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The Untouchables vs. The Deplorables By Julie Kelly

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/18/the-untouchables

One reason Donald Trump won the presidency is that Americans are tired of being ignored by the ruling political class.

A poll taken several months before the election revealed that neglected voters overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump above any other candidate: “Voters who agreed with the statement ‘people like me don’t have any say about what the government does’ were 86.5 percent more likely to prefer Trump. This feeling of powerlessness and voicelessness was a much better predictor of Trump support than age, race, college attainment, [or] income,” wrote Derek Thompson at The Atlantic.

This is the Trump appeal that the ruling political class refused—and still refuses—to acknowledge. It is why Republicans were willing to overlook his personal peccadillos, and why voters in 206 counties who twice chose Barack Obama helped elect Donald Trump. It is why rural moms, union toughs, small business owners, and soybean farmers fill steamy Midwestern assembly halls during summer’s peak to rally around a thrice-married, brash, egotistical Manhattan billionaire who is the working class’s most unlikely champion. It is why Republican candidates across the country are bragging about their Trump-BFF status in tight primary races.

A Battering Ram Against Convention
Trump violates every sycophantic, mannerly rule that politicians and their handlers are taught to follow. The name-calling, the gloating, the fight-picking are precisely what any political consultant would advise their client not to do. “Act presidential,” the memo would say. Let others do your dirty work. Stay above the fray, don’t get in the mud. Keep on message. Politics is a game of addition, not subtraction. Yada yada yada. (Let’s add “Political Consulting Experts” to the long list of professional know-it-alls who’ve been wholly discredited in the Trump era.)

But the jig is up. Trump is a one-man battering ram against a powerful political apparatus—The Untouchables—that ruefully stacks the deck against the very people it purports to understand and protect.

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Andrew Cuomo doesn’t see America’s greatness because he doesn’t know where to look by Salena Zito

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/andrew-cuomo-doesnt-see-americas-greatness-because-he-doesnt-know-where-to-look Somewhere between Nickelsville and Bear Wallow Hollow along Virginia state route 71, the remains of a redbrick home smolders on the hillside overlooking the single lane road. Several volunteer firemen sit, drinking water near the remains of the home. It’s over 90 degrees out. The sun and heat are punishing, exaggerating the heaviness of […]

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GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Nitrogen test for early cancer diagnosis. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered that in many cancers, the body’s mechanism for producing nitrogen is disrupted so that the tumors can grow faster. These mutations can be detected early on, by analysis of the body’s urea cycle.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/disrupted-nitrogen-metabolism-might-spell-cancer

Link between near drowning and kidney failure. Rambam Hospital doctors have discovered acute kidney injury (AKI) to be a common complication of near-drownings. Of 95 Rambam patients who nearly drowned between 2000 and 2017, 45% developed AKI. The reason is lack of oxygen and potassium, high blood sugar and constricted kidney blood vessels. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/250572

A revolution in blood testing. This Israel21c article features three Israeli startups that are working on instant diagnosis of viruses and bacteria. I already featured Sight Diagnostics (see here) and Efa (see here). Sonorapy has developed a sensor to identify each pathogen from the unique acoustics it emits in response to soundwaves.
https://www.israel21c.org/the-revolution-thats-about-to-transform-blood-testing/
http://sonorapy.com/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/K-KLyLt00q0?rel=0

Freezing tumors to be performed in Israel. (TY Hazel) I’ve reported previously (see here) on Israel’s IceCure Medical and its technology for freezing and destroying tumors. Now Haifa’s Elisha Medical Center is the first Israeli hospital to offer IceCure’s treatment for malignant kidney tumors and benign breast tumors.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744462,00.html

Find a local doctor while overseas. If sick while on vacation in Europe and the Americas, Israeli startup Air Doctor Ltd will locate pre-vetted doctors that provide services to tourists. Air Doctor’s web interface and app will find and book appointments with relevant local general physicians, pediatricians, gynecologists etc.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744300,00.html

New immigrant medics are eager to contribute. In the latest Nefesh b’Nefesh flight there were 27 US and Canadian medical professionals (doctors, nurses, paramedics etc.) who want to get to work as soon as possible. Meanwhile, top liver transplant surgeon Daniel Azoulay has left Paris to join the staff of Sheba Medical Center.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-newest-doctors-hope-to-make-an-impact-on-overburdened-medical-system/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-liver-transplant-surgeon-immigrates-to-israel/

Trust your gut to manage your health. Israeli gut microbiome analysis startup DayTwo Ltd. has partnered with Clalit, one of Israel’s four health care providers. Clalit will offer its members DNA analysis of their gut microbiome and provide personalized nutritional insights based on DayTwo’s technology.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/diet-advice-via-gut-bacteria-coming-soon-to-israels-largest-healthcare-provider/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744390,00.html

Burning fat or carbs? (TY Calcalistec) Israeli startup Metaflow’s Lumen is a respiratory metabolism tracking device that determines whether you are burning fat or carbohydrates. An AI-based app then provides nutrition and fitness advice based on the test’s results and personal goals. Lumen has raised $1.4 million on Indiegogo.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lumen-hack-your-metabolism-lose-weight-apps-food#/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I035rbT6sI

Record numbers of births. Israeli hospitals reported record numbers of new babies in July, always the busiest month. The 1,518 deliveries at Soroka in Beersheva was 10% higher than last July’s record. Tel Aviv’s Ichilov recorded 1,014 births – 10% more than average. Israel’s 3.11 births per mother is the highest in the OECD.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/three-israeli-hospitals-break-newborn-birth-records-in-july/2018/08/13/

I don’t know how, but she swallowed the nail. Doctors at Baruch Padeh Medical Center near Tiberias removed a 2-inch long (5cm) nail from the small intestine of an 8-year-old Arab girl. She had been using her teeth to pull the nail out of a plastic bottle and when it emerged, she accidentally swallowed it.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/israeli-arabs/tiberias-surgeons-endoscopically-remove-2-inch-nail-from-8-year-old-girls-intestine/2018/08/15/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Summer camp for special needs. Israeli charity Ezer Mizion runs a summer camp at Moshav Nechalim for 300 special needs children and young adults. Each camper has a personal counselor, a yeshiva student who decided to volunteer in this summer camp instead of spending vacation time with his friends.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/special-needs-special-opportunities/

Imparting skills to underprivileged teens. Israeli NGO Unistream runs a multi-year program and an annual competition to give entrepreneurship and leadership skills to 4,000 underprivileged teens. This year’s winners developed an allergen detector, an app to recommend charities and a clothing line for special needs children.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3743713,00.html

Democracy Pavilion. Tel Aviv’s new Democracy Pavilion, on Rothschild Boulevard, is an exciting and rich multimedia experience which brings awareness to Israel’s core values of equality, freedom, and diversity. The exhibition is a part of the Independence Trail (see here) which can be followed using an interactive mobile app.
https://www.touristisrael.com/democracy-pavilion-tel-aviv-israel/23611/

Israeli homes for disabled and Bedouin. Israel has approved the construction of several new towns in the Negev and Galilee geared to serve the Bedouin and disabled populations. Shibolet, in the southern Galilee, will have a total of 350 units. 500 units will be built at Daniel in the south. 20% are for people with disabilities.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-approves-construction-of-housing-for-bedouin-disabled-populations/
https://www.youtube.com/embed/PNZjJ4ZrNMs?rel=0

A closer look at Operation Good Neighbor. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Israel has treated about 5000 patients from Syria -both adults and children. The army coordinates their transport, usually at night, to Israeli hospitals mostly in northern Israel.
https://www.jpost.com//Jerusalem-Report/Operation-Good-Neighbor-564579

Two Israeli universities in top 100. In the 2018 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Israel’s Technion was ranked at number 77, up from 93 last year. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem moved into the top 100 at number 95 after being in the 101 – 150 section last year.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744361,00.html

Partnering to ease African poverty. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Israel’s Ministry of the Economy are working together to alleviate poverty among Africa’s smallholder farmers. They will leverage Israeli agricultural technology as part of JDC’s new Tikkun Olam Ventures (TOV) program.
https://www.jns.org/jewish-aid-group-and-israel-team-up-to-alleviate-african-poverty-through-agtech/

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

$1.8 billion campaign for global innovation. Israel’s Technion Institute has launched a global $1.8 billion, ten-year fundraising campaign. The campaign has already raised 40% of the required funds that will be used to support world-changing, life-saving innovation. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kvf85BSOXnQ?rel=0
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2018/06/unprecedented-1-8-billion-campaign-for-world-changing-innovation/

$123 million for research universities. Israel’s Council for Higher Education has approved an investment of $123 million (NIS 458 million) over 5 years to fortify research programs in Israeli universities. It is 83% more than that invested in the last 5-year plan. 90% of the funds will be used for lab equipment.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744217,00.html

$24 million to strengthen cyber security. Israel has launched a 3-year NIS 90 million dedicated program to strengthen Israel’s cyber industry. Its aim is to ensure that Israel continues to meet the cyber sector’s biggest challenges, secures its place at the forefront of innovation, and bolsters its global leadership in the industry.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-earmarks-24-million-for-new-program-to-boost-cybersecurity-startups/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744382,00.html

Turning jellyfish into plastic filters. I reported previously (see here) on Israelis making use of jellyfish. Now, scientists at the University of Haifa are developing a filter made of jellyfish mucus to isolate microplastics in the oceans. The research is part of the International Go Jelly project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program.
http://nocamels.com/2018/08/jellyfish-plastic-waste-israeli-scientists/
https://gojelly.eu/partners/university-of-haifa-israel/

Clean technologies for a better environment. This video summarizes Israel’s work in water recycling, solar energy, wind energy and other alternative energies. More than 400 Israeli companies specialize in developing sustainable technologies. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MwQiJ83Kv3g?rel=0

Cybersecurity wherever you work. More and more employees are working away from their main offices. So, the security of their data and devices needs to move with them. Israeli startup Meta Networks has implemented a cloud-based solution which protects the employee (and the company) anytime, anyplace.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLk0X_NW9ms?rel=0 https://www.metanetworks.com/

Get connected like never before. You have HDMI for your TV, Internet, video, audio, and cables all over your house. With the HDBaseT tester from Israel’s MSolutions, the installer connects everything in every room with just a flick of a switch. https://www.youtube.com/embed/8SifyYhv9ng?rel=0 https://www.m4sol.com/

Keeping pizza fresh for 8 weeks. Israel-based startup Timeless Foods makes firm disposable plastic containers for vacuum packaging delicate foods. It means manufacturers can vacuum seal delicate foods and produce, thus significantly prolonging their shelf life. Pizza, for example, stays fresh for up to 8 weeks without freezing.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744054,00.html
https://www.f6s.com/timelessfoodtechnologies

Alternative protein sources. Israel’s InnovoPro is developing a technology for extracting concentrated protein from chickpeas. InnovoPro is one of the two winning start-ups in the 2018 Calcalist FoodTech competition.
https://innovopro.com/innovopro-wins-calcalist-foodtech-competition/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744035,00.html

3D-printed vegan steaks. Tel Aviv-based startup Jet-Eat develops 3D printing technologies for vegan meat substitutes. The printed meat substitute is designed to emulate the appearance, texture and taste of beef and can be cooked like beef. Jet-Eat was a finalist in the 2018 Calcalist FoodTech competition.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744064,00.html

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

17 trillion shekels. As he opened trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) last week, Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon revealed that the State of Israel would be worth NIS 17,638,763,277,054 if it floated on the TASE. This was according to the latest methodology used by the World Bank in a survey of 140 countries.
https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-gets-nis-17-6-trillion-valuation/

Indonesia selects Israel transportation app. (TY Tower) The Asian Games (Aug 18 – Sep 2) doesn’t allow Israeli athletes to compete, but the host country Indonesia has chosen Israel’s Moovit as the games’ official mobility app. Moovit is the world’s most downloaded transit app with over 200 million users in 82 countries.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-moovit-chosen-as-official-transit-app-for-asian-games-in-indonesia/

BBC admits Israel is creating UK jobs. (TY WIN) What a contrast to the BBC’s normal biased anti-Israel reporting. BBC World’s “Talking Business” program included this feature by Jonathan Josephs. It highlights the UK-Israel Tech Hub as the ideal model to expand UK hi-tech business and create jobs post Brexit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXxF8Ncy7SI

BBC “dragon” funds Israeli startup. Israelis Yosi Romano and Ziv Leinwand went on the BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” program, winning a £125,000 investment from star “dragon” Touker Suleyman. Their device protects babies from pollution, sucking in air, cleaning it and blowing it into the child’s breathing space in its pram.
https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/two-israeli-investors-scoop-125000-dragons-den-investment/

El Al buys 16 Dreamliners. El Al has purchased 16 Dreamliners (Boeing 787s) in a $1.2 billion deal, which will gradually replace older Boeing 747 and 767 planes. El Al received its 6th Dreamliner in a ceremony with the PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu who dressed as an El Al flight attendant – one of her previous jobs.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744318,00.html

More Israeli hostels. Good news for backpackers. Latin American hostel and co-working company Selina and Israel’s Ampa Real Estate have been scouting locations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and the southern Negev desert. Selina intends to open several hostels with a combined capacity of 5,000-7,000 beds within five years.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744406,00.html

Warren Buffet buys more Teva shares. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has upped its stake in Israeli biotech Teva by another 6.7%. Berkshire Hathaway now owns nearly $1 billion of Teva shares.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/warren-buffet-ups-bet-on-ailing-drugmaker-teva/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744381,00.html

Visa invests in Israeli Fintech startup. I reported previously (Feb 2017) on Israel’s Behalf which provides short-term loans having used hi-tech to decide on a company’s risk profile. Now financial giant Visa is partnering Behalf to “support small business growth”. Behalf’s clients receive a tokenized Visa Virtual Card.
http://nocamels.com/2018/08/visa-behalf-small-business/

Gett generates $1 billion of revenue. Israel’s Gett makes 100 million rides a year, mostly with its London and NYC taxis. This generates around $1 billion in mobility services, according to Stockholm-listed venture capital firm Vostok New Ventures Ltd in its latest financial report.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744466,00.html

Bringing Hungarians and Bulgarians to Eilat. Low cost Hungarian airline Wizz Air is commencing twice-weekly flights from November between Eilat and both Budapest and Sofia. Wizz already operates services from Eilat to London, Vienna, Bucharest, Riga, and Warsaw.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744163,00.html

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT

Annual stork migration begins. The annual migration of the storks has started in Israel. Thousands of storks were spotted flying over the Rotem Plain in southern Israel, according to the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). (No connection with the large numbers of Israeli births last month!)
http://www.jewishpress.com/uncategorized/theyre-baaaaaack-annual-stork-migration-has-begun-in-israel/2018/08/12/

Colombian Superstar Carlos Vives performs in Israel. Award-winning Colombian musician Carlos Vives held a successful concert in Tel Aviv. He tweeted, “Thanks Tel Aviv! It has been a very special night! What an incredible concert, we are very happy to have been here with you to share and learn from here a little more!”
https://unitedwithisrael.org/colombian-superstar-carlos-vives-rejects-bds-performs-in-israel/

Michael Jackson is to tour Israel. Well, not the superstar himself, obviously, but the “I Am King” tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is landing in Israel for 20 spectacular dates in 2019. Performances begin in Herzliya on Jan 19 and end in Haifa on Feb 20. Catch it in Tel Aviv on Feb 14 and Jerusalem on Feb 16.
https://www.touristisrael.com/i-am-king-michael-jackson-tribute-israel/23873/

Travel magazine awards for 3 Israeli locations. Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2018 World’s Best Awards included Jerusalem (3rd place) and Tel Aviv (4th) in the “5 best cities in Africa and the Middle East” category. The Beresheet in Mitzpe Ramon came 3rd in the “Top Resort Hotels in Africa and the Middle East” category.
http://nocamels.com/2018/08/tel-aviv-jerusalem-desert-resort-top-travelleisure-magazines-2018-worlds-best-awards/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/5gyW3JkOgw8?rel=0

Dog TV is now on satellite. I reported previously (see here) about Israel’s Dog TV channel that allows dog owners to leave their pets home alone but happy. Dog TV is now available on U.S.-based satellite broadcast provider Dish Network Corporation. It is already on Comcast’s cable Xfinity and AT&T’s DirecTV.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744254,00.html

Israel to host Euro Championships of Flag Football. Israel has been chosen to host the European Championships of flag football next year in Jerusalem. The tournament will feature both men’s and women’s competitions and is currently scheduled for June 2019. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/big-sports-news-israel-chosen-to-host-the-european-championships-of-flag-football-next-year-in-jerusalem/2018/08/16/

Para-Euro swimming champions. Israeli swimmers won two gold medals in the European Paralympic championship held in Dublin, Ireland. Inbal Pezaro, 31, won the women’s 200-meter freestyle final and Ami Dadaon, 17, won the men’s 100m freestyle. Both are members of the ILAN Haifa swimming club.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-swimmers-bag-2-gold-medals-in-european-para-championship/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8l-qkGs4Rk

Medals for windsurfers. (TY Nevet) Israelis Eyal Zror and Liam Segey came 1st and 2nd in the men’s U17 category at the 2018 RS:X Windsurfing Youth World Championships in France. Israelis Naama Gazit and Linoy Geva won silver and bronze in the main women’s event. Geva came 1st in the women’s U17 category.
http://www.rsxclass.org/youthworlds2018/results/youth-women/

THE JEWISH STATE

239 new immigrants fly in. The 15th Aug Nefesh b’Nefesh flight contained 239 new Olim from 24 US states and 3 Canadian provinces. They included 57 lone soldiers, 27 medics and 90 children including 3 sets of twins.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/us-news/239-north-american-olim-land-in-israel/2018/08/15/

When Ray Charles met David Ben Gurion. I just read about world-renowned singer/songwriter Ray Charles’ support for the Jewish State. In 1972 he visited David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, during his 86th birthday celebrations at Kibbutz Sde Boker. “Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting,” Ray Charles said in 1976. https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-when-ray-charles-met-israels-first-prime-minister/

Jerusalem festival re-enacts Jewish history. (TY WIN) The Kings Valley Festival in the Kidron valley celebrates Jerusalem’s history, offering family workshops and a chance to see what daily life was like in the ancient city during ancient times. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqVirXKji4o?rel=0

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

MY SAY: SPEAKING OF AUGUST

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

I have been home bound for most of this month and I was looking for a trashy novel, but instead found a gem.I am spellbound by one of the finest histories of World One by Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman (January 30, 1912- February 6, 1989).

In “The Guns of August” Tuchman documents the events that led up to World War 1; how it could have been stopped; and how it started. The bloody trench war resulted in a killing machine of four years. Who won? Humanity lost and Tuchman narrates the foiled and failed plans and the world events and strategies that led to the war.

In the first chapter, in flawless prose, Tuchman describes the funeral pomp, circumstance and procession of royals and gentry at the May 1910 funeral of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, nephew of the Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany who attended with eight other kings.

After detailing the military planning and alliances of the Germans, the French and joint strategies of France and England, and those of Russia, Tuchman segues into the events that triggered the conflict, namely, on June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip a Serbian, assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria/Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg. On August 14th, 1914 -war started. It reads like a fast-paced movie.

As Tuchman has said:” Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature blind, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.”

One shudders to think how the state of teaching history in the academy has crumbled. rsk

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Time to Change the Rules in Gaza By Dan Calic

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/08/time_to_change_the_rules_in_gaza.html

The night of August 14, 2005 remains firmly in the memory of many Israelis. For thousands it was their last night at home in the Gaza Strip. The following day was the deadline for all Jews to evacuate. August 15 saw those who remained being forcibly evicted by Israeli soldiers.

Gut wrenching images of screaming Jews being carried away from their homes were all over the media. Soldiers were being cursed. It was an unimaginable scene of Jew against Jew. Israel was almost brought to its knees, coming close to civil war. By September 12 none of the 8,000 Jews who lived in Gaza remained.

After 38 years Israel unilaterally turned this small enclave over to the Arabs. Residents were promised financial compensation, homes and employment by the Israeli government. Ten years on the government had failed to honor its promise to many hundreds of the forced evacuees.

Why would Israel take such an unprecedented step, which severely divided the nation?

For one reason: because Israel sincerely desires peace. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, once a lion who himself championed the development of Israeli communities in Gaza and Judea/Samaria, made an unprecedented and bold move in an effort to bring stability and coexistence with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

However, instead producing a path to peace, the situation only got worse. Subsequent to Israel’s withdrawal Hamas and Fatah engaged in a power struggle. In June 2006 Hamas abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and held him prisoner for five years.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Mauritania: US Must Demand Immediate Release of Anti-Slavery Candidate Ahead of Elections by Ruthie Blum

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12879/mauritania-slavery

The arrest of Abeid — a prize-winning human rights activist whose latest “crime” was being a candidate in an election — should sound alarm bells in Washington.

The Trump administration needs to demand Abeid’s immediate release and make any further financial aid to Mauritania conditional upon proof of concrete moves to eradicate slavery and indentured servitude.

To state that Mauritania is engaged in the kind of “reform” that is “needed to improve people’s living standards” is both false and unconscionable. Not only are Mauritania’s minorities so impoverished that being enslaved is often their only perceived alternative to starving, but its deceitful government is responsible for perpetuating the situation.

Although referred to as the “world’s last country to abolish slavery,” it actually remains “slavery’s last stronghold.”

On August 7, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania arrested Biram Dah Abeid, the founding head of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), a human rights organization dedicated to eradicating slavery in the west African nation. Abeid described the police waking him in his home in the capital city of Nouakchott, and taking him into custody without charges.

Abeid and those petitioning for his release have good reason to suspect that his arrest – one of many over the past few years — is related not only to his persistent anti-slavery activism and critique of Islamic texts, but to the fact that he is running for a seat in parliament in the legislative elections slated for September 1.

Abeid, a member of the Haratin, Mauritania’s largest minority group, established the IRA in 2008, the year in which Mauritania’s first democratically elected president, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, was ousted in a coup led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who has been in power ever since. Abeid has been described as a “thorn in the side” of Aziz, particularly when he challenged Aziz in the 2014 presidential election, and came in a “distant second.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

German Court: Bring Back Deported Jihadist by Soeren Kern

Posted By on August 19th, 2018

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12882/germany-deported-jihadist

Aidoudi’s asylum request was rejected in 2007 after allegations surfaced that he had undergone military training at an al-Qaeda jihadi camp in Afghanistan between 1999 and 2000. During his training, he had allegedly worked as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.

“What we are currently experiencing is not a struggle for the rule of law, but a power struggle between an obviously ideologically oriented judiciary and unpopular political representatives.” — Tomas Spahn, writing for Tichys Einblick.

“Confidence in the rule of law is not undermined by a ruling such as that of the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court, but by the fact that it took almost twelve years for Osama bin Laden’s ‘alleged’ bodyguard finally to be deported.” — Henryk Broder, columnist, Die Welt.

A court in Germany has ruled that the recent deportation to Tunisia of a failed asylum seeker — an Islamist suspected of being a bodyguard for the former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — was unlawful and that, at taxpayer expense, he must be immediately returned to Germany.

The ruling has cast yet another spotlight on the dysfunctional nature of Germany’s deportation system, as well as on Germany’s politicized judicial system, one in which activist judges are now engaged in a power struggle with elected officials who want to speed up deportations.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The time has come to teach the political class a lesson: I’m back fighting for a real Brexit Nigel Farage

Posted By on August 18th, 2018

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/08/17/time-has-come-teach-political-class-lessonim-back-fighting-real/

It is now beyond doubt that the political class in Westminster and many of their media allies do not accept the EU referendum result. They refuse to acknowledge the wishes of the majority of those who took part in that historic plebiscite of 2016 by voting to leave the European Union. As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst case of Stockholm syndrome ever recorded.

It is equally clear to me that, unless challenged, these anti-democrats will succeed in frustrating the result. Whatever they may claim publicly, this is their ultimate objective. They think nothing of betraying the citizens of Britain.

For months now we have heard the same argument from this bunch: “Leave voters did not know what they were voting for.” The implication is that Brexiteers are stupid and should submit to the superior view of our betters.

Well, I’ve had enough of their lies, deceit and treachery. The time has come to teach them a lesson – one that they will never forget.

The 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit did so because they wanted an independent United Kingdom. They wanted to live in a country that makes its own laws and is in charge of its future. They did not want to be governed by the unaccountable bully boys in Brussels.

A vital part of making this decision was based upon a tangible instinct to leave the single market. Yet under Theresa May’s fraudulent Chequers plan, the people have instead been offered a form of regulatory alignment. What is more, nothing will be done to take back control of our borders, our fishing rights or our ability to be a global trader for many years to come. Theresa the Appeaser has produced a set of ideas that are nothing more than a cowardly sell-out.

With all this in mind, now is the time for action.

Since the referendum result was declared, almost the entire Brexit debate has been conducted within the divided parties which inhabit the Westminster bubble. There has been virtually no input from the people at all apart from at the 2017 general election – an event when both major political parties were unashamedly dishonest with the electorate in their manifestos.

To make matters worse, we are subjected to a daily stream of negative media stories about Brexit in an attempt to beat us into submission. The latest example of this was the British Medical Association suggesting that a No Deal Brexit would lead to huge numbers of people dying.

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Peter Smith Thinking Left, Thinking Right

Posted By on August 18th, 2018

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2018/07/thinking-left-thinking-right/

Studies purporting to establish why conservatives and so-called progressives think they way they do have been all the rage of late, with brain scans and the like alleged to have established that political orientation is influenced as much by biology as reason. An interesting notion, it is well worth a closer look.

According to lots of politico-psychological studies, conservatives are less open-minded or, alternatively speaking, more closed-minded or dogmatic than progressives. As a conservative (full disclosure), am I a stick-in-the-mud? It is difficult to say because I’m trying to assess it and might not be best positioned to form an objective view. I have some conservative friends. I tend to think that they have, shall we say, settled views. Is this evidence of conservative closed-mindedness? Well, it’s a small sample. I also have a small sample of progressive friends. I tend to think they too have settled views. In fact, I find that everyone I know has mostly settled views. To look at it the other way: how many people have you met who have changed their minds on any profound political question? Not many, I bet.

I will switch interchangeably between using the terms “right” and “conservative” and “left” and “progressive”. Of course, the postmodern leftists of today are not the cloth-cap socialists of yesteryear fighting for workers’ rights. They have evolved, certainly since Saul Alinsky wrote his Rules for Radicals in 1973. My progressive friends, all of an age, are not a close match with my dad and his union mates. Though I sometimes think they haven’t spotted the profound change in the ideology to which they cling.

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Swedish Nationalist Party Predicted to Make Huge Gains Next Month By Rick Moran

Posted By on August 18th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/trending/predicted-huge-gains-for-swedish-nationalist-party/

The national Sweden Democrats are predicted to become the largest political party in the country following elections on September 9.

Their only problem is that none of the socialist parties that have ruled Sweden for more than 100 years will work with them. The situation is similar to what it is for other nationalist, eurosceptic parties in Germany, France, Holland, and other Western countries. The people support the nationalist agenda but other politicians refuse to have anything to do with them.

There is no doubt that the roots of the Sweden Democrats can be found in the far right. Nazi flags and uniforms were a common sight at party rallies 20 years ago.

But those days are mostly gone. The Sweden Democrats’ anti-immigration, anti-EU agenda resonates with millions of ordinary people and recent events have angered millions of citizens who fear that the 165,000 refugees who’ve settled in the country are refusing to integrate.

NBC News:

Tobias Andersson agrees. At 22, the leader of the party’s youth wing will likely become a lawmaker next month. Andersson joined the Sweden Democrats at 16, attracted by its tough stance on criminal justice.

But he becomes most animated when discussing immigration, which he said is “bad in every way possible.”

Immigration aside, the party wants to limit abortion and increase defense spending. It opposes Sweden’s membership in the European Union and has expressed skepticism about man-made climate change.