WASTING AWAY AGAIN IN AN OBAMAVILLE: Homeless Encampment Growing on West 96th Street, New York Residents Say:

A growing homeless encampment has cropped up on West 96th Street near a busy subway station and an elementary school, disturbing residents who fear it is a safety hazard.

Trash piles first appeared in June in front of 264-266 West 96th St., an abandoned subway building between Broadway and West End Avenue, and they have kept growing throughout the summer, said resident Paul Lashin.

Homeless people took up residence among the trash and added to it sometime between the summer and early fall, he said.

“I noticed that the garbage pile kept coming back, but it seemed to be more organized,” Lashin explained. “There were books and stuff stuck into the grates of this building.”

Or is it a De Blasio-ville? Why not both? In any case, as DNAinfo New York notes, “The issue of homelessness in the neighborhood reached a five-year high this summer, with locals reported encampments, panhandling and the presence of homeless people to 311 at much higher volumes.”

(H/T: John Podhoretz, who notes this camp is “10 blocks from my house.”)

ROD DREHER: Thin-Skinned Theologians. “The tempest-in-a-theological-faculty-teapot over the pissy letter an (ever-growing) list of Catholic theologians are sending to The New York Times to complain about the traitor-to-his-class Ross Douthat is most revealing for what it says about the rank intolerance of the Catholic academic left, and the fragility of theologians, who fall to pieces in the face of the tiniest microaggression.”

Then microaggress away!

STUART ROTHENBERG: Why The Next Month Is Critical For Jeb Bush.

Sorry, but Jeb should probably be out of the campaign before the month is up. I think my column from January has held up pretty well.

WHO HAD THE BEST ANTI-MEDIA SLAM OF THE DEBATE? Videos of Cruz, Rubio and Christie’s best sound bites at NewsBusters.

In late November of 2008, following a year where we all watched the MSM build up the creepy, messianic cult of Obama (and obfuscate for him every step of the way) following by McCain and Palin’s shellacking by the MSM in the fall of 2008, Kevin D. Williamson wrote:

Every time I hear a Republican candidate or office-holder talking about media bias in the fall, I assume that the election is over and the Republican has lost. It’s not that the complaints don’t have merit — do they ever — it’s just that the media-bias talk tends to come up right about the time things are going undeniably south for a campaign. So maybe it’s best to front-load the discussion for next time around. Candidates who are talking about media bias in October [of the election year] are losing elections.

Last night, John Podhoretz tweeted “theory — someone at RNC thought, hey, CNBC, they’re pro-business.” Which makes sense. After witnessing the racism and even scatology of MSNBC, Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman vowed that the far left network would host no GOP primary debates for the 2016 election cycle. Perhaps he assumed that letting CNBC host the debate was the lesser of the three evils amongst the NBC networks. (Though he should have known, as someone tweeted back to Podhoretz, “that pro business now means pro cronyism.”) And while I doubt the debacle last night was something he had foreseen (this is the Stupid Party, after all), at least it allowed the candidates to front-load their objections to the rampant anti-GOP bias of old media.

How bad was it last night? So bad that even Ron Fournier, Howard Kurtz, Juan Williams, and Piers Morgan(!!) — each usually “see no bias” MSM journalists — noticed and sounded genuinely appalled.

Related: Scott Johnson of Power Line has “Questions for the RNC.”

WHAT TED CRUZ DID LAST NIGHT WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN AN APPLAUSE LINE, Walter Hudson writes at the PJ Tatler, noting that most reports so far have focused on his brilliant soundbite moment pushing back against the horrid CNBC moderators. But as Hudson adds:

However, the reaction from moderator Carlos Quintanilla proves just as significant. After laughing indignantly at both Cruz and the audience, Quintanilla comes back with the tried-and-true tactic of accusing Cruz of avoiding the question.

This is a question about the debt, which you have thirty seconds to answer if you choose to do so.

Quintanilla proceeds from an unspoken premise that candidates must answer any question posed no matter how it is presented and no matter what premise it is based on. That’s utter nonsense.

More candidates need to take their lead from Cruz and start objecting to the questions asked by media. By accepting questions as asked, candidates concede the premises upon which those questions are based. In this way, the media is able to make statements in the guise of questions, and thus offer a biased political narrative in the guise of an interview. Such rhetorical subterfuge is unacceptable and needs to be called out and countered, as Cruz did Wednesday night.

Exactly. Why aren’t more GOP candidates — at every level — better at not accepting their would-be interrogator’s premise and challenging their assumptions?

JOHN MCCAIN: Sanders Has A Better Record For Veterans Than Hillary.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has a better track record when it comes to caring for veterans than Hillary Clinton.

McCain said the Vermont senator, who is competing with Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination next year, worked hard for veterans in his role as chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“The fact is we were able to come together and pass legislation that was nearly unanimous in both the House and the Senate, so he does have a record of advocacy for our veterans,” he said in response to a question about the candidates’ positions on veterans’ issues during a press call on Wednesday. “To my knowledge, I know of no activity, legislative or otherwise, that Hillary Clinton was engaged in during her time as a United States senator,” he added.

McCain’s comments follow the former secretary of State’s statement that lengthy delays for patients seeking treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals are not a “widespread” problem.

McCain, who was a Vietnam prisoner of war, said the comments call into question Clinton’s qualifications to serve as commander in chief.

As do so many things.

TOMORROW’S CAMPAIGN COMMERCIALS TODAY: Of Course: Democrats Defend IRS Commissioner, Slam Impeachment Resolution.

AMANDA HESS: Don’t Ban Yik Yak: Feminists and civil rights groups are trying to get universities to block the very app that gives marginalized students a voice on campus.

JOEL KOTKIN: The Looming Political Battle Of The Ages:

Generational politics pose both risks and rewards for each party. A Trump candidacy may excite older voters and many younger white voters, but the cost among a pro-immigrant, heavily minority millennial voting bloc could prove damaging over the longer run.

Democrats, too, face risks, particularly if they continue on the path of radical wealth redistribution and draconian climate change regulation. Although still strong, support for Obama has been steadily weakening since 2008. Millennials are the only age group to still approve of President Obama’s record, but by only 49 percent, not exactly a ringing endorsement.

The future may be determined by the extent that millennials feel that Democratic policies inhibit their ability to move up economically. Younger millennials, having grown up during a weak economy under a progressive president, are notably more conservative than older ones, notes a recent Harvard study.

They increasingly share some attitudes with conservatives, having become notably more deeply distrustful of many of the nation’s political institutions. Nearly half describe themselves as independents, far more than any other age group.

To be sure, mllennials will likely stay more liberal than boomers (about as many are conservative as liberal), but they could shift further to the right once they enter their 30s and start earning a living.

That does tend to concentrate the mind.

WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE POLAND: Poland’s Parliament Has Literally Zero Liberals Now.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE FRED HOYLE LAUGHS: Rosetta finds molecular oxygen on comet 67P (Update).

INDIE AUTHORS HALLOWEEN SALE: Bolg, PI: Away with the fairies.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A Math Textbook Should Not Cost $180.

WITH SEVERAL BANGS: Israel Redux: European Edition.

FASCINATING LOOK AT THE GOP DEBATE: Group dynamics at the debate: uniting against the common enemy.

INDIE AUTHOR HALLOWEEN SALE: Jinxers.

MINIMUM WAGE RAISE, YOU SAY: You can now get a burrito out of a vending machine — and it’s surprisingly tasty.

MAKING SAUSAGE SCIENCE: WHO: Questionable Science And Conflicts Of Interest‏.

INDIE AUTHOR HALLOWEEN SALE: The Kinmar.

HE’S GOING TO PIVOT TO IT.  PIVOT: 1,925 Days After Position Created to Conduct Oversight of the Fed, Obama Has Yet to Appoint Someone.

YOU’RE DARN TOOTING HE HAS: Yes, the IRS chief has earned impeachment.

INDIE AUTHOR HALLOWEEN SALE: A Cat Among Dragons.

THERE THEY GO AGAIN: What Impact Does Stuff Like This Have On Science?

OF COURSE YOU KNOW THIS MEANS MEDIATION: President Obama finally stands up to China.

THEY BACKED THE STRONG HORSE: Inside the Ring: Iraq Ignored US Request to Deny Russian Overflights.