ISRAEL Comments turned off

Right from Wrong: No wonder antisemites hate us Jews cannot escape targeted hatred by changing their address. By Ruthie Blum

Posted By on May 3rd, 2019

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-from-Wrong-No-wonder-antisemites-hate-us-588552

It was horrifically fitting that Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day mere days after a crazed Jew-hater went on a shooting spree at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego, killing 60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye and costing Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 57, his index finger. In an additional tragic twist, the two other congregants who miraculously survived with shrapnel injuries were 34-year-old Israeli Almog Peretz and his eight-year-old niece, Noya, whose parents fled incessant Hamas rocket fire in their hometown of Sderot to live in the United States. You know, for a little peace and quiet, away from blood-thirsty terrorists trying to murder them for being Jews. That was eight years ago.

Sadly for the Dahan family, the synagogue attack was not their first brush with antisemitism in America. In 2012, their house in Sunny southern California was spray-painted with a swastika.

This unfortunate but age-old fact hit home again hard in two new reports, one by the Anti-Defamation League, and the other by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry in conjunction with the European Jewish Congress, or EJC. According to the ADL report, which was released on Tuesday, “The US Jewish community experienced near-historic levels of antisemitism in 2018, including a doubling of antisemitic assaults and the single deadliest attack [the Tree of Life Synagogue slaughter in Pittsburgh] against the Jewish community in American history.”

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

My Problem With Yom HaShoah…Holocaust Memorial Day by Gerald A. Honigman

Posted By on May 3rd, 2019

May 1, 2019 was Holocaust Memorial Day, this year–Yom HaShoah.
I’ve attended most commemorations over the years and thus obviously agree that it’s good to have a day set aside for remembering the Holocaust.

Indeed, I’ve worked most of my life trying to see to it that “Never Again” will be a truism forever by defending Israel, its right to thrive–not just survive–in relatively secure, far more defensible, real borders than those imposed upon the reborn Jewish State by the United Nations armistice lines in 1949. Those made Israel smaller in width (9-15 miles) at its strategic waist than the size of some Texas driveways–at least according to President George W. Bush. I’ve also fought for relative justice for all peoples, Jew and non-Jew alike, with my pen, via other media, and additional means of communication and education for over half century now.

This year, however, I did not attend.

In honesty, however, there was another reason, eating away at me for quite some time, for my hesitancy to join once again in this annual public display of sympathy for dead Jews.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Westernization of Arab demography Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Posted By on May 3rd, 2019

https://bit.ly/2VBub5l

“The fertility declines recorded in the Arab world over the past 30 years (1988-2018) have been profound, even revolutionary…The Arab world is in the midst of one of the most dramatic fertility declines in world history….From among the highest to among the lowest [fertility levels] in the world…without major economic development or strong family planning programs….” (Prof. Marcia Inhorn, Yale University, Spring/Summer 2018 issue of The Brown Journal of World Affairs).

This dramatic transformation of Arab/Islamic demography was also documented by American Enterprise Institute’s Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt.

In 2019 – in defiance of conventional wisdom and the demographic establishment – the Westernized Arab fertility, throughout the Middle East, is a byproduct of a dramatic transformation of Arab society:

(a) A radical shift from rural (farming) to urban society has drastically reduced Arab families’ need for manpower, resulting in a much smaller nuclear family.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

“The Month That Was – April 2019” Sydney M. Williams

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

http://swtotd.blogspot.com/

It wasn’t so much the release of the Mueller report – that was expected, as were its contents, at least by people like me – it was the reaction of Democrats, and others with TDS (Trump Derangemnt Syndrome), which showed that hatred for the President supersedes concern for liberalism. The report stated that no member of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to sway the 2016 election. The report also said that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges of obstruction against the President. A bill of clean health, presented by a man who was no fan of the President, should have been reason to move onto other issues:immigration, healthcare, defense, taxes and debt, even Socialism, if that’s what the people prefer – issues on which reasonable people disagree and that are of importance to us all, to our democracy. Instead, the left is playing to its extremist base – pursuing any avenue, including impeachment, that can hamper the President, in his quest for re-election. The Mueller investigation was initiated by Democrats, but it is a game on which there are two sides. In the next few weeks, Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to issue his summation of possible abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by top officials in the Obama Administration, and the role played by the Steele Dossier, which was compiled on behalf of Fusion GPS and paid for by the Clinton Campaign and the DNC. Personal hatred for Mr. Trump has been the driving force and the division it has caused will not soon be remedied.

That Robert Mueller was a biased investigator could be seen in his gratuitous observation that the special counsel’s report “does not exonerate” Mr. Trump. It is not the function of a prosecutor (or a special investigator) to “exonerate” anyone, or even offer opinions. His investigation was to gather facts and determine whether charges should be brought. If evidence of wrong-doing was there, an indictment from a Grand Jury would have been sought, or the impeachment process would have begun. If not, he should have said nothing. We live in a country under the rule of law, where an accused is innocent until proven guilty. With not enough evidence to charge Mr. Trump with a crime, Mr. Mueller’s job was done. Mr. Trump and his campaign did not collude with the Russians. It is odd that the mainstream media did not revel in the fact that while Russia attempted to interfere in our election, they were unsuccessful. That should have been reason to celebrate. It apparently was not. Calls for impeachment grew louder. The Pandora Box being opened by those like Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) will reverberate down through the years and will come to haunt those who believe a desired end justifies any means, legal or illegal, ethical or unethical.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Holiday Massacres of Christians: A New Fact of Life by Raymond Ibrahim

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14135/holiday-massacres-christians

Notably, other Christian holidays, especially Christmas, are also prime times for Islamic terror, and for the same reasons — to make a “point” and because at that time, churches are especially packed.

Commenting on the most recent carnage of Christians — last Easter Sunday’s bombing campaign in Sri Lanka, where more than 250 people were murdered — the country’s archbishop said, “we never expected such a thing to happen and especially on Easter Sunday.”

Sadly, as bombed churches and massacred worshippers during Christian holy days have become the new norm, he and everyone else should expect exactly that.

Although the Islamic terrorist bombings that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday — killing more than 250 people, most in churches — have shocked many, spectacular terrorist attacks on Easter are far more common than supposed.

Jihadi logic is simple: not only do attacks on Christians during their greatest holidays make a symbolic point; but because churches are often packed then — especially Easter, or Resurrection Sunday — they also potentially offer the greatest harvest in casualties.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

European Elections: “The Battle for Europe has Begun” by Soeren Kern

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14168/european-elections-prague

“We are fighting for Europe to remain European, with European values….” — Tomio Okamura, President, Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) and Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.

“My friends, we are gathered here today to stand up for our freedom and our sovereignty. The most precious things we have. Because without a strong nation state, there is no democracy. And without democracy there are no liberties…. My friends, our countries are strong nations. Based on a Jewish-Christian and humanistic civilization. That should never change. So, we want to control our own borders again. We do not want mass immigration. And we do not want to be invaded by a tyrannical ideology.” — Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV).

“However, my friends, it isn’t easy to leave the EU, as the British have found out. Despite a majority voting for Brexit, the establishment and the EU have colluded to stop us.” — Janice Atkinson, British MEP, who is also Vice Chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) political group in the European Parliament.

“Immigration must be stopped, and the Islamist ideology must be eradicated…. Islamization and globalism are new totalitarianisms that threaten European countries.” — Marine Le Pen, Prague Press Conference.

The leaders of several European nationalist parties campaigned in Prague on April 25, ahead of the European Parliament elections set for May 23-26.The rally was sponsored by the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENF), a pan-European alliance of nine nationalist parties dedicated to stopping mass migration and recovering national sovereignty from the European Union.

POLITICS Comments turned off

A Tribe of Her Own By Jackson Scott

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/05/01/a-tribe-of-her-own/

“Today’s Democratic oligarchs have the perfect disguise. With their “protecting the little guy” posture, they appear to be on the side of lower classes when they are really protecting and extending their own privileges. Student loan forgiveness is just the latest example in a long chain of hypocrisy and deception.”

As presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren continues to find her people among the Democratic Party base, the senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts has been slinging government proposals like arrows at the battle of Little BigHorn.

Yet with her recent plan to forgive tens of billions in student loans and make college free, the former Harvard professor serves a tribe that may adopt her. And though her candidacy may soon be seeking a burial ground, her proposal likely will live on as it resonates with many tribes within the Democratic base.

Warren proposed student loan forgiveness for anyone up to $50,000 in student debt. On a sliding scale for high earners, the proposal applies to anyone making under $250,000 a year. As it stands, Warren’s plan can work with loans taken out for any type of degree—even if you only took out a few extra loans to get your MBA at Yale.

Warren insists that those who stand to benefit from this proposal are the working class, minorities, and middle-class people. This gets much harder to believe when you break down who actually goes to college and who goes into debt while going to college.

MEDIA Comments turned off

Max Boot: Israel and Foreign Leaders Control Trump Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273642/max-boot-israel-and-foreign-leaders-control-trump-daniel-greenfield

Max Boot’s entire pathetic career proves the old saw about patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel.

His latest column in the Washington Post, a paper that has practically outsourced its coverage of the Middle East to Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood is an attack on, what else, the idea of naming the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group.

Let’s start by flashing back to just how ignorant Boot was about the region during the Arab Spring in this exchange on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

HH: This afternoon, Max Boot, the official news agency of the Emirates announced that it was providing, that the United Arab Emirates was providing Egypt with a billion dollar grant, and a two billion dollar interest-free loan. And Reuters reported the Saudis are approving a package totaling five billion. One of the crises has been, of course, the soaring cost of fuel in the country. So the neighboring, conservative, stable regimes are doing what they can. Doesn’t that show the United States that the region wants a non-Brotherhood-dominated government?

MB: Well, you know, regimes like the ones in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, of course they want a non-Muslim Brotherhood government. But they also want a non-democratic government. I mean, their preference is for strongmen autocratic types, but that’s not necessarily our preference, because we’ve seen throughout the Muslim world for decades, they’ve been rules by autocrats, and the result of that has been a backlash among their people, which has led to the creation of groups like al Qaeda, which was founded by Ayman al-Zawahiri, along with Osama bin Laden. And Zawahiri, of course, the current leader, is an Egyptian. Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian, the father of modern Islamism. This is really where a lot of the venom and the hatred that drives forward terrorism, this is where it comes from. And so we can’t just afford to follow the advice of the Saudis or Qataris and say oh, hey, we’d like to see the military in power for another 50 years. There has to be a better way here.

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Muslim Cop Mohamed Noor Convicted of Murder And a Muslim convert planned to “pick off Jews walking to synagogue” before a bombing in Long Beach. May 2, 2019 Lloyd Billingsley

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273648/muslim-cop-mohamed-noor-convicted-murder-lloyd-billingsley

A Minnesota jury on Tuesday found former Minnesota police officer Mohamed Noor guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the 2017 case of Justine Damond, whom Noor shot dead after she called 911 to report a possible rape.

Officer Noor, a Somalia-born Muslim, testified that after the 911 call, he and his partner Matthew Harrity were checking out an alley behind the Damond residence when they heard a loud bang on the car. Noor said he saw a blond woman in a pink shirt raise her arm at Harrity’s window, and claimed he fired to protect his partner’s life.

According to testimony from the medical examiner, Noor’s bullet struck an abdominal artery and the 40-year-old Australian-American, who was to be married within a month, lost so much blood that prompt medical attention might not have saved her. It also emerged in testimony that officer Harrity first mentioned the bang on the car three days after his partner Noor shot Damond. Neither officer mentioned it at the scene, and Mohamed Noor refused to speak with state investigators.

As prosecutors noted, no forensic evidence proved that Damond even touched the squad car, as the shooter Mohamed Noor claimed. The Somali-born Muslim, 33, had been a prize police recruit, celebrated as an example of diversity. After charges were filed, Noor lost his job but the local police association supported him.

Six of the 12 jurors, including the two women, were “people of color.” They took less then 12 hours to find Noor guilty. Damond’s family was satisfied with the verdict, but not Noor’s cousin Goth Ali, who told reporters ““What happened was injustice. This is shocking. My cousin didn’t get a fair trial.” The Somali-American Police Association (SAPA) felt likewise.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Use and Abuse of Political Accountability The lethal dangers of leaving unpunished the principle of equality before the law. Bruce Thornton

Posted By on May 2nd, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273610/use-and-abuse-political-accountability-bruce-thornton

In the aftermath of the Mueller investigation, both parties are calling for accountability. Dems believe that despite Mueller’s findings of the president’s innocence of collusion, Donald Trump obstructed justice and must be held to account by impeachment. Republicans are demanding that the federal perpetrators of the Russian “collusion delusion” be made to answer for their violations of the Constitution and the laws limiting their powers.

Beyond the partisan divide, we are witnessing the uses and abuses of one of the fundamental building-blocks of political freedom––the assertion of the citizenry’s right to call out and punish those politicians and public servants who exceed the legal limits placed on a political power that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Like free speech, term limits, and regularly elected or appointed offices, accountability reinforces the central premise of political freedom: that power is not the personal possession of individual men or women, but belongs to the community of citizens as a whole. Accountability checks and deters the innate human tendency to abuse power, and thus to weaken political freedom with tyranny: “That arbitrary power,” as Aristotle defined it, “of an individual which is responsible to no one, and governs all alike, whether equals or betters, with a view to its own advantage, not to that of its subjects, and therefore against their will. No freeman willingly endures such a government.”

There is no question that accountability is due for the sorry spectacle of the Russian collusion hoax. It was created and nourished by so-called public servants in the FBI and Department of Justice. Despite their responsibility to honor the Constitution and maintain political neutrality in performing their duties, officials like James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper, Bruce Ohr, Andre McCabe, and other members of the Obama administration abused their professional ethics in order to weaken one party in a presidential election and to help the other whom they preferred. Then after Trump was elected, they worked to cripple his presidency, engineering the appointment of a special counsel who spent two years investigating a charge that relied on flimsy and dishonest predicates easily debunked by information already public.