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Ruth King

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Tiananmen Then, Hong Kong Now By Matthew Continetti

By on August 20th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/tiananmen-then-hong-kong-now/

Orville Schell, who covered the Tiananmen Square protests for the New York Review of Books 30 years ago, has an essay in Foreign Affairs that is worth your time. Schell compares what happened in Beijing then with what is going on in Hong Kong now. The similarities are not reassuring.

“The Tiananmen Square demonstrations taught that powerful movements of dissent against the Chinese Communist Party are almost always destined to end in confrontation,” Schell writes. “Why? Because such challenges are intolerable to a Leninist one-party system that allows no notion of dissent and whose leaders are perennially worried about displaying weakness.”

A generation ago, Deng Xiaoping waited until the conclusion of a high-profile summit with Mikhail Gorbachev before acting against the democracy activists in Tiananmen. Gorbachev departed on May 18. Within a few weeks, the government massacred the protestors.

  

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

The demise of public education By David L. Rosenthal

By on August 20th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/the_demise_of_public_education.html

One may believe that those in charge of public education are qualified to administer the task of educating America’s youth.  One may believe they have the best interests of society at heart.  And one may believe they are doing the best they could do, given the conditions under which they have to work.  Abundant evidence, however, points to the conclusion that none of those beliefs is valid.

Public education has become an institutionalized form of child abuse.  Rather than being a tool used to prepare children to become productive adults, public education is being used to indoctrinate them to believe what powerful interest groups wish them to believe.  This process is designed to transform America into a place unfit for human habitation, in which rights are suppressed, powers of government are unlimited, and traditional faith-based values are rejected.

What children in public schools are being told to accept as facts and truth is often nothing more than opinions of those who reject reason and do what they might to prevent students from developing the intellectual skills required for critical thinking so they might embrace their own enslavement and the subversion and degradation of their society.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

The climate change crisis racket By Taylor Day

By on August 20th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/the_climate_change_crisis_racket.html

Do Democrats really believe in the climate crisis they have dubbed an “emergency,” or is it really just a way to make a quick buck?

Beto O’Rourke has suggested spending $5 trillion over the next ten years investing in climate change initiatives primarily for “vulnerable communities.”  Not to be outdone, Kamala Harris was one of the co-sponsors for the “Green New Deal,” which proposes $700 billion a year in spending on a utopian garden future.  Bernie Sanders, also a loud supporter of the GND, proposes going even farther and banning any new developments that would require fossil fuels.  Cory Booker uses climate change to drum up fear, claiming with an re-introduced bill that the environment is racist (yeah, seriously), and although he hasn’t laid out any specific plans, he has insinuated possibly legislating veganism.

All in all, looking at just the remaining 2020 Democratic candidates’ proposals, the total amounts to $180,000,000,000,000 over a period of ten years, with climate change and health care–for-all mandates taking up the majority of this desired spending.  One hundred and eighty trillion dollars.  Just for perspective, that number is:

More than half the combined wealth of all current wealth in the entire world ($241 trillion by this estimate).
All of the stars in our galaxy multiplied by a giga, or ten to the ninth power.
Astrophysicist Greg Laughlin came up with a formula that the Earth itself is worth around 4.25 quadrillion USD, and Democrats want to spend almost 5% of that just on a handful of their policies.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Federal Judge Orders FBI to Search for More Christopher Steele Docs By Debra Heine

By on August 20th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/federal-judge-orders-fbi-to-search-for-more-christopher-steele-docs/

After years of legal wrangling, a federal judge has given the FBI 60 days to cough up records of their communications with former British spy Christopher Steele after he was terminated as a confidential human source.

The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch first sought FBI documents on Steele in May of 2017 through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The court initially sided with the FBI but reopened the case in 2018 when evidence emerged that Steele was an FBI informant. Judicial Watch again asked the FBI to search for their Steele records, but the FBI continued to stonewall, declining to confirm or deny that they even existed.

Now, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper has put an end to the cat-and-mouse game.

“Those records might either bolster or weaken Steele’s credibility as a source,” Judge Cooper said in his ruling. “That information, in turn, could provide a basis on which to evaluate the FBI’s performance of its law-enforcement duties, including its judgment in selecting and relying on confidential sources, especially in connection with such a politically sensitive subject.”

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POLITICS Comments turned off

IL State Senator Apologizes After Pics of Mock Trump Assassination Surface Debra Heine

By on August 19th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/08/19/il-state-senator-apologizes-after-pics-of-mock-trump-assassination-surface/

Disturbing pictures that appeared online following a political fundraising event in Illinois on Friday, have landed a powerful Democratic state lawmaker in bipartisan hot water.

The photos show an attendee of state Senator Martin Sandoval’s (D-Chicago) campaign event pointing a fake gun at another person wearing a Mexican costume and a mask of President Donald Trump, to mimic an assassination, WCIA reported.

The governor of Illinois, as well as the state’s Democrat Party and Republican Parties have all condemned the photos.

“As our nation grapples with the epidemic of gun violence, purposely pointing a fake gun at anyone is insensitive and wrong,” Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said Saturday night. “I condemn actions like the ones displayed in the pictures because they lack the civility our politics demands.”

“The tragedies in El Paso and Gilroy have demonstrated how hate-filled political rhetoric can fuel violence,” Maura Possley, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Illinois, said. “These images are unacceptable and dangerous. The place to make our voices heard against Trump is at the ballot box.”

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Advocates try drawing international aid to help free Raif Badawi from Saudi prison Badawi, a 30-year-old Saudi blogger, has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes for ‘insulting Islam’

By on August 19th, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/advocates-internationalize-the-fight-to-free-raif-badawi-from-saudi-prison

MONTREAL — More than seven years after Raif Badawi was thrown in prison, lawyers and allies of the Saudi blogger are increasingly lobbying foreign governments in an effort to secure his release as Saudi Arabia prepares to host next year’s G-20 meeting.

Irwin Cotler, a human rights lawyer and former federal justice minister who represents the family internationally, says advocates for Badawi have recently been meeting with foreign governments, UN representatives and others to encourage them to call for the release of Badawi, his sister Samar, their former lawyer Waleed Abulkhair and other imprisoned human rights defenders.

People hold pictures of Samar Badawi (C) and her brother jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi (R) as they demonstrate in support of Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam, on May 7, 2015 in Paris. Stephane de Sakutin / AFP/Getty Images

Cotler sat down with The Canadian Press to discuss the intensifying effort to free the 35-year-old Badawi, who was arrested on June 17, 2012, and was later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for his online criticism of Saudi clerics.

Cotler said it is urgent “to both internationalize and intensify our advocacy” as Saudi Arabia chairs the G-20 ahead of the meeting in Riyadh in November 2020.

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Canada ‘disappointed’ after Britain revokes terror suspect Jihadi Jack’s citizenship

By on August 19th, 2019

Jack Letts, dubbed ‘Jihadi Jack’ by British media, has been detained for about two years after a 2014 trip to Syria where he helped the Islamic State

OTTAWA — The United Kingdom is shirking its share of the international community’s duty to help keep the world safe from terrorism, the federal government suggested Sunday after the British Home Office revoked the citizenship of a dual citizen imprisoned in Syria.

Jack Letts, a British-Canadian man who has been behind bars in a Kurdish prison since 2017, has been stripped of his British citizenship, the office of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed in a sternly worded statement.

“Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this unilateral action to off-load their responsibilities,” the statement said. “Terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to work together to keep each other safe.”

Letts, who was dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by the British media, has been detained for about two years after he travelled to Syria in 2014 to support the Islamic State group.

A statement from the Home Office said revoking British citizenships is one way it counters terrorist threats. It said it does not comment on individual cases.

“Decisions on depriving a dual national of citizenship are based on substantial advice from officials, lawyers and the intelligence agencies and all available information,” the statement said.

Letts’ parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, were found guilty in June for funding terrorism when they tried to send him money. The couple, from Oxford, England, received suspended sentences of 12 months in prison.

John Letts wrote a letter to Canadian MPs last year that said his son is not a terrorist and deserves Canada’s protection. In his letter, Letts wrote that the money was to pay “people smugglers,”which he described as his son’s “only way out” of Syria.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

From Trump’s Fat To ‘I’m A Mom’: Crazy Reasons Democrats Think They Can Beat Trump By Tristan Justice

By on August 19th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/19/trumps-fat-im-mom-crazy-reasons-democrats-think-can-beat-trump/

Some Democratic presidential candidates are coming up with some odd reasons they think they are the right person to take on Donald Trump next year.

While most candidates in the race are running on platforms to give America “free everything” while calling Trump and his supporters racist, these candidates have additional arguments.

Andrew Yang: I’ll Beat Trump Because Trump Is Too Fat

The tech entrepreneur took shots at Trump’s weight Thursday at an Everytown For Gun Safety event in Iowa, as reported by The Atlantic.

Yang proposed a series of challenges to prove his masculine worthiness over Trump’s, arguing that the only thing Trump could beat Yang at is being a “slob.”

“I challenge Donald Trump to any physical or mental feat under the sun,” Yang told the audience. “I mean, gosh, what could that guy beat me at, being a slob?”

Yang went further, digging into Trump’s appearance to the crowd of Iowa voters.

Like, what could Donald Trump possibly be better than me at? An eating contest? Like something that involved trying to keep something on the ground and having really large body mass? Like, if there was a hot-air balloon that was rising and you needed to try and keep it on the ground, he would be better than me at that? Because he is so fat.

Of course, Trump has done his share of body shaming, most recently calling out one heckler at his New Hampshire rally Thursday night for being overweight.

“That guy’s got a serious weight problem. Go home. Start exercising,” Trump said to an arena packed with cheering supporters.

Bill de Blasio Says He’ll Beat Trump Because Trump Is Shorter

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose struggling campaign has made it almost certain he will miss the next round of Democratic debates in September and October, said he will beat Trump because of his height.

On Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Wednesday, de Blasio made the case for this candidacy among the crowded field of candidates because of his height compared to Trump’s.

“A tall candidate has won, I think, every one but three of the presidential elections in history,” de Blasio said on the show. “The tall candidate almost always wins…And I’m taller than Donald Trump. Do the math.”

According to The Hill, de Blasio does indeed measure in at 6 feet and 5 inches, a whopping two inches taller than Trump, who measures at 6 feet and 3 inches.

Kirsten Gillibrand: Trust Me, I’m A Mom

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MEDIA, POLITICS Comments turned off

Media Won’t Report That Tlaib And Omar’s Israel Trip Was Planned By A Pro-Terrorist Group By Warren Henry

By on August 19th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/19/media-wont-report-tlaib-omars-israel-trip-planned-pro-terrorist-group/

The establishment press must be getting quite a crick in its collective neck from having to look away so often from the antisemitic elements of the left, including within the Democratic Party.

Amid last week’s debate over whether Israel should have issued waivers to Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, and allowed them to promote the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement from within Israel, two scandals went largely unreported. The first scandal is that Tlaib and Omar’s trip was planned by the antisemitic, pro-terror Miftah organization. The second scandal was the establishment media’s whitewashing of the first scandal.

It fell to the Elder of Ziyon blog to remind everyone on Twitter that in 2013, Miftah published a blood libel against Jews. The term “blood libel” has been applied in other contexts in recent years, but Miftah claimed Jews have murdered Christian children to use their blood for baking matzos at Passover.

Historically, blood libels resulted in pogroms, including in England, Poland, and Russia; they contributed to the expulsion of Jews from England from 1290 to 1657. Jews were tried. Confessions were extracted by torture. When Miftah published its lie, the final blood-libel trial of a Jew in Western history was only 100 years past. When their essay was publicized, Miftah first tried to attack those who exposed them, then apologized—but only in English, not in Arabic.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

Stacey Abrams Defends Refusal to Concede Georgia Gov. Race: ‘The Game Is Rigged’ By Jack Crowe

By on August 19th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/stacey-abrams-defends-refusal-to-concede-georgia-gov-race-the-game-is-rigged/

Stacey Abrams defended her refusal to concede last year’s Georgia gubernatorial election on Monday, arguing that adhering to the democratic norm of conceding to a victorious opponent would make her “complicit” in a “rigged” system.

Abrams has consistently refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Republican Brian Kemp’s November gubernatorial victory and cites the dynamics of her loss as the motivating factor behind the launch of her national voting-rights-advocacy group Fair Fight 2020. During a Monday appearance on CBS This Morning, Abrams pushed back on the suggestion that her denial of the election result’s legitimacy resembles President Trump’s 2016 flirtation with the idea that he might refuse to accept the presidential election results if he was defeated.

“There’s a lot that’s been made of the fact that I did not concede my election,” she said. “But I never denied the legal sufficiency of that election, and that’s the difference between me and Trump. He refuses to acknowledge the legal sufficiency or threatens not to, but my point is that the laws are wrong. We have to fix those laws because as long as we have eligible American citizens who cannot cast a ballot, then the game is rigged.”

The failed gubernatorial candidate went on to argue that modern “voter suppression” efforts are more “insidious” than they were in the 1960’s because they are less blatant than the laws imposed under Jim Crow.

Abrams lost to Kemp by almost 55,000 votes but has maintained that the outcome was the product of Kemp’s voter-suppression efforts, which, she argues, were facilitated by his retaining his position as Georgia secretary of state while he ran for governor.

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