‘Sanctuary’ NYC Creates Its Own ‘Border Patrol’ Once again, leftist hypocrisy rears its ugly head. Michael Cutler

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/sanctuary-nyc-creates-its-own-border-patrol-michael-cutler/

Back on March 18th of this year, I wrote an article, “Because of the Coronavirus, Borders Suddenly Matter” which noted that New York State even establishes internal borders.

The irony is that for decades New York City and other cities have adopted “Sanctuary” policies that, to one extent or another, block federal immigration law enforcement officers from interacting with local and state officials. The level of cooperation between local officials and federal immigration authorities or lack thereof, varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another, but as of late, has all but ended in many such jurisdictions across the United States.

The State of New York even has taken to providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses while blocking DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) information from federal immigration agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection inspectors at ports of entry, and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) as I reported in my recent article, “New York State Blocks ICE and Border Patrol Access to DMV Database.”

Governor Cuomo has outrageously taken to calling ICE agents “thugs.”

Meanwhile the 9/11 Commission made it abundantly clear that international terrorists, and not just the 9/11 hijacker-terrorists, exploited key vulnerabilities to enter the United States and embed themselves within the immigration system, hiding in plain sight as they went about their deadly preparations. The very same immigration system that the city most devastated on September 11, 2001 — New York — has acted most aggressively to undermine and subvert.

‘Worried for the Jews, but much more for France’

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285179

Jewish MP responds to anti-Semitic attack in elevator in Paris. ‘It is increasingly difficult to be a Jew in France.’
A young Jewish father arrived to pick up his seven-month daughter from his parents’ apartment in the 19th district of Paris when he was attacked by two men of African descent.

The man had entered his parents’ apartment building when two men he had never seen before followed him into the elevator. When it arrived at its destination, the two physically assaulted him.

While hitting him, the assailants yelled “You dirty Jew, you’re going to die!” The man said he was saved by his parents who came to his rescue when they realized what was going on after becoming worried their son had yet to arrive.

“I came to pick up my seven-month-old daughter who was with my parents,” says David. “Two young guys, complete foreigners, dressed relatively nicely, in their 20s, came up behind me. When I typed in the entry code to the building they came with me into the elevator. When I got to my parents’ floor, they jumped and grabbed my throat. I tried to scream. I was only a few meters from their door but they could not hear because the doors are massive,” the young man said.

PETER SCHWEIZER : PROFILES IN CORRUPTION- KAMALA THE COVER GIRL

Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by … – Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Profiles-Corruption-Abuse-audio-cd/dp/1094149683

www.amazon.com › Profiles-Corruption-Abuse-audio-cd

Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite Audio CD … Washington insiders operate by a proven credo: when a Peter Schweizer book … pursuit of capitalist gains, Kamala Harris who appears to be a very dirty cop.

Washington insiders operate by a proven credo: when a Peter Schweizer book drops, duck and brace for impact.

For over a decade, the work of five-time New York Times bestselling investigative reporter Peter Schweizer has sent shockwaves through the political universe.

Now Schweizer and his team of seasoned investigators turn their focus to the nation’s top progressives—politicians who strive to acquire more government power to achieve their political ends.

Can they be trusted with more power?

In Profiles in Corruption, Schweizer offers a deep-dive investigation into the private finances, and secrets deals of some of America’s top political leaders. And, as usual, he doesn’t disappoint, with never-before-reported revelations that uncover corruption and abuse of power—all backed up by a mountain of corporate documents and legal filings from around the globe.

Last Gasp of the Mensheviks? by James W. Lucas

https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/11/last-gasp-of-the-mensheviks/

Will the signers of the Harper’s letter realize that only an alliance with the Right can save liberal values?

Some note has been taken of a letter appearing in Harper’s titled “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate.” Signed by an impressive array of eminent left-leaning literary and academic figures, it challenges the intolerance of the new radical Left. While denouncing “right-wing demagogues” and, of course, Donald Trump, its main focus is to call out the broader “intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.”

The letter points generally to recent incidents where researchers and writers have lost positions and platforms for routine actions which aired even small deviations from the new orthodoxy of the radical Left. It concludes by refusing “any false choice between justice and freedom,” and calls for a culture that preserves “the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences.” 

The letter has not been well-received by the woke Left. Nonetheless, close on the heels of the Harper’s letter came a poll from the Cato Institute revealing that 62 percent of all American respondents say that the current political climate inhibits them from expressing their honest views. 

Pertinent to the Harper’s Letter, 37 percent of those under 30 and 44 percent of those with postgraduate degrees feel that their careers could be harmed by expressing their sincere political beliefs. Even centrist liberals feel the increasing hostility to open expression, with 52 percent feeling the need to self-censor, an increase from 45 percent only a few years ago. Only those with strongly held liberal views showed a majority who did not feel inhibited. 

This is not the first time that luminaries of the Left have found themselves outflanked by intolerant radicals even further to the Left. Examples from the last century suggest three possible approaches for dealing with this dilemma.

Crucial Vote on Iran Looms at U.N. Top U.S. envoy to Iran resigns, to be replaced by former NeverTrump and neoconservative diplomat Elliott Abrams.By Eric Lendrum

https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/10/crucial-vote-on-iran-looms-at-u-n/

The United Nations is preparing to vote on a resolution that would extend an arms embargo against the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, which is seen as a major test of President Donald Trump’s hardline policy on the rogue state, The Hill newspaper reports.

The vote comes as a top State Department official prepares to exit the administration and a once-vocal critic of President Trump prepares to assume a higher profile.  

The proposed resolution marks the latest tough action taken against Iran by the United States under President Trump, who famously withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, back in 2018. 

President Trump had been a frequent critic of the deal, which was the centerpiece of Barack Obama’s foreign policy legacy. The deal eased restrictions on the Islamic nation and made it easier for the oil-rich Iranians to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.

But other member-states of the United Nations have remained more sympathetic to the regime and continue to support the idea of the Iran deal, even as the deal itself has all but collapsed following the U.S. withdrawal.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made his case for the resolution, and reminded others that the United States would ultimately ensure some sort of arms embargo against Iran. 

“The proposal we put forward is entirely reasonable,” Pompeo told reporters last week. “One way or another, we will do the right thing,” he added. “We will ensure that the arms embargo is extended.” 

In the event the resolution fails, Pompeo suggested the United States could impose a “snapback” of all sanctions that the Obama Administration levied on Iran prior to the conclusion of the deal.

State Department official Brian Hook, who had been traveling to various allied countries to convince them to vote in favor of the resolution but was increasingly seen as ineffective, resigned from the department on Thursday. Hook was named as Pompeo’s special representative to Iran in 2018. Previously, he was a top advisor to former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Why Is Desperately Poor India Beating New York’s COVID-19 Response? Adam Mill

https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/11/why-is-desperately-poor-india-beating-new-yorks-covid-19-response/

For some reason, Andrew Cuomo and Anthony Fauci have become the faces of responsible COVID-19 policy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

New York spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other state in the Union. It ranks third in the country in physicians per 100,000 population at 375.1. In terms of raw infrastructure and medical resources, New York should have been one of the best places in the world to receive treatment for COVID-19.

Yet analysis of New York’s COVID-19 statistics reveal it to be one of the most deadly places in the world for a COVID-19 patient. Consider that the tiny country of San Marino reports the worst “deaths per 1 million population” for COVID-19 at 1,238 per million. Belgium, which is the second worst, reports 852. New York is a disaster compared to even those grim numbers. New York is second in the nation at 1,688 deaths per million. If it were a country, it would lead the world. 

The numbers don’t lie. New York should be the poster child of what not to do. Because whatever it’s doing to respond to COVID-19, it’s not saving lives. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci somehow learned the opposite lesson from these morbid statistics. He said, “Many parts of the United States didn’t do enough to combat the coronavirus—but New York state did . . . New York got hit worse than any place in the world. And they did it correctly by doing things [that are recommended to fight the disease].” One of those recommendations was to ban or severely restrict the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. This ban came quickly in response to President Trump endorsing the drug.

‘F’ for reading comprehension: EU study says PA textbooks promote peace European Union-sponsored study concludes that the Palestinian Authority does not incite against Israel, but examines Arabic-language textbooks used in the Israeli school system.By Ariel Kahana

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/08/12/f-for-reading-comprehension-eu-study-says-pa-textbooks-promote-peace/

A European Union-sponsored study to examine whether textbooks used by schools in the Palestinian Authority incite against Israel actually examined textbooks in Arabic used in the Israeli school system.

The study concluded that PA textbooks not only do not incite against the Jewish state, but actually promote coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.

The study was ordered by former EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini following criticism from EU lawmakers and non-governmental organizations that the EU was essentially funding incitement against Israel rather than educating toward peace.

With that, IMPACT-Se, an international research and policy institute that analyzes school textbooks throughout the world and has a proven track record of examining PA textbooks, suspected from the outset that the EU study was unprofessional and intended to whitewash the facts.

To conduct the study, the EU hired the services of the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research. The study, portions of which were obtained by Israel Hayom, consists of incorrect translations from Arabic to English. Although the editing process for the study was completed some time ago, the EU has repeatedly delayed the publication of its conclusions.

It has now also become apparent that the study also failed to distinguish between Palestinian textbooks and Israeli Arabic-language textbooks used by schools in east Jerusalem. These are textbooks that were written in the PA but, before being approved for use by the Israeli Education Ministry, were heavily edited to replace anti-Israel content with messages of tolerance and peace.

China: Military Experts Urge Beijing to Prepare for War with U.S. by Lawrence A. Franklin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16336/china-military-war

Wang further warns that U.S. President Donald J. Trump is likely to initiate a military conflict in the South China Sea region before the November 3 U.S. presidential election, speculating that “stirring up external frictions, especially military conflicts with China, will help the incumbent president for his re-election campaign.”

The leaders of China’s Communist Party (CCP) also see that nothing was done by anyone, including the U.S., to stop China’s grab of Hong Kong this year — 37 years early. This paralysis of the West must have looked to the CCP like a green light to keep on grabbing.

China, however, has been the party with the hostile intent, not only with Hong Kong, but also with an attack on northern India, an extensive military base build-up in the South China Sea, an attempted appropriation of the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands and a “fishing fleet” of 250 vessels showing up near the Galapagos Islands, off Ecuador. Another recent move from Beijing was to conduct live-fire targeting drills in the South China Sea from July 25 through August 2.

If China continues its aggressive posture toward the U.S.-allied free states of Asia, especially Taiwan, a direct confrontation between the Chinese and U.S. militaries in the South China may indeed be necessary.

Chinese military journalists are publicly urging the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to prepare immediately for an attack by U.S. forces in the South China Sea. One expert at Zhejiang University’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Shi Xiaoqin, claims that the U.S. is deliberately trying to provoke China. They also suggest the regime reinforce Chinese installations on reefs claimed by China.

If this analysis gains traction by Chinese political and military leaders, U.S. military commanders in the South China Sea should plan for the possibility that China might initiate hostilities in keeping with its doctrine of preemptive retaliation, a seeming attempt falsely to claim “self-defense.”

One writer suggests that the PLA should immediately move fighter aircraft to Chinese air bases in the Spratly Islands at Fiery Cross, Subi Reef, and Mischief Reef. He also boldly claims that the augmented presence of U.S. naval and air assets in the South China Sea is no longer just a show of force by America.

Chen Hu, a Chinese military journalist, also asserts that the U.S. is now intent on provoking a conflict and is preparing for battle. Chen claims that the return of B1 bombers to Guam and continued deployment of two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the South China Sea, despite the conclusion of military exercises, is supposedly a sign of Washington’s aggressive intent. Chen suggests that recent U.S. “Freedom of Navigation” maneuvers and the high number of U.S. surveillance collection missions along the Chinese coast is additional proof of American attack planning. Former PLA officer Wang Yunfei and naval equipment expert suggests that flights by American RC-135, E-8c, and RC-12X surveillance aircraft equate to “pre-battle strategic technical surveillance.” As the joke goes from the children’s playground: “It all started when he hit me back.”

The Mullahs and Hezbollah, Lords of Drug Smuggling by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16332/iran-hezbollah-drug-smuggling

“Presumed to have been issued by Iranian religious leaders, the fatwa reportedly read: We are making drugs for Satan — America and the Jews. If we cannot kill them with guns, we will kill them with drugs.” — Matthew Levitt, Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God, Hurst Publishers, 2013.

According to an FBI report, declassified in November 2008, “Hizbullah’s spiritual leader… has stated that narcotics trafficking is morally acceptable if the drugs are sold to Western infidels as part of the war against the enemies of Islam.”

The international community, the United Nations, and specifically its Office on Crimes and Drugs, remain totally silent on Hezbollah and Iran’s large-scale drug trafficking across the world.

When governments or organizations that operate under the legitimacy of a state engage in smuggling drugs, the negative consequences can be devastating for other nations. The Iranian regime and its proxy Hezbollah appear to be increasing their efforts to smuggle illicit drugs to other countries, particularly in the West.

A Lebanese man, Ghassan Diab, was recently extradited from Cyprus to the United States for charges linked to laundering drug money for the militant group Hezbollah. According to the US Department of Justice, Diab is alleged “to have conspired to engage in, and actually engaged, in the laundering of drug proceeds through the use of the black market peso exchange in support of Hezbollah’s global criminal-support network”.

Italian authorities announced on July 1, 2020 that they had seized 15.4 tons of counterfeit Captagon pills produced in Syria, a country reportedly the largest producer and exporter of the Captagon (fenethylline). The seized 15.4 tons of counterfeit Captagon pills are worth an estimated $1.3 billion. Captagon, a super-charged amphetamine, is banned in many countries due to its addictive nature. Reportedly, the seized drugs were so carefully hidden that the airport scanners did not detect them, according to Commander Domenico Napolitano of the Naples financial police. It was the interception of calls made by some criminals that assisted the local police in seizing the drugs.

Greek authorities, in July 2020, also seized a large haul of Captagon pills, also from Syria and worth more than half a billion dollars. The Greek financial crimes unit said:

“It is the largest quantity that has ever been seized globally, depriving organized crime of proceeds that would have exceeded $660 million (587.45 million euros).”

Why has Syria become the epicenter of producing illegal drugs and exporting them to other countries including the West? Possibly because Iran and Hezbollah exert significant influence in Syria and there is scarcely any credible international organization monitoring what is happening in Syria, a lapse that makes it difficult to these kinds of detect criminal activities.

A Vote For Biden Puts Far-Left Kamala Harris In Line To Be President — Scared Yet?

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/08/12/a-vote-for-biden-puts-far-left-kamala-harris-in-line-to-be-president-scared-yet/

No one should be at all surprised that the mentally fading Joe Biden selected California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. He painted himself into a political corner by his own foolish decisions, and needed to do something to revive his moribund, basement-bound campaign. Sorry, Joe, we doubt this will do it. But we do worry about your health.

Biden, trying to pander to as many Democratic constituencies as possible, promised early on to pick a woman for his vice president. Why he would automatically exclude roughly half of humanity from the selection process tells you a lot.

Picking Harris was no surprise. The Democratic hard left, which today governs the party, likes to shove people in boxes. No one’s ever a mere human being, but a race, a gender, a religion, a political category. As such, Harris checked three big boxes for the Democrats: Woman, check. African-American, check. Far-left progressive, check.

And, unlike the other presumed leading veep candidate, Susan Rice, Harris has experience in electoral politics, serving as California’s attorney general and as a U.S. senator. That’s in contrast to the abrasive, F-bomb throwing Rice, whose career was dotted with appointments to key posts, but who never ran for public office.