Displaying posts published in

December 2015

BOOKS Comments turned off

DAVID GOLDMAN: WHY IS THE WORLD OBSESSED WITH THE ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL

By on December 25th, 2015

JERUSALEM–The Election of Israel is in the news again, with the report of a Vatican Commissionthat affirms the eternal validity of God’s covenant with the Jewish people. The Western elite long ago dismissed the subject as superstition. The vast majority of American Jews, think Election is a Jewish folk-belief like dybbuks or the Golem. (By contrast, 70% of Israeli Jews believe that the Jews are God’s chosen people).

The Western elite wants people to act rationally and considers all supernatural claims an affront to rationality. The trouble is that people aren’t rational (neither is the Western elite, but that’s another story). We want to live forever or we don’t want to live at all. When we lose faith, we stop reproducing. There might be a stray philosopher here and there so convinced of the immortality of the spirit as to despite death itself, as Socrates claimed to do (although I have my doubts even about him). We can’t live forever, to be sure, but we can take part in a culture that links our ancestors and descendants in an immortal chain.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

India’s Narendra Modi to Make First Visit to Pakistan for Chat With Nawaz Sharif The Indian prime minister plans to stop over in Lahore on his way back from an official visit to Afghanistan By Qasim Nauman And Saeed Shah

By on December 25th, 2015

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, the latest in a series of breakthroughs between the estranged nuclear-armed neighbors after years of tensions.

“Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi,” said a post on Mr. Modi’s verified Twitter account.

A statement from Mr. Sharif’s office said he would receive Mr. Modi on his arrival in Lahore, the Pakistani leader’s hometown.
Mr. Modi also said on Twitter that he spoke to Mr. Sharif on Friday to wish him a happy birthday, which coincides with both Christmas and the birthday of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Indian prime minister is to make his stop in Pakistan on his way back from Afghanistan.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

U.S. Plans Mass Deportation of Illegal Central American Migrants Authorities face influx of migrants escaping violence in El Salvador and Honduras By Miriam Jordan see note

By on December 25th, 2015

How disappointing to find such a glaring error in the WSJ….the definition of staunch is : steady, constant, trusty, hard-working, steadfast, redoubtable, unwavering, tireless The correct word should have been stanch which means to stop or restrict….Furthermore, it is the influx of Arab/Moslems that should be stanched ….the immigration policies are idiotic…..rsk
To staunch the flow of illegal migrants to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security has been preparing a national operation to deport Central American families who have evaded removal orders, according to a government official.

Starting early next month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS unit, plans to start rounding up hundreds of families that entered the U.S. illegally and who have ignored a final order to leave the country, said the official. Such an order is issued by a judge in immigration court.

The number of families showing up at the southwest border has spiked in recent months as gang-related violence grips El Salvador and Honduras. The region also has been plagued by drought.
Related

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Belgium Charges Ninth Person In Paris Attacks Investigation Police arrest Belgian national to face terror-related charges By Tom Fairless

By on December 25th, 2015

BRUSSELS—Belgian authorities have charged a ninth person in connection with last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris, as they continue to hunt for a key suspect in the atrocity, the federal prosecutor’s office said Thursday.

Abdoullah C., a Belgian national, was arrested in Brussels on Tuesday and charged by an investigating judge with terrorist murders and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization, the prosecutor said.

The man, born in 1985, is suspected of having had “several contacts” with Hasna Ait Boulahcen, niece of the ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Those contacts allegedly took place between the attacks and a subsequent police shootout in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, in which both Mr. Abaaoud and his niece died, the prosecutor’s office said.

Belgian authorities will decide later today whether to extend Abdoullah C.’s detention.

The latest arrest was the result of a house raid close to the Brussels district of Molenbeek, where at least three of the alleged Paris attackers lived, said Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor.

Continue reading →