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Ruth King

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Israel’s “Settlers” Are Beneficiaries of the Israel-UAE Accord Fortunately, they do not know it.

By on August 26th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16382/israel-uae-accord-settlements

Fortunately, the settlers are behaving vociferously as if they were the biggest losers: this behavior is exactly what the UAE needs in order to sell the accord with Israel in the Arab world.

Opposition to the settlement project comes down to two alleged reasons: first, that the project was illegal under international law; second, that it is an obstacle to peace. Now note that the agreement between Israel and the UAE has refuted the second reason. Then, finally, ask: Which of the two reasons was more important?

The major persistent objection to the settlements is not niceties of international law but the claim that they are an obstacle to peace. Take that claim away and the settlers can look forward to a prosperous future, albeit without the fulfillment of the wilder dreams of some.

Widespread surprise greeted the publication of the “Joint Statement of the United States, the State of Israel, and the United Arab Emirates,” announcing “the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”

Delegations from the two countries “will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.” Israel, for its part, “will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world”

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Republicans hit it out of the park again on night two at the convention By Andrea Widburg

By on August 26th, 2020

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/08/republicans_hit_it_out_of_the_park_again_on_night_two_at_the_convention.html

In terms of setting and format, the second night of the Republican convention was the same as the first: People spoke in the magnificent Andrew Carnegie auditorium, in venues associated with American history, at the White House, and in a recording studio. Everything was polished without being phony. These were real Americans talking about matters that are deeply important to them. And as on the first night, the convention made clear that this is a party that welcomes and will support minorities.

The theme for the night was Opportunity. Some speakers spoke about the way America was a land of opportunity. Others spoke about the way that Donald Trump restored opportunity in America by giving help where it was needed (Trump isn’t giving money to crony entities such as Solyndra) and by paring back the onerous regulations that were making it increasingly impossible for small businesses – the ones that can’t afford millions in political donations — to function.

As the evening unfolded, we didn’t hear from victims. We heard from Americans who, given the opportunity, will take care of themselves, their families, and their communities. They were a cross-section of Americans: a Navajo leader, a dairy farmer, a lobsterman, a police officer, a reformed felon, an ophthalmologist who performs free cataract surgeries in impoverished countries (and who just happens to be Sen. Rand Paul), a small business owner, a former Planned Parenthood worker, and so many more.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

5 Things to Know About Night 2 of the Republican National Convention By Tyler O’Neil,

By on August 26th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/election/tyler-o-neil/2020/08/25/5-things-to-know-about-night-2-of-the-republican-national-convention-n843977

The Republican National Convention (RNC) highlighted the promise of America, the threat of the radical Left, and the achievements of President Donald Trump. The convention delivered an action-packed evening with some powerful surprises.

Without further ado, here are five things to know about Night 2.

1. The naturalization ceremony

Due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions have been partly remote. For the Democratic version, the remote convention mostly made the proceedings more of a snoozefest, a Gaslighting America Telethon. Yet the RNC and President Donald Trump approached it as an opportunity.

On Night 1, Trump held a historic panel with former hostages freed by the Trump administration. On Night 2, he did something similarly impressive — he hosted a naturalization ceremony in the middle of a party convention.

This might seem an odd choice. A naturalization ceremony is a celebration of America — not a political party. Yet Democrats and the left-leaning media have smeared America by pushing ideas like The New York Times‘s “1619 Project,” which claims that slavery — not the Declaration of Independence — was the true founding of America.

Naturalization ceremonies are not partisan, or at least they should not be partisan. Yet Democrats have made them partisan, while slamming Trump as an anti-immigrant president (for implementing the same policies Barack Obama did). By hosting a naturalization ceremony, Trump gave the lie to the Left’s attack that he is anti-immigrant.

“Today America rejoices as we welcome five absolutely incredible new members into our great American family,” Trump declared. “Congratulations, good going. You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws, you learned your history, embraced our values, and proved yourselves to be men and women of the highest integrity.”

“It’s an honor for me to be your president,” Trump said.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

New Thinking on Covid Lockdowns: They’re Overly Blunt and Costly By Greg Ip

By on August 26th, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-lockdowns-economy-pandemic-recession-business-shutdown-sweden-coronavirus-11598281419?mod=itp_wsj&mod=&mod=djemITP_h

Blanket business shutdowns—which the U.S. never tried before this pandemic—led to a deep recession. Economists and health experts say there may be a better way.

In response to the novel and deadly coronavirus, many governments deployed draconian tactics never used in modern times: severe and broad restrictions on daily activity that helped send the world into its deepest peacetime slump since the Great Depression.

The equivalent of 400 million jobs have been lost world-wide, 13 million in the U.S. alone. Global output is on track to fall 5% this year, far worse than during the financial crisis, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Despite this steep price, few policy makers felt they had a choice, seeing the economic crisis as a side effect of the health crisis. They ordered nonessential businesses closed and told people to stay home, all without the extensive analysis of benefits and risks that usually precedes a new medical treatment.

There wasn’t time to gather that sort of evidence: Faced with a poorly understood and rapidly spreading pathogen, they prioritized saving lives.

Five months later, the evidence suggests lockdowns were an overly blunt and economically costly tool.

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FOREIGN POLICY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Our Man in Jerusalem

By on August 26th, 2020

https://www.nysun.com/editorials/our-man-in-jerusalem/91235/

We’re looking forward to the remarks to the Republican convention that Secretary of State Pompeo is due to air this evening after recording them at Jerusalem. The démarche should highlight the fact that of America’s two leading political parties, the Republicans have emerged as the more supportive of the Jewish state. It’s by no means the only important issue in this campaign, but it is one of them, and Mr. Trump is right to seize it.

It is symptomatic of the Democrats’ flux that Vice President Biden failed to think to arrange for a statement from Jerusalem. He had been, after all, one of the sponsors of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. That’s the law that mandates the move of the embassy. It was introduced by a Republican, Robert Dole of Kansas, on October 13, 1995, and on the same day, Mr. Biden threw in with him as a co-sponsor. There would eventually be 76.

The bill recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state . It declared a “Statement of the Policy of the United States” that “(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected; (2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.”

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Michel Gurfinkiel on the Reverse Colonization of France by Marilyn Stern

By on August 26th, 2020

https://www.meforum.org/61415/gurfinkiel-on-the-reverse-colonization-of-france

Michel Gurfinkiel, the founder and president of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute and a Ginsburg-Milstein Fellow at Middle East Forum, spoke to participants in a July 6 Middle East Forum webinar (video) about demographic changes in France in relation to her former colonies in Muslim North Africa.

At the time of the French conquest of Algeria in the 1830s, the French population numbered approximately 30 million, the Algerian population around 3 million, and the rest of North Africa between 3 and 4 million. Despite superior French technological and military power, pacifying Algeria required nearly two decades of protracted conflict.

In keeping with its post-revolutionary “universalist vision,” France sought to “turn Algeria [into] an integral part of the French state,” explained Gurfinkiel. In the 1860s, with colonial rule firmly established, Algerian Muslims were offered full-fledged French citizenship provided they accept the French civil code and in effect, renounce Islamic law (sharia). Most refused, seeing this as akin to apostasy.

Nevertheless, the French continued to see Algeria as much a part of the French nation as “Brittany, Burgundy or Provence,” said Gurfinkiel, and allowed immigration by Muslims from Algeria and other French colonies – many of them French-speaking – even after they became independent in the twentieth century. A similar stand was taken regarding the sub-Saharan African colonies.

During this time, the demographic balance between France and its former colonies shifted markedly. Today, there are 67 million citizens in the French Republic (including some French territories overseas), 43 million in Algeria, 35 million in Morocco, and 12 million in Tunisia, along with 233 million in the former colonies of West Africa, Central Africa and the Indian Ocean. Two thirds of the former colonies’ citizens are Muslims.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Playing with fire Democratic leaders who fail to condemn the West Coast rioters may get burned Charles Lipson

By on August 25th, 2020

https://spectator.us/playing-fire-portland-riots-west-coast/

Some conflicts begin with clear aims but morph into endless battles, the original motives forgotten. The timeless metaphor for self-sustaining battles is Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the inheritance case at the heart of Charles Dickens’s Bleak House. ‘Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on,’ he wrote. ‘This scarecrow of a suit has, over the course of time, become so complicated, that no man alive knows what it means… Innumerable children have been born into the cause; innumerable young people have married into it; innumerable old people have died out of it.’

Now we have Portland v. Public Order. What Jarndyce was for the law, Portland is for the lawless. For over two months, young demonstrators have gathered each night in Oregon’s largest city. It began as a protest against police mistreatment of African Americans after George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody and has morphed into a festival of violent nihilism, tinged with Marxism.

Across America, demonstrators have demanded police reforms and, quite often, dramatic cuts to law enforcement budgets — and the Democratic politicians who govern nearly all major cities have been woolly in their response. The demonstrations themselves were generally peaceful during daylight hours and often violent at night. Some protesters made political points, painting slogans on walls, pulling statues off pedestals. Others simply engaged in mindless destruction, such as defacing statues of abolitionists, or greedy opportunism. There’s nothing political about smashing store windows and grabbing an armful of shoes, computers, or TVs. Or about torching the corner grocery store.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Back to Low Growth The impact of Joe Biden’s tax plan would be less income across the spectrum and a sluggish economy. Noah Williams

By on August 25th, 2020

https://www.city-journal.org/joe-biden-tax-hike-plan

As the U.S. struggles to emerge from the Covid-19-induced recession, Joe Biden is running for president on a pledge to return the country to economic policies responsible for the slowest economic recovery since World War II. Biden’s plans include “reversing some of Trump’s tax cuts for corporations and imposing common-sense tax reforms that finally make sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.” This means a big increase in effective tax rates on capital and on individuals with incomes above $400,000, as well as partially reversing the corporate tax cut that was a centerpiece of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

But Biden’s tax increases go far beyond simply undoing some of the TCJA, the net result of which was a $1.5 trillion tax cut. Biden would hike taxes by roughly $4 trillion, divided about equally between individuals and firms. This move would likely produce a reversal of outcomes: while the TCJA has added to GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points to 1 percentage point since 2018, the Biden tax plan would probably reduce growth by at least that much.

In fact, the effects of Biden’s proposed tax increases may be even larger—and affect a much broader share of the population—than previous evaluations suggest, owing to their “tax incidence” consequences. Tax incidence refers to who bears the burden of a tax, which may be different from whom the tax is imposed on. For example, taxes levied on producers can be passed on to consumers through higher prices.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Kim Jong-un Still Isn’t Dead, But His Sister Is Climbing the Ladder of Power By Rick Moran

By on August 25th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/08/25/kim-jong-un-still-isnt-dead-but-his-sister-is-climbing-the-ladder-of-power-n837995

Every few months some enterprising journalist creates a story claiming that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is dead. He heard the news from a friend who has a friend high up in South Korean intelligence circles who’s in the know. It’s all very journalistic, you see.

In truth, rumors of Kim’s death are nothing new and after he dies, there will be rumors that he’s alive for years afterward. The news abhors a vacuum and North Korea is a black hole for information.

But the news out of North Korea is that Kim’s ravenously ambitious sister, Kim Yo-jong, has apparently been elevated to a top party post that ensures the loyalty of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party (WPK). In a Communist country, the longer the job title, the more important it is. Ms. Kim appears to be either taking some of the burden of leadership off of her brother or is grasping for power on her own.

CNN:

Kim Yo Jong has for years been a trusted aide and confidante to her brother. She previously served as one of North Korea’s top propagandists and is now an alternate to the Politburo — the senior body of North Korea’s ruling party.

While North Korea and the ruling Workers’ Party often do not publicly proclaim leadership changes, experts and analysts had speculated previously that Kim may have been put in charge of the Organization and Guidance Department earlier this year, based on her increasing portfolio of responsibilities. Jeong, the South Korean defense minister, said Kim now appears to also have an important role in shaping policy toward South Korea and the United States.

Rumors of the supreme leader’s demise surface every few months because Kim disappears for long periods of time with no explanation. It could be that Kim likes his 12-year-old scotch and painted ladies and goes on binges at times. Or he could be trying to avoid the coronavirus. Or it may be he’s afraid of assassins.

But his sister is something of a mystery woman as well. She, too, has been absent from the spotlight when she was expected to make an appearance.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

#GuilfoyleChallenge: People Are Reenacting Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Bombastic Speech and It’s Hilarious By Megan Fox

By on August 25th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/election/megan-fox/2020/08/25/guilfoylechallenge-people-are-reenacting-kimberly-guilfoyles-bombastic-speech-and-its-hilarious-n840534

Kimberly Guilfoyle set the internet aflame after her extremely loud speech at the Republican National Convention. She screeched and flailed her arms over what would have been good content, but which was mostly lost under a jarring presentation. Let’s give her credit for launching some great laughs, though. All press is good press, so if you’ve made the world laugh, you’ve at least put the spotlight on the RNC, which has definitely been more exciting than the Democrat snooze-telethon to raise awareness about Trump Derangement Syndrome that we watched last week.

Twitter users have started using #GuilfoyleChallenge and posting videos of themselves imitating Guilfoyle’s big moment… at the top of their voices. I’m not going to lie: it’s hilarious.

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