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Ruth King

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The EU Courts the Arab League by Judith Bergman

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14188/eu-courts-arab-league

[President of the European Council, Donald] Tusk referred to the value gap between the states of the Arab League and those of the European Union as “differences between us”. Such euphemisms however, do not explain the evident lack of even the pretense, on the part of the EU, to comply with its own stated human rights policies.

“We’ve been witnessing a spike in gross human rights violations across the Arab region, including in extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture and other ill-treatment. The region is in dire need of a credible and independent judicial mechanism to provide justice for human rights violations, the overwhelming majority of which presently go unaddressed”. — Said Benarbia, MENA Programme Director of the International Commission of Jurists.

In uncomfortably Orwellian fashion, the summit “Reaffirmed our resolve to combat cultural and religious intolerance, extremism, negative stereotyping, stigmatisation and discrimination leading to incitement to violence against persons based on religion or belief and condemn any advocacy of religious hatred against individuals that constitutes incitement, hostility or violence, including on the internet and social media”.

Instead, Mogherini’s words came across as references to the EU’s own continued efforts to monitor and police free speech and thus, gradually, to extinguish any kind of diversity of opinion within the EU.

The first summit between the European Union (EU) and the Arab League, formally known as the League of Arab States (LAS), took place on February 24-25. “Europeans and Arabs have a long and rich history of cultural, economic, commercial and political exchanges. This, together with the geographical proximity and interdependence, has contributed to institutionalise a strong relationship between the EU and the League of Arab States (LAS). Within this framework, the common aim is to develop closer cooperation to realise their shared aspirations to ensure peace, security and prosperity in both regions,” the website of the European Union announced.

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FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Limiting Nuclear Arms, Not Freezing Them: Like Reagan, Like Trump by Peter Huessy

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14181/limiting-nuclear-arms

Nearly 40 years ago, critics of President Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” policy used the same template of criticism. This brush-off existed not because Reagan was putting forward unworkable or unrealistic ideas. The real root of the criticism was, and still is, frustration over the fact that their bumper-sticker ideas (such as a “nuclear freeze” or “Global Zero”) have never been accepted by top U.S. national-security officials or approved by Congress.

Reagan did not oppose arms control; he opposed “bad” and unverified arms control that gave huge advantages to Soviet Union, and opened what he famously described as a “window of vulnerability.”

The secret is that the push for a nuclear freeze or “Global Zero” — in 1981 as in 2019 — was not then, and is not now, about strategic stability or eliminating Russian or Chinese nuclear coercion. It is, rather, an effort to curtail U.S. military power.

Such a tethered America cannot be the leader of the Free World, after having jettisoned the twin fantasies of China’s “peaceful rise” or a “reset” with Russia. In a world in which enemies of liberty are on the march, the presence and judicious use of American power is critical.

It comes as no surprise that U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported plan to forge a new nuclear-arms deal with Russia and China — when New START expires in 2021 — is being attacked by American advocates of unilateral disarmament.

Take Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, for example. Echoing Russian complaints, Kimball wrote recently:

“[T]his new grand-deal gambit does not represent a serious attempt to halt and reverse a global arms race. It is more likely that Trump and [National Security Adviser John] Bolton are scheming to walk away from New START by setting conditions they know to be too difficult to achieve.”

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Gaza Crisis’ Tipping Point Ceasefire reached. Ari Lieberman

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273686/gaza-crisis-tipping-point-ari-lieberman

Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a test of sorts to determine whether unilateral concessions would be met with reciprocating goodwill gestures. The experiment in unilateral concessions was an abysmal failure, evidenced by three major conflagrations and countless minor flare-ups since.

The latest spasm of violence began on Friday when Hamas snipers fired on an Israeli patrol wounding two soldiers, one moderately and one lightly. Israel responded with accurate fire killing two Hamas operatives. Shortly thereafter, Hamas and its affiliate, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad began bombarding southern Israel with rockets and mortars.

An Egyptian brokered ceasefire went into effect on Monday at 4:30 a.m. but since Saturday, the southern Israeli cities of Sderot, Ashkelon, Beersheba and Ashdod, as well as a number of smaller communities along the Gaza periphery were subjected to unrelenting rocket and mortar bombardment.

According to Israel’s military spokesperson, Gazan terrorists fired some 700 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel over a two-day period. Approximately two-thirds of these landed in open spaces. Others were intercepted by Israel’s rocket defense system, Iron Dome. But a few managed to penetrate Israel’s missile defense shield inflicting death and property damage. According to published reports, four Israeli civilians were killed in this latest round of Hamas-provoked violence.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Jihad At The Border How the border crisis facilitates the entry of terrorists. Michael Cutler

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273652/jihad-border-michael-cutler

On Sunday, April 28, 2019, CBS News program, 60 Minutes reported on The Situation At The Southern Border.

Here is how the 60 Minutes’ report began:

Earlier this month, President Trump placed Kevin McAleenan in charge of the Department of Homeland Security. The president fired his previous DHS chief, Kirstjen Nielsen, because he said he wanted to go in a tougher direction. As the new acting secretary, McAleenan is facing the largest wave of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border in a decade. 100,000 migrants were detained just last month. So we went to McAllen, Texas, one of the busiest sections on the border, to see for ourselves. We were surprised how many families were crossing, where they were detained and how quickly they were released. We asked Secretary McAleenan how he plans to manage the crisis and navigate what may be the most difficult job in Washington.

It is worth noting that 60 Minutes described the situation as a “crisis” a reality denied by many Democrats.

The 60 Minutes team was given access to the McAllen Border Patrol Station where, at the time, was housing 551 aliens who were being processed after they crossed into the United States.

Here is an excerpt from the 60 Minutes report:

Chief Patrol Agent Rudy Karisch says they are struggling to care for the increasing numbers of families.

Sharyn Alfonsi: What are the agents having to do to deal with this new population that’s coming across?

Agent Rudy Karisch: Forty percent of my workforce right now is dedicated to the processing, to the care and feeding, to the hospital watch. So that takes that 40 percent away from their border security mission.

Thus the ability of the already beleaguered U.S. Border Patrol to secure our porous and dangerous southern border has been diminished by 40%.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Dems Colluded With Ukraine Against Trump Alexandra Chalupa asked Ukrainians for dirt on the president. Matthew Vadum

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273681/dems-colluded-ukraine-against-trump-matthew-vadum

The Democratic National Committee asked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for help in its unseemly plot to sabotage Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, according to media reports.

The revelation comes as a backlash continues to build against Deep State Democrats for foisting the now-discredited Trump-Russian electoral collusion conspiracy theory on the American public as a way to explain Democrat Hillary Clinton’s unexpected defeat and to cover up President Obama’s leadership role in a real-life left-wing conspiracy to take down Trump’s campaign, transition team, and new administration.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., now acknowledges DNC contractor Alexandra Chalupa asked the Ukrainian government for dirt on Trump and for information about his one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort’s dealings with Russia’s neighboring country, John Solomon reports at The Hill newspaper.

Chalupa spends much of her time spreading lies and trashing President Trump on Twitter. For example, on May 4, she urged the Twenty-Five Amendment be invoked to overthrow Trump. She wrote:

The Putin-controlled occupant of the Oval Office praised Kim Jong-un after he conducted missile tests.

He briefed Putin on the Mueller probe & discussed an American witness.

Are we going to wait until he gets millions killed before removing him or is this the plan?

#25thAmend

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) Condemns Trump’s Plan to Issue More Guest-Worker Visas By Mairead McArdle see note please

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/cotton-condemns-trumps-plan-to-issue-more-guest-worker-visas/

Tom Cotton is a star and my favorite Senator, but instead of carping, propose legislation and immigration reform to deal with a serious crisis . rsk
Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) on Monday blasted President Trump’s plan to issue an additional 30,000 guest-worker visas to foreign laborers in fiscal year 2019.

Under the plan, which is laid out in a temporary rule set to be published Wednesday in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor will grant the additional visas to workers whose employers who would suffer “irreparable harm” otherwise, and who were employed in the U.S. during the past three fiscal years.

Cotton, often a staunch Trump ally, lamented the administration’s announcement of the plan Monday, saying the “immigration system should prioritize the needs of U.S. citizens over cheap foreign labor.”

“Allowing an additional 30,000 seasonal workers into the country forces Americans to compete for jobs against non-citizens who drag down wages,” Cotton said. “We should be setting immigration policies that support wage growth and employment for Americans instead of encouraging a race to the bottom by importing low-cost labor.”

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Larry C. Johnson: The Malevolent Farce that is Mueller and the Russia Hoax

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/larry-c-johnson-the-malevolent-farce-that-is-mueller-and-the-russia-hoax/

The “Introduction” to the Mueller Report justifies the investigation of Donald Trump by claiming as undisputed fact that, “the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.” But, according to Mueller, this “sweeping and systematic” interference, consisted of:

A social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Russian military intelligence conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents.

You have got to be kidding me? The Mueller team present the the Russian social media campaign as some sort of propaganda behemoth and claims it was wildly influential. The Mueller folks cite, for instance, the IRA spending $100,000 on Facebook ads as evidence of this great influence. Nothing is said, however, about the billion dollars the Clinton Campaign spent on media to influence the American public. Apparently, $100,000 dollars from Russia carries more punch than $1,000,000,000 from Hillary.

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FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Trump’s Blunt Ambassador to Berlin Richard Grenell isn’t apologizing, though he’s ruffled even pro-American feathers. By Walter Russell Mead

By on May 7th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-blunt-ambassador-to-berlin-11557182423

There can’t be much doubt which American ambassador has the toughest assignment these days: Richard Grenell. Representing Donald Trump in Berlin is about as demanding a job as the world of diplomacy contains. There are compensations: The view from his office—of the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate—is one of the most stunning in Europe. More important, no other ambassador can be so assured of his chance to make an impact. Repairing the U.S.-German relationship could reinvigorate the entire Atlantic alliance and enable a new era of international peacebuilding. If the relationship founders in mistrust, the dream of building a world around shared trans-Atlantic values will fade.

The task isn’t hopeless. The German political elite are increasingly concerned about the disarray in Europe, the economic threat from China and the hostile machinations of the Kremlin, and they know that Germany badly needs a serious partnership with the U.S. Nonetheless, the gap in interests, ideas and style between Angela Merkel’s Germany and Mr. Trump’s America is so wide that many on both sides believe it cannot be bridged.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Philly “Fanaticism”, Or U.S. Muslim Children Taught “Classical” Islamic Jew-Hatred? Andrew Bostom

By on May 7th, 2019

Chilling videos surfaced this past week (here; here) from an April 17, 2019 event sponsored by the mainstream, traditionalist Muslim American Society (MAS)—“one of the nation’s major Islamic groups”—at their Islamic Center in Philadelphia. Dubbed “Ummah [Global Muslim Community] Day,” the celebrations featured Muslim children intoning “you need force and the Koran,” then paying tribute to jihad murder martyrdom—sacrificing their “bodies and souls…without hesitation”—to kill “Zionists”, i.e., Jews. These “liberating” murderous actions—beheadings [Koran 8:12; 47:4]—would further cause their Jewish victims eternal Koranic [4:54-55, and 98:5-6; glossed, 4:54-55 and 98:5-6] damnation:

We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque. We will lead the army of Allah fulfilling His promise, and we will subject them to eternal torture.

Only on May 3rd, after exposure of these videos in the national press did the MAS provide a statement, transparent in its mendacity. The songs and declarations recorded for posterity and placed triumphantly on the MAS Philadelphia affiliate’s Facebook page, in all their ugliness, were “not properly vetted.” A spokesperson for the national MAS insisted on Sunday May 5th the video “does not represent our understanding of Islam, nor the understanding of the mainstream Muslim community,” and in response to media backlash, its Philadelphia affiliate’s Facebook page was shut down.

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MEDIA Comments turned off

Google’s Attack on the Claremont Institute Must Not Stand By Stanley Kurtz

By on May 6th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/googles-attack-on-the-claremont-institute-must-not-stand/

Ryan P. Williams of the Claremont Institute has a horror story to share about his experiences with Google:

We wanted to advertise our 40th Anniversary Gala on May 11, at which we’re honoring Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to readers of our own online publication, The American Mind. But Google refuses to allow us to do so. . . .

Google, either its algorithm or some individual, had a look at my essay launching our new campaign for a unifying Americanism, “Defend America—Defeat Multiculturalism.” They decided it to be in violation of their policy on “race and ethnicity in personalized advertising” and shut down our advertising efforts to American Mind readers. We weren’t “advertising” anything in the essay, of course, but the relevant section of their policy lists “racially or ethnically oriented publications, racially or ethnically oriented universities, racial or ethnic dating” as examples of violations.

Somebody must have determined we were offering “racially or ethnically oriented publications.” This is news to us. The Claremont Institute has spent forty years teaching all who are willing to listen that the meaning of the proposition that all human beings are created equal is the central, animating principle of American political life.

One of my colleagues spent two hours on the phone with Google to determine whether we could appeal this ruling or determine which section of the essay was in violation. The response, in short? There is no appeal; we recommend you remove the content to bring yourself into compliance.

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