MEDIA, MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

Netflix Debuts Its Obama Manifesto By Armond White

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/netflix-documentary-american-factory-obama-manifesto/

The media celebrate the arrival of the new ministers of propaganda.

This week’s widespread media blitz heralding Netflix’s broadcast of its first Obama-endorsed presentation, American Factory, was more than synchronicity. It felt as though U.S. publicists and journalists collectively exhaled their relief at finally regaining the bully pulpit.

Reviews of American Factory, a doc by indie veterans Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, were not reliable accounts of the film’s quality. Its lack of focus following a Chinese manufacturer’s takeover of a former General Motors plant in Ohio — a move that fails to relieve working-class anxieties but, instead, predicts job-market doom — didn’t faze flacks and reviewers. The media class saw Reichert and Bognar’s facile, generalized survey as a chance to take on President Trump’s trade policy; many jettisoned film critique to try their hand at economic and moral analysis instead.

Those in power have usurped the old bromide “speaking truth to power.” They now speak rhetoric to the masses.

This deliberate misinterpretation of American Factory was, in fact, amplification of the political design that, no doubt, was always part of Netflix’s game plan when it signed Barack and Michelle Obama jointly to an impresario contract. (The monetary figure remains undisclosed, but the timing of Netflix’s offer corresponded with the Obamas’ well-publicized $65 million publishing agreements, proof of the media industry’s enthusiastic support of the former White House occupants in their role as cultural influencers.)

The Netflix-Obama nexus is stranger and more significant than American Factory itself. Calling their curator unit “Higher Ground,” Netflix and the Obamas remind us of Michelle’s fraudulent 2016 campaign boast “When they go lower, we go higher.” What could be lower than an ex-president and his mate perpetuating a counter-offensive to the successive administration? Could Juan and Evita Perón, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu have matched the divisiveness — or such wealth and potency — implicit in that lofty moniker? The Hollywood-Obama collusion was first apparent when Michelle made an Oscar telecast speech in 2013.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Ignore It at Your Peril Just because Trump said it doesn’t mean it’s not true: The Democratic Party is becoming unsalvageable By Liel Leibovitz

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-

Earlier this week, my colleague, the wise and empathetic Carly Pildis, wrote a thoughtful and powerful piece about the political future of American Jews. In it, she argues that the Democratic Party, notwithstanding a handful of problematic and relatively inconsequential congresswomen, is still the most safe and welcoming space for Jews, while the president is guilty of rhetoric that is downright anti-Semitic.

It is in the spirit of Carly’s call for dialogue that does not shy away from unpleasant assertions that I would like to offer two observations about the political future of American Jews.

The first has to do with the unthinkable descent of the Democratic Party into being not just blind to anti-Jewish bigotry, but an engine of it. We can argue about when and exactly how this happened—I’ll leave the ultimate timelines to historians—but to keep things simple let’s connect only the most recent dots.

Shortly after Trump was elected, the left moved into resistance mode. The feelings here were entirely understandable—I myself found Trump’s election deeply worrisome. But, very quickly, the energy began to be channeled into causes and outfits with deep and clear anti-Semitic associations—including, most prominently, the Women’s March. Over the course of two years, the leaders of this organization sang hosannas to Louis Farrakahn, flagrantly used Nation of Islam as security, and used their influence to reframe Israel as the world’s biggest state criminal—quite a feat when you have such a calamity happening next door. Jews expressed their discomfort, but time and again were ignored—even told by some of their own leadership, by some of our own rabbis, that to want people in shared spaces simply not to foment vicious hatred of us was to selfishly “center ourselves.”

After Tablet published a 10,000-word expose, revealing that the Women’s March leadership was veritably soaked in hatred for Jews and Israel, some prominent people in the Democratic Party (though not all) finally felt compelled to distance themselves from these obvious bigots.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB Comments turned off

CHARLOTTES NEWS WEB

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/23/how-tort-law-should-inform-the-reparations-debate/

Why The Case For Reparations Would Be Immediately Thrown Out Of Court
Benjamin R. Dierker, TheFederalist.com

Even if it sounds confusing, tort law is probably the most familiar area of law to the average American. Our incredibly litigious society lionizes tort law in newspaper headlines and Hollywood productions by sensationalizing lawsuits and the resulting jury awards.
www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cnsnewscom-staff/cory-booker-climate-change-must-be-lens-through-which-we-view

Cory Booker: ‘Climate Change Must be the Lens Through Which We View Everything’
Sen. Cory Booker (D.-N.J.) sent out a Tweet today saying that climate change is an “existential crisis” and “must be the lens through which we view everything.”

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7386221/FBI-charges-80-members-international-email-crime-ring-stole-46-million.html

FBI charges 80 members of an international crime ring for ‘stealing at least $46 million through email scams and fake online romances’ in sophisticated operation spanning from LA to Nigeria
DailyMail.co.uk

Authorities unsealed a 252-count grand jury indictment charging 80 suspects, most of them Nigerian, in a major conspiracy to steal millions of dollars
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/foia-uncovers-taxpayer-funded-islamic-propaganda-forced-on-teachers-islam-glorified-christianity-disparaged-and-america-bashed/

FOIA Uncovers Taxpayer-Funded Islamic Propaganda Forced on Teachers, ‘Islam Glorified, Christianity Disparaged and America Bashed’
by Cristina Laila
The Thomas More Law Center, a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, uncovered a massive Islamic propaganda campaign which is being forced onto teachers in public school systems in Michigan and many other states.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Congressional Jew-Hater for ‘Democratic Values’ The many repugnant words and deeds of Ilhan Omar.

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274658/congressional-jew-hater-democratic-values-discover-networks

Ilhan Omar has once again thrust herself into the spotlight by joining fellow congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in shunning a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel and announcing their intent to instead schedule an independent trip – sponsored by the notoriously anti-Israel nongovernmental organization Miftah – to the Jewish state. But Israel’s government – in accordance with an Israeli law barring the issuance of visas to any foreigners who, like Omar and Tlaib, advocate economic and cultural boycotts against Israel – stated that the two congresswomen would not be permitted to enter the country. Omar described Israel’s move as “an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation.”

But in reality, this self-proclaimed champion of “democratic values” has cultivated a long track record of Jew-hatred and a pronounced affinity for radical Islamists.

In November 2012, for instance – just a few days after Gaza-based Hamas terrorists had launched more than 150 deadly rockets into the Jewish state, prompting an Israeli military response – Omar tweeted that “the apartheid Israeli regime” had “hypnotized the world” in order to conceal its own “evil doings.”

In a 2013 interview on the Twin Cities PBS show Belahdan, Omar mocked Americans for the anxiety they felt about Islamic terrorists: “When I was in college, I took a terrorism class…. The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up.” She then chuckled as she imitated the professor saying “Al Qaeda” and “Hezbollah.” “But you know,” added Omar, “it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with an intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with an intensity. But you say these names [Al Qaeda and Hezbollah] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to leave something…. It’s said with a deeper voice.” (See video)

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Drag Queen Story Hour Branches Out Groundbreaking program expands its outreach in tolerance, diversity and vicious misogyny. Danusha V. Goska

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274697/drag-queen-story-hour-branches-out-danusha-v-goska

A hundred community members crowded my local library’s public meeting space. Thirty or so toddlers nestled in the laps of their moms and dads in the rows of folding chairs. Teachers and administrators from local schools sat front row center.

A man in tattered clothing and a ragged cap appeared on a makeshift stage. He gave his name as “Jim Crow.” His white face was covered with black paint. A large circle of white paint surrounded  his mouth, making his lips look twice their size. “Jim” arched his back so that his buttocks protruded; in fact, his buttocks appeared to be padded with pillows worn under his colorfully patched and threadbare trousers. He waved his hands about wildly – “jazz hands.” The children in the audience laughed with delight at Jim’s screwball antics. Moms and dads smiled indulgently. School administrators took notes on their cell phones. I could just tell that some were already planning to book Jim for their next school assembly. Heather Truwright, our librarian and hostess, wore a triumphant grin.

Next. Mr. Bones and Mr. Interlocutor entered. Whereas Jim wore the rags of a plantation slave, Bones and Interlocutor wore exaggerated suits, with wildly colored, outsized, and clashing vests, jackets, hats, and gloves. They were clearly costumed as the flashy nouveau riche, too gauche and ignorant to know how to dress properly. Like Jim, their faces were covered with black paint, except for the exaggerated lips. In their case, they used red to emphasize their lip size.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Beth Van Duyne: A champion of freedom fights for a spot in Congress By Amil Imani

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/beth_van_duyne_a_champion_of_freed

Former popular Irving mayor Beth Van Duyne has left her post at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office in Fort Worth.  She announced on social media on August 5 that she plans to run for the United States Congress District 24, which covers parts of Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton Counties.

I have known Beth throughout her incredible career in the City of Irving, and I am excited that she has decided to announce her candidacy.  A person of her outstanding principles is urgently needed in Washington, even though she will be missed here at home.

Beth started her public service ten years ago, when she worked tirelessly to build a children’s park.  Next, she ran for City Council, and later, she served with distinction as mayor of Irving.  When the call came from President Trump’s administration, she, characteristically, offered her much valued services.

Now Texas and the nation need her in Washington, and once again, she is willingly answering the call for service in the United States Congress, where she can be a resonant voice for principled conservatism that has made this country the standard-bearer for democracy and freedom.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Muslims Against Antisemitism by Denis MacEoin

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14568/muslims-against-antisemitism

It is important… to note that, in recent years, many Muslims have openly and firmly come out to oppose all forms of Jewish hatred and anti-Zionism.

In the West, they are the best integrated, and therefore and should be given the greatest support from social agencies and governments.

On April 24, 2014, thirty French imams signed an open letter in Le Monde, in which they denounced antisemitism and terrorism… Similarly, [in] May 18, 2018, a group of prominent British Muslims placed an open letter… in the Daily Telegraph to urge other Muslims to come out against antisemitism whenever it can be seen.

“[W]e also admit and have to be honest that there is a substantial set of people within Muslim communities who circulate anti-Semitic tropes and who use the Palestinians and their quest for statehood, as a means of targeting Jewish communities. This is not acceptable….” — ‘Muslims Against Antisemitism’ website (United Kingdom).

These reform-minded individuals and groups deserve our full support.

It is no secret that Muslims have for centuries found ways to follow an anti-Jewish ideology embedded within holy books. In the Qur’an, for instance, one verse says:

Say (O Muhammad SAW to the people of the Scripture): “Shall I inform you of something worse than that, regarding the recompense from Allah: those (Jews) who incurred the Curse of Allah and His Wrath, those of whom (some) He transformed into monkeys and swines, those who worshipped Taghut (false deities); such are worse in rank (on the Day of Resurrection in the Hell­fire), and far more astray from the Right Path (in the life of this world).” — (Qur’an 5:60; Mohsin Khan translation]

A hadith promises:

“That on Judgment Day, the Muslims will fight the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees. Then the rocks and the trees will speak, calling upon the Muslims: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill them.'”

Islamic antisemitism is not just a matter of history; it still continues in surprisingly large proportions across the Muslim world as well as the United States and Europe.

A 2014 survey of antisemitism by the US Anti-Defamation League (ADL) covered 100 countries. It found that all the nations in the top 10 most antisemitic locations were in the Middle East or North Africa region, with an overall figure of 73%. The West Bank and Gaza came at the top, with 93% of Palestinians expressing antisemitic views.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Bernie Sanders: The $6 Trillion Man

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://issuesinsights.com/2019/08/23/

One of the four leading Democrats running for president, Bernie Sanders announced this week that, if elected, he’ll spend $16.3 trillion over the next decade to decarbonize the economy. That’s a big number. But it’s only one of Sanders’ “bold” plans that, when added up, would more than double the size of the federal government.

The details of Sanders’ “Green New Deal” aren’t particularly important. Suffice it to say, the plan is stuffed to the brim with pie-in-the-sky assumptions and massive new government programs. The Democratic senator wants to spend $681 billion on a “vehicle trade-in program,” another $407 billion to replace school buses, $216 billion to replace every truck. That’s all on just one page of his Green New Deal plan.

All told, he wants to dump more than $16 trillion over 10 years on these and other boondoggles.

Incredible as it might seem, the Green New Deal isn’t even the biggest ticket item on Sanders’ agenda. That trophy goes to his Medicare for All plan, which clocks in at $32.6 trillion (which is a decidedly lowball estimate).

Then there’s Sanders’ plan for free college — $480 billion over the next decade — and canceling all outstanding college student loan debt. That adds up to another $2 trillion hit to taxpayers.

Sanders also proposes guaranteed government jobs. Cost estimates for this range from $32 billion a year to $543 billion a year. Of the four studies that have looked into it, the average cost works out to $3.5 trillion over 10 years.

Sanders still isn’t done. He also wants to expand Social Security benefits with a plan that would cost taxpayers $1.8 trillion over a decade.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The War on ‘White Supremacy’ Invades the Farmer’s Market by Julie Kelly

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

amgreatness.com/2019/08/22/the-war-on-white-supremacy-invades-the-farmers-market/

The mayor of Bloomington, Indiana knows who is responsible for the race-related turmoil plaguing his town’s weekly farmer’s market and dividing his college community: Donald Trump, of course.

In a press conference last month announcing he would suspend the popular event for two weeks amid accusations one of the vendors is a white supremacist, Mayor John Hamilton said that the nation’s racially charged climate is to blame for his decision.

“A toxic stew of bigotry and hatred, of intolerance and divisiveness, is being brewed by many . . . including our own president,” he told reporters and residents assembled at the Bloomington City Council chambers on July 31. “I am furious that coming from our White House are messages of bigotry and racism.”

Hamilton, a Democrat, then rambled about Trump’s criticism both of “the squad” and of the city of Baltimore—”home to Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall,” he noted—as proof of Trump’s racism. The mayor then went on to condemn his own town’s history, dramatically claiming that “today’s more progressive Bloomington has grown through our 200-year history in a soil laced by that toxin of racism.”

Hamilton also blamed Indiana’s gun laws for fomenting a dangerous environment, suggesting the state allows for “a huge amount of guns to be carried.”

Doxxing Sarah Dye

But the tension at the farmer’s market has nothing to do with Trump or gun control. Schooner Creek Farms, a longtime vendor that sells locally grown produce, is being targeted by left-wing activists—including members of Bloomington Antifa—after one group discovered that anonymous messages posted on a so-called white supremacy chat board had been written by Sarah Dye, one of the farm’s owners.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

San Francisco Introduces Sanitized Language for Criminals (a.k.a. ‘Justice-Involved’ Persons) Debra Heine (????!!!)

Posted By on August 23rd, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/08/22/san-francisco-introduces-sanitized-language-to-describe-criminals-aka-justice-involved-persons/

Who would you be more apt to hire—a “convicted felon” or a “justice-involved person”?

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is betting you would go with the second choice—which is why they have introduced gentle, non-judgmental language to describe hardened criminals and drug offenders. The goal of their nonbinding resolution is to change people’s “racist” views about those who commit crimes—including rapists, pedophile, and murderers, apparently.

The newspeak comes as the city reels from high rates of crime, homelessness and drug abuse, Fox News reported.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, from now on a convicted felon or an offender released from custody will be known as a “formerly incarcerated person,” or a “justice-involved” person or just a “returning resident.”

A juvenile “delinquent” will now be called a “young person with justice system involvement,” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system.”

And drug addicts or substance abusers, meanwhile, will become “a person with a history of substance use.”

One of the objectives of the resolution is to avoid “inaccurate information” reportedly, but the new language seems purposefully misleading. A “justice-involved” person sounds like it could be someone who works in the justice system. Similarly, a “young person with justice system involvement” could well be a teenager who interned in a law office.