times the speed of sound, roughly 3,800 mph. Unlike a missile, the glide vehicle can be maneuvered.

"The objective of the test is to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight," the DOD said in a release. "Mission emphasis is aerodynamics; navigation, guidance, and control; and thermal protection technologies."

The weapon is part of Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS), a program that would give the U.S. the power to strike anywhere in the world with conventional weapons in less than an hour.

COMMENT:  It is critical for our deterrent capability that research like this continue, although you can be sure the "America is the problem" crowd already has the red pencil out.  From this research, we can imagine, will come technology that will find its way into the private sector, something that occurred regularly during the great years of the space program.

November 18, 2011        Permalink 

RUDY LAYS IT ON THE LINE – Showing the clarity of thought that made him one of New York's great mayors, Rudy Giuliani makes plain what he would have done in the face of the "occupy" crowd.  From NewsMax:

The First Amendment does not give Occupy Wall Street protesters the right to take over private property and engage in illegal activities, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says.

“You have no right to pitch a tent in the middle of New York City, I’m sorry,” Giuliani said on Sean Hannity’s radio show this afternoon. “That is not the First Amendment.”

President Barack Obama’s empathy for the 2-month-old movement and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s lack of action to stop it are an embarrassment to the nation and the city, Giuliani said.

Giuliani’s comments came on a day when police and the protesters had squared off as they marched through the city in an effort to fulfill their promise to shut down the New York Stock Exchange.

“The minute you have any place where you have to put up a place [to] protect a woman against rape, then you’ve got to come in and get rid of those people,” Giuliani told Hannity. “You can’t tolerate that in a civilized city.”

Giuliani said he delivered a speech at a high-level economic conference last week in China, where the first question posed to him involved the protests.

“This thing has gone around the globe, and it’s beginning to characterize us,” he said. “This is what they think we’re about.”

He described the protesters as “disgruntled bums” and “leftover hippies from the ’60s and ’70s.”

“When I see them on television sometimes, particularly the older ones, it looks like I’m seeing the leftover effects of having taken too many drugs when they were 20 years old,” he said. “They make no sense. They babble.”

COMMENT:  Ah, Rudy, if only you knew how to run for president.  Rudy's campaign for the highest office was a mess in 2008, and he clearly has decided not to run this time.  But he is a true leader, whose sharp mind towers above the mush in American politics.  Compare please to the president of the United States and, for that matter, most of the Republican field. 

November 18, 2011       Permalink 

THE CONTINUING DISGRACE – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  It's hard to fathom it, but President Obama continues to get high marks in the polls on foreign policy.  Presumably, this is because Americans are focusing on the killing of bin Laden and Gadaffi, and ignoring virtually everything else.

But the everything else is coming home to roost.  First, this country has now essentially capitulated to Iran's nuclear program.  A recent, devastating report by the UN on that program, linking it to clear signs of weapons development, has elicited a mighty ho-hum from the appeasement lobby in Washington.

First, despite a recent charge by Washington that Iran tried to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington on our soil, using a huge bomb that could have killed hundreds of Americans – this in addition to the nuclear issue – the happy Obamans refuse to do anything meaningful to hurt the Iranian regime.  An August letter signed by 92 senators, calling for action against the Iranian Central Bank, has been dismissed, with unnamed Obamans telling the press that it might hurt the world economy.  Ah yes, it might.  But it might also paralyze the Iranian regime and help bring it down.  Oh, and there's also been no indication that we'll lift a finger to help Iranian dissidents.  Indeed, some clique in this administration, possibly including the president himself, seems to have a soft spot in its heart for the murderous mullahs of Tehran.

And now we have Leon Panetta publicly lecturing our Israeli allies about the unintended consequences of a military strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities.  This comes only a week after Obama, apparently with forked tongue, assured us that all options are on the table.  You know, maybe the administration should consider the unintended consequences of allowing Iran to get the atomic bomb, which is now clearly in prospect.

At the UN, the US has acquiesced in a watering down of a resolution criticizing the Iranian nuclear defiance.  The resolution contains no threat of additional action.

Take that, Tehran.

The Iranians must be laughing in their soup, or whatever it is they drink.

And this is occurring during an election campaign, when American presidents like to appear tough.  Imagine what our foreign policy will be once Obama is, Heaven forbid, re-elected. 

At the same time, it's reported that Russia will send warships on a visit to Syria, as a warning to the West, meaning us, not to interfere to stop the continuing massacre of Syrian citizens by their government.  Of course, we haven't objected to the warship visit.  Must not upset Moscow.  We must understand Russian needs.  The people who edit the Nation magazine must be jubilant.

It's pathetic, just pathetic.  And yet Americans approve of Obama's foreign policy.  And the Republican Party has no coherent reply. 

And on the horizon, if we don't wise up...massive defense cuts. 

People will say that Obama has done some good things in national security policy, and he has.  But I recall the old policy of Lenin – two steps forward, one step back.   The one step back for the political left is the national security stuff.  The two steps forward, from the left's point of view, is the rest of Obama's failed, weak, foreign policy.

November 18, 2011     Permalink

NOVEMBER 17,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:48 P.M. ET:

DOES ANYONE CARE? – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced today that Chicago will host the 12th annual summit of Nobel Peace laureates next spring.  Aren't we lucky?  We do hope the laureates, like Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, enjoy practicing their peacemaking amidst the gunfire and mayhem in the windy city.  And, of course, Obama can take them to Rev. Wright's church and Bill Ayers's living room.  They will all arrive at O'Hare Airport, just named as the worst airport in the United States.  Look, Chicago didn't get the Olympics, so you have to take what you can get.

SICKENING – For one brief shining moment we had a bit of Camelot at the UN, the prospect of a UN report on Iran's nuclear program that was honest, tough, and revealing.  Not so fast, American reader.  It now turns out a proposed resolution to be presented to the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency will be toned down considerably, to appease Russia and China, which oppose further sanctions on Iran.  It's said that the U.S. wanted a tougher resolution, and probably did, but Obama has so weakened this country's voice that he is being largely ignored.  It does not appear that any new serious sanctions are likely to be applied, and that Iran will proceed to a nuclear bomb.

STRANGE HONOR – Occupy San Diego held a moment of silence for the chap who's just been arrested for shooting at the White House.  Maybe a statue at Berkeley will be next, or a professorship named for this revolutionary hero.  Hey, he can be another Che.  At the same time, the individual involved, who fired a bullet that was stopped by a bulletproof White House window, has been charged with an attempted assassination of the president or a member of his staff.  It turns out that Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, has a long rap sheet and was reported missing by his family in late October. 

ANOTHER ONE – Another athletic coach is embroiled in a child abuse investigation.  Bernie Fine, the assistant basketball coach of Syracuse University has been placed on administrative league following news of a police investigation into a complaint of improper contact with a young male, dating back to the 1980s.  However, there's a twist here.  It turns out this charge surfaced in 2005 and was thoroughly investigated by the police, not the university, which found no evidence to support it.  Several other young men named as possible victims by the complainant denied they were victims at all.  Obviously, there is special sensitivity to this issue because of the Penn State case, and that sensitivity is appropriate.  At the same time, we must be careful.  The false charge is a common feature of cases involving sex and abuse.  We had an epidemic of child-abuse allegations in the 1980s, many fanned by the media, that resulted in innocent people going to prison, their lives destroyed, before they were exonerated.  We must prevent serious, mature concern from degenerating into another edition of the Salem Witch Trials.

November 17, 2011       Permalink  

JOBLESS CLAIMS AT SEVEN-MONTH LOW – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The devil is, as always, in the details, and the news really isn't very spectacular, but at least the trend is in the right direction.  However, it's a tiny trend.  From Bloomberg: 

Fewer Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week, an indication the labor market may be gaining traction.

Applications for jobless benefits decreased 5,000 in the week ended Nov. 12 to 388,000, the lowest level since April, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists forecast 395,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls fell to a three-year low.

As firings diminish, U.S. companies may add to payrolls at a faster pace as demand picks up. Sales that grew more than expected in October set the stage for higher levels of output, which could require more employees.

“Layoffs have eased, which is a great sign,” said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. “The other side of the equation, however, is that firms are still very hesitant to hire. You’re getting a very gradual improvement in the labor market.”

COMMENT:  The fact is that 400,000 applications is considered very bad news, and 388,000 isn't much lower.   The fact also is that actual job creation is still lagging badly, and many lost jobs will probably never come back.

However, Obama can use these statistics to reassure on-the-fence voters that things are actually improving.  The media will help him.  If the number of jobless claims suddenly starts to drop steeply, it could mean Obama's reelection simply because of the psychological impact. 

November 17, 2011       Permalink

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED, THAT THIS IS GOING ON – AT 8:35 A.M. ET:   You would think that, just for appearances, an organization would wait for both major presidential candidates to be chosen before making an endorsement.  But why wait when a candidate delivered by Heaven is running?  From ABC News:

The powerful Service Employees International Union has announced their endorsement of President Obama in the 2012 general election. The announcement came from SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, in a conference call to reporters.

“We believe in a country that invests in good jobs here at home, where everyone pays their fair share,” Henry said. “Do we want leaders who side with the needs of rich corporations and the 1 percent, where they are prospering at the expense of everyone else? Or do we want leaders who will side with the rest of us, the 99 percent?”

The SEIU had also endorsed Obama for president in 2008, but their endorsement comes much earlier in this election cycle than in the previous one. The last time around the union waited until February 2008 to endorse their chosen candidate. In 2008, Obama was competing with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

COMMENT:  We have nothing against unions here, good unions that is.  I'm a union member myself.  But unions often presume to speak for members who are actually skeptical of the union's political choices.  Witness the number of union men and women who became Reagan Democrats in 1980. 

Obama has done nothing for the working family.  Really, nothing.  He has put this country more deeply in debt than ever, and his so-called "stimulus" program failed to stimulate or provide many new private-sector jobs.  Yet, the SEIU doesn't seem to have many questions.  It is the automatic endorsement of the liberal candidate.  And it's sad, because the Democrats believe they have unions and African-Americans in their hip pocket, and they do, and they don't deliver much of real value to either group.

November 17, 2011       Permalink

NEW YORK BRACES – AT 7:58 A.M. ET:  New York City is bracing for a day of rage launched by the Occupy Wall Streeters who were evicted from their perpetual campgrounds a few nights ago.  This may go on all day and hit different parts of the city. 

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Hundreds of protesters who gathered across from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan began chanting and marching toward Wall Street.

It’s the first step in the planned “day of action” by Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Today marks the two month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration and the group is hoping there will be a huge turnout at big protests they’ve planned throughout the city.

“We’re going to march on Wall Street and shut down the New York Stock Exchange,” said protester Patrick Bruner.

“We do hope to stop people from getting to work,” said demonstrator Austin Guest. “We do hope to stop the Stock Exchange from functioning, but we don’t hope to do it in a crazy, wild-eyed way.”

Police are aware of the plan. They’ve flooded the Wall Street area with officers, who have set up barriers and checkpoints. They are not admitting people into the area without proof that they actually work there.

COMMENT:  I'm not all that concerned about the Wall Street area.  I'm concerned about rogue elements trying to shut down transportation systems, or even block traffic to the point where even fire trucks or ambulances couldn't get through. 

However, these big plans often fizzle, and the great NYPD is on the job.

November 17, 2011       Permalink

NEWT SOARING, BUT NOW ATTRACTS SCRUTINY – AT 7:36 A.M. ET:  A new Fox poll shows Newt Gingrich soaring in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.  However, please note that this is a recurring theme this year.  Someone, like Perry, soars, then collapses.  Then Herman Cain soars, and retreats when he handles a sexual harassment charge poorly.  This is probably more a comment on the lack of enthusiasm for Mitt Romney than anything else. 

Newt Gingrich has catapulted to the front of the race for the 2012 Republican nomination while Herman Cain has lost ground with GOP primary voters. Mitt Romney, once again, is holding steady.

A Fox News poll released Wednesday shows Gingrich’s support doubling in the last three weeks. He stood at 12 percent in late October -- before the Cain harassment allegations and Rick Perry’s “oops” debate. Now the former House speaker is at 23 percent, essentially tied for the lead with Romney, with 22 percent.

Romney has been either the frontrunner or in second place in every Fox poll since July. He’s received the backing of between 20-26 percent of GOP primary voters for the last five months.

Cain garners 15 percent. That’s down from 24 percent last month, and slightly below his late-September standing of 17 percent.

Ron Paul receives the backing of 8 percent, edging out Perry at 7 percent. This is the first time Perry has been in single digits in Fox polling.

COMMENT:  The guns are now trained on Newt, who has more baggage than American Airlines.  There is a messy personal life, a huge account at an upscale New York jeweler, payments from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that he admits to having mischaracterized.

Perry appears cooked.  Not ready for prime time. 

Cain also is a case where the gloom is on the rose.  In addition to poor handling of the harassment charge, he's since blown some comments on foreign policy.  Hard to see how he comes back.  He simply doesn't do his homework.

Can Newt sustain his position?  Frankly, I doubt it, even though he's the most intellectually impressive of the candidates.  You may be sure that The New York Times is already preparing its hit piece, a ritual it goes through whenever a Republican rises in popularity.  The Times got plenty of practice with Sarah Palin. 

I'd imagine Newt will have to start answering a host of charges and insinuations, including those involving his past marital life.  Romney's people will know what to do.

And yet it is stunning that, this far into the race, the supposed frontrunner, Mitt Romney, cannot break out of the low twenties.  That lack of enthusiasm can easily translate into many conservative stay-at-homes on election day, as it translated into many liberal stay-at-homes in 1968, allowing Richard Nixon to defeat Hubert Humphrey.

November 17, 2011     Permalink