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2016

‘They Want an Operation in Times Square’: Brooklyn Man Arrested on ISIS Charges By Bridget Johnson

Federal authorities arrested a Brooklyn driver early Monday on charges of attempting to support ISIS just days before the annual Thanksgiving parade in New York that was the subject of a recent threat in an Islamic State magazine.

A criminal complaint alleges that Mohamed Rafik Naji, 37, a legal permanent U.S. resident and citizen of Yemen, discussed a plot to try to conduct a Nice-style attack using a garbage truck to mow down people in Times Square.

Naji was seized at his apartment on Clarendon Road in Flatbush in a multi-agency arrest. Authorities said he worked as a driver for Uber, though the company told NBC4 that he didn’t work for them.

According to the unsealed complaint, Naji began sounding off on Facebook about his support for ISIS beginning in 2014 soon after the group’s declaration of their caliphate. He even made an ISIS image the cover photo on his Facebook page.

From March to September 2015, Naji traveled to Turkey and Yemen “in an effort to join ISIL.” After flying from JFK airport to Istanbul, Naji emailed his girlfriend back in the United States, telling her, “Everything ok so far I met this taxi guy look like a good guy he said he’s gonna take me short cut almost there inshallah I love u hunny so much.”

Naji allegedly followed up in another email to his girlfriend six days later after trying to access ISIS-controlled parts of Yemen, complaining “it’s very hard to get in I’m on my 5 try.” Two days after that, the complaint states, he told his girlfriend that he and his party “almost got killed today by army” and were hiding in the mountains without food or water — “glad u didn’t come.” He emailed his girlfriend a photo of jihadists on their trek, followed by an admission that he was “thinking of coming back m really really tired.”

Masculine white men more likely to be mentally ill, says new ‘study’ By Ed Straker

What would we do without psychological studies about sex and gender? We’ve had studies that most women are “part lesbian” and a lack of access to sports bras deters girls from playing sports. We’ve had a study showing that women are more likely to become lesbian if they don’t have ready access to men and a landmark study showing that female chimpanzees are more likely to be domineering feminists.

And now we have a new study concluding that white, masculine men are more likely to be mentally ill, conducted by Y. Joel Wong, a man who isn’t white, may not be masculine, and actually…who knows if he is really a man for sure?

Men who have “playboy” attitudes and believe in power over women may face a higher risk for mental health trouble than men who don’t, a broad new research review suggests.

The finding on sexism, and other so-called “traditional views” on masculinity, stems from an analysis of 74 studies conducted between 2003 and 2013. The studies included nearly 19,500 predominantly white male participants, the researchers said.

The research “looked at expectations about what it means to be masculine, and how that relates to mental health outcomes among men,” explained study lead author Y. Joel Wong.

“What we found overall is that the more that men conformed to masculine norms the poorer their mental health, and the less likely they were to seek mental health services,” he said.

Wong’s team focused on data concerning the embrace of 11 different types of so-called “masculine norms,” including the desire to win; to retain emotional control; to take risks; to engage in violence; to exert dominant behavior; to participate in a “playboy” lifestyle; to be self-reliant; to elevate work to the highest level of importance; to retain power over women; to maintain a disdain for homosexuals; and to pursue “status.”

Desiring to win = mentally ill. Retaining emotional control = mentally ill. Making work a priority = mentally ill. But I’m glad that at least these are traits associated with “masculinity.” I’m not 100% sure what a “playboy” lifestyle or “retaining power over women” means; by these twisted standards, it may simply mean a refusal to be subservient to women like these emotionally castrated guys.

Who gets the credit for Trump’s victory? The Tea Party. By Tim Jones

There have been many excellent post-election analyses since Trump’s improbable win, most of have which have identified the disaffected working class and the failure of the Democrats’ politically correct identity politics as the driving factors.

But one thing that seems to be overlooked is the Tea Party, the reasons for its beginnings, and its underlying anti-establismentarianism in this election.

It was not just the failure of the Democrats’ urban-centric political focus on minorities, women, and income inequality that deep-sixed Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Walking it back, what has outraged so many grassroots conservatives was the phony conservatism under George W. Bush, culminating in the financial crisis of 2008. It pushed them overboard to no longer get fooled by the Republican establishment that had been basically a milder form of the big-government progressivism that had taken over the Democratic Party following the loss of Hubert Humphrey in 1968 to Richard Nixon. It was that crushing loss that sent Democrats on a far-left trajectory for decades to come.

Bush did nothing to cut back the size and growth of government. Instead, he actually expanded it through his unfunded Medicare Part D prescription drug program and the “No Child Left Behind” federally mandated education program. There were no efforts at all to rein in spending and the size of the federal government. And the war with Iraq added untold billions to the ever expanding annual federal deficits.

Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” was liberalism in disguise. From “Decision Time for the GOP Elite” at AT:

Remember that the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress during the presidency of George W. Bush and yet nothing was done to control the size, scope, or cost of the federal government.

Amherst Students Conduct ‘Sh–t In’ to Push Gender-Neutral Bathrooms “Involving over 220 students.”

In an effort to push gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, are participating in a “sh–t in” by occupying restrooms in an administrative building.

Involving over 220 students, the “sh–t in” is currently being led by Amherst’s Gender Liberation Union. Throughout the week, students will be occupying bathroom stalls.

In an interview with HuffPo, “sh–t in” organizer Justin Killian, a gender and sexuality major (yes, that’s an actual thing) at Amherst, said the protest is about changing cultural aversions towards gender-bathrooms since Massachusetts law allows people to go into whatever bathroom they choose.

“We have legal protections in Massachusetts that allow people to use any bathroom they feel comfortable with,” Kilian explained. “But having the legal ability doesn’t mean cultural ability.”

“We want a third space that does not have cultural or gender surveillance,” she said.

Killian also said the administrative caved within two days, providing everything on their list of demands.

“The administration agreed to our progressive benchmarks within two days.” Kilian said proudly. “Hormones are now available at Health Services. Before, you had to drive two hours to get them.”

The False Premise of Palestine and Peace by Barry Shaw see note please

Jordan is the existing Palestinian State…The Arabs in their duplicity know that and any Arab sovereignty in Judea and Samaria will lead to unending war.rsk
If the international community wants to see Israel make dangerous concessions, then they, and they alone, must ensure that Israel has a united and pragmatic peace partner.

This should be Israel’s basic demand: that a united Palestinian political leadership will recognize the right of all the citizens of the Jewish State of Israel to live in peace and security, alongside the State of Palestine.

It is that simple. That is all it takes.

The notion that the creation of a state of Palestine will herald everlasting peace is naïve in the extreme.

After 50 years of a two-state failure, the French and other diplomats, in their duplicitously-named “peace initiative,” have no other idea for how to settle the Palestinian problem, except to behave like parched men trudging across a burning desert toward a distant mirage that they think is an oasis paradise. It is not, and the same diplomats will take no responsibility for cleaning up the dangerous outcome of such a disaster.

The international community is pressuring Israel to make wholesale concessions in territory and security, risking social and political upheaval, to grant the so-called Palestinians a state of their own.

The sole criterion for making this happen is for the international community to accept the Palestinian precondition of forcing Israel withdraw to pre-1967 lines, which are the 1949 armistice lines and not a defined border.

WHO IS MONSIEUR FILLON????…

François Fillon’s Focus on the Economy Resonates in French Presidential PrimaryFormer prime minister surprise winner against rivals stressing immigration, security.By William Horobin
PARIS—Veteran French politician François Fillon has long advocated stern measures for his country’s economy, calling for sharp cuts in government jobs, higher sales taxes and legal changes to make it easier for companies to hire and fire workers.

On Sunday, voters in the first round of a presidential primary for center-right candidates defied pollsters’ predictions by throwing huge support behind Mr. Fillon and his establishment brand of fiscal and social conservatism. While immigration and French identity dominated coverage of the campaign, the results suggested Mr. Fillon tapped into a strong undertow of economic concerns.

In his surprising come-from-behind victory, Mr. Fillon won 44.1% of the vote, eliminating former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had campaigned on a platform of radical anti-immigration measures and tax cuts for households. Mr. Fillon will face the second-place finisher, Alain Juppé, who received 28.6% of the 4.13 million ballots cast, in a runoff on Sunday.

The winner will contest the presidential election in April and May for the center-right Republicans.

For much of the campaign, Messrs. Sarkozy and Juppé focused on nationalism, security, immigration and French identity, seeking to appeal to an electorate scarred by recent Islamist terror attacks.

Mr. Fillon, in contrast, pledged in the first order to repair the economy of France, where unemployment is stuck around 10% and public debt is nearing 100% of economic output.

French Police Detain Suspects in New Terror Plot Seven French, Moroccan and Afghan nationals held after arrests in Marseille and Strasbourg By Inti Landauro and Matthew Dalton

French police have detained seven people suspected of plotting a terror attack in France, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.

The seven individuals were arrested in Marseille on the Mediterranean coast and in Strasbourg on the border with Germany over the weekend after an eight-month investigation, Mr. Cazeneuve said at a news conference.

“Yesterday, the department of interior security foiled a terrorist action that was being planned for a long time on our soil,” he said.

The suspects—whose names weren’t disclosed—had links with five people detained on June 14 ahead of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament held in France, he said.

Investigators suspect some of the men spent time fighting with extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, a French official said.

The sweeping police operation shows French security forces are still on edge in France, fearing terrorists may strike again after a series of attacks that have killed more than 200 people over the past 12 months.

The suspects detained over the weekend are French, Moroccan and Afghan nationals aged between 29 and 37, Mr. Cazeneuve said. Only one of them had been previously identified by French police as a potential suspect, he said.

The Moroccan man had been flagged by Portuguese antiterror police in the summer of 2015 as a suspected member of a terrorist group, Portuguese police said in a statement.

As many as 418 people with links to terrorist networks have been detained since the start of the year, Mr. Cazeneuve said.

Mike Pompeo’s Iran File If he honors the nuclear deal, Trump needs to enforce it vigorously.

In summer 2015 Congressman Mike Pompeo and Senator Tom Cotton visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, where they learned of two secret codicils to the Iranian nuclear deal. The Obama Administration had failed to disclose these side agreements to Congress. When pressed on the details of the codicils, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed never to have read them.

We’re reminded of this episode on news that Donald Trump has asked Congressman Pompeo to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. The Kansas Republican is being denounced by liberals as a “hardliner,” but the truth is that he has shown an independent streak that has allowed him to raise thorny questions and gather vital information that Administration officials want suppressed. Isn’t that what Americans should expect in a CIA director?

That goes double regarding the Iranian nuclear deal, which Mr. Pompeo opposed in part because of the diplomatic legerdemain he and Sen. Cotton uncovered in Vienna. Of the two secret deals, one concerned the nuclear agency’s inspection of the Parchin military facility, where the Iranians were suspected of testing components of a nuclear deal. The other concerned Iran’s non-answers to questions about the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program.

Both issues went to the question of whether Iran’s compliance with an agreement would be verifiable, and it’s easy to see why the Administration was so reluctant to disclose the facts. The IAEA was permitted one inspection of Parchin, where it discovered uranium traces, and the agency later issued an exculpatory report on Iran’s military work to facilitate the deal’s implementation.

We’ve since learned much more about the precise terms of the nuclear deal—including the Administration’s willingness to ignore them to placate the Iranians. That includes allowing the mullahs to build and test ballistic missiles and exceed the deal’s 300-kilo limit on low-enriched uranium. The IAEA also reported this month that Iran exceeded its heavy-water limit for the second time this year.

The scope of Iran’s violations was laid out last week in a detailed analysis from the nonpartisan Institute for Science and International Security. “IAEA reporting is so sparse as to confirm suspicions that compliance controversies are being deliberately omitted from the report,” note authors David Albright and Andrea Stricker. That makes the CIA’s job of investigating Iran’s nuclear programs all the more important, which is another reason to welcome Mr. Pompeo’s nomination.

Anti-Trumpers Channel Their Inner Donald Many who decried Trump now exhibit the worst traits he was accused of. William McGurn

In a now forgotten column years back, a writer noted how times had changed in Britain since the 1960s. Back then, he wrote, it was the rock stars who filled the tabloids with their sex and excess. By contrast the British royals, raised on noblesse oblige, largely limited their public appearances to celebrations on behalf of hospitals, schools and other worthy causes.

The roles are now reversed. These days it is the British royals caught exiting nightclubs in the wee hours of the morning or captured playing naked billiards. By contrast, knighted rock stars emerge periodically from their landed estates to offer polite statements on the environment.

Something of the same has just happened this side of the Atlantic. At least since his victory speech promising to be president for all Americans—and notwithstanding the occasional tweet deriding “Saturday Night Live” as “nothing funny” or the New York Times as “failing”—Mr. Trump has mostly tried to sound positive and inclusive. Meanwhile, those who spent the 2016 campaign decrying Mr. Trump for his temperament and fascist tendencies are now exhibiting precisely those traits.
The most recent outburst came Friday night, when Mike Pence and some of his family took in a performance of the Broadway hit “Hamilton.” Having entered the theater to a mixture of cheers and boos, the vice president-elect at the end of the performance found himself lectured from the stage by the cast.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who both wrote the musical and starred in it, tweeted that he was “proud” of the moment, which he characterized as “leading with love.” As Mr. Pence pointed out, cast members have a right to say what they please. But the rest of us likewise have a right to note how boorish and self-congratulatory they were.

America Can Invent the Next High-Tech Jobs Instead of trying to claw back workers from Asia, boost R&D and give tax credits for investment. By Henry Kressel and David P. Goldman

Americans invented the core high-technologies that enable the modern digital age, but they didn’t get a large share of the jobs created by these new industries. High-tech is dominated by Asia, where governments target its growth as vital to their economic development. The relationship between industry and the state is tight. In countries like China, Taiwan and South Korea, government-corporate partnerships provide patient capital, skilled workers and protection for intellectual property.

Their progress has been remarkable. Between 1999 and 2014, the World Bank reports, global exports of high-technology products (computers, aerospace, electrical machinery, pharmaceuticals and other “R&D intensive” products) rose by about 220%. China’s share of that soared to 26% from 3%. America’s fell to only 7% from 18%.

American innovations from the 1960s, the peak of the government’s commitment to defense and aerospace R&D, created the basis for a trillion-dollar electronics industry. Researchers with corporate and federal support invented the key components: microchips, lasers, LEDs, flat-panel displays, memory chips, imaging devices and solar-energy panels, among others. Today, these manufacturing industries employ millions of Asians but relatively few Americans.

Asia got the jobs because Asian governments set out to build innovative industries. They helped license the technology from the U.S., educated engineers and skilled workers, subsidized joint ventures with American firms that provided crucial experience, and underwrote new industries with grants and low-interest loans.

Solar energy is the latest example. As R&D made solar cells commercially viable, American venture capitalists poured money into startups. But Asian companies, with government support, moved into solar beginning around 2000. They bought German technology and by 2007 had cut market prices so low that American manufacturers couldn’t compete. When those kind of jobs move overseas, it’s largely a one-way trip. Since Asia produces most of the components, bringing solar-panel factories back to the U.S. would be difficult.