NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Pennsylvania State Capitol Evacuated after Bomb Threat ‘In the Name of Palestine’ Zach Kessel

Posted By on July 9th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/pennsylvania-state-capitol-evacuated-after-bomb-threat-in-the-name-of-palestine/

The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg was evacuated Saturday after every member of the state’s legislature received an email threatening anti-Israel bombings in the complex.

“In the name of Palestine, I have hidden highly lethal lead azide devices in and around Pennsylvania State Capitol as well as the Pennsylvania Judicial Center,” the suspect, going by the alias of “glorytoourmartyrs,” wrote. “I plan on triggering one device every few hours until Joe Biden goes on national television and publicly denounces the illegitimate state of Israel. Keep in mind I am inside one of the 2 buildings armed w/ a knife, and plan on remaining here to my dying breath!”

According to a statement from the Pennsylvania Department of General Services, law enforcement immediately evacuated the state capitol and conducted a sweep of the complex. They did not detect any explosives or the presence of the individual who sent the email, which had as its subject line “My manifesto.”

“Following a comprehensive search, Capitol Police, federal, state, and local authorities determined there was no credible threat and the buildings were cleared to reopen,” the department announced.

ANTI-SEMITISM, EDUCATION Comments turned off

Columbia University Suspends Top Administrators for Mocking Antisemitism Concerns in Texts By Zach Kessel

Posted By on July 9th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/columbia-university-suspends-top-administrators-for-mocking-antisemitism-concerns-in-texts/

Columbia University on Monday placed three administrators on leave over leaked text exchanges in which they played down concerns about campus antisemitism and mocked the university’s rabbi during a panel on Jewish life at Columbia.

As panelists shared their experiences of antisemitism on campus, the administrators exchanged mocking texts — captured in photos by a person in attendance and shared with the Washington Free Beacon — in which they suggested that critics were using the issue of antisemitism for its “fundraising potential.”

The administrators — Columbia College vice dean and chief administrative officer Susan Chang-Kim, dean of undergraduate student life Cristen Kromm, and associate dean for student and family support Matthew Patashnick — have been placed on indefinite leave and will not return to their positions, though they are technically still employed by the university. Columbia College dean Josef Sorett, the highest-ranking administrator involved in the text exchanges, “will be writing to the Columbia College community separately” and will keep his job as dean.

Columbia president Minouche Shafik — the much-derided leader whose April testimony in front of the House Education and Workforce Committee coincided with the establishment of the first anti-Israel encampment in the country — announced the decision in a Monday morning statement.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Leor Sapir The White House’s Transgender Tangle On youth gender medicine, the Biden administration shows that it is caught between the evidence and its activist base.

Posted By on July 9th, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-white-houses-transgender-tangle

New evidence suggests that the White House is taking its marching orders on so-called gender-affirming care for kids from transgender interest groups. A messaging blunder last week revealed that the Biden administration likely knows that gender hormones and surgeries for kids are unpopular but fears that saying so will alienate the powerful organizations that support these controversial procedures.

In late June, documents released in Boe v. Marshall—a case challenging Alabama’s ban on sex-trait modification procedures for minors—revealed that the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rachel Levine, pressured the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) to eliminate age minimums from its latest “standards of care,” due to fear that specifying adolescent ages for surgeries would invite political backlash and result in legal restrictions on teen gender surgeries.

Even worse for a group that claims the mantle of medical science, internal emails reveal that WPATH suppressed the publication of evidence reviews that it had commissioned from researchers at Johns Hopkins University. As The Economist reported, WPATH also required the researchers to secure the organization’s approval before publishing their findings. And, according to a court document, WPATH forced the authors to add a disclaimer that they were “solely responsible for the content” of their published work.

Within days of the Alabama documents being unsealed, the White House told Fox News and the New York Times that it opposes gender surgeries for kids. It did so despite the administration’s longstanding, well-documented support for these very procedures. On July 2, 19th News, a progressive news site, published another statement that it had received from the White House. This one reiterated the Biden administration’s opposition to surgeries but added that the White House “continue[s] to support gender-affirming care for minors like mental health care and respect[s] the role of parents, families, and doctors in these decisions” (emphasis added). Notably absent was explicit support for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones; the statement seemed to equate “gender-affirming care” with “mental health care.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

‘Don’t be Fooled’ by Iran’s ‘Bogus Election of a Puppet President’ Holding out misleading hope to the West’s gullible leaders. by Christine Williams

Posted By on July 9th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/dont-be-fooled-by-irans-bogus-election-of-a-puppet-president/

As Robert Spencer stated earlier on Jihad Watch: “No one can run for the presidency of Iran without Khamenei’s approval.”  Iran’s constitutional body, the Guardian Council, has confirmed the victory of so-called “reformist” Masoud Pezeshkian, who will now succeed the late hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, but expect little change.

Elections in Iran are hardly democratic. The Supreme Leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Guardian Council disqualify any contender for the presidency who may be deemed a threat to the regime.

The outcome of a presidential election reveals Iran’s strategic direction. Pezeshkian serves to potentially pacify domestic and international threats via his diplomatic demeanor. The Iranian regime faces international disapproval of its brazen hardline approach as it moves toward developing a nuclear bomb; Western scrutiny over its ongoing war against the State of Israel by means of its proxies; and the ongoing threat of a potential uprising by fierce anti-regime dissidents, even as the Iranian government dismisses such a threat.

The Associated Press describes Pezeshkian as a “reformist politician within Iran’s Shiite theocracy — always pushing for change but never radically challenging the system overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” That’s because Pezeshkian is a pawn of the regime and has its approval.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Now They’re Gaslighting Us About Biden’s ‘Accomplishments’

Posted By on July 9th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/09/media-are-now-gaslighting-us-about-bidens-accomplishments/

Joe Biden is the worst president in American history and a man whose lifetime of accomplishments wouldn’t fill up a Post-it note.

esterday, we pointed out how the press and Democratic Party politicians and operatives have started calling President Joe Biden a “good man,” despite all evidence to the contrary. Now the media are trying to convince the public that Biden has been a great president who racked up big accomplishments, which is another insult to our intelligence.

“Objectively speaking, President Joe Biden has presided over some significant, even historic, accomplishments,” is how the Atlantic put it.

The Atlantic writer could name only three. Massive spending programs (all with borrowed money), mandating COVID vaccines (that were developed in record time thanks to Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed), and “the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years” – a rate that has been steadily increasing all year.

This is the short list Biden sycophants usually trot out. But it’s the list of Biden’s failures that is truly impressive. Here’s just a sampling:

Inflation. Prices have climbed 20% in the three-and-a-half years Biden has been in office. That compares with 8% during Trump’s entire term, and just 15% during Barack Obama’s eight. The massive increase in prices under Biden was exactly what many economists predicted would happen when he and his fellow Democrats poured trillions of borrowed dollars onto a fast-growing economy.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

UK election gives rise to anti-Israel independents By David Isaac

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.jns.org/uk-election-sees-rise-of-anti-israel-independents/

Labour Party’s landslide in last week’s elections in the United Kingdom was no surprise. What came as a jolt was the success of the ‘pro-Gaza independents.’ All ran on the issue of “Palestine” and Gaza in heavily Muslim districts.

The winning independent candidates were Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Hussain Mohamed.

They unseated four Labour members of parliament. As one British headline blared: “Pro-Palestinian MPs become ‘sixth largest’ party in shock Labour defeats.”

The ‘Gaza bloc’ capitalized on anger toward the Labour Party among Muslim voters, who believed Labour hadn’t done enough against Israel and for “Palestine” in the current conflict.

Though Labour performed well overall, it did poorly in areas with high Muslim populations.

Labour Party leader and incoming prime minister, Keir Starmer, and wife Victoria greet supporters as they enter 10 Downing Street in London following a landslide election victory in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2024. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Shame on the State Attorney for charging heroes with homicide Ruthie Blum

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.jns.org/shame-on-the-state-attorney-for-charging-heroes-with-homicide/ 

The only ray of light shining on this week’s revelation that three Israelis are under investigation for the Oct. 7 “murder” of a Nukhba terrorist is that most of the public is horrified that the men in question, who risked their lives to rescue victims while battling Hamas monsters, are being treated like criminals rather than heroes.

When the gag order on the case was eased on Sunday, and reports of the arrest of the trio emerged, two of the “suspects,” Saar Ofir and Yisrael Biton, came forward to identify themselves and present their version of events to local media outlets.

Their stories rang completely true. But even if they hadn’t, an account of the details shouldn’t have been necessary. Whatever way the Hamas barbarian met his death on Oct. 7, it was justified. It beggars belief that the State Attorney’s Office feels otherwise.

It’s particularly outrageous that the civilians who rushed to the south as soon as they realized that atrocities were being committed—during the hours that security forces were still waiting for orders to act—should be charged with anything, let alone homicide.

Given the behavior of State Attorney Amit Aisman, it’s a wonder that the guys in question weren’t also slapped with speeding tickets. Aisman and his crew don’t see it that way, of course.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

From Jonathan Haidt:Treating Childhood Anxiety with a Mega-Dose of Independence What therapists can do to help restore the play-based childhood Camilo Ortiz

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.afterbabel.com/

Introduction from Zach Rausch and Lenore Skenazy:

We now describe The Anxious Generation as a tragedy in three acts. Act 1, the loss of community, began in the 1960s and 1970s, when local communal life and obligations began to weaken, and social distrust began to rise (as described in Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone). This loss of trust led to Act 2, the loss of the play-based childhood. That began in the 1980s but really accelerated in the 1990s when children were pulled indoors, away from the unsupervised play with peers that had been typical for most of human history. As more immersive and exciting virtual worlds emerged, kids were drawn away from the real world and into the virtual one. The early 2010s marked the beginning of Act 3, the rise of the phone-based childhood, with the advent of smartphones and enhanced-virality social media.

Today’s post focuses on Act 2, the loss of play-based, free-range childhood, and its wide-ranging ramifications. Jon and Zach (and Lenore Skenazy, Peter Gray, and others) claim that the decline of a play-based childhood with ample independence caused children born in the late 1990s and later (Gen Z, and Gen Alpha) to become progressively more anxious. This dynamic prompted Camilo Ortiz, a professor of psychology at Long Island University and a clinical therapist, to wonder if the problem could be addressed by reversing the process:  Could increasing childhood independence decrease childhood anxiety?

Camilo took this simple idea and developed a new therapeutic intervention, “Independence Therapy,” that has just been published in The Journal of Anxiety Disorders. Camilo has found remarkable success with his patients and hopes that many more psychologists will adopt this new intervention as an approach to addressing the rising tide of anxious children (and parents).

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

NATO leaders are descending on Washington. Here’s what to know By Matthew Lee

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://apnews.com/article/nato-summit-biden-trump-europe-russia-ukraine-6c24773349aa1a9f6592a15268f98169

WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO leaders meet this week for a summit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the military alliance, which has never been larger and more focused but is also facing potentially existential threats from outside and within.

If Russia’s war in Ukraine, challenges posed by an increasingly aggressive China, and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza weren’t enough, some key members’ commitment to defend their allies is coming under question.

There is deep uncertainty over President Joe Biden’s ability to beat his predecessor, NATO skeptic Donald Trump, in November to lead the most powerful member of the alliance.

While Biden’s political troubles are stirring concerns at home and abroad, countries in Europe are facing their own issues with a rise of far-right populism, particularly in France and Hungary, threatening what had been a bedrock pillar of post-World War II security and stability.

Here’s what to watch for at the three-day summit:

All eyes on Biden

ISRAEL Comments turned off

DIANE BEDERMAN: INTERSECTIONALITY OF HATE

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://dianebederman.com/intersectionality-of-hate/

Boy, have we done a great job educating the last few generations. DIE, CRT, woke progressivism. Now we have Queers for Palestine. It takes a certain kinda stupid to be Queer for Palestine. The West now celebrates gay marriage and parades with naked gay people.

Although naked people are not permitted to march in Israel, LGBT2+ is celebrated; including this year:

“LGBTQ+ supporters marched the streets of Jerusalem carrying rainbow flags, Israeli flags and yellow ribbons, a symbol for hostages still held in Gaza.”

Now, if these Queers for Palestine went to Muslim countries, they would probably be murdered – not disparaged, or demeaned or ignored. Nope. Murdered. And yet, these Queers for Palestine stand with those who scream INTIFADA – death to Israel.

“Islam’s prohibition of homosexual acts is categorical, and its teachings on gender relations and sexual norms are foundational and inseparable from belief in Allah and His revelation. There is no room in Islam for the new direction in which the liberal culture appears to be dragging the West and, through its coercive ideological apparatus, the world as a whole.”