Displaying the most recent of 91395 posts written by

Ruth King

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Report: Nearly 90 Percent of Illegals Fail to Show Up for Court Hearings By Rick Moran

By on June 3rd, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-nearly-90-of-illegals-fail-to-show-up-for-court-hearings/

A report from the Justice Department on a pilot program to discover if illegal aliens applying for asylum actually showed up for their initial court hearing found that 90 percent of those who file asylum papers and are released into the interior of the country never show up.

Breitbart:

Since December 21, 2018, DHS  has released at least 190,500 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the United States. Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan  told Congress this month that those foreign nationals are eventually given work permits that allow them to take U.S. jobs while awaiting their asylum hearings.

In testimony before Congress this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said that the agency had recently conducted a pilot program with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to test how many recent illegal aliens would show up to their asylum hearings after being released into the U.S.

The results, an ICE official told Congress, were that about 87 percent of illegal aliens, or almost 9-in-10, recently released by DHS into the U.S. did not show up to their asylum hearings. With illegal aliens not showing up to their scheduled hearings, the ICE official said, the agency is then forced to grapple with attempting to locate and deport each illegal alien, an almost impossible task that strains federal resources.

This report flies in the face of other studies that show 65-70 percent of illegals showing up for court. But that information comes with two big caveats.

First, the most recent data is from 2016 — before this most recent tidal wave of asylum seekers began arriving. It should be noted that as the numbers of asylum seekers rose, the no-show rate in court rose as well. The significance is that there are two kinds of asylum seekers; those who show up at the border and report directly to immigration officials asking for U.S. protection and those who are caught entering the country illegally. The first kind is called an “affirmative” asylum request while the second group usually makes their plea for asylum during their court appearance. These are called “defensive” claims of asylum.

Continue reading →
POLITICS Comments turned off

Making Sense of the New American Right Column: Keeping track of the Jacksonians, Reformicons, Paleos, and Post-liberals Matthew Continetti

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://freebeacon.com/columns/making-sense-of-the-new-american-right/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I like to start my classes on conservative intellectual history by distinguishing between three groups. There is the Republican Party, with its millions of adherents and spectrum of opinion from very conservative, somewhat conservative, moderate, and yes, liberal. There is the conservative movement, the constellation of single-issue nonprofits that sprung up in the 1970s—gun rights, pro-life, taxpayer, right to work—and continue to influence elected officials. Finally, there is the conservative intellectual movement: writers, scholars, and wonks whose journalistic and political work deals mainly with ideas and, if we’re lucky, their translation into public policy.

It’s a common mistake to conflate these groups. The Republican Party is a vast coalition that both predates and possibly will post-date the conservative movement. That movement has had mixed success in moving the party to the right, partly because of cynicism and corruption but also because politicians must, at the end of the day, take into account the shifting and often contradictory views of their constituents. The conservative intellectual movement exercises the least power of all. You could fit its members into a convention hall or, more likely, a cruise ship.

Ideas matter. But the relation of ideas to political action is difficult to measure and often haphazard. The line between shaping a politician’s rhetoric and decisions and merely reflecting them is awfully fuzzy. The conservative intellectual movement, in addition to generating excellent writing, has had seven real-world applications since its formation after the Second World War: originalism and supply side economics in the 1970s; welfare reform and crime policy in the 1980s and ’90s; educational choice and reform over the last two decades; James Burnham’s anti-Communist strategies that found expression in the Reagan Doctrine; and the counterinsurgency plan known as the “surge” that prevented the defeat of American forces in the second Iraq war. There have been other successes, for sure, but also plenty of setbacks. What’s important to remember is that liberals as well as Republicans, conservative activists, and conservative intellectuals contested every single one of these policies.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

‘David French–ism’ without David French By J. J. McCullough

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/david-french-ism-without-david-french/

French has been unfairly caricatured — but the caricature is worth defending.

Near as I can tell, the David French controversy revolves around allegations that the man is too much of an accommodating pragmatist on social issues. The charge is amusing to me, given that one of my defining experiences here at NR occurred when French denounced a column I wrote last year about the need for conservatives to pragmatically accommodate transgender Americans.

I don’t bear David any ill will over that. Conservatives can read our dueling articles and reach their own conclusions over whose case is more convincing. But I trust the episode does illustrate the degree to which the real-world David French is quite distinct from Sohrab Ahmari’s depiction in First Things: a man uncritically enthusiastic to accept the “pagan and libertine” so long as “traditional Christians [are] granted spaces in which to practice and preach what they sincerely believe” in return.

As Argentina’s longtime dictator Juan Perón entered his later years, many of his onetime followers sought to sever the increasingly unpopular president from the ideology he was associated with. “Perónism without Perón!” was their curious cry for revolution. Without implying any unflattering analogies, this idea occurred to me while reading Ahmari’s piece. “David French–ism” of the sort Ahmari angrily decries struck me as a perfectly defensible philosophy — even if David French himself may not be its best embodiment.

Many of the things Ahmari asserts French “sees” or “views” or “embodies” about the American political order are not French’s opinions, but the Constitution’s. It is that document, not French, that acknowledges the free exercise of religion as a fundamental American right, while also acknowledging the existence of many other liberties against which it must be balanced.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Sohrab Ahmari and Our Existential Struggle By Roger Kimball

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/06/01/sohrab-ahmari-and-our-existential-struggle/

Perhaps the most amusing intramural intellectual squall on the Right these past few days has centered on “Against David French-ism,” Sohrab Ahmari’s recent polemical reflection on liberalism in First Things.

I did not think that Sohrab had all that much to say directly about the man who provided him with the title of his essay, but then I am not, so to speak, a French man. I have never met Pastor French, rarely read him, and generally feel about him the way C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story felt about George Kitteridge, man of the people: “to hardly know him is to know him well.”

The outpouring of indignation, fury, and contempt that greeted Sohrab’s column reminded me that opinions about the Pastor vary widely. I group him with Pete Wehner and some other NeverTrump evangelists as a modern incarnation of the Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse, virtue signaling around the clock to the amazement of the world. I know there is disagreement on that score.

As I read it, Sohrab’s essay involved David French only incidentally. There were, I thought, two key passages. The first came near the beginning. “The movement we [conservatives] are up against,” Sohrab writes, “prizes autonomy above all, too; indeed, its ultimate aim is to secure for the individual will the widest possible berth to define what is true and good and beautiful, against the authority of tradition.”

I’ll come to what I think the other key passage is in a moment. First, note what a bold statement Sohrab has made here. Autonomy: aren’t we all for that? Isn’t it the prime Enlightenment virtue? Sapere aude, Kant said: “dare to know!” Priests, superstition, convention, tradition: didn’t the Enlightenment discard all of that for the sake of autonomy? For the sake, that is, of giving the law (nomos) to oneself (autos)?

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

“Rarely Reported by the Media Anymore”: Persecution of Christians, by Raymond Ibrahim

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14323/persecution-of-christians-march-2019

In 2018 alone, 1,063 attacks on Christian churches or symbols (crucifixes, icons, statues) were registered in France.

“I went to the police with eight pages full of threats…. The police advised me to delete my picture from my website…. It’s strange isn’t it: I’m not doing anything wrong, why would I need to hide? I live in a free country.” — cruxnow.com. March 14, 2019; The Netherlands.

An Iranian female asylum seeker was sarcastically informed in her rejection letter that “You affirmed in your…[Interview Record] that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.” — Daily Mail, March 24, 2019; United Kingdom.

When it comes to violence between Muslims and non-Muslims, March news was dominated by the Christchurch massacres in New Zealand, where, on March 15, an Australian man killed 51 Muslims in two mosques. A statistical report that did some number-crunching, however, found that “a Christian living in a majority Muslim country is 143 times more likely to be killed by a Muslim for being a Christian than a Muslim is likely to be killed by a non-Muslim in a Western country for being what he is.” The report “— citing that “at least 4,305 Christians … were murdered by Muslims because of their faith in 2018” and that “300 million Christians, overwhelmingly in the majority-Muslim countries, were subjected to violence” — refers to the persecution of Christians by Muslims as “the most egregious example of human right violations in today’s world. The report also found other, similar disparities. In France, for example, “Frenchmen are exactly ten times more likely to be murdered by a Muslim than a Muslim being killed by a non-Muslim terrorist anywhere in the Western world.”

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

President Trump’s Visit to Britain and Ireland by Peter Baum

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14326/trump-visit-britain-ireland

All people who are working to ensure that the free world remains free will welcome President Donald Trump’s visit, which is presumably intended to cement even further the exceptional connection between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Given that hundreds of thousands of American troops lost their lives freeing Europe from Nazism, how is it that Ireland finds the audacity to be so contemptuous of the leader of the country of those who paid the ultimate price so that the Irish population could be free to enjoy liberal democracy?

Ireland was one of the first countries to accept the Nazi annexation of Austria during Ireland’s sorry history before, during and after the war.

This week, U.S. President Donald J. Trump will visit the United Kingdom for a state visit and be welcomed by the Queen ahead of the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Many commentators and politicians are not only apoplectic, they are organising various forms of protests. The mainstream media, notably the BBC, are giving continuous coverage to those elements wishing to facilitate, contribute to and participate in the anti-Trump frenzy.

The repeated howls of exasperation from these protagonists all center around their perception of Trump’s values, which they describe as “racist.”

Irrespective of his record — in which Trump has reached out to China and North Korea, and initiated economic policies that resulted in record-low minority unemployment — many, predominately on the political “left,” remain critical.

Paradoxically, there were not such frenzied protests in the UK during the visits there of Xi Jinping of China, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Bashar Assad of Syria.

President Trump is coming over to commemorate the D-Day landings, when thousands of American troops were killed.

Continue reading →
ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel attacked a number of Syrian targets overnight on Sunday. By David Isaac, World Israel News 

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-retaliates-for-syrian-missile-strike-blasting-targets-near-damascus/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notification&utm_campaign=PushCrew_notification_1559455948&pushcrew_powered=1

Israel hit a number of military targets in Syria overnight on Sunday in retaliation for two rockets fired at Israel’s Mt. Hermon on Saturday.

“Fighter planes and helicopters of the IDF attacked a number of military targets belonging to the Syrian army, among them two artillery batteries, a number of observation and intelligence posts on the Golan Heights front and an air-defense system of the SA-2 type,” the IDF reported.

Ten people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes, three Syrian soldiers and seven Hezbollah and Iranian forces, reports the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, an independent watchdog group based in London.

Syrian state media reports only three killed and seven wounded.

The Israel Defense Forces says it has no information about casualties on the other side. It released a video on Twitter showing one of its missiles striking a target.

Continue reading →
POLITICS Comments turned off

What Is Bernie Sanders Worried About? by Amir Taheri

By on June 2nd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14330/bernie-sanders-iran

The important point is what war one talks about, when, where and against which adversaries. The bland assertion “I oppose war against X or Y” is a sign of intellectual laziness if not of moral bankruptcy.

Senator Bernie Sanders never tells us which side he would have supported: Saddam Hussein or a majority of the Iraqi people? One may justly infer that he is opposed to wars only where the US is fighting real or imagined enemies.

Sanders is wrong in pretending that Iraq was a “disaster”. Since 2003, Iraq has gone through many ordeals, paying a heavy price. And yet, today no one could deny that most Iraqis enjoy freedoms they never thought possible under the dictatorship.

“No war with Iran!” The shop-worn slogan, in circulation for four decades, is back in vogue as self-styled peaceniks in the West seek a fig-leaf to hide their shameless support for a regime rejected by its people. In Britain, the neo-Marxists who control the Labour Party bandy the slogan around on airwaves and meetings of militants. In France, the pro-Putin “France Unbowed” outfit led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon makes similar noises. And in the US, we have Senator Bernie Sanders, currently the front-runner to become the Democrat Party’s nominee in the next presidential election, donning the mantle of supreme peacemaker, in effect offering himself as a human shield for the Islamic Republic.

“Recently I’ve been criticized … because of my opposition to war,” Sanders says in a video message. “So let me be very clear: I make no apologies to anybody, that when I was a young man before I was elected to anything, I opposed the war in Vietnam. And I know what that war did to my generation.”

He adds “I’m going to do everything that I can to prevent a war with Iran because if you think the war in Iraq was a disaster, my guess is that war in Iran would be even worse.”

Continue reading →
ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM ABSOLUTELY AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on June 2nd, 2019

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Regenerating bones. (TY Hazel) Israeli startup Bone Sci Bio is developing a peptide product PeptOss that promotes the formation and repair of bone tissue. It also delivers treatments (antibiotics, chemotherapy, etc.) directly to the bone.  PeptOss’s first application is to treat peri-implantitis that affects 30% of dental implants.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-startup-seeks-to-boost-bone-renewal-and-allow-targeted-drug-delivery/
 
Treatment for resistant Myeloma. Israel’s Pi Therapeutics (PiTx) is developing a treatment for PI-resistant Multiple Myeloma (MM) and solid tumors. Its small molecule non-catalytic UPS inhibitors have worked in lab tests. MM is an incurable blood cancer. PiTx has just raised $19.7 million for a formal clinical proof of concept.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3763205,00.html
https://www.futurx.co.il/portfolio/pi-therapeutics/  
 
Monitor breathing at home. (TY Hazel) Israeli startup Resmetrix Medical has developed a device that allows respiratory patients to monitor their condition at home. It could give an early warning of problems and reduce unnecessary hospitalizations for millions of asthmatics and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sufferers.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-chest-strap-keeps-tabs-on-pulmonary-patients-breathing/
http://www.resmetrix-medical.com/
 
After the heart. Now that Tel Aviv University scientists can 3D-print a heart using human tissue (see here),  they are working to engineer tissue for marrow, brain, eyes and intestine. They are regenerating spinal cord tissue and cells to fight Parkinson’s disease. And they are working to make a 3D-printed heart grow and pump.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-do-you-do-after-you-3d-print-a-heart-go-straight-back-to-work-apparently/
 
Health matters most to Israelis. (TY Jacques) A survey conducted by the Haredi Institute of Public Affairs identified the top priorities of Israelis (Jews & Arabs) were health, personal well-being and family life.
http://israelbetweenthelines.com/2019/05/23/health-matters-most-in-israel-study-shows/
 
EU approval for soft Exo-suit. I reported previously (see here) about the ReStore Exo-Suit from Israel’s ReWalk Robotics that helps stroke victim recover their mobility. ReStore has just received the CE mark, allowing ReWalk to market the device to rehabilitation clinics in the European Union.
https://rewalk.com/rewalk-robotics-receives-ce-mark-restoretm-exo-suit-stroke/
 
To heal, to teach, to discover. Israel’s Technion Institute is partnering with Cleveland Ohio’s University Hospitals (UH) to advance medical training, as part of UH’s mission, “To Heal. To Teach. To Discover”. The strategic affiliation includes joint R&D projects, plus 4th-year Technion medical students can train at UH.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/university-hospitals-and-technion—israel-institute-of-technology-announce-new-education-affiliation-300850983.html
 
SACH’s 5,000th patient. (TY UWI) 1-year-old Fatima from Zanzibar is the 5,000th child (from 60 countries) to be treated (for free) by Israeli charity Save A Child’s Heart. Ironically, 19 years ago, SACH surgeons gave Fatima’s 26-year-old mother, Balkis, life-saving treatment at the same Israeli hospital for the same condition.
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-medical-ngo-treats-its-5000th-child-from-abroad/
 
Doctors save toddler choking on popcorn. Specialists at Schneider Children’s Hospital managed to successfully extract popcorn from the airways of 2-year-old Ori Adler. Doctors and nurses extracted the small and sharp popcorn pieces that were stuck in the child’s airways using delicate bronchoscopy.
https://www.schneider.org.il/?CategoryID=1011&ArticleID=4039

Continue reading →
HISTORY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Last Longest Day By Richard Fernandez

By on June 1st, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/the-last-longest-day/

Emmanuel Macron will not attend the 75th anniversary of D-Day, “saying that French presidents only lead international D-Day ceremonies on round-number anniversaries such as the 60th or 70th. … critics argue that he should make an exception this year as it is likely to be the last major D-Day anniversary while veterans are still alive.”

To Macron, who was born in 1977, D-Day must seem like ancient history. The French president is currently more interested in preserving his alliance with Berlin than in commemorating the reopening of the Second Front against Hitler a full three generations ago.

It is probably hard for a man of Macron’s age to feel the emotional urgency of those distant days. Seventy-five years ago, the human impact of the invasion could scarcely be understated. Over 4,400 soldiers died in a single day, the Longest Day, so named in popular culture after Erwin Rommel’s prescient observation: “The first twenty-four hours of the invasion will be decisive. . . . For the Allies as well as Germany, it will be the longest day.”

It was an all-out throw of the dice. A maximum effort. There was no plan B if it didn’t work. Had it failed, Eisenhower would have said: “Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.” The consequences of defeat would have been incalculable.

If an Allied repulse on D-Day did not actually lead to some form of victory for Hitler, at best it would have meant another costly year of war, ruinous for Britain, the extinction of the last remaining remnants of European Jewry through completion of the Final Solution, culminating almost certainly with the employment of the first atomic bombs in the summer of 1945 — on Germany, not Japan. Sweeping through a ‘nuked’ Germany, the victorious Red Army would have stopped nowhere short of the Rhine. Lost to Communism, Europe, and the world, would have been a very different place today.

Continue reading →