Thoughts About Life

Andrew Klavan is a very good author, political commentator, and genuinely funny guy. But in his youth he seriously thought about killing himself. His article here considers whether medications are the answer to the conundrum of suicide, but goes in a different direction. An excellent psychiatrist helped him out of the pit, but in retrospect he realizes that it was the fact that the doctor cared, that he loved him enough to stick with him, that made the difference. He finishes:

"The poet Auden once wrote: "We must love one another or die." It's said he wanted to change that line later because it was untrue in the sense that we die whether we love one another or not. But no, he got it right the first time. Love is our only truly effective tool in curing the deeper sorrows of the soul. Love from therapists, from strangTers on hotlines, from friends and parents, siblings and spouses. These people are not responsible when love is not enough. Only the sufferer can choose to stay his hand. But if anything is going to work, it will be love. No medicine can imitate it or even come close."  

Amen.

pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/a-modest-observation-about-suicide/

Another Christmas Story

Her mother was the head of a Planned Parenthood clinic when she became pregnant. She almost aborted Ashley. Almost. Here's another Christmas story.

www.dailywire.com/news/39583/watch-actress-new-pro-life-movie-says-mom-decided-paul-bois

Matthew 25:35-40

A Christmas Story. 

www.dailywire.com/news/39524/class-george-h-w-bush-anonymously-supported-hank-berrien

DIY too?

www.africanewlife.org

Quotes Without Comment

"Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said on Tuesday that Democrats have a hard time connecting with voters because of how "smart" Democrats are and because Democrats 'know so much.' "

www.dailywire.com/news/39038/senator-hirono-democrats-struggle-relate-voters-ryan-saavedra

"As reported by Reuters, Obama was howdying a crowd in Beaverton, Ore., on May 9, 2008, when he said: "It is wonderful to be back in Oregon. Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states. I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."

www.politifact.com/texas/article/2011/nov/30/perry-recaps-obamas-57-states-remark/

"If we work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress — uh, rather, all three chambers of government: the presidency, the Senate, and the House," she said Saturday in a call with Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee."

townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2018/11/19/ocasiocortez-we-need-to-make-sure-that-we-take-back-all-three-chambers-of-congress-n2536164

"CNN "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper asked where that estimated $40 trillion -- which would include the costs for Medicare for all, jobs guarantees, student loan forgiveness, free college programs, paid family leave, and Social Security expansion -- would come from. Medicare for all would be the costliest initiative, coming in at about $32 trillion ...

But asked again where that $40 trillion would come from, aside from her proposed increase in taxes on the wealthy and corporate taxes, which she has said would raise $2 trillion over the next 10 years, Ocasio-Cortez said the taxpayer-funded programs would free people up to increase economic activity in other areas, adding that the Medicare for all program is part of "a broader agenda."

"We do know and acknowledge that there are political realities," she added. "They don't always happen with the wave of a wand, but we can work to make these things happen."

www.cnn.com/2018/09/16/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-40-trillion-cnntv/index.html

Happy Thanksgiving

Navy Arteriosclerosis

I have written several blogs about the seeming inability of the U.S. Navy to do R&D in a timely manner and bring cutting edge weapons systems on line to counter what our enemies are doing. Not that we aren't spending tremendous amounts of money - we are - which leads to a dissonance in the eyes of critics, but to put it everyday terms, we ain't getting much bang for the buck. Now another example of this chronic inability to deliver is surfacing. 

In what really must be a galling report for the Navy to swallow, the Army is warning that by 2024 the Navy will not have enough ships to surge Army and Marine heavy combat forces to a major conflict. A full 90% of the combat power of the land units must be transported by ships and by 2024, the number available will drop below the minimum number required to do the job and even quite a few of those still in service will be upwards of 60 years old. This is compounded by the fact that many of the ships are steam powered and, since most modern ships are powered by diesel or gas turbines, finding merchant seaman who still know how to run steam is increasingly difficult. And last but not least, you have to plan for attrition in wartime, as submarines and missile attacks will sink a number of vessels making their way across the oceans. 

Building replacement ships like the ones ready for mothballs is costly but easy and would provide many jobs in U.S. shipyards, which would no doubt please politicians from those districts. But a preliminary question that must be asked is whether these ships would survive in the modern threat environment? I think the answer is probably not. 

First the submarines. The Russian sub fleet has been rusting for a long time but that is changing. Older subs are being upgraded and new types built. The Russians also reportedly have a new torpedo that travels at 250 mph in a bubble of air, as well as very capable supersonic anti-ship missiles. The Chinese have been building subs wholesale with similar weapons. It is not difficult to see the potential vulnerability of U.S. ships of current design to these new threats.

Then there are the missiles. Both Russia and China are relying on an air attack strategy that utilizes AWACS-type platforms with over-the-horizon radar to locate a U.S. fleet and then vector bombers loaded with supersonic anti-ship missiles to shoot from 600+ miles out. Of course, although the Navy can detect that the fleet is being painted by radar, they have not had fighters with the range and long-range missiles to take out these threats since the F-14 and its Phoenix missile systems were retired in 2006. Brilliant and timely planning yet again! As supersonic missiles fly closer, they are very low to the water and travel very fast, making them very hard to hit even with our own missiles. Our enemies also plan to shoot massive salvos, so that even if we hit the first group of "vampires" as they are called, our ships will simply run out of missiles and be helpless to the next salvo. 

A lot of questions are raised that need to be thought through and answered - quickly. Do the replacement ships need their own anti-air capability? Do they need to be smaller and more maneuverable? Can we build huge transport subs? Are more dedicated anti-sub warships needed? How about giant dirigibles to air lift equipment instead? Russia is imploding because of a rapidly aging population, as is China due to its one-child policy. This means if they are going to act, it will have to be sooner rather than later. Will the U.S. be ready? Maybe, but I have to say that between the politicians and the dithering of the Navy, I am not overly optimistic. 


www.wnd.com/2018/11/army-warns-of-navy-deficiencies/

Baldwin Faces Repo of Nobel Peace Prize

Alec Baldwin, formerly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for consistently encouraging civilized behavior, was arrested today for punching a guy out over a parking place. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee was holding a hurriedly-convened meeting in Oslo this weekend to consider these developments. One committee member entering the meeting was overheard saying, "And he thinks Trump is an a****le?"

www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2018/11/02/alec-baldwin-arrested-for-allegedly-punching-man-in-the-face/

Stephen King's New Short Story "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!"

Horror novelist Stephen King has a new short story out - "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." It's very short, short enough in fact to quote in its entirety;

"Hey Texas Dems and Indies: Remind your Republican friends what they already know: Ted Cruz is a crawdad. You won't upset them, they know it already. Just whisper, "You can vote Beto and tell the exit pollers you voted for Ted the Crawdad."

Cryptic as always. This one will be a sure hit with his fans.

www.dailywire.com/news/37917/stephen-king-launches-one-hell-weird-attack-ted-hank-berrien

Airlines - As In Going Down the ...

The last several years I have done a lot of flying around the country. I have had the chance to fly on most airlines operating domestically and can say without question that some are better than others. I have stayed away from the cheapies - Allegiant, Spirit, Frontier. There are enough published horror stories from travelers on those carriers to avoid them like the plague. On traditional carriers, though, the bottom dwellers are American and United. 

American used to be a good airline. Under Bob Crandall in the 1990s, it billed itself as the "On Time Machine" and it was. Although it could be a little coldly efficient at times, American  always did a good job of getting you where you needed to go. Not so much anymore.

American was bought by Doug Parker and the America West gang who have consistently tried to turn American into one of the cheapies while camouflaging it with American's historic reputation. How do the employees think it's going? Recently, they were asked just that in a Facebook post: “What three words would you use to describe the culture at American?” Probably not a good question:

"Responses on the private thread included repeated uses of the word “toxic” and “sad,” with one survey response simply featuring the latter word three times. Others replied that AA is “stressful, cheap, uncaring” and “punitive, chaotic, dysfunctional.” “Greed” showed up in another answer, and one flight attendant cynically changed American’s internal messaging about “going for great” to 'going for crAAp."

Did I mention that American also reduced the size of its lavatories to sardine size (see picture) to squeeze in more seats and also reduced the room between seats to a knee-busting, cramp-inducing 30 inches?

www.flyertalk.com/articles/toxic-and-sad-american-airlines-flight-attendants-describe-employer-in-private-survey.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=

Then there's United. You know, the company that mugs its passengers and drags them off airplanes. United has been a deeply unhappy company for a long time  and it shows. On a flight from Baltimore to PDX last year I was given a serious stink eye from a gate agent because I asked a question about a departure delay that might affect my connecting flight to PDX. My sin? She was talking to the other gate agent about her personal issues. Well, EXCUUUSE me! 

Oscar Munoz is United's CEO and he says things like this:

"... the recent increase of bag fees will help to improve the passenger experience, noting that majority of the company’s revenue is reinvested in the airline. He insisted at least a portion of the money put in the company’s coffers through pricey checked bag fees will be used to develop technology and communication systems which will in turn help achieve the goal a making air travel less stressful."

Sure. You know, if you would simply fire any employee who thumps on passengers, things would start to be less stressful. 

Right now, Alaska, Delta and Southwest are the airlines to fly. They consistently deliver good service and on-time performance and their people seem to enjoy their jobs. What a novel management concept - taking care of your passengers and employees!

The Devil's Flagpole

The shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue this last weekend was horrific. It is the first mass murder, anti-Semitic event in U.S. history and it was truly evil. Although the United States has not been immune to anti-Semitism throughout its history, it has ebbed and flowed but never broken out into brutal violence, as it has so many times in Europe throughout the centuries. 

Andrew Klavan, who is Jewish but a converted Christian, makes this very interesting comment about anti-Semitism and the shootings in Pittsburgh:

" ... it is the devils flagpole, it always has been the way the devil announces himself, it's always with anti-Semitism."

I fear he is right. Our social and political environment in this country is toxic - there is a witch's brew of anger and hate swirling throughout the country to the point that some are even talking about a new Civil War. For example, James Cromwell, a veteran character actor, pronounced that if the Democrats don't win in November, "... there will be blood in the streets." As I recall, Republican blood has already literally flowed on the baseball field when a deranged leftist shot a number of Republican Congressmen who were playing baseball. Apparently, some want more. 

When I was in Africa several years ago, I talked to a Westerner who had spent much of his  life on that continent. He observed that from time-to-time, it is almost like a fever sweeps Africa and the killing begins. Rwanda where a million died in 100 days in 1994 is a case in point. Or Uganda, or the Ivory Coast, or Nigeria, etc., etc. When a nation forgets God the devil does indeed announce himself and the horror begins. His flag was raised in Pittsburgh last weekend. Will we as a society salute and open ourselves further to the fever? 

www.dailywire.com/news/37798/klavan-left-ignores-real-problems-attack-trump-jacob-airey

Free is a Very Good Price!

And there is the Democrats' campaign strategy for 2020 in a nutshell! Yessiree, they are lining up to give you what you deserve - unless, of course, you happen to be paying taxes, in which case it may not be such a pleasant experience. 

Joseph Curl in The Daily Wire details some the freebies that leading Dems are proposing:

Bernie Sanders - free college for all! ($75B/year)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - free healthcare for all! ($3.26T/year, and yes, that's a "T" as in trillion).

Kamala Harris - free money for everyone making less than $100K/year! ($564B/year).

Isn't this fun?! Why stop there? Free cars for everyone! Free overseas vacations for everyone! Free mansions for everyone! Why, it's heaven on earth! Only, unlike God, the U.S. doesn't have unlimited resources. 

Reality check - the current annual haul by the Feds from all taxes is about $3.26T, the price of "free healthcare" alone, never mind everything else currently in the budget (well, sort of) like defense, welfare, etc., or the freebies proposed by Sanders, Harris, and undoubtedly others soon. Spartacus Booker comes to mind in that regard. If I were a betting man, I would bet that this will not slow the Dems down for one minute on out-promising one another. And then what happens? They promise heaven and we get Detroit. How many times do Americans have to get stung before they really this? 

www.dailywire.com/news/37341/democrats-2020-platform-free-everything-everybody-joseph-curl

A Policeman's Widow and Nike

This is a very powerful story of why Nike's Colin Kapernick campaign has rubbed so many people raw. It's a letter from the widow of a policeman killed in the line of duty. Shelly Graham-Potter, widow of Tim Graham and mother of two young children at the time of his death, wrote Nike an eloquent letter about her sweat-stained Nile hat of 13 years that had been a symbol of her persevering after his tragic death. She writes, in part:

I had no choice but to move on. We trudged zombie-like through our days for weeks and weeks on end. I never left the house except to drive the boys to school, or buy food we barely touched. I realized that I had to do something. I had to move my body or I was going to crawl out of my own skin. So I put on the only cap I had and I went for a run. It was short, it hurt and it was ugly. But I felt, just for those few moments on that road, like a normal person. So I kept doing it. I put that hat on and I ran every day. Sometimes I had to stop and sit down because I was sobbing so hard. Sometimes I was so angry I ran until I thought I my heart would stop, sometimes I would just scream over and over again, but it still felt better than doing nothing.

That black cap became a symbol to me, it is sweat stained and it’s shape is gone, the buckle in the back barely closes; but that hat represents my family’s rise from the ashes. It stands for the strength and the sacrifice we made loving a man who had a job that we all knew could end his life, every time he walked out that door. And it did. And I accept that.

I still wear this hat, I wore it on my run this morning.

And then I heard about your new ad campaign.

Please take the time to read her whole letter and then her poignant conclusion. Some very powerful emotional currents  are running here and Nike is running upstream.

www.dailywire.com/news/35608/widow-slain-police-officer-writes-open-letter-nike-hank-berrien

Democratic Senators Prepare to Question Judge Kavanaugh

The New Hero of the Empire

Cory "Spartacus" Booker. Can it get any worse than this? Geez I hope not. Just confirm Kavanaugh, already.

GIGO

Nike is taking a lot of heat for its new Colin Kapernick meme. For the life of me, I just don't see why:

www.snopes.com/fact-check/kaepernick-wears-castro-t-shirt/

The shirt shows Castro shaking hands with Malcolm X. I particularly like the slogan on the t-shirt, "Like minds think alike." OK Colin, I think I got the picture. Perhaps thinking like the fact in the 1980s Castro was urging the Soviets to make a nuclear strike against the U.S.

www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/science/22nuke.html

But wait, there's more!

Police pigs socks. Nice touch! Et tu, Nike. How very avant garde! Well played all around!

www.dailywire.com/news/35539/nike-hit-more-bad-news-wake-kaepernick-sacrifice-amanda-prestigiacomo

Astounding Political Insight

That great sage, Chelsea Clinton, recently said that if former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon appeared at a couple of political symposiums, it would be a "normalization of bigotry." OMG! I can see the white robes and burning crosses now! 

In the meantime, her father, the Not-so-Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, sat on the same stage at Aretha Franklin's funeral with Louis Farrakhan. You know, the same guy who has made peaceful and civilized comments like:

"The Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man."   

"The white man is our mortal enemy, and we cannot accept him. I will fight to see that vicious beast go down into the lake of fire prepared for him from the beginning that he never rise again to give any innocent black man, woman or child the hell that he has delighted in pouring on us for 400 years."

and everybody's favorite -

"White people deserve to die, and they know, so they think it’s us coming to do it."

Ain't no bigotry here. Yes indeed, young people are the great hope for the future of our country!

www.dailywire.com/news/35388/chelsea-clinton-says-hosting-bannon-normalization-hank-berrien

A Successful Marriage

Another nice story in the Daily Wire today - actress Kristen Bell's lovely post to her husband, Dax Shepard, on 14 years of sobriety. It is well worth reading the whole post. One paragraph gives a good idea of the tone:

I will forever be in awe of your dedication and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night. You never fail to make amends or say sorry when it’s needed. You are always available to guide me, and all of our friends, with open ears and tough love when it’s needed most.

I'm glad for them. This is success on a level that public people do not often understand or have the patience to seek. Blessings to them as they continue through life together.
www.dailywire.com/news/35370/actress-kristen-bell-posts-heartfelt-message-her-frank-camp

It's a Piñata Party!

Trump-bashing was the order of the day at several funerals this week. At John McCain's funeral, pretty much everybody who spoke took a shot - it was sort of a verbal piñata fest. In fairness, President Trump did say several years back that McCain was not a war hero because he got captured, which was a nasty and mean-spirited comment. McCain never forgave him and the late Senator was, among other things, not a person to lay down a grudge. Apparently, that has extended to the family as well. 

Just as McCain was a complex and often contradictory personality, though, the President is too and often what he does, as opposed to what he says, is different. What he did for the the late Senator and the McCain family was to dispatch Air Force 2 to fly McCain's body from Phoenix to Washington, D.C. for the state viewing at the Capitol Rotunda and then transport the body and the whole family home again for the funeral when the Washington services were done. That is a story that I have not seen widely reported. Complicated men, both of them, but it is important to try and look at the whole picture in trying to take their measure and not just the bad moments of which both were - and are - so very capable. 

www.dailywire.com/news/35364/good-trump-president-lends-air-force-two-mccain-joseph-curl

Welcome to Salem!

I used the new electronic parking meters in downtown Salem yesterday for the first time. The first pay meter I went to said it was out of order, so down the street I went away from our destination. Good start. Then it was time to feed the one that was working. You can pay by coin or credit card but since it's $.25 for 22 minutes or something like that, and we were going to an engagement that was several hours long, out came the card. I must not have genuflected properly because it kept saying my card was not inserted correctly. Finally, after getting down on one knee, it magnanimously took it. Ah, now to choose the amount of time - 1 hour, 2 hours ... maximum time? Of course the buttons are labeled. Monty, Monty, Monty ... Door #3 for 3 hours! Aw, too bad, it was for the maximum time and we just charged your card. Out came the little ticket for the dashboard with a cheery "Welcome to Salem" across the top. Great set up you got here, Salem. Welcome indeed. 

It's Free, It's Free!

Ah yes, the wonderful Canadian healthcare system that Bernie Sanders and others of the Left rhapsodize so lovingly. It's free, you see. Well, maybe not. Consider: 

"In 2017, the average wait time to see a primary care doctor or treatment by a specialist in Canada was 22.1 weeks, over five months. Over one million Canadians are on that list, trying to get a doctor. Just last week, the Fraser Institute released the cost of this “free” system. It turns out that nothing is free. An average Canadian family of four pays, through hidden taxes and fees, around thirteen thousand dollars for long waiting lists, rationed care, and light access to the latest treatment."

It seems that many Canadians cannot get in to see a doctor for extended periods of time and with healthcare, time is often more than just money - at least to the person whose health is at risk. A pretty serious cost, no? And then there's what you pay in taxes for this "free" care. While reforms are needed in the American healthcare system, it is a bald-faced lie to say anything is going to be "free" but it does get votes. 

www.dailywire.com/news/34061/exclusive-sally-pipes-why-single-payer-healthcare-jacob-airey

Sir, There's the Little Matter of the Check?

In Other News, an Incident was Reported in New York Today ...

During a news conference this week when Nancy Pelosi was issuing her usual dribble about Republicans bad/Democrats good, she gave an unguarded look at how she views the largest single attack and loss of life ever inflicted by an enemy on the American homeland, referring to, " ... when we had the 9/11 incident ..." Incident? Incident?!!! 3,000 innocent people lose their lives and it's an "incident"? Sort of like in the police reports when " An attempted break-in was reported at ..."? 

Pelosi and her ilk are dangerous to the health of this country. A terrorist nuclear attack on an American city might rise to the level of a "regrettable matter" in their eyes. The murder of an American citizen by an illegal immigrant definitely counts for nothing at all, even in broad daylight in San Francisco like Kathryn Steinle. They are dangerous because they care for nothing except getting and using political power imperiously without humility, wisdom, or much of a soul. Dangerous.

 

www.dailywire.com/news/33673/nancy-pelosi-describes-sept-11-terror-attacks-joseph-curl

Why Didn't I Think of That?

Venezuela has a new take on economics that progressive politicians in the U.S. will undoubtedly follow. In June Venezuela was reporting a minor problem with inflation due to its socialist paradise economic policies of an inflation rate running at 46,000% annually. Yes, 46,000%. What to do? Why lop off some zeros on the numbers of course! That's right. The current Maximo Jefe, His Excellency Maduro, issued an edict to simply delete 5 zeros when talking about inflation. I am sure this will be the panacea to all the country's economic problems. Socialists love to issue edicts. Reports from Caracas say he is going to do this next with the sun and gravity. Salud!

www.dailywire.com/news/33606/socialist-economics-101-venezuela-lops-five-zeros-hank-berrien

Say What?

I see the Iranians are threatening us with the "Mother of All Wars" if we don't back off on them. Hmm... where have I heard that phrase before? Oh yeah, Saddam. How did that work out for him?

www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/23/trump-warns-irans-rouhani-to-stop-threats-or-suffer-historic-consequences.html

Political Theater in DC

Three Democratic House members recently introduced a bill to abolish ICE, the agency responsible for enforcing our immigration and customs laws. Speaker Paul Ryan thought it was a great idea and immediately began the process to schedule the bill for debate on the House floor. Then, like Napoleon retreating from Moscow, the walking-it-all-back began. The Three Amigos dropped a press release accusing Ryan of playing politics and saying:

“If Speaker Ryan puts our bill on the floor, we plan to vote no and will instead use the opportunity to force an urgently needed and long-overdue conversation on the House floor.”

What integrity! DC insiders say that FBI agent Peter Strzok was a consultant to the Democrats on this production.
townhall.com/tipsheet/laurettabrown/2018/07/13/democrats-say-they-will-vote-no-on-their-own-abolish-ice-bill-after-republicans-plan-to-bring-it-up-for-a-vote-n2499958

Happy Independence Day!

You're on Candid Camera

Larry Elder in Townhall reports on an interesting and unexpected result arising from police use of body cams. Body cams were introduced in many jurisdictions to supposedly keep the police honest in interactions with the public during stops. Elder details the surprise finding, though, in a recent study:

"In 2012 in the city of Rialto, California, population approximately 100,000, cops were randomly assigned body cameras based on their shifts. Over the next year, use-of-force incidents on the shifts that had cameras were half the rate of those without cameras. But something rather extraordinary also happened. Complaints against all Rialto police officers with were down almost 90 percent from the prior year.

It turns out when civilians knew they were being recorded, they -- not the cops -- behaved better and stop making false accusations. The use of force by cops also declined, but, again, not because the police changed their conduct. No, the cops continued performing as they'd been trained. Civilians, aware that they were being taped, were less confrontational and were more likely to cooperate and follow instructions. As a result, cops needed to use force less frequently."

Are there bad cops? Sure, but the use of a camera makes all sides toe the line, and that's a good thing. 

Now They've Done It!

Breitbart reports that BBC’s Head of Comedy Shane Allen said that Monty Python were somehow not “original” because their members were too white, male, and middle class. What a serious turd! Even John Cleese is incensed. It's time to sic the Black Knight on him!

www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/21/bbc-rejects-its-oxbridge-comedy-past/

A Little Tragedy

Kylie Jenner is now a super model, but she was still just being a daughter when she posted a picture on-line on Father's Day of her dad, Bruce Jenner (nka "Caitlyn"), with her and her sister as little girls, adding the caption, "so lucky to have you." Of course, this set off all the social justice warriors who absolutely trashed her for her faux pas. In 2015, Kylie told an interviewer:

"My dad is my dad, but he’s not there physically anymore. But she lets me call her dad — that’s the last little piece of dad I’ve got," she said.

Sigh. I'm glad she's still human, even if her tormentors are not. 

www.dailywire.com/news/31999/kylie-jenner-gets-trashed-wishing-caitlyn-jenner-amanda-prestigiacomo

MAMA!

Wayne Allyn Root in National Review pretty much nails the current state of the Democratic party, saying they:

"... support MS-13. They don’t think jobs matter to middle class Americans. $1000 bonuses are insignificant “crumbs.” The lowest unemployment ever for blacks and Hispanics is meaningless. Skyrocketing GDP is unimportant. Open borders are good. Defeating ISIS is bad. Peace with North Korea is unacceptable.

Their slogan should be: "MAMA: Making America Miserable Again."

Think it's hyperbole? Guess again. Bill Maher on his show on HBO first admits the economy is booming and Trump's tax cuts are responsible, but then says what we need is a good economic crash in this country, yessiree, and goes on:

"I’m hoping for it. I think one way you get rid of Trump is by crashing the economy. So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts people, but it’s either root for a recession, or lose your democracy."

Great theme for the mid-terms folks! 

townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2018/06/16/trump-proves-torture-works-n2491260

THE #MeToo Solution

Sexual power plays at work are wrong, even apparently now for Bill Clinton some 20 years after the fact. Netflix has come up with the ultimate solution to battle this problem, forbidding its production crews from looking directly at one another for more than 5 seconds. Perfect! Except, let's say you are a director working with a young female star who has just messed up a scene 5 times in a row and you are trying to get across what you want. You look at her to get her attention but are thinking "OK, every 5 seconds I have to avert my gaze. How long do I have to look elsewhere? 5 seconds sounds reasonable. Wait, get HR on the phone! Aw cripes, I snuck a glance and it was only 4 seconds. And she's looking at her nails..." And then the suit from corporate arrives to find out why you are going overtime shooting this feature. "Arrgh!"

townhall.com/tipsheet/chrisreeves/2018/06/14/netflix-bans-crew-workers-from-looking-at-each-other-for-over-5-seconds-to-fight-sexual-harassment-n2490436

Trump and Korea

The summit is over and President Trump came away with a 4-point document that may or may not mean anything - time will tell. Ben Shapiro, writing in the Daily Wire, says it's either a "masterstroke or a horrible debacle." I tend to agree with him.

Some things have not changed. Kim Jong Un is still a monster. His cruelty and depravity are virtually unmatched anywhere in the world except perhaps with ISIS. He is a psychopath with megalomaniac delusions. He sees himself as a world leader but his country is one of the poorest on earth, put there by generations of rule by his family. The Korean War is still with us. There has been a truce of sorts since 1953 but no formal peace treaty. He has nukes. Will he really give up the one thing that has kept him in power? Call me a skeptic, especially since he has made the same promise before to the U.S. and lied through his teeth. China doesn't want to see a reunified Korea as a South Korea writ large on its border, as it would be too threatening. I don't see this has changed and since the Norks get most of their food and coal from China, they are on a pretty short leash. 

The power of personal diplomacy is vastly overrated. Ultimately, countries look after what they consider their best interests. If Trump made it clear that the alternative to good faith performance of all of the glittery and ambiguous promises was to be turned into a fine nuclear dust, then perhaps KJU will see the light. Short of that, however, I am very concerned that Trump may have made the worst deal of his life. Was it worth taking the risk? We'll see. 

www.dailywire.com/news/31740/trumps-big-north-korean-moment-either-masterstroke-ben-shapiro

I Am Not Shocked

Here comes another study from UCal - Irvine showing that for each $1/hour the minimum wage is raised, the poverty rate increases by 3%. This tracks pretty consistently with a University of Washington study on the same subject a few years ago when Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15/hour. Coincidentally (not), Seattle is now #3 in the nation for homeless people. Wonder how that could have happened? 

www.wnd.com/2018/06/higher-minimum-wage-increases-poverty-in-poor-areas/

Let Sports be Sports

Pollster Scott Rasmussen has an interesting idea in National Review this morning. As you know, many of the "oppressed" people in the NFL, NBA, etc. are refusing invitations to the White House to appear with President Trump after winning championships. There has been a lot of back-and-forth about this ("running dog racist oppressor" vs. "spoiled ingrates") but Rasmussen suggests, why not drop these visits altogether permanently? He says it would create a "civic buffer" between the pollution of politics and the world of sports - basically, let sports be about sport and avoid political pollution. 

Hadn't thought about it, but it's not a bad idea. I mean, what a novel idea, letting sports be just about sport! And I'm sure that the Democratic party when they are in office, ESPN, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, assorted NFL players who suddenly lose the ability to stand when the national anthem is played, etc., will gladly go along. We'll see. 

townhall.com/columnists/scottrasmussen/2018/06/07/lets-end-official-white-house-visits-for-sports-champions-n2488101

D-Day; June 6, 1944

We kicked open the door of Hitler's Festung Europa, but here is the price we paid. May you rest in peace and may we never forget that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and uncommon valor. 

Only One Thing Left to Do

Arthur Guiness invented Guiness Stout because the water of that time was unfit to drink and  the common man was drinking himself to death on cheap gin. The alcohol in the beer was much lower proof than gin and it killed any harmful bacteria. Salud to Mr. Guiness!

Salem has again posted a bad water alert due to cyanotoxin from blue/green algae at its water source, Deroit Reservoir. Following the lead of Arthiur Guiness, there's only one thing left to do when the water is bad - have a beer! Salud!

Genius

Occasionally a good idea does come out of DC. Sen. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana notes that the Feds confiscate about $4B per year of drug money the cartels are trying to move out of the U.S. Why not use these funds to build the wall on our Southern border? Why not indeed. There is a delightful irony in using cartel money to make it harder for their drug runners to bring their crap into the country. Genius. 

www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/05/14/exclusive-senator-bill-cassidy-build-wall-make-cartels-pay/

A Veritable Smorgasbord

Good morning to ya! Kind of a news smorgasboard this morning: 

• Great news about the three American prisoners coming home from North Korea, although I am waiting to read why this is a bad thing from some former Obama Administration official. 
• Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting column in Townhall this morning comparing the similarities of Truman and Trump. Not a comparison that I had thought about, but the parallels are though-provoking. townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2018/05/10/truman-may-have-been-the-prototrump-n2479030
• A conservative college student at SUNY Oswego in New York has been chastised by the college administration for making a bunch of her fellow progressive students feel bad. Her crime? She stood up at an open mic session and described what it felt like to be a conservative Republican on an overwhelmingly liberal campus. OMG!
http://www.wnd.com/2018/05/trump-lovin-student-threatened-for-exposing-leftist-attackers/ 
• A Chinese filmmaker of some renown has brought an 8-hour film to the Cannes Film Festival documenting the brutality and horror of Mao's gulags in China as experienced by his victims. China, you know - that wonderful country that many of our politicians and intellectuals would like to emulate. Gulags are always the result of absolute power. The story above from SUNY Oswego describes the very minor league version of how this gets started. 
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2145299/chinese-filmmaker-stuns-cannes-film-festival
• Iran attacks Israel directly for the first time with 20 rockets; Israel bombs the bejeepers out of Iranian targets all over Syria. Sounds about right. This is not heading for a happy ending. 
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05/10/israel-strikes-nearly-all-iranian-infrastructure-in-syria-after-iran-rocket-attack-minister-says.html

Glad to see all is normal, that is, nuts. Be careful out there!

She's So Fine

Well, the DNC wants the cash back from Hillary. Yup, the DNC is pretty much broke these days and wants $1.65M back from Hil and Bill because well, among others things, "It would be the Christian thing to do." according to DNC member Brian Wahby. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ... Oh that's a good one! Oh my, let me compose myself. And the chances of any of this happening? Let me put on the 90s hit by Robert Palmer, Simply Irresistible, and enjoy it while I ponder this question, especially the backup singers' line, "She's so fine, there's no tellin' where the money went!"

www.wnd.com/2018/05/dnc-officials-tell-hillary-they-want-their-money-back/

In Seattle No Less

Credit is due where credit is due despite the fact that we're talking about the Huskies here. Although very unusual anymore, a few colleges and universities around the country have actually gone to bat for free speech - real free speech, you know, the kind where you might hear something you don't agree with. A dozen professors at the University of Washington School of Law have protested to the UW President a higher fee levied on visiting conservative speakers because of the bad behavior of those protesting the speaker's presence. Kudos to the professors for actually practicing what they preach! So refreshing. Go Huskies, well law school anyhow!

www.wnd.com/2018/05/surprise-university-professors-go-to-bat-for-conservatives/

Cooked Goose is Our Special Today

Under the heading of "Do as I say, not as I do!" parents on New York's Upper West Side are furious about the school district's plan to introduce a "diversity initiative" to their school. This neighborhood is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the country. Forty years ago, Pauline Kael, a noted film critic and resident of the Upper West Side, famously quipped after Richard Nixon won the Presidency: 

" I can’t believe Nixon won. I don’t know anyone who voted for him."

That's probably a true statement for the Upper West Side and reflective of the area's values, except when it comes to their kids. It's fine to take the oh-so-PC position that other kids and parents need to accept what is best for them in terms of all the most recent social engineering programs crammed down their throats by their elite betters, but when it comes to their kids ... watch out! Think I'm overstating? Be sure to watch the video clip in the article. 

Well folks, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. How do you like your goose cooked? Or perhaps all these programs aren't good for anybody and we should have a real conversation about what is really in our kids' best interest. 

www.dailywire.com/news/30058/yikes-white-residents-nycs-upper-west-side-lose-emily-zanotti

The Level of Current Political Discourse

Unhinged. And you thought things were bad when W was President? It was just a cake walk compared to the Left's reaction to Trump. Their frustration has totally unhinged them and they are Looney Toons frothing-at-the mouth crazy bit when they think about Trump, which is pretty much all the time. Since all their schemes to oust him from office have fallen flat, Victor Davis Hanson points out that they have resorted to this:

Are we reaching a point in the so-far-failed Resistance where little is left except abject violence in the manner of the Roman or French Revolution? The problem for Trump’s pop-culture foes is not whether to imagine or advocate killing the president. That’s a given. They just need to agree on the means of doing so: decapitation (Kathy Griffin), incineration (David Crosby), stabbing (the Shakespeare in the Park troupe), shooting (Snoop Dogg), explosives (Madonna), old-fashioned, Lincoln-style assassination (Johnny Depp), death by elevator (Kamala Harris), hanging (a CSU professor), or simple generic assassination (a Missouri state legislator).

Even Joe Biden wants to take Trump out back and give him a knuckle sandwich. Of course that assumes Joe can stop fondling the woman nearest him at the moment to do so. 

In the meantime, for those of us who still work, the economy is doing well - unemployment is down, household income is up, consumer confidence is up, the stock market is up - what's not too like! Even in foreign affairs, his unorthodx style looks like it may be resulting in some reorientation of nations in a way that benefits the U.S. And therein lies the problem for the Left. As uncouth and at times just plain rude as Trump can be, what he is doing works and they come across as the little kid in the grocery store throwing a major tantrum in the aisle because his mommy won't buy him the Super Sugar Globs cereal. Which, come to think of it, is what their behavior actually is. Time to go to your room until you calm down. No soup for you!

www.nationalreview.com/2018/04/trump-resistance-democratic-party-revolutionary-times/