ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel Needs a Statesman – Now by Guy Millière

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18481/israel-needs-a-statesman

The years before 2021 had brought relative calm and improvements. The United States had cut much of its funding for the Palestinian Authority, which had been used for terrorism. As a result, terrorism had substantially decreased. When the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and drastically sanctioned Iran, the mullahs and their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had less money to finance and arm Hamas. ISIS was crushed. A rapprochement began between Israel and the Arab world and led to the Abraham Accords, signed between the United States, Israel, and five Muslim countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Kosovo and Sudan. For the first time in decades in the Middle East, “peace, security and prosperity” held sway.

The election of US President Joe Biden, however, quickly revealed that better lives for people in the region, including the Palestinians, were about to end. The Biden administration immediately returned to the policies of the Obama years. It restored the funding that Palestinian leaders use for terrorism, without first stipulating that the terrorism had to stop. The Biden administration resumed nuclear negotiations with Iran — through an intermediary from, of all places Russia. (Iran did not allow the US officials in the room.) The US government itself had named Iran “the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism;” now the Biden administration was again enabling the ruling mullahs — who call for “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” — soon to have an unlimited number of nuclear weapons, the intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver them, and billions of dollars for terrorism and resuming their efforts to take over the oil-rich Middle East. Meanwhile, America’s interlocutor, Russia, has been working with Iran on how it can evade US sanctions for invading Ukraine so that both countries may further enrich themselves by Iran selling Russia’s oil.

When “settlement expansion” is made to sound as grave a transgression as murder, terrorism will resume.

Since June 2021, for the first time in 12 years, Israel seems to have a weak prime minister, Naftali Bennett. He has evidently promised to work in “quiet coordination” with the Biden administration and never criticizes the administration’s anti-Israel policies.

The leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas see that an anti-Israel administration is in place in Washington and draw their own conclusions.

Sunni Arab leaders are currently “trying to decide whether to grovel to Iran, or stand with Israel… Israel has but one option – to become the strong tribe of the Middle East”. — Caroline Glick, Israel Hayom, March 25, 2022.

Israel needs its strong tribe status. Israel needs a statesman. Now.

Beersheba, Israel. March 22. Mohammed Abu al-Kiyan rams his car into a rabbi riding a bicycle, killing him, then drives to a gas station and stabs a woman to death there, and then drives to a shopping mall and stabs two more people to death. After fleeing the mall, he crashed his car into another vehicle and was finally shot and killed by armed civilians as he charged at one of them with a knife

MY SAY: Comments turned off

MY SAY: ISRAEL: FROM DESPAIR TO TRIUMPH

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

The despair and grief energized the Jewish citizens of Palestine and world Jewry and concerned Christians to demand sovereignty in Israel. On May 4th 1948, a new link was added to the ancient and eternal chain of Jewish survival – namely, recognition of Israel as a Jewish national state.

In the 74 years of independence, Israel ranks as a gem of the decolonization movements in Africa and Asia. In spite of fractious and disputatious politics Israel remains a free-wheeling democracy; arts , theater, dance and social and philanthropic institutes grow and thrive; its contributions to global advances in medicine, science, technology, agronomy, and water purification are dazzling and outsize; its defense establishment is state -of -the -art in a citizen army with powerful ordnance; and most heartening of all is that despite wars and terrorism and human termites’ libels and bias, Israeli Jews are happy and now number well over 6 million.

On my first trip to Israel after the 1949 Armistice, my parents, my brother and I who had lost our entire family- never to know grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins -experienced indescribable emotion when we heard a roar overhead and saw a V formation of tiny military airplanes with the Star of David on the undersides.

This past March, while sitting in a plane waiting for takeoff, I saw a large jet land and taxi. Emblazoned on its gleaming steel tail fin was a giant Star of David.

You’ve come a long way, Israel! They even play your national anthem in Dubai!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  rsk

EDUCATION Comments turned off

DC School Gives ‘Anti-Racism’ ‘Fistbook’ to 4-Year-Olds, Asks them to Out ‘Racist’ Family Members By Eric Lendrum

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/05/03/dc-school-gives-anti-racism-fistbook-to-4-year-olds-asks-them-to-out-racist-family-members/

At a public elementary school in Washington D.C., teachers and other staff members forced “anti-racism” curriculum on students as young as four years old, and even went so far as to ask the children to out allegedly racist family members.

As reported by Fox News, a letter signed by Danielle Singh, principal of Janney Elementary School, and dated from November 30th confirms that students were forced to participate in an “Anti-Racism Fight Club.” The event was hosted by a speaker named Doyin Richards.

“As part of this work, each student has a fist book to help continue the dialogue at school and home,” Singh confirmed in the letter, with a link to Richards’ presentation. “We recognize that any time we engage topics such as race and equity, we may experience a variety of emotions. This is a normal part of the learning and growing process. As a school community we want to continue the dialogue with our students and understand this is just the beginning.”

Richards’ book, the “Anti-Racism Fight Club Fistbook for Kids,” declares that “White people are a part of a society that benefits them in almost every instance,” and that “it’s as if White people walk around with an invisible force field because they hold all of the power in America.”

“If you are a White person, White privilege is something you were born with and it simply means that your life is not more difficult due to the color of your skin,” Richards says in the book. “Put differently, it’s not your fault for having White privilege, but it is your fault if you choose to ignore it.” The book also says that “anti-racism” involves being “loud, uncomfortable, confrontational and visible to ensure change is made.”

The book then demands that the students ask them to find racism in themselves, then asks about family members.

“Just because someone is older than you doesn’t mean that they’re right all of the time,” the book continues. “Parents need to stop making excuses for that behavior if they truly believe in anti-racism. Who in your family has racist beliefs? Do you think you can change their ways? What is your strategy for dealing with them?”

Parents have already taken to the district’s online forums to complain about the material, with one anonymous commenter claiming that their child was traumatized by the unknown contents of the lesson.

“Anyone else’s Kindergarten kid freaked out by an anti-racism assembly today? My kid needed to sleep with a light on and the door open tonight,” said the comment. “Anyone know what specifically was talked about? My kid couldn’t relay much except that she was scared.”

In a statement responding to the leaked reports, DC Public Schools claimed that the “fistbook” was never shared with students.

“DC Public Schools provides joyful and rigorous academic experiences for our students and is committed to advancing educational equity,” the district’s statement said. “In December, a resource link with this content was shared in a parent newsletter at one of our schools. It is not part of our DCPS curriculum and was not shared with students.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Obama’s Fundamental Manipulation of Free Speech By Jeannie DeAngelis

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/05/obamas_fundamental_manipulation_of_free_speech.html

Setting the stage for the DHS announcement of the Biden Administration’s Disinformation Governance Board recently, at a Stanford University Cyber Policy Center symposium entitled, “Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Information Realm,” deceptive mind-control specialist Barack Obama emerged from behind his Joe Biden mask to deliver the keynote speech. 

According to the anonymous author of the 2009 Department of Homeland Security treatise on “right-wing extremism,” government needs to help companies better “…recognize the often-dangerous relationship between social media, nationalism [and] domestic hate groups” like pro-lifers, ex-military, Second Amendment supporters, Christians, and America-First patriots.

Well aware that the voice of the people threatens the trajectory of the global elite agenda, the former president used the opportunity to double down on what he does best, which is to manipulate minds with clever word games. The stunning effort focused on convincing the naïve that government control of public discourse somehow strengthens “democracy.”

Attempting to persuade Americans that controlling free speech correlates with democratic non-complacency, Obama argued that limiting freedom “nurtures” democracy by instituting a policy that runs counter to freedom.  

Credit where credit is due, the former president is masterful at presenting nonexistent consensuses as if they truly exist. Take for instance his suggestion that questioning the 2020 election threatens “democratic ideals” and is tantamount to affiliation with Putin, while simultaneously inferring everyone agrees that the 2016 election was stolen from Hillary.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

An Open Letter to the Editorial Board of the Harvard Crimson What your commitment to – and promotion of – the toxic BDS campaign really reveals. Richard L. Cravatts

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/open-letter-editorial-board-harvard-crimson-richard-l-cravatts/

“In short, you have given credence to Bertrand Russell’s observation that “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”

On April 29th, in a breathtaking display of tendentiousness and a misreading of history and fact, you published an editorial in the Harvard Crimson entitled, “In Support of Boycott, Divest, Sanction and a Free Palestine,” an outrageous column replete with slanders against the Jewish state that called for the Harvard community to commit itself to the corrosive BDS campaign against Israel.

You suggested that the editorial was inspired by the April demonstrations and programming of the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee (HCPSC) which, as part of Israeli Apartheid Week, “installed a colorful, multi-panel ‘Wall of Resistance’ in favor of Palestinian freedom and sovereignty.” Additionally, you heaped praise on the childish mock wall and suggested that “art is a potent form of resistance” and that you were “humbled by our peers’ passion and skill” in creating such an activist masterpiece.

Even more importantly, you contended, fallaciously, “The admittedly controversial panels dare the viewer to contend with well-established, if rarely stated, facts [emphasis added].” What are examples of those “well-established facts” you alluded to? One panel announced in capital letters, for example, that “Zionism is: Racism – Settler Colonialism – White Supremacy – Apartheid,” mendacious slurs that echo the UN’s notorious 1975 Resolution 3379 that proclaimed that Zionism is racism.

Framing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as a matter of race, as this foolish display did, and accusing Israel of maintaining a system of apartheid, is something that Israel-haters are fond of doing, even when the charge is patently false. The accusation of apartheid was given even more support last year with the publication of reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, both obsessive, perennial critics of Israel, that redefined apartheid in a way that it could be used to slander Israel—reports that you, in fact, alluded to in your editorial. The puerile accusation of white supremacy against Israel is as grotesque and unhinged as is the oft-repeated claim that Israelis are the new Nazis, committing genocide against the Palestinians, and both are not only counter-factual but are also forms of anti-Semitic expression described in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism.

Of course, your claim that the “facts” on the HCPSC mock wall are “well-established” is only true inasmuch as these are facts that live in the minds of progressives and anti-Semites who promiscuously and carelessly throw around words without attention to their actual meaning and import. Progressive thought, such as is apparent in this editorial, involves allowing emotions to define things instead of facts.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

At the Met Gala, a Night of Gilded Irony By Arjun Singh

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/at-the-met-gala-a-night-of-gilded-irony/

When Edith Wharton wrote The Age of Innocence, her 1920 novel of the Gilded Age, she drew back the veil on the hypocrisy, arrogance, and tone-deafness of New York high society. She might have been surprised to see how today’s elites openly and explicitly embrace their gilded privilege.

Such was the case at last night’s Met Gala, the annual celebrity confab hosted by Vogue magazine’s Anna Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Known for its bold red-carpet fashion and ostentation, the event is where the who’s-who of the entertainment, fashion, and corporate worlds, and sometimes politics, schmooze and party through the night on the first Monday in May. One of the world’s most exclusive social events, it’s been an ode to gilded — and guiltless — excess for the last 75 years. The Gala is followed by equally exclusive after-parties at Manhattan’s posh or hip hotels, including the Carlyle on the Upper East Side and the Standard in the Meatpacking District.

Metaphor and reality were fused at this year’s event, whose theme was, in fact, the Gilded Age. Perhaps Wintour chose that theme as a subtle yet searing joke on the attendees. Another interesting aspect of the evening was that, at both the Gala and the two after-parties, I observed that Covid seemed nonexistent. There was no proof of vaccination or negative test required for entry. Nor were masks required.

In itself, this is not a bad thing; Covid is receding and should be treated as a waning problem. What made it bad was the sheer hypocrisy.

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

My Testimony On New York’s “Scoping Plan” To Achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions Francis Menton

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/

Today I trekked out to Brooklyn to testify at a public hearing on New York’s plans to achieve “net zero” electricity by 2030 or so, and a “net zero” economy by 2050. Actually, it wasn’t much of a trek — the hearing took place at an auditorium in Brooklyn Heights, near the first subway stop on the other side of the East River.

The organization holding the hearing was the New York Climate Action Council. This body was created under New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (Climate Act), and is tasked with figuring out how to achieve the statutorily mandated net zero targets. The first statutory target is 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, which as a practical matter means that fossil fuels must be almost completely eliminated from the electricity sector by that date. The Council issued its Draft Scoping Plan for how to achieve the targets on December 30, 2021. The Draft Scoping Plan is some 300 pages of text plus 500 pages of appendices; but the gist comes down to, we will order the private sector to eliminate emissions by various dates certain, and then it is up to the little people to work out the details. Today’s hearing allowed for members of the public to comment on the Draft Scoping Plan, supposedly so that any appropriate adjustments can be made before the Plan becomes final later this year.

The Climate Action Council has some 21 members. A full list can be found here. Seven of the 21 attended today’s hearing. I’m going to give you a list of these people and their titles, to give an indication of the extent to which the Council is dominated by environmental activists and political functionaries with no background or interest in how a huge electrical grid might actually get converted to “net zero” as an engineering matter. The members present were: Doreen Harris, President and CEO of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority; Basil Seggos, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Roberta Reardon, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor; Robert Rodriguez, Acting Secretary of State of New York; RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner and CEO, New York State Homes and Community Renewal; Peter Iwanowicz, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates NY; and Raya Salter, Lead Policy Organizer, NY Renews. Of these, maybe Ms. Harris of NYSERDA knows something about how the electrical grid works. Then again, maybe she doesn’t.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Sen. Ed Markey Is A Dangerous Insurrectionist Who Must Be Canceled! (For His Attack On The Supreme Court)

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/05/04/sen-ed-markey-is-a-dangerous-insurrectionist-who-must-be-canceled-for-his-attack-on-the-supreme-court/

The left’s freakout over a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is hardly surprising. It has a collective breakdown whenever it loses on an issue, even a trivial one. But what did surprise us was the radical, downright insurrectionist talk spewed by at least one Democrat.

The unprecedented leak of a draft of a Supreme Court opinion – apparently in hopes that it would somehow change the outcome – was a sign of the left’s unbalanced mental state. As soon as the leak hit the internet, protests erupted, calls for packing the court and ending the filibuster re-emerged, and the hyperbole gushed forth.

Case in point is the statement from the two Democratic congressional leaders. “The Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years – not just on women but on all Americans,” they screeched, adding that overturning Roe would be “an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history.”

What really caught our eye, however, was what Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey said:

“A stolen, illegitimate, and far-right Supreme Court majority appears set to destroy the right to abortion, an essential right which protects the health, safety, and freedom of millions of Americans. There is no other recourse. We must expand the court.” 

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Vance wins Ohio GOP Senate primary after Trump endorsement, NBC News projects Gov. Mike DeWine secured the Republican nomination in his bid for re-election, fending off challengers from his right.

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

By Henry J. Gomez and Alex Seitz-Wald

CINCINNATI — Buoyed by former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, J.D. Vance prevailed in Ohio’s competitive Republican Senate primary Tuesday and will face off in November against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.

In the gubernatorial contest, incumbent Republican Mike DeWine secured the nomination in his bid for re-election, NBC News projects, while former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley won the Democratic nod.

In a Democratic congressional primary, NBC News projects Rep. Shontel Brown defeated former state Sen. Nina Turner, a progressive insurgent who had previously challenged Brown in a special election last year.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

LIZ PEEK: JOE BIDEN IS MAKING AMERICANS POORER

Posted By on May 4th, 2022

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3474968-joe-biden-is-making-americans-poorer/

Americans are getting poorer by the day, and they can thank President Biden.

Too harsh? Not at all. Stock markets are crashing, costing Americans trillions of dollars, and home prices will likely follow. All of this is happening even though our economy remains essentially strong.

Why the disconnect? Americans are worried about inflation and don’t think the Biden administration can fix it without plunging our economy into recession. With the president still hawking even more government spending, higher business taxes and increased regulations – all of which will drive prices higher – why would they?

Almost from the start, Americans knew that Biden’s policies were wrong for the country. From the second quarter of Biden’s presidency, consumer sentiment has trended sharply lower, even as jobs were plentiful and consumers flush with cash.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index stood at 88.3 in April 2021; today it has dropped to 59.4, one of the lowest levels since 1980, when the data were first collected. A reading, for sure, completely out of kilter with 3.6 percent unemployment.

According to a Real Clear Politics average of polls, only 38 percent of the nation approves of Biden’s management of the economy.

First, the facts: The economy shrank by an annualized rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter, not because consumers stopped spending but mainly because we had a big jump in our trade imbalance. Imports surged nearly 18 percent on an annualized basis while exports fell. Economists at ISI Evercore estimate the blowout in the trade gap crimped real GDP growth in the quarter by 3.2 percent.