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January 2025

NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE Comments turned off

Trump’s Illegal Nullification of TikTok Law Enables China to Continue Indoctrinating and Collecting Information on 170 Million Americans by Gordon G. Chang

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21361/trump-tiktok-law-nullification

In short, Trump nullified the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. A president, however, does not possess that inherent power.

China is using the app to target every future American president, Supreme Court chief justice, and House speaker by accumulating information — and blackmail material — on most of America’s young.

Since when does the U.S. need China’s approval to protect itself from China’s attacks?

The U.S., therefore, has the right to expropriate without compensation — confiscate or “forfeit” in legal terms — the app, including its algorithm.

On January 20, just hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively delaying the application of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, better known as the “TikTok ban.”

This executive order is legally questionable and severely undermines the national security of the United States.

The Act provides that no person may “distribute, maintain, or update” a “foreign adversary controlled application.” The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, including TikTok, as such an app. In short, American app stores cannot distribute that app and no American business may offer web-hosting services to it.

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BOOKS Comments turned off

Holocaust envy Why the anti-Israel crowd are attacking Jews with their own history. Brendan O’Neill

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/27/holocaust-envy/

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, we are publishing this chapter from Brendan O’Neill’s book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation.

One of the most striking things in the aftermath of 7 October was the silence of the fascism-spotters. You know these people. They’re the centrists and liberals who see fascism everywhere. Who think everything is ‘like the 1930s’. The vote for Brexit, Donald Trump, the rise of populist parties in Europe – all of it reminds them of the Nazi years. And yet when the Islamofascists of Hamas stormed the Jewish State and butchered a thousand Jews, suddenly they went quiet. No more Nazi talk. No more trembling warnings of a return to ‘the dark days of the 1930s’. No more handwringing over ‘new Hitlers’. It seems that to a certain kind of liberal, everything is fascism except fascism.

These are the people who lapped up Guardian articles with headlines like ‘The reich stuff’, exploring the supposed ‘comparisons between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler’. They’re the people who will have nodded in vigorous agreement when a spokesperson for Joe Biden slammed Trump for parroting ‘the autocratic language of Adolf Hitler’. They’re the folk who no doubt permitted themselves a chuckle when it was revealed that Biden staffers refer to Trump as ‘Hitler pig’ behind closed doors. They’re the self-styled ‘vigilant’ members of respectable society who will have cheered when Biden described Trumpism as a ‘semi-fascism’ that threatens the ‘soul’ of the free world.

They’re the pro-EU middle classes who fretted over the vote for Brexit, viewing it as a ‘return to the 1930s’. They’re the broadsheet readers who will have murmured in agreement with headlines saying there are ‘terrifying parallels between Brexit and the appeasement of Hitler’. They’re the royalty-sceptics who will have found themselves in agreement with princes for once when Charles, then Prince of Wales, said populism has ‘deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s’. They’re the weekend marchers who will have attended anti-Trump demos at which people waved placards showing Trump with a Hitler tache, and anti-Brexit protests at which speakers issued dire warnings about our descent into Hitlerite mania.

There was a time when you couldn’t open a newspaper or peruse social media without seeing some pained liberal hold forth on how populism will drag us back to the death camps. Fascism panic was the fashion of the day. And then it stopped. In the wake of the 7 October pogrom – the worst act of slaughter against the Jews since that period of the mid-20th century these people love talking about – their fascism chatter evaporated. In fact, they started warning people not to use Nazi analogies. Not to compare 7 October to the 1930s. Not to engage in the very fascism fretting that had been the bread and butter of their own political commentary for years.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Ray Domanico New York Schools Spend the Most, but Students Are Falling Behind A new report highlights how the state trades big bucks for middling results.

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-public-schools-spending-students-ranking

For 18 years, up to and including Governor Kathy Hochul’s most recent proposal, the budget messages of New York’s last three governors have proudly noted that the state leads all others in school-district spending. What they omit is that, over that period, New York has remained in the middle of the pack on the National Assessments of Educational Progress. A recent report from the centrist Citizens’ Budget Commission, amplifying trends that I observed in 2022, presents a sobering picture of Albany’s failed policies.

The CBC observes that New York fourth-graders rank 32nd and 46th, respectively, on reading and math NAEP exams nationwide. Eighth-graders are 9th and 22nd, respectively. The state “now spends $36,293 per student, a 21 percent increase since the 2020-21 school year,” the report observes. “Given these middling results and the $89 billion New York School districts will spend this year—with $39 billion coming from the State budget—it is disappointing that education policy reform efforts have not focused on examining and rectifying New York’s unsatisfactory performance.” Instead, the education debate has “mostly centered on increasing State school aid even more and modestly shifting how dollars are allocated.”

New York’s political leaders continue to pump money into our public schools without regard for efficiency or effectiveness. If California has shown us how to fail at fire prevention, New York is the nation’s paragon of failing at educational improvement.

New York’s families have noticed. Enrollment in the state’s public school districts for grades K–12 fell by more than 320,000 students between 2014 and 2024. The drop-off is even worse in the earlier grades, with K-to-8 enrollment down 17 percent over the decade. Some of the decline is offset by enrollment growth in public charter schools, which grew by nearly 90,000 students in the same years. Yet the state legislature has capped charter school growth in New York City, home to almost 80 percent of the state’s charter school enrollment—even though charters receive less public funding than district schools, while their students score higher on state tests.

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MEDIA Comments turned off

John Fetterman Delivers Some Hard Reality to the Never-Trumpers on ‘The View,’ and It’s Glorious Bob Hoge

By on January 28th, 2025

https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/01/27/john-fetterman-delivers-some-harsh-reality-to-the-never-trumpers-on-the-view-and-its-glorious-n2184889

I don’t watch ABC’s “The View,” the screechy, fact-free whine-fest aired weekday mornings on ABC for reasons unknown to me, but as someone who covers the media—because I think it’s important to call them out always and often—I do see the clips.

They were up to their usual anti-American, race-baiting, far-left diatribes again Monday, but a surprising voice wasn’t buying it.

That’s right, Pennsylvania Democrat Senator John Fetterman, who is as confounding a figure on Capitol Hill as you could ever find. I was one of the many critics who blasted him during his 2022 campaign for Senate against Dr. Mehmet Oz, because he quite frankly seemed unfit for the job after suffering a massive stroke and appeared to be an adherent of far-left ideology.

But in one of the biggest political surprises you’ll ever see, he’s actually become a rare voice of reason in the Democrat party, and despite his “non-traditional” outfits—he shows up in gym clothes to official engagements (not a fan)—one could almost think he’s a Republican, based on his statements.

Of course, let me reiterate that he’s not a member of the GOP nor a friend to the party, and he still supports many of the bat-guano crazy progressive ideas that have diminished America in the Biden years. That being said, I nevertheless loved him torching the harridans of “The View.”

Gold:

Sunny Hostin’s head nearly explodes because she can’t believe what’s she hearing. 

Fetterman explains, “When the judicial system gets weaponized and targeted political enemies for political gain…that degrades our collective trust in this very important institution…The judicial system has to remain impartial.” 

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Questions Raised After Pardoned J6 Protester Fatally Shot During Traffic Stop Matt Margolis

By on January 28th, 2025

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/01/27/pardoned-j6-protester-fatally-shot-during-traffic-stop-n4936417

Matthew W. Huttle, a 42-year-old J6 protester who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last week, was fatally shot by an Indiana police officer during a traffic stop near the Pulaski County line, reports FOX32 Chicago.

The incident has sparked outrage and suspicion among those who view Huttle’s death as part of a larger pattern of targeting Trump supporters and J6 protesters.  

According to local law enforcement, Huttle resisted arrest during the traffic stop, leading to an altercation in which the officer fired his weapon, killing him. 

“An altercation took place between the suspect and the officer, which resulted in the officer firing his weapon and fatally wounding the suspect,” the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The officer, whose name has not yet been released, is currently on paid administrative leave, as per protocol. Jasper County Sheriff Patrick Williamson has requested an investigation by the Indiana State Police, promising transparency in the process. In a statement, Sheriff Williamson expressed condolences to Huttle’s family, saying, “Our condolences go out to the family of the deceased as any loss of life is traumatic to those that were close to Mr. Huttle. I will release the officer’s name once I have approval from the State Police Detectives.”

The timing of Huttle’s death, coming so soon after his pardon, has led to speculation about whether this was a tragic coincidence or something more sinister. 

Recent reports suggest that some judges have been pushing back on Trump’s pardons, refusing to dismiss the cases against various defendants. 

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Trump’s Suggestion to Resettle Gazans Is Quite Rational Eric Levine

By on January 28th, 2025

NO URL…..ERIC LEVINE IS AN ATTORNEY IN NEW YORK

President Trump’s statement that resettling Palestinians living in Gaza “could be temporary or long term” has raised many eyebrows.

[Gaza is] literally a demolition site right now … So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change…You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing…You know over the centuries it’s had many, many conflicts.  And I don’t know, something has to happen.

Although Trump’s statement is controversial and an abhorrent nonstarter to some, his suggestion is actually quite rational.  The history of the Middle East and other regions around the world is full of examples of resettling refugees to give them a chance at a better life for themselves and future generations.

At a minimum, Gazans who want to leave should be given the opportunity to do so. As unlikely as that opportunity is, even more unlikely are the odds that Hamas will allow them to leave. They will be labeled as “traitors” and shot. Hamas has no intention of allowing any Gazan to resettle. Every Gazan is effectively a prisoner of Hamas.

For 75 years the Arab and Muslim worlds, with the open assistance of the United Nations, have waged war against Israel. Some Arab states have made peace with Israel. For other Muslim countries – such as Iran and its terror proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – the effort to destroy Israel continues. As a critical component of that war, Hamas repeatedly uses Palestinian civilians as props and human shields in their propaganda war to show the world Israel’s “inhumanity” as it exercises its legitimate right of self-defense.

As Trump’s statement on resettlement makes clear, there is another path forward.

Throughout history, refugees have been offered asylum in host countries where they can start new lives.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

ICE agents begin deportation raids in Chicago, Cook County By Kevin Bessler

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_507b6012-dce4-11ef-9d56-abcd3aaa0b5d.html

The Trump administration is following through on promises to ramp up immigration enforcement efforts and Illinois is in the bullseye.  

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents made over a thousand arrests nationwide over the weekend, with many taking place in Cook County.

Border Czar Tom Homan, who was in Chicago this weekend, said for now they are focusing on criminals with arrest warrants and deportation orders. 

“Sanctuary cities lock us out of the jails,” Homan said on ABC’s ‘This Week’. “So instead of ICE being able to arrest the bad guy, that the criminal alien in the safety and security of a jail, where the officers are safe, the alien is safe, the public safe, sanctuary cities release him back in the community,” Homan said.

The actions come after Homan warned sanctuary cities across the U.S., including Chicago, that their policies will not prevent deportations, and will instead endanger communities, federal agents and illegal aliens.

Several immigrant advocacy groups in Chicago are suing the Trump administration and U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement. 

The Illinois Latino Agenda issued a statement in response to incorrect reports that ICE agents attempted to enter a school.

“Although it was later confirmed not to be ICE, it’s an example of confusion and misinformation that spreads when communities are being terrorized. The most helpless and vulnerable among us, our children, should not live in fear and their parents should not be afraid to send them to school,” the statement read. 

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Trump Is off to a Great Start Trump’s bold actions on immigration, DEI, and fairness signal a high-energy, focused vision for America’s future, turning the tide and putting conservatives back on offense. By Christopher Roach

By on January 28th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/28/trump-is-off-to-a-great-start/

Like most Trump supporters, I consider his first term a mixed bag, with the capstone being the rigged election of 2020. This was not all his fault, obviously, but there were failures of execution along the way. Things were often disorganized; disloyal people were put in positions of power, while quality outsiders were not invited into the fold. Trump faced relentless opposition from the Democrats within the Deep State and had to have eyes on the back of his head because of turncoat Republicans like Paul Ryan.

As I wrote in an earlier piece, “Trump’s presidency will have little permanent effect if he does not devote himself to the task of reform. The first order of business . . . will be to take full charge of the bureaucracy.”

He seems to have taken the criticism to heart that he was great on the big picture but poor in execution. This time around, everything is different. The last week has been a whirlwind of activity, including many executive orders, each one more impressive and revolutionary than the last.

This has been a week of wins, and Trump’s policy focus and high energy are good omens for future success.

Trump Takes on the Border Disaster

One of his more visible achievements has been executive action to halt the immigration crisis after Joe Biden’s disastrous policies allowed millions of unvetted and unskilled immigrants into our country. On day one, Trump shut down the ridiculous app that allowed otherwise illegal aliens to make an appointment to obtain long-term parole, during which they will wait years for hearings on fraudulent asylum claims.

There have also been high-visibility workplace raids. ICE says it is now working seven days a week, and the military is already getting involved in shoring up the border.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

A Real Genocide in Sudan While the media was focused on a fake genocide. by Hugh Fitzgerald

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/a-real-genocide-in-sudan/

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now announced that a “genocide” has been going on in Sudan. He blames not the regular Sudanese army, but the rebels fighting that army — the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The media have been paying far too little attention to Sudan, where a real famine affecting close to 25 million people is now in progress. Twelve million people have been displaced in the country since 2023. As many as 150,000 people have been killed in the same period. But the international media haven’t wanted to pay attention to the real miseries in Sudan; they are determined, rather, to concentrate on the exaggerated miseries of life in Gaza, which we keep being told is “on the brink of famine,” but never quite goes over that brink. Charges including “genocide” and “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” are bruited about whenever Israel is mentioned. But in Sudan, there is no way to blame Israel, so the media keep the focus on Gaza — the gift that keeps on giving to the legions of Israel-haters.

However, Blinken’s description of a “genocide” in the Sudan — a real genocide, not the nonexistent one that UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Pope Francis all want to blame Israel for committing in Gaza — has brought about a sudden renewal of interest in the Sudan. One hopes, and expects, that more attention will be given to that continuing conflict and that “real genocide” in the Sudan, about which much of the media has been withholding essential information. For what has not been clearly stated is this: it’s a “genocide” committed by well-armed Arabs belonging to the RSF, who are engaged in murdering defenseless black Africans.

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ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Irish President’s Holocaust Address Was a Predictable Disaster Michael Brendan Dougherty

By on January 28th, 2025

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-irish-presidents-holocaust-address-was-a-predictable-disaster/
The European impulse after the Holocaust is a kind of utopian death wish. The Zionist impulse is a thrilling will to live.

Above the expressed objections of the Jewish community in Ireland, Irish president Michael D. Higgins was invited to speak at the National Holocaust Memorial commemoration yesterday.

He managed to bungle it, of course. Twice he referred to the “attempted genocide” of the Holocaust. Not once in the last year has he qualified the word “genocide” when using it to describe Israel’s policy in Gaza. A granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor was physically dragged out of the ceremony.

Higgins gave what I have come to call the European religious answer to the Holocaust:

We must never lack the courage to challenge hatred and persecution in whatever forms they are sought to be manifested by promoting a world that is free from persecutions based on difference, such as faith or ethnicity, by embracing diversity, by working for equality, peace and justice, thus making possible a world that is free, too, from so many of the sources of war and conflict based on a distorted reflection of the ‘Other’.

Theologian and philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin saw such a peaceful state as being achievable through a species evolution in human consciousness, believing that humankind is not only capable of living in peace but by its very structure cannot fail eventually to achieve peace.

It’s hard to communicate to the Irish mind how offensive this is. The closest I can come is to say that this is preaching Raglan Road manners to kids who have to grow up in Crumlin. But it’s something worse than that.

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