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Ruth King

Jihad Murderer Barghouti is Running for Palestinian Authority President Welcome to Israel’s ‘Partner for Peace’. Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/jihad-murderer-barghouti-running-palestinian-hugh-fitzgerald/

Mahmoud Abbas must be kicking himself. Why did he ever think it would be a good idea to call for parliamentary and presidential elections? He had, after all, gotten along quite well without them. The Palestinian President-for-Life is now entering the 16th year of his four-year term. But he wanted to show the Biden people that he was, in truth, deeply democratic, and what better way – indeed, the only way – to show that was to insist upon elections. Besides, he figured everything would go according to plan.

His handpicked list of Fatah candidates would win a majority in the Parliament. And he would not face any serious opposition in the Presidential race. Abbas would make sure, with carrots and sticks, that Hamas would not field a presidential candidate. The carrots were “jobs for the boys” – Hamas leaders’ relatives suddenly offered employment with the PA, or other financial inducements (including bribes); the sticks would be visits by Fatah enforcers to Hamas leaders, telling them not even to think of running; both worked, and Hamas announced it would not put up a candidate for the presidency. And Mahmoud Abbas figured that both of his most dangerous, because much more popular, rivals — Mohammed Dahlan and Marwan Barghouti — would for different reasons not be able to run.

Mohammed Dahlan, who for the past decade has lived in the United Arab Emirates, where he became a counsellor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and is now known as “the Emirates’ favorite Palestinian.” Dahlan once headed a small army of Fatah members in Gaza; at the time some called Gaza Dahlanistan, until Hamas came to power in 2007 and drove the Fatah men out.

Islamic State Executes Another Christian on Video And warns all Western Christians of retribution. Raymond Ibrahim

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/islamic-state-executes-another-christian-video-raymond-ibrahim/

In a video released last Saturday, April 17, Muslims connected to the Islamic State executed a Coptic Christian man in Sinai, Egypt.

The slain was identified as 62-year-old Nabil Habashi Salama.  In the video, Salama appears on his knees, with three masked men holding rifles stand behind him.  The one in the middle launches into a typical jihadi diatribe:

“All praise to Allah, who ordered his slaves [Muslims] to fight and who assigned humiliation onto the infidels” — this latter part is said while the terrorist contemptuously points at the bound and kneeling man before him — “until they pay the jizya while feeling utterly subdued.”

The middle speaker continues by threatening “all the crusaders of the world” — a reference to Christians in the West — while singling out the countrymen of the one about to be slain: “as for you Christians of Egypt, this is the price of your support for the Egyptian army.”

The speaker then points his rifle at the back of the Christian’s head — even as chants of “jihad! jihad! jihad!” blare out — and fires at point-blank range, killing him.

It is unclear when the video was made — Salama was abducted over five months earlier — and the timing of its release appears to have been meant to coincide with Easter, which for Copts and other Orthodox communities is just beginning.  (As discussed here, Muslim terrorists have a penchant for killing and terrorizing Christians and bombing their churches during their holiest days, especially Easter, most recently in Indonesia.)

CAIR and US Islamists Have a #MeToo Problem Rape, sexual harassment, and child abuse in the Sharia states-within-a-state. Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/cair-and-us-islamists-have-metoo-problem-daniel-greenfield/

First, Ahmad Saleem, a community organizer for CAIR in Florida, was busted after showing up to molest what he thought was a 12-year-old girl he had met over the internet. When Ahmad showed up in a car with a plate, “Invest in Children”, the cops were waiting for him instead.

The son of Pakistani immigrants had headed up the local Muslim Students Association at the University of Central Florida before moving up the ranks at CAIR. Then it was off to prison.

Now it’s Hassan Shibly’s turn. The Syrian immigrant who headed up CAIR Florida was accused of assaulting his wife, threatening to kill her, and sexually harassing CAIR employees. Shibly was also accused of threatening some of his accusers, and trying to pay them off.

An NPR article noted that CAIR leaders had been aware of the accusations as far back as 2016 and that no action was taken. “CAIR National has a history of turning a blind eye to many incidents over the years, and the information is coming out. No NDA will save them from what’s to come,” a former CAIR employee tweeted.

A forum for CAIR victims on Instagram quickly filled up with stories of a CAIR chapter head who “was found to be sexually harassing a member of staff and other women also complained about his behavior” only to be protected by the local CAIR governing board, a CAIR leader grooming an employee into a sexual relationship, a CAIR leader using “his religious belief that men can have 4 wives to manipulate women into having affairs with him behind his legal wife’s back”, and a “lawsuit with an imam and a little girl.”

This kind of thing happens a lot.

When the various Islamist groups set up by the Muslim Brotherhood and similar networks operate in this country, they use the laws of Sharia that they intend to impose on Americans.

US, EU Help to Suppress Journalists, Political Activists by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17303/us-eu-help-to-suppress-journalists-political

The malware, disguised as chat applications, would give the Palestinian Security Services access to targets’ phones, including contacts, text messages, locations and even keystrokes, Facebook said. The hacking operation targeted Palestinian journalists, political activists and dissidents.

The Facebook revelation came two weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Biden administration decided to resume financial aid to the Palestinians, including “vital security assistance programs,” a reference to support for the PA security forces.

US taxpayer money, in other words, is going to support a Palestinian security service whose main task is to spy on journalists, political activists and critics of Abbas and the Palestinian leadership. The same, of course, applies to European taxpayer money.

This is certainly not a way to advance prosperity, security, and freedom for Palestinians. On the contrary; by funding the Palestinian security forces, the Biden administration is actually assisting Abbas in his continuous efforts to silence his critics and intimidate journalists and human rights and political activists.

By spying on journalists and political opponents, the Palestinian security forces have violated Article 4 of their own law…..

In the past decade, the PA security forces have arrested or interrogated dozens of Palestinians over critical remarks they posted on Facebook. This crackdown has been largely ignored by the international community, specifically US and European Union donors to the PA…. This indifference has allowed the Palestinian leadership to enforce an atmosphere of menacing intimidation on the Palestinians living under its rule in the West Bank.

Now that Facebook has confirmed the PA’s responsibility for hacking the accounts of journalists and political activists, the Biden administration and Western donors are morally obligated to emend their policy of providing financial aid to Abbas’s security services.

The donors must make it clear to the Palestinian leadership that the PA security forces are tasked with enforcing law and order and combating terrorism, not misappropriating American and European money to crush their own people.

The time has come to answer the basic question: Why are Americans and Europeans propping up an authoritarian regime, to the tune of millions upon millions per year, that muzzles free speech and spies on reporters and political opponents?

Palestinians have long been accusing the Palestinian Authority (PA) of spying on them by monitoring their activities on various social media platforms, including Facebook. The espionage has resulted in the arrest and persecution of dozens of Palestinians, especially those who dared to criticize PA President Mahmoud Abbas and senior Palestinian officials.

Comedy Is a Dictatorship’s First Victim By Eileen F. Toplansky

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/04/comedy_is_a_dictatorships_first_victim.html

Humor has always been one of the first targets of a dictatorship.  It is no surprise that in America, comedians can no longer function because of rampant political correctness.  Thus,  according to Mel Brooks, “we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy.  Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks.”  Comedian Gilbert Gottfried says:

Imagine if the most brilliant comedians in history were working today.  They’d never stop apologizing.  Charlie Chaplin would have to apologize to all the homeless people he belittled with his Little Tramp character.

Irony abounded in the black humor that described life under communism.

A farm worker greets Josef Stalin at his potato farm.

“Comrade Stalin, we have so many potatoes that, piled one on top of the other, they would reach all the way to God,” the farmer excitedly tells his leader.

“But God does not exist,” replies Stalin.

“Exactly,” says the farmer.  “Neither do the potatoes.”

After the death of Stalin, jokes were one way people could regain their sanity in a world gone mad under communism.  One joke that made the rounds went like this:

The regional KGB headquarters in Arkhangelsk suffered a major fire and was almost completely destroyed.  Shortly after, a man called looking for help.

“I’m sorry, we can’t do anything,” said the receptionist.  “The KGB has burnt down.”

Five minutes later, the receptionist received another call.

“I’m sorry, we can’t help.  The KGB has burnt down.”

Another five minutes passed, and the phone rang again.  The receptionist recognized the voice as the man who’d twice called previously.

“Why do you keep calling?  I told you that the KGB has burnt down.”

“I know.  I just like hearing it.”

Keep an Eye on This SCOTUS Labor Case By Janet Levy

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/04/keep_an_eye_on_this_scotus_labor_case.html

Americans are proud of their right to property, not enjoyed by people in many democracies.  As the Cato Institute puts it, our founding fathers understood that private property is the foundation of prosperity and freedom.  But California’s 46-year-old Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) violates that constitutional principle, and it even fails to protect farm workers.  It allows union officials and pickets to invade farms — for three hours every day, for 120 days a year — and harangue, coerce, and arm-twist farm workers into joining the union and engaging in collective bargaining with growers even when they’re happy with their working conditions and pay.  The property-owner is powerless to stop the intrusion, as the regulation does not require the owner’s permission.

Surprising?  That is why a forthcoming decision by the Supreme Court in a case involving a strawberry plant nursery and a packager from California and the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) will be a watershed.  It will signal whether or not America will end up with more laws that stifle productivity and bestow overweening powers on Democrat-backing leftist unions.

The law came to be enacted in the first place because unions have been the most powerful force in California politics.  Public-sector unions together collect over $900 million in annual revenue.  These unions have long controlled the state Legislature, where Democrats have been in the majority for decades.  Non-public-sector unions too — such as the United Farm Workers (UFW), founded in 1962, and known to invade private farmlands — have wielded coercive influence disproportionate to their membership.  Rather than protect and fight for workers’ rights, unions have been busy increasing their power and political clout and pushing leftist agendas.  Worse, with misconceived laws that give them extraordinary powers and immunities, they force workers to accept unwanted representation, bully them into paying dues, and inflict what the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation calls “compulsory unionism abuses.”  They contribute almost exclusively to Democrat causes and give workers no say in how their dues are spent.  And the unions trespass unhindered on employers’ private properties.

Dumbing down schools in the name of ‘equity’ By Thomas Lifson

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/04/dumbing_down_schools_in_the_name_of_equity.html

This is the path of national suicide, as Sam Dorman reports for Fox News:

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is moving to eliminate all accelerated math options prior to 11th grade, effectively keeping higher-achieving students from advancing as they usually would in the school system. (snip)

“[A]s currently planned, this initiative will eliminate ALL math acceleration prior to 11th grade,” he said. “That is not an exaggeration, nor does there appear to be any discretion in how local districts implement this. All 6th graders will take Foundational Concepts 6. All 7th graders will take Foundational Concepts 7. All 10th graders will take Essential Concepts 10. Only in 11th and 12th grade is there any opportunity for choice in higher math courses.”

The intellectual gifted among us are a precious resource needing careful cultivation, for they create new knowledge that grows our economy and keeps our national defense strong. This is so obvious that it ought not even need stating.

Educating down to the level of the lowest common denominator will ultimately impoverish and militarily defeat us, a national catastrophe. As Richard Baehr asks, rhetorically:“Do you think China will try this to achieve equity among their various peoples?

New Footage of Columbus Shooting Released from Neighbor’s Security Camera By Zachary Evans

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/new-footage-of-columbus-shooting-released-from-neighbors-security-camera/

Newly released footage of a police shooting in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday shows 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant lunging at two girls with a knife before the officer shoots her.

Footage of the altercation was captured on a security camera belonging to neighbor Donavon Brinson, initially reported by the Columbus Dispatch. During the altercation, one of the people filmed yells “I’m gonna stab the f*** out of you, b****,” at the moment that Bryant was filmed attacking a girl with a knife. It is unclear from the footage if it was Bryant who said those words.

[Warning: graphic content.]

“If the officer hadn’t done what he did, I think we’d have two girls dead. It was violent and all just happened so fast,” Brinson later told the Dispatch. Bryant was living in a foster home across the street from Brinson.

In additional footage from a police body camera, one of the intended victims appears to accuse Bryant of attacking her.

“She f***ing came at me with a knife,” the girl told one of the officers who responded to the scene.

The shooting occurred shortly before the verdict in the case of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer found guilty of killing George Floyd during his arrest in May 2020. Video of that incident sparked massive riots throughout the country, along with demonstrations against police brutality that lasted through the summer.

President Biden’s 50% Emissions Reduction Target Is Political Theater, Not Serious Policy Wayne Winegarden

https://www.forbes.com/sites/waynewinegarden/2021/04/22/president-bidens-50-emissions-reduction-target-is-political-theater-not-serious-policy/?sh=74d3939c5351

At the 2021 global climate summit, President Biden committed the U.S. to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Cutting emissions in half is a great talking point and a satisfying sounding goal. Unfortunately, the 50% – 52% reduction goal is more of a political statement than an achievable policy. Even a cursory look at the data raises serious questions regarding the goal’s achievability.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 were around 6.6 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions (see the black line in the Figure). Relative to the benchmark year of 2005, this means total GHG emissions in the U.S. are down 11.6% (compared to the U.S. emissions peak in 2007, emissions are down 12.0%). On an annual basis, GHG emissions declined approximately 0.9% each and every year between 2005 and 2019.

Under the assumption that the current trends will continue, emissions will decline to a bit under 6.0 billion metric tons by 2030, or a total decline of 19.8 percent compared to 2005 (see the black dotted line in the Figure). Clearly, this progress is important from a global climate change perspective, but insufficient for the Biden Administration. Their goal is for a decline that is more than 2.5 times as large as our current declines (see the red dotted line in the Figure).

We’ve Lost Count Of How Many ‘Last Chances’ We’ve Had To Save The Planet

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/04/23/weve-lost-count-of-how-many-last-chances-weve-had-to-save-the-planet/

John Kerry said earlier this month that we’ve reached “the last best opportunity we have to get real and serious” about global warming. What’s the difference between him and a loon walking down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue wearing one of those sandwich boards proclaiming the end of the world is nigh? We’re struggling to see any.

Kerry, the Biden administration’s special presidential envoy for climate – an office that amounts to much less than a bucket of warm spit – is part of a chorus of fearmongering that goes back more than three decades. 

“In 1989 the United Nations gave us 10 years to save the world,” science site Watts Up With That posted last year. 

Guess blogger Eric Worrall then went on to list more than a dozen “last chances” to stop global warming.

“If we do not heed this last chance, I’m sure there will be another last chance in the near future, just like all the previous last chances,” he said.

Dire, way-off-base predictions have been the hallmark of radical environmentalism for at least a half century. Reason’s Ronald Bailey took “a look back” in 2020 at the first Earth Day and the forecasters “who got the future wrong.” He notes that the world did not have to halve the planet’s population or stop economic growth completely “to prevent the imminent ecological cataclysm.”

Nor have we run out of natural resources, been forced to shut down automobile travel, ban luxury items, and wear gas masks in urban areas due to air pollution (though the doomsters among us are happy that we’ve been forced to mask up for a least a year for another reason).