EDUCATION, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Reinstate Racial Preferences? Washington State Voters Will Decide. By Heather Mac Donald

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/racial-preferences-government-washington-state-voters-will-decide/

The state’s voters outlawed such preferences in 1998; legislators tried to bring them back last April. A new ballot initiative lets the people choose.

Voting in Washington has begun on a ballot initiative to overturn that state’s ban on racial preferences in government. Voters outlawed racial preferences in 1998, as part of a mini-wave of eight such state initiatives, led by California anti-preference crusader Ward Connerly in the 1990s. The momentum behind that push for color-blindness in government has long since petered out, as identity politics became ascendant. The advocates of race-neutral government hiring, contracting, and college admissions are now on the defensive, fighting relentless efforts to undo their work.

In April 2019, the Washington state legislature hurriedly passed Initiative 1000 to bring preferences back into government policy. Now voters are facing a confusing choice. Though the referendum currently before them, Referendum 88, was instigated by racial-preference opponents, overwhelmingly Asian, to overturn Initiative 1000, a yes on the referendum would confirm passage of Initiative 1000 and reinstate preferences, and a no vote would preserve the pre-Initiative 1000 color-blind status quo.

Initiative 1000 has adopted the specious rhetoric of “holistic” college admissions, rhetoric that the Supreme Court, to its discredit as a supposedly rational jurisprudential body, has embraced. Race cannot be the “sole qualifying factor” in awarding or denying a public benefit, according to the initiative. This requirement allegedly prevents racial preferences from turning into quotas. These are the same claims made on behalf of “holistic admissions,” a supposedly real and definable practice that is meant to keep racial admissions preferences constitutional by avoiding a quota system. We are supposed to believe that admissions offices in a “holistic” regime make highly individualized decisions about applicants that award only the slightest “tip” to candidates on the basis of race. We are supposed to believe that the admissions office has NO idea what number of minorities it is shooting for, even though the racial percentages of any class remain stable from year to year, as was shown in the ongoing litigation over Harvard’s racial preferences.

IMMIGRATION, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Cali Governor Newsom Continues to Thwart Immigration Law Enforcement Putting the welfare of criminal immigrants before the welfare of California citizens.

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/10/cali-governor-newsom-continues-thwart-immigration-frontpagemagcom/

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who presides over the nation’s leading sanctuary state, decided last week that pardoning three immigrant felons to help shield them from being deported was more important than keeping the citizens of his state secure. One of the recipients of Newsom’s misplaced compassion was 42-year old Arnou Aghamalian from Iran. Aghamalian, a refugee in this country since the age of 15, was convicted at the age of 22 of helping to set fire to a car. The damage he did was most likely not as easily made to disappear as was his criminal record, thanks to Newsom. Then there was Thear Seam from Cambodia, a refugee admitted to the U.S at the age of 4 who managed in his late teens to be convicted of two felonies – second-degree robbery and acting as an accessory after the fact by helping someone evade police arrest. Finally, Newsom pardoned Victor Ayala from El Salvador. Ayala was only 2 years old when he was admitted legally to the U.S. He showed his gratitude by being convicted at the age of 21 for felony robbery after having been previously convicted for misdemeanor theft and hit-and-run. Newsom’s office claimed that the pardons were issued in part to “prevent unjust collateral consequences of conviction.” That’s doubletalk for saying the immigrants’ pardons were issued to remove one ground for their possible deportations – serious criminal records.

“They are now trusted employees, husbands, fathers to young children and sons to aging parents,’’ the governor’s office said in justification for the pardon grants. “Their deportation would be an unjust collateral consequence that would harm their families and communities.” In other words, just make their criminal records disappear and all will be fine for these poor souls, who years ago had “made bad decisions and broke the law” but “served their sentences and turned their lives around.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Pelosi’s Disinformation Campaign House Speaker issues bogus “fact sheet” full of blatant distortions. Joseph Klein

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/10/pelosis-disinformation-campaign-joseph-klein/

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who is currently leading the Ukrainegate probe, have refused to say when their so-called impeachment inquiry is expected to conclude. “The timeline will depend on the truth line, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Pelosi explained to reporters last week. More accurately, the timeline will depend on the success of the House Democrats’ propaganda line. To try and manipulate public opinion, as the closed-door star chamber proceedings move along, Pelosi decided to put out a jumble of out-of-context bits and pieces of cherrypicked quotes entitled “Truth Exposed.”  It purports to lay out how President Trump “betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain” in his dealings with the Ukrainian government.” It is divided into three sections with these ominous headings – The Shakedown, The Pressure Campaign, and The Cover Up. What Pelosi’s office has billed as a “fact sheet” is a pathetic attempt to spin a false narrative.

1.      The Shakedown – Pelosi quoted selectively from the record of President Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Zelensky on July 25, 2019, falsely juxtaposing the following excerpts as if they came directly after each other and underlining certain phrases for emphasis:

“I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine…. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.”

 “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.”

“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me.”

 “I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Canada Vote Forces Trudeau to Join With Rival to Govern Liberal Party, short of majority, has options on the left to form minority government By Paul Vieira and Kim Mackrael

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-vote-forces-trudeau-to-join-with-rival-to-govern-11571754991

OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, fresh off an election win Monday night that left him with a weakened mandate, must quickly turn his focus to finding common ground among rivals to maintain his grip on power.

Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party emerged short of a majority of seats in the Canadian Parliament, and his share of the popular vote fell to 33% from a 40% showing in 2015. The result partly reflected the hits Mr. Trudeau took from recent scandals—allegations that he and his aides interfered in a criminal prosecution, and images of the Canadian leader wearing blackface—that damaged his reputation as a champion of clean governance and diversity.

The task of managing a minority government should be made slightly easier by the distribution of votes. Results as of Tuesday morning showed the Liberals won or were leading in 157 seats, or 13 seats short of a majority. That means Mr. Trudeau would need the support of just one other party to get legislation passed.

POLITICS Comments turned off

The Hillary-Tulsi Fault Line Their feud could foretell trouble for Democrats in 2020. By Ted Rall

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hillary-tulsi-fault-line-11571784603

Why would Hillary Clinton attack the 11th-place Democratic presidential candidate, currently polling at 1.2%? In an interview last week Mrs. Clinton said the Russians have “their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii replied on Twitter: “You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain.” The Clinton-Gabbard spat illuminates the underlying conflict between the grassroots progressive left and the centrists who still dominate the Democratic Party’s leadership and donor class.

Democrats want to avoid a repeat of 2016, when enough progressives didn’t vote for Mrs. Clinton to keep her from winning. Beating Mr. Trump is all that matters, the blue-no-matter-who corporatists insist. Progressives reply by asking how that worked out in 2016.

One nearly invisible Democratic fault line concerns the president. Progressives don’t like Mr. Trump and disagree with most of his policies. But there is important common ground. Like the president, progressives favor economic nationalism—putting American workers first and bringing back high-paid manufacturing jobs. They also want to end the post-9/11 forever wars, close overseas military bases, and avoid new wars of choice.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Terrorists Call for Killing Jews — from UN HQ in Gaza by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15003/call-for-killing-jews-un-gaza

What is clear — and disturbing — is that the UN officials in the Gaza Strip choose to remain silent when the Palestinian leaders came to their offices to incite their people to step up their terrorist attacks.

The silence of the UN officials speaks volumes about their attitude toward anti-Israel incitement and blood libels against Jews, all of which have become an integral part of both the UN’s and the Palestinians’ culture.

To Palestinians, all of Israel is one big settlement that needs to be displaced.

Perhaps it is time to call out the UN for the racism it not only embodies but also perpetuates. Perhaps it is time for all nations, especially the United States which shoulders so much of the UN’s bill, finally to pay only for what they want and to get what they pay for.

Leaders of several Palestinian factions are again calling for stepping up terrorist attacks against Jews. The difference is that this time, the calls were made during a sit-down strike held by Palestinians outside the offices of the United Nations in the Gaza Strip.

The leaders of the Palestinian factions chose to issue their calls for killing Jews in front of the UN offices in the Gaza Strip. It is as if they are asking the UN to approve their continual terrorist attacks against Israel.

What is clear — and disturbing — is that the UN officials in the Gaza Strip choose to remain silent when the Palestinian leaders came to their offices to incite their people to step up their terrorist attacks.

The sit-down strike was organized by the “Jerusalem Department” of Hamas, the terrorist group that has been ruling the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007. The purpose of the sit-down strike was, according to Hamas, to protest visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, or Haram Al-Sharif — a site in Jerusalem sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

America Needs to Choose Sides: Saudi Arabia or Iran by Peter Huessy

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15046/saudi-arabia-iran

Senator Bernie Sanders failed to mention that the “catastrophic war” to which he was referring was initiated solely by the Iranian regime, which encouraged and enabled Houthi terrorists to overthrow the internationally recognized government of Yemen.

A key danger to the US also lies in its relinquishing the maritime chokepoint, Bab el-Mandeb, through which — along with the Strait of Hormuz — approximately one-third of the world’s oil production passes every day. Iran’s ability to disrupt or interdict this daily movement of oil would give Tehran enormous leverage over the global economy.

Given this reality, it is inexplicable for Congress to advocate a policy based on tying the hands of Saudi Arabia, an ally, while giving free rein to Iran, which has been a sworn enemy of the US for decades. In addition, Saudi Arabia, unlike Iran, is not on any glide-path to producing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Many of the US administration’s critics in Congress are, perhaps unsurprisingly, exhibiting hypocrisy where American policy is concerned. Less than a year ago, the Senate passed a resolution, co-sponsored by Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), to discontinue military support for the Saudi-led effort to defeat the Houthis — Marxist-Islamist terrorists backed by, and serving as, a proxy to the Iranian regime in its war in Yemen.

Sanders defended the resolution by declaring: “The bottom line is that the United States should not be supporting a catastrophic war led by a despotic [Saudi] regime with an irresponsible foreign policy.”

Sanders failed to mention that the “catastrophic war” to which he was referring was initiated solely by the regime in Tehran, which encouraged and enabled Houthi terrorists to overthrow the internationally recognized government of Yemen. These terrorists continue to use hospitals and schools in Yemen as troop barracks and supply dumps, and dragoon pre-pubescent children into their ranks.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION, P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

Jury Condemns 7-Year-Old Boy to Live with Woman Determined to Make Him a Girl By Taylor Day !!!!????

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/10/jury_condemns_7yearold_boy_to_live_with_woman_determined_to_make_him_a_girl.html

Yesterday, a Dallas jury decided that father Jeff Younger was not only to lose his joint custody over his 7-year-old twin boys, but that one of those children, under the mother’s care, will have his hormones suppressed and his body surgically altered to appear female.

I reached out to Kayla White, a #SaveJames supporter who flew from Illinois to Dallas last week to document the trial.  In her own words, she explains what it was like to be in that courtroom and witness the heartbreak delivered by the jury that is absolved from the effects of its decision.  She, like most of the nation, is horrified that a Texas jury gave sole custody to Anne, a woman propositioning a court to chemically castrate a young child.  Our interview below has been slightly edited for length and clarity.

DAY: How do you know James?

WHITE: I met James this weekend and have seen how he truly is through that meeting, the videos, and photos that have been shared since last year (via Jeff Younger’s SaveJames website).  I’ve taken some of my own photos and videos of James along with his brother, Jude.  He wrote the name “James” down at least twice while I was with him this weekend.  He knows who he is and is constantly reminding himself of that.

DAY: What do you think about the verdict today?

WHITE: Honestly, I thought we had the jury on our side, but I gave them too much credit.  I was told by other audience members that most of them checked out during Jeff’s expert witnesses’ testimonies.  When the verdict was being read, something in me said that there was more to it and that it was not over.

DAY: I’m seeing a lot of people on social media saying that Anne isn’t the biological mother.  Is this true?

WHITE: It is.  Jeff and Anne had gone through a process to choose eggs that were fertilized inside of her.  I’m not sure how the process overall works, but the eggs were from a donor.

DAY: How would you explain the jury’s decision?

WHITE: I honestly thought we were dealing with semi-intelligent and responsible people.  One of the requirements the judge gave to her jury was “do not worry about the implications of your decision.”  Looking back at it now, it’s so morbid.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The return of the political race-hustler By A. Castellitto

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/10/the_return_of_the_political_race_hustler.html

“No amount of penance can absolve the white man of the sins perpetuated against black humanity. This is the crux of critical race theory. There can never be appeasement. ”

A new breed of Al Sharptons has risen out of conservative religious circles to stir America’s melting pot like never before. Race hustling scholars are shaping and twisting narratives to lay the groundwork for a fundamentally Marxist transformation of American culture.

The tactics of the modern race baiter have been tweaked to include the illusion of conservative credibility via the attainment of theological credentials and a guise of true orthodoxy. Unfortunately, their bottom line has not changed; from Jesse Jackson to the latest stalwarts of the grievance industry, the political race hustler is back with a vengeance. 

As the infiltration of religious institutions continue to progress, church watchmen have been caught off guard. Fortunately, the hug heard around the world has been a much-needed wakeup call. 

Men like Jemar Tisby are fully exposing themselves by taking a moment of true reconciliation and turning it into an opportunity to stoke the fire. In his most recent op-ed for the Washington Post, Tisby critiques the events surrounding the accidental shooting death of Botham Jean, specifically, younger brother Brandt’s forgiving embrace of convicted officer Amber Guyger following her 10-year murder sentence.  Tisby inserts division where healing should dwell as he insists that “no one should mistake black forgiveness… for complacency… No one should assume… a public act of mercy… of one black person eclipses… demands for change…”

Tisby refuses to break from his never-ending narrative that “a society built around white superiority is… built around white innocence… an assumption of the intrinsic moral virtue of all white people and… purity of their intentions regardless of impact. White innocence assumes black forgiveness.” 

BOOKS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

‘Anonymous’ and the Whistleblower: DC’s Epidemic of Cowardice By Roger L. Simon

Posted By on October 23rd, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/anonymous-and-the-whistleblowerdcs-epidemic-of-cowardice/

Our hearts are supposed to be pounding because “Anonymous,” the character who wrote a New York Times op-ed back in 2018, supposedly from inside the Trump administration, has secretly been working on a book that is about to be published.

The book, titled “A Warning,” is being promoted as “an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency” that expands upon the Times column, which ricocheted around the world and stoked the president’s rage because of its devastating portrayal of Trump in office.

The column described Trump’s leadership style as “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective,” and noted that “his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.”

The author of the column, which was titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” and published Sept. 5, 2018, was known to the Times but identified only as a senior official in the Trump administration. The person has still not been publicly identified.

Oh, really? Excuse me, but why is this person being anonymous if what he or she has to say is true? To keep a job? If Trump is so bad, why would he or she want to work for him in the first place? To support the “resistance” inside the White House and effectuate change? He or she hasn’t been very successful at that so far, to say the least. Wouldn’t the honorable thing be to resign and speak your piece publicly? Making it easier, given the riven state of our politics, finding other employment would be relatively simple and likely considerably more remunerative.

No, “Anonymous” is something of a careerist looking to sell a book via some cheesy hocus-pocus.