Happy Independence Day!

A Point of Light

Here' s a nice story about a guy in Charlotte who, after several trips to prison, decided to be the change in his community. Shaun "Lucky" Corbett was a drug dealer to put food on his family's table. After several too lengthy visits to the state pen he decided he needed to change and in doing so has begun to change his community in police/race relations. His son is now a police cadet. Take a look at the short video. We could use a million or two guys like Shaun. 

www.circa.com/story/2017/07/03/workplace/shaun-lucky-corbett-seeks-understanding-between-charlotte-police-community

Rising Star

Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is doing a standout job as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Although the UN is pretty much a worthless organization to begin with, dominated by authoritarian governments whose only interest is using it as a platform to club Israel and this country, Haley has clearly shown the flag for U.S. interests in a way not seen since John Bolton and Jeanne Kirkpatrick and it is refreshing. 

The article below in National Review suggests that Rex Tillerson is floundering as Secretary of State and that a replacement may be close by at the UN. The U.S. could do much worse than having a bright, articulate and fearless woman at the helm of Foggy Bottom to clear some of the fog out of the minds of the careers bureaucrats residing there. 

www.nationalreview.com/article/449141/nikki-haley-our-de-facto-secretary-state

Smiley and Bird Watching

Behind the Smiley Face of Progressive often lies a reality that is not so nice. Case in point, Bernie Sanders wife. She is under Federal investigation for allegedly lying on a $10M loan application for her college where she was president. She definitely attempted to boot disabled people out of a group home to commandeer it for use by the college. Nice. Incidentally, the college is now bankrupt. It's for the people! Horse pucky. 

www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/30/sanders-investigation-bernies-wife-attempted-to-evict-disabled-group-home-residents-report-claims.html

Huh?

The pilot shortage has hit Alaska Airlines, which is cutting hundreds of commuter flights this summer until it can staff up. To mitigate the inconvenience to air travelers, Alaska is offering its current commuter pilots a 200% premium pay bonus to fly extra hours in a month. The pilots are happy but their their Teamsters union reps say "Nyet!" The union's position is that the company should not pay above the contract maximum of 150% - it's somehow not fair to pay a bigger bonus during the pinch because it's not a permament amendment to the contract. Call me cynical but somehow I don't see the pilots crying, "No, no - don't pay us the extra money!" But perhaps I am too much the cynic. 


www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/horizon-air-cutting-hundreds-of-flights-this-summer-due-to-pilot-shortage/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1

Russians to Shoot U.S. Aircraft?

The threat level for a major clash between the U.S. and Russia has just notched up. After an American F/A-18 downed a Syrian SU-22 over the ISIS "capital" of Raqqa because it had bombed close to U.S. supported forces, Russia announced that it will shoot down any and all aircraft over the area. They have also dropped out of the de-confliction hotline designed to prevent mistakes between forces. This could get ugly fast so don't be surprised if all the Trump talk is overtaken by events in the near future. 

www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/06/19/russia-u-s-planes-west-euphrates-syria-will-treated-hostile-targets/

Arguing with the Left

It's been awhile (April 9) since I posted - been traveling - but I couldn't resist putting this one up. It's so illustrative of trying to argue with one of the Leftist persuasion:

“To help poor children, I am going to launch flaming accordions into the Grand Canyon.” 

“That’s stupid.” 

“Why Do You Hate Poor Children?”

The article itself incidentally is well worth reading and describes the enormous expense of trying to run the gauntlet of government regulations in getting a public project built. Nationally the cost has been estimated at $3.7 trillion dollars! No wonder we are a debtor nation. America's epitaph: Noble but stupid.

www.nationalreview.com/article/448516/infrastructure-projects-environmental-delays-philip-k-howard-solution