Displaying the most recent of 90425 posts written by

Ruth King

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Blinken Stays Home to Avoid Confronting China Over Spy Balloon Cowardice in the face of the enemy. by Daniel Greenfield

By on February 4th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/blinken-stays-home-to-avoid-confronting-china-over-spy-balloon/

“The Biden administration talks tough to Americans, but is gutless in the face of the enemy.”

“Should I stay or should I go?”

Blinken had been scheduled to meet with top officials in China Feb. 5-6 in a follow-up to President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping in Bali in November, in which Biden pledged to “maintain open lines of communication” with Beijing at a time of worsening bilateral tensions.

But that was scuttled after the Pentagon announced Thursday that it had discovered a Chinese airship hovering over Montana, saying it had “very high confidence” the balloon had been sent to the U.S. to collect sensitive information.

The balloon’s intrusion constituted a “clear violation of our sovereignty” and prompted the State Department to indefinitely delay Blinken’s visit until “conditions are right,” a senior State Department official said in a press briefing.

Conditions will be right when Americans forget about the spy balloon (and these days that takes about 24 hours) and then Secretary of State Blinken can make the trip to focus on “partnering with China” in the fight against the weather by buying garbage Chinese ‘green’ technology and taxing Americans to pay for it.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM, EDUCATION Comments turned off

George Washington University Prof Goes Berserk on Jewish Students By Kevin Downey Jr.

By on February 4th, 2023

https://pjmedia.com/uncategorized/kevindowneyjr/2023/02/03/george-washington-univ-prof-goes-berserk-on-jewish-students-n1667306

Indoctrination 101
A George Washington University (GWU) commie professor allegedly went berserk on some Jewish students in her mandatory diversity class.

Clinical psychologist and professor Dr. Lara Sheehi—who is also part of the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network—is accused of verbally attacking a student who dared to use the phrase “terror attack.”

According to a complaint, Sheehi “took offense at the student’s use of the term ‘terrorist attack,” going so far as to say the phrase was “Islamophobic.”

The complainant also says Sheehi brought in a class speaker who “advocated violence against Israelies—and by extension, Jews.”

The complaint also states the speaker made a Jewish student feel “deeply unsettled and unsafe.” One student cried.

Sheehi responded by calling the student’s complaint “damaging, Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian.” She added, “a stone is nothing compared to an army.”

The trouble began on the first day of class when the Sheehi, who has a history of public antisemitism, asked students for their names and how they “identify.” Things got weird when a student said she was from Israel.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Helium Supply-Chain Failure Worries Hospitals, Crime Labs, Welders, and Even Balloon Retailers By Greg Byrnes

By on February 4th, 2023

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/gregbyrnes/2023/02/03/helium-supply-chain-failure-worries-hospitals-crime-labs-welders-and-even-balloon-retailers-n1667789

The United States is beginning the third year of a helium supply-chain crisis. Some experts think it will last until at least 2024. Consumers may have noticed some party retailers going out of business, with helium prices in a few markets almost doubling. A Texas retailer reports tanks went from $195 to $365, and they can only get half tanks because of shortages. The Party City chain, where balloons were a key profit center, has filed for bankruptcy.

But helium shortages mean more than fewer fun diversions like blimps, party balloons, or Daffy Duck floating down Broadway.

Last year the Miami-Dade Police crime lab and the Medical Examiner’s Office had to pay $1,800 per tank for helium to run instruments to identify deadly drugs and complete autopsy blood tests. Helium is used by semiconductor manufacturers and welders, and of critical importance, it is used to cool MRI machines in hospitals.

Without a reliable supply of helium in medical care, the public may face hard choices: rationing, sky-high pricing, or limiting tests patients can get. All could be on the horizon. This may not represent a complete regression to third-world medical care, but the supply chain failure is not without consequences for public health and safety. That this is happening in one of the most natural resource-rich countries in the world is more than strange. If one consequence of Biden’s green energy policy is the collapse of this vital supply chain, what can Congress do to reverse course?

The U.S. is one of the world’s largest sources of helium, but with supply not meeting demand, prices are skyrocketing. Helium is captured as a byproduct of natural gas drilling, which has been targeted by the Biden administration as part of its war on fossil fuels. Currently, the United State’s helium reserve is in Amarillo, Texas, a state replete with natural gas.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The entrenchment of western Jew-hatred As the age of reason skids off the road, diaspora Jews are rabbits in the headlights Melanie Phillips

By on February 4th, 2023

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-entrenchment-of-western-jew-hatred?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

In Britain’s House of Commons this week, MP Kim Johnson launched an attack on the “fascist Israeli government” and its “apartheid” policies.

Johnson is a Labour Party MP. You know — the same Labour Party whose current moderate leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has reputedly cleansed it of the Jew-hatred that exploded under its previous hard-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

Following Johnson’s remarks, the Labour leadership leapt into immediate action. Within hours, Johnson was ordered to make a grovelling apology.

This is supposed to reassure us. True, Starmer now takes action against any expression of Jew-hatred. This includes the pathological demonisation of Israel that singles it out for lies designed to delegitimise and destroy it — an agenda applied to no other people or state in the world.

Any such eruption threatens Starmer’s strategy of suppressing the bigotry that previously threatened to destroy the party as the self-professed standard-bearer of conscience, enlightenment and all good things. So, he stamps down on it hard whenever it appears.

But Starmer is playing a game of whack-a-mole. Anti-Jewish bigotry still courses through the party. Anyone who thinks Labour’s antisemitism has gone away or is restricted to a tiny unrepresentative fringe is a fool.

Continue reading →
FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

America Needs A Better Ukraine Strategy Shoshana Bryen

By on February 4th, 2023

https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/insight/

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heads into its second year, the American-led strategy of handing off weapons to Kyiv and hoping the underdog can defeat the overdog needs adjustment. Both US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley have expressed concerns about the US-German tank deal for Kyiv. But US F-16 fighter jets have been rumored as the next Ukrainian “ask.”

Supporters of the weapons-only strategy often cite Israel, usually with admiration. Israel doesn’t ask for, want, or have American forces fighting for it. With American weapons and outside support, Israel defeats its enemy and remains secure. This, they say, validates the Biden administration’s strategy.

It isn’t an exact analogy. Israel has an indigenous weapons and training capability and has spent its modern lifetime improving its ability to meet and defeat its enemies. Even so, it finds its ties, first to the US European Command (EUCOM) and now the US Central Command (USCENTCOM), a welcome source of allied cooperation. Israel isn’t asking for American troop support, but certainly sees itself as part of an integrated defense in the Red Sea and beyond.

Further, Israel’s state enemies have had battlefield doctrine, equipment, and outside political support that was manageable for Israel. Non-state actors represented challenges of a different, but not existential, nature. Iran in both its nuclear and terror-supporting modes presents a new threat and Israel’s doctrine has evolved accordingly.

Ukraine, on the other hand, faces Russia. And Russia’s military history is one of “grinding” until the enemy gives up. The number of Russians Moscow was willing to commit to battle has historically been endless, and the destruction of enemy infrastructure and civilian targets is part of the plan. Stalin’s war in Ukraine cost an estimated 3.9 million Ukrainian lives. An estimated 40,000 Soviet civilians died in a defensive battle at Stalingrad, along with 800,000 Axis troops and 1,100,000 Soviet forces killed, wounded, or captured. Overall, Russian figures show 8.6 million military casualties in WWII and 24-27 million casualties overall.

Continue reading →
HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

China Floats a Trial Balloon Over Montana Somehow a weather balloon ended up near U.S. missile bases. Sure.

By on February 4th, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-balloon-surveillance-montana-beijing-biden-administration-xi-jinping-antony-blinken-11675461302?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday postponed his visit to Beijing scheduled for next week after a suspicious Chinese balloon was spotted over Montana. Good decision. But the public deserves to know more about this episode, and one uncomfortable lesson is that the U.S. homeland is increasingly vulnerable.

The Pentagon said Thursday night it had “detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon” over the U.S. F-22 fighter jets and other assets were sent to examine the balloon, and one question is why the U.S. didn’t shoot it out of the sky. The Pentagon admits it’s been lurking in sovereign U.S. air space for “a couple of days,” notably near bases for U.S. nuclear missiles.

The military brass advised against shooting down the balloon, though the stated reason—risk of debris—seems manageable. No one doubts China would have shot down an American asset wandering over its bases. The Pentagon won’t say whether it may take out the balloon once it’s over water.

Beijing’s official explanation is that this is merely a hapless “civilian airship” that made a wrong turn and . . . ended up near U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile bases. “China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States,” the foreign ministry said.

So the balloon heads over the Aleutians, strays over Canada, but China acknowledges the balloon only after the U.S. announces it has been discovered over Montana? This isn’t believable, and the patent dishonesty will add to the U.S. public’s growing mistrust of China.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Joe Manchin’s Wife’s Commission Received $200M from Omnibus Bill By Adam Andrzejewski

By on February 4th, 2023

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2023/02/03/joe_manchins_wifes_commission_received_200m_from_omnibus_bill_878323.html

Included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package supported by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was a provision to give $200 million to the Appalachian Regional Commission, an agency headed by Manchin’s wife, Gayle.

The Appalachian Regional Commission operates as an economic development partnership between the federal government and 13 Appalachian states, distributing infrastructure grants in those states.

Its head, Gayle Manchin, makes $160,000 in her role as its federal co-chair, according to a Fox News report. She was confirmed by the Senate in 2021.

The $200 million in funding is a $5 million increase from last year.

“The West Virginia senator previously helped craft earlier legislation, following his wife’s 2021 appointment, that allocated $1 billion in funding over five years for the ARC,” Fox reported. Sen. Manchin was a key Democratic negotiator of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which doubled the commission’s funding level.

Gayle Manchin defended the spending increase in 2021, claiming this funding is necessary to, “more adequately meet the overwhelming needs of communities impacted by job losses resulting from the decline in the coal industry. These grants will be instrumental to the long-term diversification and economic growth in Appalachia.”

Continue reading →
EDUCATION Comments turned off

How It’s Done-Roger Kimball

By on February 4th, 2023

https://www.theepochtimes.com/how-its-done_5020230.html?utm_source=epochHG&utm_campaign=rcp

The Jesuits used to say that if you gave them a child until he was 7, they would give you the man.

We can dicker about the time it takes to form a person’s character, but there’s no doubt that those early experiences shape us for life. Which is one reason why we think primary education is so important.

Sure, it’s partly then that the kiddies learn to read, write, and calculate.

But just as important are the moral lessons they learn: the emotional weather they cultivate; the sorts of feelings they nurture and those they recoil from.

This process continues throughout our educational career.

Most people instinctively recognize this, which is why education is always such a hot topic with voters.

What sorts of people are our schools and colleges helping to form? What values are students being taught?

Such questions help explain the passion that has erupted at school board meetings when angry parents confront school board members about the sorts of things that were being taught in schools: the gussied-up versions of Marxist ideology that goes under the name of critical race theory (CRT) as well as the quasi- and sometimes not-so-quasi pornographic exotica disseminated under the rubric of “gender” studies.

The COVID lockdowns first exposed the grim reality to parents.

Their children were forced to stay home from school and attend class remotely.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Sydney Williams: “Is Sanity Replacing Wokeism?”

By on February 4th, 2023

https://swtotd.blogspot.com

“On Thursday the University of North Carolina board of trustees vote 12-0 to create a new school committed to free expression in higher education.”    Editorial, The Wall Street Journal   January 26, 2023

 As is always true, many problems confront our nation, but one is in the forefront of what divides us: culture. It is the culture wars that strike at the heart of what it means to be an American, a nation of people from every corner of the world, individuals with myriad beliefs but with one common objective: to live freely. But what happens when definitions of freedom are in conflict – when, for example, the wishes of teenagers, empowered by teachers, run counter to the desires of parents? When we disagree as to the founding principles of our nation, or when merit is subservient to racial diversity in college admissions?

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” is a saying attributed to Albert Einstein. It is applicable in the “Woke”[1] world we inhabit: Does it make sense to persist in pouring money into the gaping jaws of public education, in hopes that this time money will cure failing schools? Why do teachers, administrators, and the curriculum escape blame when students score poorly on international tests? Does it make sense to blame the weapon above the one who pulled the trigger in a mass shooting? And why are criminals so often released without bail, even after having committed armed robbery, and why is the mental health of the gunman not considered a cause for the crime. And why were interest rates kept artificially low, even as federal debt expanded exponentially?

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The ever-shifting excuses about Hunter Biden’s laptop First it was a Russian plant, now it is protected personal information Charles Lipson

By on February 4th, 2023

https://thespectator.com/topic/the-ever-shifting-excuses-about-hunter-bidens-laptop/

Hunter Biden’s defense about his incriminating laptop sounds like an old joke about a trial lawyer who was accused of letting his dog bite a stranger. The lawyer’s first line of defense was that “it couldn’t happen because my dog was tied up that night.” When told there were witnesses who had seen him walking the dog, he said, “Okay, we were out walking but my dog doesn’t bite.” If that fails, then, “Well, yes, my dog did give you a little nip, but it wasn’t a bad one.” Then, “Granted, you had to go to the hospital for surgery, but you provoked my sweet pup.” If all else fails, “What do you mean I own a dog?”

That, in essence, is how Hunter Biden and his family have defended themselves against the damning information on the laptop that he abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. Or, as his lawyers might say, “allegedly abandoned in the alleged state of Delaware.” New York Post columnist Miranda Devine has aptly labeled the computer the “laptop from hell,” and Hunter is none too eager to admit ownership or culpability. Neither is his family, who see both legal and political peril in the computer’s contents.

Just look at this long list of Hunter’s defenses, one crumbling after the other, like the lawyer with a dog.

Continue reading →