MEDIA Comments turned off

George Soros, Person of the Year? By L. Charm Tenenbaum ????!!!!

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/12/george_soros_person_of_the_year.html

Call it Saddiq Khan’s London. Call it Jeremy Corbin’s London. The right call is to note the unmitigated gall of the Financial Times, the bible of the securities marketplace, having bestowed its “Person of the Year” honoraria upon fellow globalist George Soros.

While The Hague fiddles as George Soros ages (currently 88), with nary an interested tribunal convened for his participation in the Holocaust, his is a case deserving of dispensing charges related to “crimes against Humanity,” the “smoking gun,” his own “undisputed truth” offered during a CBS 60 Minutes interview (Sunday, December 20, 1998), concerning his youth as a willing “aide de camp” to a non-Jewish “godfather” – a serf in Hungary’s Ministry of Agriculture, having groomed a willing Soros to accompany him on his appointed rounds delivering deportation notices and cultivating lists of the properties confiscated from Soros’s fellow Jews – Soros with requisite clipboard, the Jews on their requisite death march to Auschwitz. In the interview, Soros offered no less than soulless quips, defending his conduct of complicity under the Reich.

When questioned by correspondent Steve Kroft as to his activities, Soros maintained, “My character was made because I thought ahead anticipating events,” adding, “The confiscations weren’t difficult at all.”

Since one cannot teach a young sociopath new tricks, a movement to beatify Soros at eighty-eight is in full swing, as noted with his being honored by The Financial Times. Even his son Alexander, a student at UCLA Berkeley, has come out of the shadows, seeking to ban negativity toward his father, having written an op-ed for The New York Times, “The Hate That Is Consuming Us” (October 24, 2018), wherein the reader, at first glance, would think Alexander’s screed concentrates on the crime at large against his father, whereby a mad bomb-maker and sender chose the elder Soros as one of his victims. Instead, the crux of the article showcases Alexander focusing his wrath on President Donald Trump, the man and his populist politics, crucifying an innocent via the Pontius Pilate playbook, as the son offers his own rendition of “The Executioner’s Song.” Note: Alexander, by offering the determined flippancy of the nefarious particulars surrounding his father’s life and times in 1944 Budapest, merely states, “My father grew up in the shadow of the Nazi Regime in Hungary.” Whether Alexander was conscious or not, his sin of omission opened a can of worms over his father’s life and times in 1944 Budapest. In the meantime, George Soros has shown he’s still not finished with the Jews.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Progressive Campus Caucus Targets Religious Jewish Prof and Evangelical Christian Provost

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272354/progressive-campus-caucus-targets-religious-jewish-daniel-greenfield

It’s true in America. It’s true in New York, as this Armin Rosen investigation at The Tablet.

Michael Goldstein is a midlevel administrator and adjunct professor in the business department of Kingsborough Community College. For the past 10 months, he has been the target of a sustained campaign calling for his termination. In late May, as many as 1,500 flyers were distributed on the 16,000-student campus on the southern edge of Brooklyn calling for Goldstein, who is the son of the college’s late president, Leon Goldstein, to be fired. The notices featured examples of the “extreme racist, sexist, anti-Muslim Facebook screen shots of Michael Goldstein,” one of which happened to include an image of his 13-year-old daughter…

Between June 15 and Nov. 10, four articles on the website of the self-described communist Progressive Labor Party have referred to an organized campaign to have Goldstein dismissed from the college. “KCC Students and Workers Fight Racist Goldstein” the first article was headlined; one article, from August, claimed that the as-yet unfired Goldstein was “protected by a network of Zionists among the faculty.”

Months earlier, on Feb. 22, the words “fuck Trump Goldstein” and “kill Zionist entity” were scrawled on a photo of Goldstein’s late father that hung near his office. On Oct. 4, the same day as a college council meeting in which rising intrafaculty tensions on campus were discussed, nails were inserted into the tires of cars belonging to Jeffrey Lax, the head of the college’s business department, in which Goldstein teaches.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Murder in Morocco Just don’t call it Jihad. Bruce Bawer

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272332/murder-morocco-bruce-bawer

It was only last July 29 that Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, a young American couple who had spent the previous year bicycling across much of Africa, Europe, and southern Asia, were murdered by ISIS members in Tajikistan. The story made international headlines. What added to the widespread interest in their fate was the fact that they had kept a blog of their journey, complete with photos and philosophical reflections. Repeatedly they denied the reality of evil and expressed the view that people are basically good. Reader comments on a New York Times article about the couple that appeared after their deaths celebrated them as “heroic,” “authentic,” “idealistic,” “inspiring,” “a Beautiful example of Purity and Light,” and so on. I disagreed. “Their naivete,” I noted in a piece I wrote about them, “is nothing less than breathtaking.”

Now comes the story of Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, which captured the interest of people in Norway and Denmark all last week. Ueland (28) was Norwegian; Jespersen (24) was Danish. They were students together at the campus of the University of South-Eastern Norway in Bø, a small Telemark mountain town (pop. 6,000) that happens to be in my own neck of the woods. Both Ueland and Jespersen were majoring in something called friluftsliv og kultur- og naturveiledning, a combination of words that defines precise translation; suffice it to say that the subject is designed for students who want to work in the outdoors, to lead guided tours in the woods, and to point out items of cultural interest to hikers – that sort of thing.

No field of study could be more archetypically Norwegian. Until recently, the official state religion of Norway was Lutheranism, but the country’s real religion is nature – specifically, going for a walk in the mountains: fresh air, quiet, serenity, a sense of being in touch with the eternal and divine. This activity even has its own standard set of rituals, among them the practice of taking along a couple of oranges, a Kvikk Lunsj (that’s a brand name) chocolate bar, a Thermos of hot chocolate and another Thermos containing boiled hot dogs. A common expression here is “Ut på tur, aldri sur” – take a walk in the wood and you’ll always feel good!

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Trump Administration Restricts Chinese Students Finally, America confronts a massive espionage operation. Michael Cutler

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272324/trump-administration-restricts-chinese-students-michael-cutler

On December 2, 2018 Voice Of America (VOA) published a news report, US Considers New Restrictions on Chinese Students.

This is certainly welcome news. The actions of the Trump administration to restrict Chinese students studying in the United States has been long overdue given the outrageous conduct of the Chinese government in its massive spying program against the United States; which has been so pervasive that it has come to be sarcastically referred to by the American intelligence community as “Chinese Take-Out!”

Here is how the VOA article began:

The administration of American President Donald Trump is considering new restrictions on Chinese students entering the U.S.

U.S. officials say increased concerns over spying and the loss of new technologies are among the reasons.

In June, the U.S. State Department shortened the length of stay for visas given to Chinese graduate students studying in several fields. The fields include flight, robotics and some kinds of manufacturing. Visas were shortened from five years to one.

At the time, the officials said the goal was to limit the risk of spying and of the loss of intellectual property that is important to national security.

Now, the Trump administration is considering whether to carry out additional investigations of Chinese students attending U.S. schools.

Reuters news agency reported that officials want to examine student phone calls. They also are considering looking at students’ personal accounts on Chinese and U.S. social media sites.

Since taking office, President Trump has refused to follow the well-worn path of previous presidents who failed to put the interests of America and Americans first. This includes how the U.S. deals with China.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Ryan Zinke’s Parting Gift Interior rolls out plans to begin Alaska oil drilling as early as 2019.

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ryan-zinkes-parting-gift-11545689550

Ryan Zinke is resigning as Interior Secretary at the end of the year, though it’s fitting that he is finishing with one last policy bang. The Bureau of Land Management last week took a major step to open up a corner of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.

BLM’s draft environmental impact statement tees up a 45-day public comment period and final rule that should launch lease sales for ANWR as early as 2019. Opponents say the process is rushed, but federal and state agencies have been planning for this since Congress set aside 1.6 million acres of ANWR’s 19.3 million acres for development in 1980. Congress finally authorized drilling as part of last year’s tax reform, and Interior envisions lease sales in 2019 of “not fewer than 400,000 acres”—or less than 3% of ANWR acreage.

That production will have widespread benefits, as the U.S. Geological Survey estimates ANWR’s coastal plain holds 10.4 billion barrels of oil. The region could pump 1.45 million barrels a day at peak production—a quarter of what the U.S. now imports from OPEC countries. The drilling will create thousands of jobs and tens of billions in federal revenue.

Mr. Zinke, a Navy SEAL before entering Congress from Montana, made a notable reform difference in two years. He made progress on a $12 billion infrastructure backlog in national parks, prioritized active forest management to mitigate wildfires, started to move some offices to the West from Washington, and gave front-line managers more authority. He also scaled back Barack Obama’s too-expansive monument designations, streamlined permitting for resource development, and ramped up leases for onshore and offshore oil drilling.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Phony Attack on William Barr If the criticism is serious, it amounts to a demand that only the ignorant be considered for high office. By Michael B. Mukasey

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-phony-attack-on-william-barr-11545689892

William Barr is probably the best-qualified nominee for U.S. attorney general since Robert Jackson in 1940. Jackson had been solicitor general and would later serve on the Supreme Court. Mr. Barr has already served as attorney general under George H.W. Bush, as well as assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, the authoritative voice within the Justice Department on issues of law throughout the government.

Yet critics decry his nomination, or at least insist that he recuse himself from supervising special counsel Robert Mueller, because of an unsolicited memo he wrote last June to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who then had supervisory responsibility for the Mueller investigation, and Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel, current head of the Office of Legal Counsel. The memo criticizes one obstruction-of-justice theory that some have speculated Mr. Mueller is pursuing.

The criticisms of Mr. Barr and his memo are meritless. The 19-page document does not fault the Mueller investigation of a possible criminal connection between the Trump campaign and Russia, or even any of its secondary and tertiary prongs such as the prosecutions of Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen and George Papadopoulos. It argues forcefully that the president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice based either on his May 2017 firing of James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or his purported earlier request that Mr. Comey go easy on former national security adviser Mike Flynn.

Mr. Barr’s memo acknowledges that he has no inside knowledge on the facts of the case, and that factors unknown to him may be in play, including the possibility that Mr. Mueller has an entirely different—and legitimate—obstruction theory in mind.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Palestinian Christians living in Gaza are under threat not to celebrate Christmas, a flyer circulated by an Islamist group reveals. By Yona Schnitzer

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://worldisraelnews.com/radical-islamists-in-gaza-wage-war-on-christmas/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notification&utm_campaign=PushCrew_notification_1545646924&pushcrew_powered=1

A flyer circulated by the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, a coalition of small-scale Islamist groups operating in Gaza, warns the 1,300 Christians living in Gaza, as well as Muslims looking to take part in the holiday festivities, that celebration of the Christian holiday is forbidden by Islam.

The leaflet includes quotes from the Koran alongside a burning Christmas tree.

Israel, however, has taken special measures to assist Palestinian Christians in observing the holiday. On December 19th, Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun met with various Palestinian leaders, including some residing in the Gaza Strip, presenting special measures such as more flexibility in granting permits for Christian Gazans to visit family members both in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and abroad via Ben Gurion Airport.

Roughly 50 percent of all Christians living in Gaza have received these special permits.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Israelis Nervous About U.S. Withdrawal From Syria, Fearing Iranian Gains- David Isaac

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://freebeacon.com/blog/israelis-nervous-about-u-s-withdrawal-from-syria-fearing

The Netanyahu government is projecting calm about President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, but no one in Israel, from politicians to pundits, thinks it is good news.

Israel’s main fear is that the withdrawal of U.S. forces will create a vacuum into which Iran will expand, affording it greater freedom of action. Iran’s ultimate goal is to build its long-dreamed-of land bridge to the Mediterranean—a corridor stretching through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

That scenario is unacceptable from Israel’s point of view. Since 2017, it has launched over 200 bombing strikes against Iranian targets in Syria, mainly to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining advanced precision missile capabilities.

Noam Amir, defense commentator for Israel’s Channel 20, summed up the general feeling: “It’s a wonderful gift for Putin, a wonderful gift for Assad. And to our great sorrow, it’s a magnificent gift to the Iranians, who are themselves in complete shock that Trump is doing this at all.”

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former research division head of IDF military intelligence, similarly warned in Israel’s most widely circulated daily that the White House decision would “open the way to Iran, to transferring equipment by way of land through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon. It should definitely worry Israel.”

The harshest criticisms came from Netanyahu’s own government, albeit anonymously. A senior minister in Israel’s government called the American withdrawal “a spoiled opportunity, because Russia has been demanding for a long time that the U.S. pull its forces out of Syria. It would have been possible to demand of the Russians the pullout of Iranian forces from Syria, at least partially, in exchange for American forces leaving.”

HOMELAND SECURITY, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Four Emerging Technology Areas That Will Help Define Our World In 2019 Chuck Brooks

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/12/24/four-emerging-technology-areas-that-will-help-define-our-world-in-2019/#18073d7758dd

2018 was surely a transformative year for technological innovation. We saw early development of ambient computing, quantum teleportation, cloaks of invisibility, genomics advancements and even robocops. Granted we’re not flying around in our own cars like the Jetsons did yet, but we’re closer. In 2019 we will continue on the transformation path and expand even more into adopting cutting edge immersive technologies. What’s ahead for the coming year? I envision four emerging technology areas that will significantly impact our lives in 2019.

1. The Internet of Things and Smart Cities

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the general idea of devices and equipment that are readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, and/or controllable via the internet. This includes everything from home appliances, wearable technology and cars. These days, if a device can be turned on, it most likely can be connected to the internet. Because of this, data can be shared quickly across a multitude of objects and devices increasing the rate of communications.

Cisco, who terms the “Internet of Things,” “The Internet of Everything,” predicts that 50 billion devices (including our smartphones, appliances and office equipment) will be wirelessly connected via a network of sensors to the internet by 2020.

The term “Smart City” connotes creating a public/private infrastructure to conduct activities that protect and secure citizens. The concept of Smart Cities integrates communications (5-G), transportation, energy, water resources, waste collections, smart-building technologies, and security technologies and services. They are the cities of the future.

IoT is the cog of Smart Cities that integrates these resources, technologies, services and infrastructure. The research firm Frost & Sullivan estimates the combined global market potential of Smart City segments (transportation, healthcare, building, infrastructure, energy and governance) to be $1.5 Trillion ($20B by 2050 on sensors alone according to Navigant Technology).

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

The Danger of a Widening Iranian Corridor Through Syria

Posted By on December 25th, 2018

https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/iranian-corridor-syria/

The surprise announcement by US President Donald Trump to pull American forces out of Syria has led to concern that Iran can now complete its “land bridge” from Tehran to Beirut.

In responding to President Trump’s surprise announcement of a withdrawal of all US forces from Syria on Wednesday, Israeli PM Netanyahu issued a brief statement that contained two messages.

“This is, of course, an American decision,” he said, emphasizing that it is not Israel’s place to tell its senior partner where to deploy troops. This is an important message to send, as it shows respect for America’s internal decisions on the use of military force.

Officially, Israel must not play a part in the argument now raging between the American defense establishment and Trump.

At the same time, Netanyahu’s statement did not contain any praise for the decision. This reflects real concern on Israel’s part over how the American exit will affect the regional balance of power.

“We will study its timetable, how it will be implemented, and, of course, its implications for us,” said the prime minister. “In any case, we will take care to maintain the security of Israel and to defend ourselves in this area.”

These comments are hardly a warm endorsement. Netanyahu’s statement reflects a veiled warning to the toxic regional actor that is set to most immediately benefit from Trump’s step: Iran.