NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Trumps in Iraq On a Christmas mission to thank U.S. troops, the President also makes his case on Syria. By James Freeman

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trumps-in-iraq-11545861134

Making their first visit to a war zone since entering the White House, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump secretly left Washington on Christmas night to visit U.S. combat troops in Iraq today.

White House pool reporter Brian Bennett of Time magazine reports from Al Asad Air Base, a joint U.S.-Iraqi facility west of Baghdad:

Trump: “I want to come and pay my respects most importantly to the great soldiers, great troopers we have here.” While in Iraq, President Trump met with U.S. military leaders and spoke to troops.

Nancy Youssef notes in the Journal:

Surprise visits by commanders in chief have been a hallmark of the holiday season since President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq in 2003 for Thanksgiving. President Bush and President Obama, who each made multiple trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, always received warm receptions from the forces as they dished out holiday meals, shook hands and rallied troops away from their families.

On this year’s visit to thank the troops, President Trump also received a briefing from military commanders and then took questions from reporters. In response to a media query on his decision to withdraw troops from Syria Mr. Trump said that he had given “the generals” multiple six month “extensions” to get out of Syria. Mr. Bennett adds in his pool report:

Trump said: “They said again, recently, can we have more time? I said, ‘Nope.’ You can’t have any more time. You’ve had enough time. We’ve knocked them out. We’ve knocked them silly. I will tell you that I’ve had some very good talks with [Turkey’s] President Erdogan who wants to knock them out also and he’ll do it. And others will do it to. Because we are in their region. They should be sharing the burden of costs and they’re not.

“The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world.”

“It’s not fair when the burden is all on us, the United States.”

“… In Syria, Erdogan said he wants to knock out ISIS, whatever’s left, the remnants of ISIS. And Saudi Arabia just came out and said they are going to pay for some economic development. Which is great, that means we don’t have to pay.”

“We are spread out all over the world. We are in countries most people haven’t even heard about. Frankly, it’s ridiculous.”

When asked why he chose to make the trip during the partial shutdown of the federal government, Mr. Trump replied:

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Refighting the Usage Wars written by Michael O’Keefe

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://quillette.com/2018/12/26/refighting
On November 21, two educators published an article that lamented the declining quality of written work produced by American adolescents. Early in the piece, Temple University professors Kathy Hirsch-Pasek and Laurence Steinberg cite a 2011 study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics that yielded this disturbing claim: “Only one in four [high school seniors] can construct an essay that is coherent and well structured, with ideas presented clearly and logically.” To bolster their case, Hirsch-Pasek and Steinberg present anecdotal evidence from other university professors privy to what this deficit looks like (literally on paper) at the next level. One, from “a high-ranking state university,” resorted to altering “her syllabus to take two full days to review the idea of a topic sentence.” Illustrating the ubiquity of this trend, another professor, this time from “a highly ranked private college, wrote in a recent Facebook post that he took time out of class to explain how to write, noting that students had no idea what they didn’t know.”

Does this sound alarmist? Well, it shouldn’t, because we’ve been hearing about the problem for years now. If you’re a parent, you might be wondering how something this counterintuitive could occur. Don’t high schoolers need to write admissions essays to earn spots at elite universities? Wouldn’t those essays need to be both clear and logical? Are admissions officers unaware of these foreboding nationwide studies?

I shall spare you my answers to those rhetorical questions, and share instead a potential cause of this apparent epidemic that’s too often overlooked. It sounds hyperbolic, but according to a 2001 essay by David Foster Wallace entitled “Tense Present: Democracy, English, and the Wars over Usage,” it’s been undeniable since the early 1980s: “In neither K-12 nor college English are systematic [Standard Written English] grammar and usage much taught anymore.” Again, this doesn’t sound plausible. How could teachers instruct students to write well without giving them any rules or basic conventions? No reasonable answer exists, but thanks to Wallace’s observations, I can assure you that our current condition was inevitable.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Democratic Socialism or Social Democracy? written by Alexander Blum

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://quillette.com/2018/12/26/democratic-socialism-or-social

Back in August, Jacobin journalist Meagan Day declared that “democratic socialists want to end capitalism.” The subtitle of her article in Vox explaining the movement explicitly stated: “It’s not just New Deal liberalism.” There is some disagreement about this on the Left. Kyle Kulinski, an independent media commentator and co-founder of the Justice Democrats, supports democratic socialist candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Justice Democrats endorse a myriad of candidates who do not take large donor capital, many of them sharing endorsement with the DSA. Nevertheless, Kulinski rejects the “post-capitalist” approach to democratic socialism, and holds that “so many people now describe themselves as ‘democratic socialists’ and they do not support a post-capitalist philosophy.

In the clip above, Kulinski argues that there is a fundamental confusion of labels—politicians whose policies are entirely in line with Nordic social democracy are defining themselves as democratic socialists. He places the blame for this confusion on Bernie Sanders, who, despite a career of never praising actual socialism, has been lumped in with Venezuela and a post-capitalist ideology. If Bernie had labelled himself correctly, Kulinski maintains, the current confusion over democratic socialism and social democracy would not exist.

DSA co-chair Joseph Schwartz was quoted in a 2015 PolitiFact article litigating the difference between democratic socialism and the Nordic model: “When Bernie is asked, ‘Are you a socialist?’ he doesn’t deny it, and he immediately talks about Scandinavia. He uses [democratic socialism and social democracy] interchangeably. But if you look at his history, he knows the distinction.” A Quillette article published in March and entitled “The Falsity of the Sanders Venezuela Meme,” also observes that Sanders, uniquely among left intellectuals, has never expressed support for the Venezuelan model of politics: “There is no record of Sanders sponsoring or co-sponsoring any symbolic motion which praises the ‘achievements’ or policies of Hugo Chavez,” as well as a quote from Sanders during the Presidential primary, emblematic of his career: “When I talk about democratic socialism, I’m not looking at Venezuela. I’m not looking at Cuba. I’m looking at countries like Denmark and Sweden.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Feast and Drink For Our Community’s Health written by Claire Lehmann

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://quillette.com/2018/12/25/feast-and-drink-for-our-
Earlier this year, for the first time in history, the government of Britain appointed a minister for loneliness. Although not a medical condition, loneliness is starting to be described in such language, with descriptors such as “epidemic” and “public health crisis” bracketing the term. Large-scale studies have found that around ten percent of adults in Western nations experience chronic loneliness.

In a letter published this year in The Lancet, two neurologists from the University of Chicago asked readers to “imagine a condition that makes a person irritable, depressed, and self-centred, and is associated with a 26% increase in the risk of premature mortality.” They went on to explain that it is not a condition that only affects those with poor social skills, or those who are highly sheltered or introverted. Loneliness is not necessarily about being alone, either—we can feel isolated when surrounded by other people. Somewhat counter-intuitively, social skills training, social support and social contact have all been found to be ineffective as interventions for social disconnection.

* * *

Drawing on the work of Durkheim, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt theorises that religious practices are best understood not as the outcome of a set of propositional beliefs (i.e. that “God exists” or “there is an afterlife”) but as the means by which our species creates cohesive moral communities. From a Durkheimian perspective, the individual comes into “moral harmony” with those with whom he shares religious customs. This harmony then provides us with a “perpetual sustenance of our moral nature.”

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Swine before pearls: The Left’s Christmas Myths Dave Pellowe

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2018/12/swine-before-pearls-the-lefts

‘Tis the season to be … quoting spurious scriptural interpretations in support of open-borders immigration policies. Baby Jesus was a refugee, don’t you know? A simple slogan for simple minds, it cannot withstand the slightest scrutiny. Yet year after year, that is what we are loudly and insistently told.

It’s become quite fashionable with the advent of social media for amateur theologians to posture as experts on Christian living, doctrine and to even claim confidence of what the historical Jesus Christ would support or oppose. Ironically, many personally reject any authority or validity of Scripture in their personal lives – it’s just something they pretend has authority when they ignorantly assume it supports their position.

The most common example by far people who quote the first two words of Matthew 7, “Judge not”, without reading the rest of that very chapter, which teaches Christians how to judge righteously, looking beneath the surface of every issue, identify the root by the fruit while discriminating against metaphorical pigs, dogs and wolves in sheep’s clothing and rebuking oppressors. Far from not judging, there’s an awful lot of good judgement required, not to mention self-examination.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Trump Administration Will Appeal Asylum Ruling By Mairead McArdle

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-administration-will-appeal-asylum-ruling/

The Trump administration plans to appeal a federal court ruling blocking the administration from shutting down asylum claims by migrants who enter the country illegally.

Federal District Judge Jon Tigar handed down the ruling last week, frustrating the presidential proclamation President Trump issued last month.

The president’s order “irreconcilably conflicts” with current immigration law, Tigar wrote.

He added that immigrants would be at “increased risk of violence and other harms at the border” because of the new regulation.

A panel of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld Tigar’s initial temporary restraining order on the asylum ban, saying it is “likely inconsistent with existing United States law.”

The Supreme Court later upheld the ruling in a 5 to 4 decision.

Administration officials on Wednesday informed the Ninth Circuit that they would appeal the asylum ruling. They requested an extension to file an opening brief to appeal the ruling until several sectors of the government reopen.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

U.S. holiday shopping season best in six years: report Aishwarya Venugopal

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-holidayshopping/u-s-holiday-shopping-season-best-in-six-years-report-idUSKCN1OP0U3

– Sales in the 2018 U.S. holiday shopping season rose 5.1 percent to over $850 billion, the strongest in six years, according to a Mastercard report on Wednesday, as shoppers were encouraged by a robust economy and early discounts.

The data follows Amazon.com Inc’s announcement of a “record-breaking” selling season, with the online retail giant shipping a billion items for free through its Prime membership in the United States.

Amazon’s shares jumped as much as 5 percent, while those of Kohl’s Corp rose 4.2 percent. Macy’s Inc gained 3.6 percent, Nordstrom Inc 3 percent, and Target Corp and Walmart Inc rising over 1 percent.

The strong sales numbers indicated that rising market volatility due to concerns over slowing global growth and political deadlock in Washington has not impacted consumer confidence so far.

“I don’t see that (volatility in the markets and Government shutdown) as having any impact … but I am cautiously optimistic for the consumer going into 2019,” said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Trump’s Syria Withdrawal Hinges on Turkey By Angelo Codevilla

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://amgreatness.com/2018/12/25/trumps-syria-

Whether pulling the remaining U.S. troops from Syria turns out to be a bold and beneficial move or a stupid, harmful one depends on what Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will do. That, in turn, depends in no small part on what constraints he senses from President Trump—as well as from Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Here, to the best of my understanding, are the circumstances and the possible consequences of the president’s decision to withdraw from Syria.

Erdoğan had been menacing a military attack on the Kurds in Northeast Syria who, working with U.S. troops, are finishing the dirty work of killing off ISIS. The U.S military has been warning the Turks not to do that, at ever higher levels. But when Trump called Erdoğan to talk him out of attacking our troops’ partners, it seems that Erdogan simply talked him into removing our troops.

Departing Secretary of Defense James Mattis’s anger is understandable. The boss undercut him after, following orders, Mattis had given orders down the line, as well as his word to fellow fighters. National security advisor John Bolton, too, would have been dismayed: he and Trump had agreed that we owe the Kurds a lot, and that the Kurds south of Turkey’s border provide a natural barrier to a variety of enemies of America, not least Erdoğan. Bolton might well have resigned along with Mattis if Trump had merely bowed to Erdoğan. Whether Trump bowed or not depends on whether or not there is more to the story.

Erdoğan is America’ s enemy. As far back as 2003, he forbade use of Turkish ground and airspace for U.S. operations in Iraq, including the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik. A member of the Muslim Brotherhood, he has turned Turkey from a NATO ally into an Islamist dictatorship.

Neither wise nor competent, he aims to resurrect something like the Caliphate, with Ottoman Turkey its seat and himself as the Sultan in all but name. To this end, he supported the Brotherhood’s attempted takeover of Egypt, supports Hamas in Gaza, and a host of Sunni terrorist groups, in Syria as well. Only with Turkey’s active help was ISIS able to market the oil it got from Iraqi and Syrian fields, buy arms, receive recruits from abroad, etc. ISIS became more than a minor nuisance only because Erdogan provided it with a hinterland.

Erdoğan meant to use ISIS as the head of the Sunni spear to overthrow Syria’s Alawite (a version of Shia) regime. However, Erdoğan also opposes Sunni Saudi Arabia, mainly because he is financed largely by Qatar, which is in a very bitter quarrel with Saudi Arabia. In part because of Qatar, he believes he has some kind of understanding with Iran, though it is on the opposite side of the great Sunni-Shia war. He welcomed Russia’s intervention in Syria, though it brought Iranian influence to his southern as well as to his eastern border. Passionately anti-American and in disregard of Turkey’s secular geopolitical adversary relationship with Russia, he seems to be satisfied with Vladimir Putin’s de facto overlordship of the Middle East.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Palestinians: The Real “Crimes” by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13472/palestinians-crimes

As far as Abbas and other Palestinians are concerned, Israel’s security measures in response to terrorist attacks are also a “crime.” In other words, they are saying that Israel does not have the right to conduct hot pursuit after terrorists hiding in Palestinian cities or refugee camps.

When it comes to the actions of the Palestinian leaders themselves, however, they see utter innocence. For them, the daily incitement against Israel and Jews is not a “crime.” For them, the glorification of terrorists and paying salaries to their families is not a “crime.” For them, the shooting of a pregnant woman at a bus stop is not a “crime.”

Such messages are driving Palestinians into the open arms of Hamas. If you are telling your people that Israel and the Jews are criminals, and that anyone who does business with them or visits them is guilty of a “crime,” you are telling them that Hamas has got it right: Palestinians should be seeking the destruction of Israel, not peace with it.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership’s favorite — and probably most used — word in recent weeks is “crime.” This is the word that PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his senior officials in Ramallah have endorsed as part of their anti-Israel campaign of incitement. Almost every statement that is issued by the Palestinian leadership concerning Israel includes the word “crime.”

For Abbas and his officials, almost everything Israel does or says is a “crime.”

ّIn their world, building housing units for Jews in the West Bank or Jerusalem is a “crime.”

According to the logic of Abbas and his Palestinian officials, the killing of a Palestinian terrorist who murdered two of his Jewish co-workers and Israel’s subsequent demolition of his house is a “crime.”

FOREIGN POLICY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

US Pullout from Syria: Who Will Fill the Vacuum? by Burak Bekdil

Posted By on December 26th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13475/us-pullout-syria-vacuum

“What Turkey is going to do is unleash holy hell on the Kurds. In the eyes of Turkey, they’re more of a threat than ISIS. So this decision is a disaster.” — U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.
The U.S. move also could turn out to be a death-blow on Washington’s efforts to keep Tehran from further establishing itself in Syria and threatening the security not only of Israel, but of the entire Mediterranean region.
Potential Turkish-Kurdish conflicts would further destabilize Syria and strengthen Russia. This point cannot be ignored. Turkey’s and Iran’s dependency on Russia in Syria will increase, as the trio further teams up to have a larger role in shaping Syria’s future.
It is understandable that abstaining from the role of the world’s policeman may look consistent with Trump’s pre-election pledge to “Make America Great Again.” Nevertheless, caution is needed here: Leaving the “policing” job in the world’s most volatile and turbulent parts to un-free regimes such as Russia, China, Iran and Turkey could also damage the quest of America and others in the free world to become great again — and to remain free. The free world simply does not have the luxury — even in remote geographical areas — of allowing security to be policed by un-free state and non-state actors.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria (and Afghanistan) was music to Turkish ears. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it “the clearest and most encouraging statement” from Washington.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu welcomed Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar vowed that that Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers as top regional security threat, would soon be “buried in the trenches that they dig.”