P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

The Lehman Trilogy Is a MasterpieceBy Madeleine Kearns

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/the-lehman-trilogy-contemporary-stage-masterpiece/
In New York, Sam Mendes directs a gripping play about faith, family & capitalism.

A man in a sharp suit and dress shoes walks a tightrope between two skyscrapers against the New York City skyline. A silhouette – unmistakable – of the Empire State Building can be seen in the distance.

This is the image promoting The Lehman Trilogy, a gripping three-and-a-half-hour play (including intermissions) currently showing at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, which tells the story of the Lehman family and the collapse of their investment-banking firm, Lehman Brothers, precipitated by the 2008 global financial crisis.

The story begins in 1844, when Hayum Lehmann (soon to be called “Henry Lehman”), the son of a Bavarian cattle merchant, arrived at New York Harbor and set up camp in Montgomery, Ala., soon to be joined by his brothers Emanuel and Mayer. From Eastern Europe to the Deep South to New York City; from cotton to coffee to pure investment banking; from the Civil War to the Great Depression to the 2008 crash – The Lehman Trilogy is a story of immigrants, showcasing American success and Jewish resilience.

Written by Stefano Massini, an Italian playwright, the play was translated from Italian by Mirella Cheeseman and adapted by Ben Power. At the Park Armory, it is brought to life by the National Theatre and Neal Street Productions. Sam Mendes directs Adam Godley, Ben Miles, and Simon Russell Beale – three fine actors – and the result is close to perfection.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Does Ilhan Omar Believe “Zionists/Jews” Are Responsible For 9/11…Like Al-Azhar’s Then U.S. Representative, Sheikh Gamei’a, Did?

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.andrewbostom.org/2019/04/does-ilhan-omar-believe-zionists-jews-are-responsible-for-9-11like-al-azhars-then-u-s-representative-sheikh-gameia-did/

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s now infamous speech at a Hamas-linked Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) event March 23, 2019, was ostensibly about “justice” in Islam. Indeed Ms. Omar, acknowledging that although she wasn’t a hafiz (i.e., an extremely devout Muslim who memorizes the entire Koran; female=“hafiza”), nevertheless riveted her discussion on Koran 4:135. This verse highlights the supremacy of Islam in deciding what is “just”—namely, following the dictates of Allah, exclusively. The intimately related following verses, 4:136, and, especially 4:137, make plain those also provided Islam’s message via Muhammad, who chose to reject it—Jews and Christians—will not be guided, and more ominously, not forgiven, this “transgression.” (for confirmation, see these authoritative Koranic commentaries, here, here, on Koran 4:137).

Appropriately, public attention has been focused on Ilhan Omar’s statement at this CAIR meeting that the cultural jihadist organization,

was founded after 9/11/2001 [note: CAIR was founded in 1994, as a Hamas affiliate] because they recognized that some people did something, and [Muslims] were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.

Amidst the cacophony of well-deserved denunciations leveled at the good Congresswoman for her insensitivity, it is worth asking exactly whom she considers the “some people” that “did something.” This question must be posed to her directly. Why? As Pew polling data have revealed, consistently less than 30% of Ilhan Omar’s co-religionists, Arab and non-Arab Muslims alike, from a “high” of 28% of Lebanese Muslims, to only, 9%, 12%, and 20% of Muslims from Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia, respectively, believe that Arab Muslims were responsible for the 9/11/2001 jihad carnage.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Ukraine’s race a sign of our time By Lawrence J. Haas

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/438733-ukraines-race-a-sign-of-our-time
Ukraine’s presidential election, in which a popular comedian with no political experience is projected to beat a seasoned incumbent with considerable baggage, reflects global trends that continue to shake the global order.

Across the world, economic stagnation, immigration, and other challenges are fueling disgust with traditional politics, leaving voters increasingly attracted to candidates who offer a fresh face and a new approach – even if (or especially if) the candidates are novices and their agendas are vague.

The question is whether, over time, novice leaders (whether in the United States, Ukraine, or elsewhere) adapt to the post-war arrangements that have served the world well for three-quarters of a century, or those arrangements fall victim to unorthodox approaches that new leaders promise and voters seem increasingly willing to try.

That’s a timely question as freedom and democracy are declining around the world, Washington is cooling toward its Western allies and eschewing multilateral trade opportunities, Beijing is promoting an authoritarian alternative to U.S.-led freedom, China and Russia are working more closely in an anti-U.S. axis, and nuclear weaponry threatens to proliferate and further destabilize the world.

On April 21, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian who pretends to be President in a Ukrainian TV show, squares off against the actual incumbent President, Petro Poroshenko, who has served since 2014. In their battle, Zelensky and Poroshenko symbolize the unsettling global politics of our time.

First, it’s a battle between old and new.

Zelensky is what the ancient philosophers called a “Tabula Rasa” (a blank slate), for he has offered few ideas about what he would propose or whether he can work the mechanics of a parliamentary government.

HISTORY Comments turned off

Iran, BDS, and Tales (Tails?) of Binx and Jahandir… Redux by Gerald A. Honigman

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

With increasing popularity of assorted overt and covert anti-Semitic causes and individuals, such as those camouflaged by the so-called Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and characterized by folks like the plethora of duplicitous academics and emerging superstars of the Democrat Party like The Three Amigas (https://ekurd.net/the-three-amigas-2019-02-19), perhaps it’s time to consult a real expert on these matters…my cat, of blessed memory.

Please allow me to backtrack a bit, and I guess it was my own fault.

Way back in late 2004, my two elder daughters brought home a momma cat and two small kittens they had found late at night wandering on the road. Another kitten was allegedly spotted not far away which lost out in its chance encounter with a car…Who could say no to them?

The problem was that we already had three established cats. While we earlier had similar situations involving the two original females, it was Binx, the young male, who (even after being neutered) really proved to be a pistol regarding the newcomers. And I suspect he began by first blaming me.

I kept a box in my bedroom closet with some important material and memorabilia in it. Not a problem–until after our new feline additions entered the picture. Soon after their arrival, Binx was caught in the act of leaving unpleasant souvenirs, if you get my drift, in the box.

Not having much of a choice, I next had to gingerly weed through decades of materials I had saved. Funny what you’ll find when you do this sort of thing.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Labor Department Thinks It Can “Fix” The Lack Of Racial Diversity At Major Law Firms Francis Menton

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2019-4-12-the-labor-department-thinks-it-can-fix-the-lack-of-racial-diversity-at-major-law-firms

On Wednesday of this week, a guy named Craig Leen — Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in the Department of Labor — showed up in Manhattan to hold a “town hall” meeting with representatives of major law firms. The event was covered at law.com here, and then commented on by Paul Mirengoff at Power Line here. The headline of the law.com piece is “Government Warns Law Firms of Consequences for Diversity Failures.” Mirengoff characterizes the DOL’s effort as “seek[ing] to impose a radical diversity agenda on law firms.”

The gist of Leen’s presentation was that you guys have a big problem here that you need to “fix,” or there will be consequences. From law.com:

Craig Leen . . . told industry representatives at a town hall meeting in New York that the scarcity of women and minorities at firms in leading roles has been noted by the office, and it will be taking a closer look. Leen said in a brief interview after the meeting that “there is evidence of low representation at law firms and financial firms, and our goal is to fix it and work with them to do so.” . . . Leen said during Wednesday’s meeting that the office looks at systemic issues, “and we are seeing serious issues.”

So what’s your game plan, Craig? The law.com article describes Leen making veiled threats of cutting off federal contracts for firms that don’t meet some unstated targets. He made these remarks to the right group, since there is no collection of people more filled with a deep sense of guilt over their success than major law firm leaders. On the other hand, since federal contracts are a very small part of the business of major law firms, the chance of Leen’s threat having any meaningful effect is about zero.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

MY SAY: ANNA WINTOUR FASHIONISTA AND HYPOCRITE

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

Anna Wintour, the longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue, magazine, explained why she will never have Melania Trump on the cover: “”You have to stand up for what you believe in, you have to take a point of view,” she told chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour. “Hmmm….

In 2011 with the assent of Ms.Wintour, Vogue magazine featured an adoring paean to Asma Assad the first lady of Syria – consort to Bashar al-Assad.

This is from that column since “disappeared” from the website.

Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert by Joan Juliet Buck

“Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic—the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment. She’s a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement. Paris Match calls her “the element of light in a country full of shadow zones.” She is the first lady of Syria.

Syria is known as the safest country in the Middle East, possibly because, as the State Department’s Web site says, “the Syrian government conducts intense physical and electronic surveillance of both Syrian citizens and foreign visitors.” It’s a secular country where women earn as much as men and the Muslim veil is forbidden in universities, a place without bombings, unrest, or kidnappings, but its shadow zones are deep and dark. Asma’s husband, Bashar al-Assad, was elected president in 2000, after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, with a startling 97 percent of the vote.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

EU’s Collusion with Iran by Judith Bergman

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14006/eu-collusion-

The main purpose of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) is to ensure that Europe — and potentially third countries — can continue doing business with the mullahs in Iran without risking US penalties for contravening US sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini seems strongly committed to ensuring that Iran — and Europe — continue receiving economic benefits from the illegal, unsigned, and unratified Iran nuclear deal. Mogherini insisted that Iran is complying with the JCPOA. It is not. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, referring to documents seized by Israel, stated that the nuclear deal was “built on lies” .

No amount of human rights abuses, however atrocious — or terrorism, even against its own citizens; or cheating to acquire deliverable nuclear capability to unleash on Israel, the US and eventually threaten the entire West — will, it seems, deter the EU from its criminal collusion with Iran. Europe seems determined to wade into its own destruction with its eyes wide open.

On January 31, Britain, France and Germany announced a new payment mechanism known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). It was designed to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, after the US left the deal in May 2018 and reinstated — as well as broadened — US sanctions on the country in November 2018. The main purpose of INSTEX is to ensure that Europe — and potentially third countries – can continue doing business with the mullahs in Iran without risking US penalties for contravening US sanctions.

“INSTEX will support legitimate European trade with Iran, focusing initially on the sectors most essential to the Iranian population — such as pharmaceutical, medical devices and agri-food goods,” the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France said in a joint statement. In the longer term, INSTEX aims to be open to other countries wanting to trade with Iran, the statement said. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, said INSTEX was “essential for the continued full implementation of the nuclear deal”.

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The BDS Movement Is a Cleverly Disguised Campaign to Destroy Israel By Alex Titus & Alexander Khan

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/the-bds-movement-is-a-cleverly-disguised-campaign-to-destroy-israel/

Don’t be fooled by talk of ‘social justice’ and ‘human rights.’ The movement is anti-Semitic to its core.

Outrage ensued on social media and university campuses across America this past week when it was reported that the U.S. government had denied prominent Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti entry into the country. Barghouti had planned to come to the U.S. to promote the highly controversial Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement he co-founded.

BDS supporters claim that they want to put economic pressure on Israel to reach agreement on a peaceful and fair solution to its conflict with the Palestinians, and their message has found increasing traction in the U.S. The controversial Democratic representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar have lent the movement high-profile support. The New York Times Magazine recently published a pro-BDS cover story written by a highly controversial political journalist. Altogether, 31 universities have passed BDS measures since 2015, and, since 2005, 127 such measures have been considered.

The truth is that many of the students and activists who support the movement have been duped into thinking they’re supporting a noble cause. In fact, BDS is little more than a ploy established and run by radical anti-Semites who deny Israel’s right to exist and seek to destroy it.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Anti-Bill Barr Smear Campaign By The Editors

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/william-barr-attorney-general-smear-campaign/

The campaign against Attorney General Bill Barr is in full swing. We are told that he’s a tawdry tool of Donald Trump, that he’s disgracing himself and sullying his reputation, that he’s the equivalent of a Roy Cohn, the sleazy lawyer who once represented Trump back in New York.

The criticism of Barr reached a crescendo this week after he used the word “spying” in congressional testimony to refer to the surveillance of Trump campaign officials in 2016. The reaction to his testimony was absurdly over-the-top. Yes, the word “spying” has a negative connotation, but it’s functionally indistinguishable from “surveiling.” To wit: The FISA court that approves the FBI’s surveillance is sometimes referred to in the press as the “spy court.”

There is no doubt that Trump officials were surveilled or spied on. The FBI famously acquired a FISA warrant against Carter Page, who briefly served as a Trump foreign-policy adviser. It is true that the FBI began surveilling Page in October 2016 after he left the campaign, but the warrant allowed it to look back at his communications during his time with the campaign.

BOOKS Comments turned off

‘The Unwanted’ Review: One Small Town in Germany Michael Dobbs chronicles the plight of one of Kippenheim’s families as they race to escape the quick-step march toward genocide. A Review by Diane Cole

Posted By on April 13th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-unwanted-review-one-small-town-in-germany-11555107612

When I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., recently, I found the lobby packed with middle- and high-school students from around the country. At first their spirits seemed buoyed by a day away from the classroom. It did not take long, however, for the chilling documentary evidence of Nazi genocide—gruesome photographs of partially burned corpses, a display of bales of hair shaved from female prisoners at Auschwitz—to shock the youths into solemnity. As the students stepped inside a cattle car used to transport Jews to the death camp, their mouths began to open wide as if to ask, What if this had been me sealed inside?

I finished reading Michael Dobbs’s “The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz, and a Village Caught In Between” with much the same question. Mr. Dobbs affectingly braids three separate narratives into one. His primary goal is to trace the plight and fate of the Jewish families who lived in one small town in Hitler’s Germany. But the outcome of these personal stories cannot be untangled from two other historical strands: Hitler’s increasingly brutal war against the Jews; and America’s ambivalent response to the urgent pleas of those trapped inside Nazi Europe. From these threads Mr. Dobbs weaves a devastating tapestry of too many hopes wrecked and too few lives saved.