ANTI-SEMITISM, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel Is Not Committing ‘Genocide’ in Gaza By Danielle Pletka & Sahar Soleimany

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/04/israel-is-not-committing-genocide-in-gaza/

The accusation has a malicious ulterior motive: advancing antisemitism.

In the months since Hamas’s October 7 attacks, there has been a full-force campaign to frame Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza as a genocide. And it’s not just an accusation pushed by the extreme Left. This is a campaign endorsed by foreign governments, international organizations, the media, and even elected U.S. officials. But why? It’s not simply that Israel’s actions in Gaza fail to meet the legal standard of genocide, but that other wars on a single population — Bashar al-Assad’s on Syrian Sunnis, the Chinese Communist Party’s on Muslim Uyghurs — stir no similar outrage. There’s a name for that double standard: antisemitism.

“Genocide” has a definition in law. For Israel’s actions to meet the legal criteria of genocide, there must be evidence of more than just a high casualty count or the leveling of property. Per the United Nations, genocide requires an “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” As statements by Israeli officials have made clear, their intentions in Gaza are limited to eliminating Hamas’s operational capacity and bringing home hostages. (Hamas, however, has openly declared its intent to wipe out Israel and the Jewish people. Just read their charter.)

Any proper debate about genocide first requires understanding the casualties in Gaza, because whom Israel targets — and how — determines the legitimacy of the war effort. The only source of data on casualty figures has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, which claims that 70 percent of the more than 30,000 people who have died are women and children. Despite mounting evidence that the health ministry’s numbers are statistically impossible, they continue to be legitimized by the U.S. government and widely distributed by mainstream media, and have even been used to discredit the Israel Defense Forces’ own statistics on eliminated Hamas combatants. West Point’s John Spencer, the premier expert on urban warfare, has repeatedly stated that the precautions Israel has taken to prevent civilian harm throughout this war — including during last month’s raid of al-Shifa Hospital, in which the IDF killed or captured hundreds of Hamas fighters — not only surpasses that of any military in history, including our own, but goes above and beyond what is required by international law.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Why Is Judge Juan Merchan Refusing to Honor Trump’s Due-Process Rights? Andrew McCarthy

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/04/why-is-judge-juan-merchan-refusing-to-honor-trumps-due-process-rights/

The principal duty of judges in the United States is to protect Americans from government overreach. Judge Merchan is doing the opposite.

I observed in a post this week that, compared to some of Donald Trump’s other recent complaints about Judge Juan Merchan, there is more substance to his grousing about the judge’s denial of his request that the trial be adjourned for a day so that he may be in attendance at the United States Supreme Court next Thursday, April 25. That’s the day the justices will hear argument on the question of whether the former president has immunity from prosecution in the 2020 election-interference indictment brought in Washington, D.C., by Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.

There are competing legal and practical considerations here.

Practically speaking, if I’m a Trump appellate lawyer, I would prefer that he not come to the Supreme Court argument. I don’t think the justices would appreciate the spectacle. I am thinking in particular of the three justices Trump appointed (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett), who would inevitably be on the receiving end of looney left-wing bloviating that Trump was in attendance for the purpose of pressuring them — bloviating helped along, naturally, by Trump lawyer/flack Alina Habba’s clueless remark in January, in connection with Colorado’s effort to remove Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, that Kavanaugh would “step up” for Trump because the former president “fought for” his nomination and “went through hell to get [him] into place” on the Court.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

CDC Demonstrates Failure of Public Health Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic Dr. Harvey Risch

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://johnhabelesmd.substack.com/subscribe?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=email-subscribe&r=8t06w&next=https%3A%2F%2Fjohnhabelesmd.substack.com%2Fp%2Fcdc-shows-failure-of-public-measures&utm_medium=email

In so many words—and data—CDC has quietly admitted that all of the indignities of the Covid-19 pandemic management have failed: the masks, the distancing, the lockdowns, the closures, especially the vaccines, all of it failed to control the pandemic.  It’s not like we didn’t know that all this was going to fail, because we said so as events unfolded early on in 2020, that the public health management of this respiratory virus was almost completely opposite to principles that had been well established through the influenza period, in 2006.  The spread of a new virus with replication factor R0 of about 3, with more than one million cases across the country by April 2020, with no potentially virus-sterilizing vaccine in sight for at least several months, almost certainly made this infection eventually endemic and universal.

Covid-19 starts as an annoying, intense, uncomfortable flu-like illness, and for most people, ends uneventfully two-three weeks later.  Thus, management of the Covid-19 pandemic should not have relied upon counts of cases or infections, but on numbers of deaths, numbers of people hospitalized or with serious long-term outcomes of the infection, and of serious health, economic and psychological damages caused by the actions and policies made in response to the pandemic, in that order of decreasing priorities.  Even though numbers of Covid cases correlate with these severe manifestations, that is not a justification for case numbers to be used as the actionable measure, because Covid-19 infection mortality is estimated to range below 0.1% in the mean across all ages, and post-infection immunity provides a public good in protecting people from severe reinfection outcomes for the great majority who do not get serious “long-Covid” on first infection.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Ruthie Blum: Blinken’s Willful Blindness

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://www.jns.org/blinkens-willful-blindness/

Though it’s almost blasphemous to mention the Abraham Accords and the Oct. 7 massacre in the same sentence, the two have something important in common. Both exposed the lie that the “path to peace” must pass through Ramallah and Gaza City.

The first illustrated that previously hostile Arab and other Muslim-majority states—with modernization and self-preservation against the common threat of a nuclearized Iran in mind—were ripe for mutually beneficial ties with Israel.

The second proved, as if any additional evidence were required, that the road to hell—like that leading to the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust—was never paved with good intentions; it has been tarred all along by Islamist ill will and evil Palestinian deeds.

To Israel’s peril and America’s detriment, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden never internalized the former and has yet to acknowledge the latter. As soon as it took office, it began to undermine the historic agreements brokered by former President Donald Trump between Israel and the Gulf states.

At the Negev Summit in March 2022 in Sde Boker, where then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hosted his Bahraini, Egyptian, Moroccan and Emirati counterparts, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that “regional peace agreements are not a substitute for peace with the Palestinians.”

His resuscitation of this false premise was bad enough, especially as it coincided with an uptick in Palestinian terrorism in the streets of Israeli cities. But the fact that the overall context was Team Biden’s attempt to revive the nuclear deal with Iran from which Trump had withdrawn made it all the more significant.

This example of a disastrous foreign policy born of a disconnect from reality isn’t ancient history, by the way. The gathering in question took place a mere year and a half before Palestinian butchers broke through the Gaza border fence, raping, beheading, immolating and mutilating at least 1,200 Israelis (and foreigners), while abducting 250 others.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE Comments turned off

King Deep State Sits on a Stolen Throne By J.B. Shurk

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/04/king_deep_state_sits_on_a_stolen_throne.html

The Bill of Rights doesn’t mean much when the Deep State uses it for toilet paper.

All hail King Deep State!  That is essentially what we have now, is it not?  An unelected, all-powerful, mercurial king — and certainly not a binding constitution limiting government’s authority and preserving Americans’ rights.  

Our First Amendment forbids Congress from restricting an individual’s free speech, but that hasn’t stopped King Deep State from conspiring with Big Tech to silence every voice deemed offensive to the realm.  Our Fourth Amendment forbids nosy officials from poking around in Americans’ private records and communications without first securing particularized warrants establishing probable cause that a crime has been committed, but that hasn’t stopped King Deep State from rummaging through our emails, text messages, and bank statements or eavesdropping on our intimate phone conversations in the name of “national security.”  Our Second Amendment forbids the government from infringing the people’s right to keep and bear arms, but that hasn’t stopped King Deep State from restricting gun purchases, tracking gun owners, and disarming those he doesn’t like.  The Bill of Rights doesn’t mean much when King Deep State uses it as royal toilet paper.  Perhaps it should be renamed, “The Bill of Humble Suggestions, Should His Most Excellent Majesty Approve…or Require Some Gentle Two-Ply.”

If the first step to recovery is admitting that we have a problem, then let’s be honest with ourselves: this is no longer a country of, by, or for the people.  It is an imperial stompy-foot of, by, and for “elites.”  A private central bank decrees the value of our dollars.  Covert espionage agencies advance secret foreign policies in our name.  The Pentagon conducts illicit foreign wars for our alleged benefit.  The National Security Agency monitors what we privately tell each other.  King Deep State’s Silicon Valley vassals tell us what we can publicly say out loud.  The Fascist Bureau of Intimidation decides when dissidents’ doors must be broken down.  The king’s obedient press corps prints only pre-approved news.  The Supreme Court holds up a wet finger in the Deep State’s manufactured winds to determine which rights we may temporarily retain.  And a small contingent of multinational investment firms and industrial behemoths write the bills and budgets that the people’s pretend representatives in Congress never read but obligingly pass.  

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden Weaponizes the Federal Government for His Own Reelection Campaign America’s most radical president has hijacked every arm of the federal government to drag him across the finish line this November. And you’re paying for it. By Jeff Reynolds

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/04/21/biden-weaponizes-the-federal-government-for-his-own-reelection-campaign/

President Joe Biden has taken every part of the federal government and transformed it into his personal reelection machine, creating a hyper-partisan election apparatus out of supposedly neutral federal agencies. And American taxpayers pay for all of it.

Just since the beginning of April, several explosive revelations have surfaced that show the extent to which Joe Biden has weaponized the federal government in election matters. This should come as no surprise, as the administration continues to unfairly weaponize the federal courts against January 6 defendants, and state and federal courts maliciously prosecute Donald Trump, his rival in the presidential election.

The plan is as brazen as it is comprehensive, proving the Biden administration doesn’t want a fair election in 2024.

Using Charities to Encourage Illegal Alien Voting

A non-governmental agency (NGO) that receives taxpayer money—and also lobbies the federal government—encourages illegal immigrants to vote for Biden once they get established in the United States. The Daily Signal, citing MuckRaker.com, reported fliers found all over a staging center for migrants in northeastern Mexico, on the US border:

An advocacy group based in Northeastern Mexico that lobbies U.S. lawmakers has distributed and posted flyers encouraging illegal immigrants to vote for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, according to The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.

Translated from Spanish, the Oversight Project notes, the flyers posted by the organization Resource Center Matamoros say: “Reminder to vote for President Biden when you are in the United States. We need another four years of his term to stay open.”

The Resource Center Matamoros (RCM) works with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which the Oversight Project says “helps illegal aliens enter the United States.” Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas (D) formerly served on the HIAS board of directors. HIAS has received “numerous” grants from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Socialism’s Survival: The Endurance of an Ideological Paradox We remember the past. Are we still condemned to repeat it? By Roger Kimball

Posted By on April 21st, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/04/21/socialisms-survival-the-endurance-of-an-ideological-paradox/

I have written about the death and rebirth of socialism periodically over the years.  But as André Gide said in another context, “Toutes choses sont dites déjà, mais comme personne n’écoute, il faut toujours recommencer”: everything has already been said, but since no one was listening, it is necessary to say it again.

Really, the socialist impulse is a hardy perennial.  How could something so frequently and thoroughly discredited persist in the hearts of men?  Some think it has something to do with the gullibility of the human animal, some (but I repeat myself) with the persistence of the utopian dream.  I suspect there are many explanations, of which the raw desire for power plays an unedifying but also underrated role.  I also favor the explanatory power of original sin, which has profound psychological as well as theological application to many of the more farcical aspects of human experience and what is more farcical than socialism?

At any rate, the career of socialism is a powerful argument for the phenomenon of life after death. Remember: the death of socialism in the United States (except on college campuses) had been solemnly pronounced over and over during the 1980s and 1990s. But for the past several years, we have seen multiple sightings of the beast.

Back in 2018, for example, the actor Jim Carrey told Bill Maher: “We have to say yes to socialism—to the word and everything. We have to stop apologizing.”

I’m pretty sure that no one told this poor fellow that, were socialism to be instituted in the United States, one of the first things that would happen is that people like Mr. Carrey would be instantly pauperized.

Did I say “poor” fellow?

As of 2023, Mr. Carrey had an estimated net worth of $180 million. But what are the two fundamental pillars of socialism?

One: The abolition of private property.

Two: The equalization of wealth.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel Under Attack – U.S. Administration Abandoning Its Ally? by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on April 20th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20585/israel-under-attack

Article 2, paragraph 4 of the UN Charter explicitly prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any member state, making Iran’s actions tantamount to an act of war.

The US administration’s call for Israel to refrain from responding to attacks while facing direct aggression is deeply troubling and raises significant questions about the principles of sovereignty and self-defense.

In the face of relentless attacks on Israel, Washington is sending a dangerous message of encouragement, if not outright approval, to aggressors and undermining Israel’s right to defend itself against existential threats.

Where is any real threat or pressure being paced on Hamas, Qatar or Iran, all of whom initiated the conflict in the first place? As far one can tell, nothing is even being done to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program. If Iran had nuclear weapons, does anyone think it might hesitate to use them, even “just” as a means of coercion?

The expectation that Israel should tolerate such attacks not only undermines the principles of self-defense and sovereignty but also erodes the longstanding partnership between the United States and Israel, sending a disconcerting message to the world about the strength of any US alliance in the face of adversity.

Amid the relentless assaults from multiple adversaries — Iran’s regime, Qatar, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — Israel finds itself surrounded by Iran’s “ring of fire” on all fronts.

These coordinated attacks, originating from both neighboring states and non-state actors, pose, as clearly intended, a threat to Israel’s existence. In these dire circumstances, Israel looks to its longstanding ally, the United States, for crucial support and solidarity. However, the Biden administration’s approach has left Israel feeling isolated and abandoned at a time when it most needs unwavering backing.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Confidence in Ruler: Words of Wisdom from Confucius by Lawrence Kadish

Posted By on April 20th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20587/confidence-in-ruler-confucius

“Tsekung asked about government, and Confucius replied: ‘People must have sufficient to eat; there must be a sufficient army; and there must be sufficient confidence of the people in the ruler.’ ‘If you are forced to give up one of these three objectives, what would you go without first?’ asked Tsekung. Confucius said, ‘I would go without the army first.’ ‘And if you were forced to go without one of the two remaining factors, what would you rather go without?’ asked Tsekung again. ‘I would rather go without sufficient food for the people. There have always been deaths in every generation since men lived, but a nation cannot exist without confidence in its ruler.'”
— From The Wisdom of China and India by Lin Yutang.*

Americans have lately been witnessing threats to our republic, starting with election interference (here, here and here); the US abandonment of Afghanistan; an inflation that has reportedly forced people to choose between “heating and eating” and delay medical care; a 2000-mile-long open border that has allowed into the United States “1.7 gotaways” that we know about, as well as reportedly 10 million others, allegedly doubling the number already here, who serve to swell the census, which currently determines the number of seats allocated in the House of Representatives for ten years, as well as the number of delegates in the electoral college; accommodating Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has been causing “more than 112,000 deaths from fentanyl” in just a 12-month period, the equivalent of one large plane crash a day; failing to challenge the CCP’s spy balloon and discontinue TikTok, which has been called “170 million spy balloons”; attempts to criminalize parents “who protest critical race theory and other school policies,” Catholics who attend Latin Mass, and attempts generally to “criminalize dissent”; attempts to criminalize politics and political opponents; fabrications that that Hunter Biden’s laptop “had all the classic earmarks of a Russian disinformation operation”; alleged lies about involvement in family business dealings; unequal application of the law; funding both sides of both the Hamas-Israel War and Russia’s war on Ukraine; engaging in government censorship (here, here, here and here); flouting and the law (here, here and here), then “proudly admitting it,” among other activities.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Progressives, Columbia and the Anti-Israel Protesters The university finally calls in the cops to remove an anti-Israel mob on campus, in a lesson for Democratic mayors.

Posted By on April 20th, 2024

https://www.wsj.com/articles/columbia-university-protesters-israel-hamas-palestine-nypd-nemat-minouche-shafik-0f6feba4?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

Protesters across the country these days claim they are fighting for the rights of Palestinians but show contempt for the rights of those whose lives they disrupt. On Thursday Columbia University President Minouche Shafik had enough. When the protesters who set up a “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the university’s South Lawn ignored repeated warnings to leave, she called in the New York Police Department to have them removed.

Ms. Shafik waited too long to address the problems festering on her campus, and her move came only after she was grilled by Congress on antisemitism on Columbia’s campus. But give her credit for acting. In a statement she explains that the protesters ignored multiple warnings that they were violating university policies.

Other leaders should take heed—especially the Democrats and progressives who run America’s cities and most institutions. In recent weeks similar protests have shut down San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, blocked access to Chicago’s airport and interrupted Congressional hearings. They even crashed a fundraiser in New York to heckle President Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

It is hardly surprising that the most progressive cities have seen the most protests. No surprise, either, that among those arrested at Columbia Thursday was Barnard student Isra Hirsi, daughter of anti-Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). An unbowed Ms. Hirsi tweeted that, in addition to Columbia’s divestment from Israel, she and her fellow protesters are demanding “FULL amnesty for all students facing repression.” Naturally.

Ms. Hirsi and the other protesters are fully entitled to express their view that Israel is pursuing genocide in its war with Hamas. But what the country saw Thursday at Columbia wasn’t about free expression. As President Shafik pointed out, the protest was about disrupting campus life for everyone else and creating “a harassing and intimidating environment for many of our students.” It’s the same for protests designed to prevent others from commuting to work, catching a flight or getting to class.