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August 2024

MEDIA Comments turned off

Kamala Harris, Scourge of Iran? Andrew McCarthy

By on August 21st, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kamala-harris-scourge-of-iran/

Paper of Record says it’s unclear whom Iran wants to win the presidential election because Biden and Harris ‘have taken a tough line with Iran.’ Seriously?

American intelligence agencies have concluded that Iran was behind the recent hacking of the Trump campaign. In reporting that news, the New York Times adds the following (my italics):

Iran’s government has shown signs of becoming increasingly aggressive in recent months, because it sees the outcome of the elections as “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests,” the [U.S. intelligence] officials said.

They did not specify which, if any, outcome Iran might favor. In 2018, Mr. Trump scrapped an agreement reached in the waning days of the Obama administration to limit and monitor Tehran’s civilian nuclear development program in exchange for easing economic sanctions.

But leading Democrats, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, have also taken a tough line with Iran, the chief sponsor of Hezbollah and Hamas.

According to the Times, then, it is not clear which American presidential candidate Iran might prefer to see prevail. That, we’re to believe, is because Biden and Harris — whose administration continues to insist that Iran only has a civilian nuclear program — have “taken a tough line with Iran,” which, after all, is “the chief sponsor of” two brutal anti-American terrorist organizations.

Down here on Planet Earth, however, Biden was vice president in the administration that put Iran on a glide path to nuclear weapons by inducing the jihadist regime’s agreement to a deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — that was so one-sidedly in Iran’s favor that the administration would not submit it to the Senate as a treaty.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Casey B. Mulligan A Regulatory Onslaught The Biden administration’s policies amount to lifetime costs of nearly $50,000 per family.

By on August 21st, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/bidens-regulatory-onslaught

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. government’s regulatory activity in areas like health care, the Internet, environment, and transportation was unprecedented. The hundreds of new regulations that resulted cost the average household roughly $26,000 over a lifetime, according to my new study for Unleash Prosperity, which uses a database of more than 5,000 federal rules. By contrast, the deregulatory focus of Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, wound up saving the average family about $11,000 in lifetime cost burdens. The regulatory pendulum swung back, though, with Joe Biden’s administration. To some extent, this was to be expected, as Democrats are more inclined to regulatory mandates than Republicans. But who would have expected the Biden administration to regulate with such a vengeance? I calculate a lifetime per family burden of $47,000 from Biden’s new regulations.

The Biden regulations are also highly regressive, with low-income households bearing a large cost as a share of their income. The poor pay seven times more when adjusting for their ability to pay.

A prime example is the Department of Transportation’s expensive new fuel economy standards on new cars, SUVs, and trucks. Together with emissions requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency, new vehicles are expected to cost $3,400 more than they would under the standards set by the Trump administration.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

DHS Watchdog Says ICE Has Lost Track of as Many as 291,000 Unaccompanied Migrant Children By Debra Heine

By on August 21st, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/08/20/dhs-watchdog-says-ice-has-lost-track-of-as-many-as-291000-unaccompanied-migrant-children/

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lost track of up to 291,000 unaccompanied minors over the last five years, according to a blistering new report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General.

The IG report, titled “Management Alert – ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Custody,” confirmed that more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children [UCs] are no longer accounted for by ICE.

“During our ongoing audit to assess ICE’s ability to monitor the location and status of UCs who were released or transferred from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we learned ICE transferred more than 448,000 UCs to HHS from fiscal years 2019 to 2023,” the internal watchdog reported. “However, ICE was not able to account for the location of all UCs who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court. ICE reported more than 32,000 UCs failed to appear for their immigration court hearings from FYs 2019 to 2023.”

Migrant children are counted as unaccounted for when their sponsors fail to appear at immigration court hearings after being released from government custody.

“Despite its responsibilities for overseeing UCs through the immigration process, we found ICE cannot always monitor the location and status of UCs once they were released from DHS and HHS custody,” the report states.

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ELECTIONS, ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Democratic Party Platform’s Disappearing Support For Israel Phrase after phrase of support once proudly expressed has vanished. Hugh Fitzgerald

By on August 21st, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-democratic-party-platforms-disappearing-support-for-israel/

Elder of Ziyon has taken a look at what the 2024 Democratic Party says about Israel, and compares it to the party’s platform statements about Israeli over the past 20 years. There has been a steady erosion of support for the Jewish state, as phrase after phrase of support once proudly expressed has disappeared — no more “shared values” and “common interests” and praise for the “only democracy in the region” — until we have today’s bland statement of lukewarm support that is little different from that offered to any other country in the world. And in fact, Israel is taken to task for its “settlers” and “settlements” and its attempt – the nerve of those Zionists! — to annex east Jerusalem. This platform statement is a harbinger, I’m afraid, of worse to come.

More on the results of Elder of Ziyon’s comparison of the last six Democratic platform statements on Israel can be found here: “The Democratic Party platform used to say Israel and the US shared common values and strategic interests. They removed that.,” Elder of Ziyon, August 19, 2024:

…To trly [sic] understand the Democratic Party’s evolution of its position on Israel, we need to compare the newer platforms with previous party platforms. The previous platforms are always the starting point for the newer ones, so what has been removed from the platforms it is often more significant than what is included.

 You can see what language has been removed from the Democratic Party platforms of years past.

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BOOKS Comments turned off

‘The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide’’

By on August 21st, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/08/20/the-california-left-coast-survivors-guide/

 Editor’s note: This has been excerpted with permission from the Pacific Research Institute. To order the book, click here.

With California’s Kamala Harris being inspired by what Gov. Gavin Newsom calls “The California Way,” nonpartisan California free-market think tank the Pacific Research Institute has released a new book giving Americans the facts and knowhow needed to stop bad California ideas from taking root nationally.

“The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide: A Pacific Research Institute Handbook to Help the Rest of America Avoid Making a Wrong Left Turn” is now available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers. Visit this page to learn more.

Inspired by the handbooks that have prepared eager adventurers for years, “The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide” provides lessons on how to survive the progressive wilderness creeping in from California, presented in a reader-friendly – often humorous and entertaining – format complete with dozens of illustrations that will inform and inspire readers.

The book covers topics ranging from crime and homelessness to green mandates, reparations and housing, and restrictions on worker freedom. It leverages PRI’s front row seat for 45 years to bad Sacramento policies to educate readers how to avoid Left Coast policy mistakes in their states and instead follow the path to prosperity through lower taxes, entrepreneurship, less red tape, and more opportunity for all.

“It is our hope that readers will learn from California’s mistakes and be inspired to help their states and communities avoid making a wrong left turn – instead making the case for market-based reforms,” said co-authors Kerry Jackson and Tim Anaya. “Our book is a warning for the rest of the country.”

Click here to order “The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide.“

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

‘The Black Day’: A Decade of Displacement for Iraqi Christians by Raymond Ibrahim

By on August 20th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20870/iraqi-christians-displacement-decade

August 6 marked the tenth anniversary of “the Black Day,” a day indelible to Iraqi Christians as the start of the unrelenting atrocities to which they were subjected on August 6, 2014, ten years ago.

On that day, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) unleashed a jihadi massacre of unprecedented terror, brutally attacking ancient Christian communities across northern Iraq. Villages were overrun, homes and churches looted and destroyed, and countless lives shattered. Christians were murdered, raped and sold into slavery.

Even though ISIS has largely been neutralized, the remaining 154,000 Christians [in Iraq] face “very high” levels of persecution.

“We stayed in Mosul for 39 days under ISIS control because they initially offered us safety. But then they declared that as Christians and People of the Book, we were infidels. They demanded we either pay the jizya, convert to Islam or face execution.” — Saadallah, an elderly Iraqi refugee from Mosul, recalling August 6, 2014.

“There are very few NGOs left that focus on our displacement and who continue to provide assistance for Iraqi Refugees; but American FRRME is still on the ground and actively helping.” — Nate Breeding, Executive Director of the American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, interview with Gatestone, August 5, 2024.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Fern Sidman: Examining the Incessant Flow of Qatari Money into American Academia: Unintended Consequences on Campus

By on August 20th, 2024

https://tjvnews.com/2024/08/updated-version-examining-the-incessant-flow-of-qatari-money-into-american-academia-unintended-consequences-on-campus/

Until recently, the issue of foreign donations influencing American academia remained unnoticed. However, a study published in 2022 by the National Association of Academics in the United States sheds light on a significant flow of Qatari money to universities in the country, particularly in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. According to an in depth report that appeared on the Calcalistech.com web site in October 2023,the study reveals that between 2001 and 2021, Qatar donated a staggering $4.7 billion to American universities, making it the largest foreign donor during this period. What initially seemed like harmless financial support has sparked a series of events, raising concerns about the influence on academic institutions.

Having said this, it should be noted that prominent American universities, including Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon, received substantial funding from Qatar, leading to the establishment of branches in Doha. As was reported in the Calcalistech.com report, Cornell, a member of the Ivy League, opened a medical school with a staggering $1.8 billion donation from Qatar. Georgetown University was also a recipient of Qatar’s largess as they received $750 million for a school of government. Moreover, Northwestern established a journalism school with a $600 million donation from Qatar in 2007.

The significant share of donations comes from the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization established by the government in 1995 with the mission to promote education and science in the country, as was indicated in the Calcalistech.com report. While collaborations between nations and educational institutions are not uncommon in the era of globalization, the source and magnitude of Qatari donations raise unique concerns.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

US ELECTIONS= THE VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA

By on August 20th, 2024

https://quadrant.org.au/

The Democrats have just begun their convention in Chicago, the hope being that anti-Semitic protests don’t become riots, Steven Spielberg’s stage-management goes off without a hitch and — fingers tightly crossed —  Kamala Harris doesn’t get too close to a microphone and go off script.

Just such a moment came to pass in Pennsylvania on Sunday, when the anointed candidate strayed too cvlose to reporters and couldn’t resist delivering one of her trademark word salads.  Her thoughts on democracy, such as they are, are below.

In the background, if body language is anything go by, Veep candidate Tim Walz seems a little uncomfortable.

These are the things we stand for and these therefore are the things we fight for! And that’s what our election is about.

Our election is about understanding the importance of this beautiful country of ours in terms of what we stand for around the globe as a democracy.

As a democracy, we know there’s a duality to the nature of democracy. On the one hand, incredible strength when it is intact. What it does for its people, to protect and defend their rights. Incredibly strong.

And incredibly fragile. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. And that’s what this campaign is about.

This campaign is about a recognition that, frankly, over the last several years there has been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think. Which is to suggest, that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, when what we know is the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. That’s what we see as strength.

Anybody who is about beating down other people is a coward! This is what strength looks like. So we know what we are about, we know what we stand for. And one of the beautiful things about these next 79 days is what the people in this room already have been doing and know. Let’s build community, let’s reinforce community.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

‘Reprehensible’: Columbia Students Who Occupied Campus Building Let Off without Consequences Zach Kessel

By on August 20th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/reprehensible-columbia-students-who-occupied-campus-building-let-off-without-consequences/?

Columbia University has failed to discipline students who broke into and occupied a building on campus, even after pledging to do so, according to a new House Education and Workforce Committee report.

Eighteen of the 22 students arrested inside Hamilton Hall after forcibly occupying the campus building remain in good standing with Columbia, according to the report. While the university had previously stated it would expel those who stormed and occupied the building, three of the 22 are on interim suspensions and one has been placed on probation. Twenty-seven of the students arrested outside Hamilton Hall the day after activists broke into the building have had their disciplinary cases closed despite their arrests.

Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) said in a statement that the university’s decision not to follow its own procedures represents a surrender to the mob.

“The failure of Columbia’s invertebrate administration to hold accountable students who violate university rules and break the law is disgraceful and unacceptable,” she said. “More than three months after the criminal takeover of Hamilton Hall, the vast majority of the student perpetrators remain in good standing. By allowing its own disciplinary process to be thwarted by radical students and faculty, Columbia has waved the white flag in surrender while offering up a get-out-of-jail-free card to those who participated in those unlawful actions. Breaking into campus buildings or creating antisemitic hostile environments like the encampment should never be given a single degree of latitude — the university’s willingness to do just that is reprehensible.”

Students who disobeyed the university’s orders and refused to leave the encampment have apparently faced a similar lack of consequences.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Biden Argues Fate of the World at Stake in Presidential Election in Fiery Convention Speech By Audrey Fahlberg

By on August 20th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-argues-fate-of-the-world-at-stake-in-presidential-election-in-fiery-convention-speech/

Chicago – Up until July 21, President Joe Biden was planning to cap this week’s Democratic convention here in the Windy City with a Thursday evening speech that would quiet his critics and forcefully make the case to the American people that he is fit to take on Donald Trump again in 2024.

Instead, this 81-year-old, post-dropout president walked onstage at around 10:25 p.m. Central Monday evening to concede that his second-in-command is better equipped to do the job. It’s “not true,” he told the crowd, that he’s “angry” with those who asked him to step aside. “I love the job. But I love my country more.”

Biden’s onstage delivery Monday evening was fiery and far more energetic than the president America saw on live television during the June 27 in Atlanta, where he looked pale, confused, and struggled to string sentences together. “Folks, let me ask you — are you ready to vote for freedom?” the president said in a more than 45-minute long post-primetime speech that was apparently delayed by poor logistics. “Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America? Are you read to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?”

In a speech that hearkened back to his democracy-versus chaos reelection pitch at the start of his 2024 reelection bid, he reflected on the gravity of his swearing-in nearly four years ago, two weeks after a mob had stormed the U.S. Capitol. He spoke of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that he claims inspired his 2020 presidential run, making sure to pepper his remarks with characteristic Biden quips about his battle for the “soul” of this nation. Biden cast the Democratic Party’s electoral fight against Trump in existential terms, a turnaround from his plea to the American people after an attempted assassination on Trump’s life last month to “lower the temperature” in our politics.

“We’re facing an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come,” Biden told the crowd. “We’re in a battle for the very soul of America.”

“We saved democracy in 2020, and now we must save it again in 2024,” he added.

After he concluded his remarks, Biden was joined onstage by Harris, who held the president’s hand in a passing-of-the-torch moment. While he sprinkled in references to his confidence in Harris, Biden focused his speech mainly on his own record and accomplishments as president.

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