RUTHFULLY YOURS

I was not a supporter of Donald Trump….I preferred Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio….but reality bites…Trump won….fair and square….there were no dead people voting, no voter intimidation, no fraud, and no coercion. Newly registered Republicans stood on line for hours to cast their vote.The alternative is Hillary of Chappaquadick, and that is enough for me to vote for and aver my support for Donald Trump without fear of the self-righteous limo liberals and death by dinner party.

The bitter clingers to # Elections Don’t Matter Trump dumpsters won’t relent. Kasich who called himself “the grownup of the debates” is acting like a spoiled brat by boycotting the convention in his own state; Lindsey Graham is preening; John McCain is posturing; Jeb and the Bushites are pouting; Romney who could not debate the overt lies and distortions of Benghazi, is licking his wounds in New Hampshire.

And today, my favorite conservative National Review Online has the following headlines:

Never Trump, Now More than Ever by David French
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438092/republican-convention-why-never-trump-movement-still-matters

Donald Trump Will Fail the Heroes Who Endorsed Him by David French
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438063/donald-trump-foreign-policy-american-retreat-2016-gop-convention

GOP Convention Has Become a Stomach-Churning Affair by Jonah Goldberg
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438075/2016-gop-convention-failure-donald-trump

Trump’s Weaknesses Are on Full Display in Cleveland by Michael Tanner
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438060/2016-gop-convention-donald-trump-weaknesses-full-display

Donald Trump’s Brand Is Tarnished by His Cheapness by John Fund
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438079/donald-trumps-cheapness-harms-trump-brand

Fortunately in the same issue Jim Geraghty clarifies things:

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/438057/print

“Yes, Donald Trump is a flawed messenger for the case against Hillary Clinton, but that doesn’t make the message any less true or compelling. The decision by a lot of big-name Republican lawmakers to skip the Cleveland convention was a blessing in disguise, because it cleared the stage for ordinary Americans who suffered the cruel, random, and deadly consequences of the Obama administration’s policies.”

Yup! rsk

Veteran Associated Press IAEA reporter George Jahn made news yesterday by revealing a secret agreement to the July 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA). This agreement says that in January 2027, Tehran will be allowed to replace the primitive 5,060 uranium centrifuges it is allowed to operate while the nuclear agreement is in effect with more-advanced designs, even though other restrictions on Iranian uranium enrichment remain in place for 15 years.

I believe this is a significant development because it represents another secret JCPOA side deal that the Obama administration illegally withheld from Congress.

This agreement means that in only eleven years, Iran will be permitted to substantially increase its capability to produce nuclear fuel faster and in larger amounts. Since Iran is permitted to conduct R&D on advanced centrifuges while the JCPOA is in place — and can expand this effort after eight and a half years — it probably will be able to quickly construct and install these advanced centrifuges.

Jahn reported that although this undisclosed, confidential agreement is “an integral part” of the JCPOA, Iran will not be permitted to accumulate more than 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for 15 years. In light of recent reports that the Iranians are already cheating on the nuclear agreement, it is hard to believe that they will continue to abide by this restriction after they install more-advanced centrifuges .

Some media outlets responded to Jahn’s story as a major revelation. I agree but for different reasons from what many are laying out. It’s not news that Iran can begin enriching under the JCPOA with advanced centrifuges after ten years. I reported this in my new book, Obamabomb: A Dangerous and Growing National Security Threat. I’ve also explained that there is no limit on the number of uranium centrifuges Iran can operate after ten years.

What is news is that the Obama administration is a party to another secret side deal to the JCPOA that explicitly recognizes Iran’s plan to greatly expand its uranium-enrichment program. Other secret side deals include one that allows Iran to inspect itself on possible nuclear-weapons-related work and another that possibly weakened IAEA reporting on Iran’s nuclear program.

There’s an iconic scene in the Star Wars trilogy where the protagonistic smuggler, Lando Calrissian, bitterly notes that a deal he struck with the evil Darth Vader is “getting worse all the time.” That exasperated sentiment strikes the right tone for the way many now view the deeply flawed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), alternatively known as the Iran Deal.

To refer to the Iran Deal as deeply flawed is in fact, a gross understatement. The JCPOA contained many disquieting clauses that many, including Obama’s supporters, saw as gravely dangerous. The deal made a mockery out of Obama’s claims that Iran’s nuclear facilities would be subjected to “anytime anywhere” inspections. In fact, under the deal, Iran is permitted to delay inspections by up to twenty-four days. Moreover, the opaque Parchin facility, where Iran has conducted its most secretive nuclear experiments, continues to remain largely off limits to international inspectors.

It now comes to light a secret addendum to the deal permits the Iranians to reduce their breakout time – the time needed to produce enough weapons-grade material sufficient for the manufacture of nuclear weapons – from one year to just six months or perhaps even less. According to a secret document obtained by the Associated Press, key restrictions on Iran’s ability to enrich uranium taper off after a decade. Under this addendum, the Iranians will be permitted to replace their older, inefficient centrifuges – the machines that enrich uranium – with more modern and efficient ones. The newer centrifuges are in fact up to five times more efficient than the models they would be replacing. Moreover, according to the document, the Iranians will be allowed to conduct research and development on even more advanced centrifuges.

The Obama administration has repeatedly stated that its goal was to hold Iran to a one-year breakout period. Any timeframe less than that would represent a serious threat to national security and would endanger allies. But Obama, faced with multiple foreign policy failures, badly needed to secure at least one success and consequently, shoved a badly flawed agreement – the worst in U.S. diplomatic history, down America’s throat.

He employed his unscrupulous shills, including the notorious Ben Rhodes, to feed lies and falsehoods to the American people. Those fabrications were then skillfully magnified by manipulating elements within the media to repeat the administration’s talking points. Organizations like the anti-Israel J-Street were also employed for this dastardly task. “We created an echo chamber,” a smug Rhodes admitted with self-satisfaction.

Expect the Obama administration to take more victory laps this week by claiming Iran has complied with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that reached its first anniversary on July 14. However, recent press reports paint a very different picture, one that confirms its critics’ worst fears: massive Iranian violations of the agreement.

In an annual security report issued this month, German intelligence said Iran made a clandestine effort last year to acquire illicit nuclear technology and equipment from German companies at a “quantitatively high level,” and that “it is safe to expect that Iran will continue its intensive procurement activities in Germany using clandestine methods to achieve its objectives.” A German intelligence agency reported 141 clandestine Iranian attempts to acquire nuclear and missile technology in 2015 versus 83 in 2013.

According to a July 7 memo from the Institute for Science and International Security, Iran recently tried, unsuccessfully, to covertly purchase tons of high-strength carbon fiber, which it uses to make rotors for uranium enrichment centrifuges. Under the JCPOA, Iran is required to seek approval for such purchases from a JCPOA procurement working group. The Institute said the JCPOA group probably would not have approved this sale, since Iran has enough carbon fiber to replace the rotors of centrifuges it is permitted to operate under the agreement.

In a separate report, the Institute said many Iranian entities that had been sanctioned for illicit nuclear and missile procurement but were relieved of these sanctions by the JCPOA in January “are now very active in procuring goods in China.”

Many other troubling reports indicate the JCPOA is much worse and much weaker than its critics believed. These include:

ExemptingChina’s redesign and rebuilding of the Arak heavy-water reactor from the JCPOA procurement process.

Iran placing military facilities off-limits to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

The Iranian parliament approving a much weaker version of the agreement.

Willful ignorance and delusion, a huge problem since 9/11, is only getting worse.http://spectator.org/the-lessons-we-refuse-to-learn/

Today’s beginning of the Republican convention follows a week that, in nearly perfect fashion, demonstrated how thoroughly America and its allies have refused to learn the lessons terrorists have taught us over the past fifteen years.

The reactions to the terrorist attacks in Nice, France and Obama’s response to the attempted coup in Turkey each illustrate that refusal to learn.

Mizz Clinton seemed to inch away from the Obama dogma that Islam and terrorism have nothing to do with each other. In response to questions from CNN’s Anderson Cooper the terrorist attack in Nice she said we are at war with “Radical jihadists who use Islam to recruit and radicalize others in order to pursue their evil agenda.”

She couldn’t bring herself to connect Islam and terrorism. Hours after the Nice attack, on Twitter, she stuck to the Obama line, saying “Let’s be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.”

Reacting to the coup attempt against Turkish President Erdogan, a committed Islamist radical, Obama said all factions in Turkey should support Erdogan, despite his resolve to stamp out his nation’s secular democracy. Obama said not one word about that.

The FBI, meanwhile, proclaimed that there was no evidence that the Orlando nightclub massacre occurred at the “Focus” club because it was a favorite of homosexuals. This, of course, despite Islam’s prohibition of homosexuality, its prescription of the death penalty as a remedy, and the perpetrator’s proclamation of loyalty to ISIS and shouts of “Allahu Akbar” while he slaughtered his victims. The FBI has apparently, and dangerously, surrendered to political correctness.

Though America has prevented itself from learning since the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, at least we’ve not fallen as low as have the French.

Did John Kerry assume that nobody would challenge him on the Obama administration’s stubborn claim that it is winning the fight against ISIS? In the face of bloodshed at home from ISIS, the claim deserves questioning. But somehow, John Kerry appeared to flounder when Jake Tapper of CNN presented an obvious critique to him. Via Tim Hains of RCP:

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry gave an assessment of how the war against ISIS is going.

“Daesh,” Kerry said, referencing an alternative name for the group, “is under great, great pressure… They are shrinking. We’ve taken back 40 percent and 45 percent of the territory they held in Iraq and we’re squeezing town after town.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Tapper interjected. “I’m not sure it looks that way to the public that ISIS is on the run… In the last few weeks we have seen a series of ISIS inspired attacks and 49 killed in Orlando and 45 killed in Istanbul and more than 200 killed in Baghdad and 84 in Nice.”

“It depends on where you mean ISIS,” Kerry responded. “If you’re saying that one person standing up one day and killing people is a reflection of ISIS moving in Iraq and Syria, I think you’re dead wrong.”

“It depends on where you mean ISIS” is not quite as bad as “It depends on what the meaning of is is,” but it is too close for comfort.

The babble from Kerry offers no response, much less comfort, to Americans worried about being mowed down by a truck at a beach, shopping mall, or other location not yet imagined. Of course, the basic facts do not offer Kerry a lot of material to work with. Obama pulled troops out of Iraq, allowing ISIS to rise, and now, instead of ending the war, Obama has succeeded in bringing the war to the Western countries.

The road to the future is filled with potholes. This metaphorical sentence speaks to a world war already in process. Despite denials from the present U.S. administration, the war is organized, promoted and managed by radical Islamists. Driven by an ideology, these religious fanatics want to undermine the West so that a global caliphate can be established. The war is in its twenty-fifth year, but the U.S. and its allies still do not understand the magnitude of the struggle.

On July 14th, a day celebrating French freedom, Bastille Day, at least eighty-four people were wantonly killed, including ten children, by a suspected terrorist who slammed his truck into unwary revelers watching the annual fireworks display. The symbolism was palpable. It is precisely the French liberty, equality and fraternity that the Islamists detest. Theirs is fraternity of barbarism.

If there were ever a moment for an appropriate response, this is it. Paris, Orlando, Istanbul, San Bernardino, Brussels, stand as stark reminders of the international reach of Islamic terror. And there isn’t an end in sight. Moreover, the murderer who killed innocents on the Promenade des Anglais had a history of aggressive views known to French authorities, just as the Orlando killer was investigated by the FBI before his murderous spree. It is not as if clues aren’t provided by savage extremists.

A strategy for dealing with this matter is available to us. It is the template for confronting an ideologically driven foe like Communism. For decades the U.S. fought on the battlefield when the global status quo was challenged. Whether successful or not, and in many instances we were not successful, the willingness to counter aggression mattered. More significantly, the U.S. fought a non-kinetic war in the culture and the political arena. Intelligence operatives penetrated communist cells, ridiculed Marxism-Leninism and caused confusion among leaders. Despite moments of conciliation and fatigue, the national opposition to Communism held. The U.S. had a powerful anti-communist method: fear, a fear that if pushed beyond a certain well understood limit, the U.S. would explode with the full fury of its military might.

Given its physical heft, it’s no surprise that the new Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary published last month by Indiana University Press is the work of generations.

Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, its editor, worked on the 856-page, 4 1/2-pound volume for some 20 years in her Teaneck basement. At its core are words collected a generation earlier by her father Mordkhe Schaechter in the family’s house in the Bronx. For many of those years, when Gitl was a teenager, she helped her father as he cataloged Yiddish words at the dining room table.

But before that, the family legend goes, there was her grandfather, Khayem-Benyomen Shekhter, and his enthusiasm for the Yiddish language. The memory of his enthusiasm is tied to a date more than a century ago: 1908, the year he made sure to attend the great Yiddish language conference in his hometown of Czernowitz, at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
In Czernowitz, Mordkhe Schaechter, with his arms crossed, stands in front of his parents.

In Czernowitz, Mordkhe Schaechter, with his arms crossed, stands in front of his parents.

Of course, all languages are the work of generations. It took time for Yiddish to evolve from the medieval German that was picked up by Jews living in the Rhineland, mixed with their inherently Jewish Hebrew and Aramaic vocabulary, and then given Slavic vocabulary (e.g. bubbe and zeide) and even touches of syntax. (That’s the most accepted, broad-brush origin story for Yiddish, notwithstanding recent clickbait headlines arguing for more exotic origins.)

And it took time for Yiddish to be seen as a language worthy in its own right, something worth cataloging and defining and even writing in. Where people speak two languages, those languages seldom are on equal footing; people always are inclined to value one more than the other. Jews may have loved the dialect they spoke among themselves more than the language of the neighbors, which they generally mastered as well, but in Jewish culture pride of place went to Hebrew, the language of the Torah and the rabbis. Popular demand led to the publication of the first Yiddish books in the 16th century, even though the rabbis objected to it. (The first Yiddish bestseller was “Bovo Bukh,” a rhymed retelling of an Italian poem about Bevis of Hampton; this knightly romance is the origin of the term bubbe meise; rather than the popular, and wrong, etymology linking it to bubbe, or grandmother.) And in the 19th century, with the spread of printing and newspapers, came the great Yiddish writers: Sholom Aleichem, I.L. Peretz, and Mendele Mocher Sforim.

Which brings us to the 1908 Czernowitz conference. The 20th century was young. Change was in the air. And Nathan Birnbaum, the 44-year-old Austrian Jew who had coined the word “Zionism” and advocated for Jews in Eastern Europe, championed Yiddish as the Jewish national language. Peoples throughout Europe were coming to understand themselves as separate nations, wearying of being under the rule of the grand European empires, and Mr. Birnbaum’s Yiddishism offered an equivalent national identity to Jews — without demanding that they leave for Palestine. (He later would abandon Jewish nationalism altogether and help found the Orthodox Agudath Israel movement.) He sent out a call for everyone interested in Yiddish to come to the Yiddish language conference.

For once, let’s have no “grief counselors” standing by with banal consolations, as if the purpose, in the midst of all this, were merely to make everyone feel better as quickly as possible. We shouldn’t feel better.

For once, let’s have no fatuous rhetoric about “healing.” Healing is inappropriate now, and dangerous. There will be time later for the tears of sorrow.A day cannot live in infamy without the nourishment of rage. Let’s have rage.

Let America explore the rich reciprocal possibilities of the fatwa. A policy of focused brutality does not come easily to a self-conscious, self-indulgent, contradictory, diverse, humane nation with a short attention span. America needs to relearn a lost discipline, self-confident relentlessness and to relearn why human nature has equipped us all with a weapon (abhorred in decent peacetime societies) called hatred.

As the bodies are counted, into the thousands and thousands, hatred will not, I think, be a difficult emotion to summon. Is the medicine too strong? Call it, rather, a wholesome and intelligent enmity the sort that impels even such a prosperous, messily tolerant organism as America to act. Anyone who does not loathe the people who did these things, and the people who cheer them on, is too philosophical for decent company.It is a practical matter, anyway. In war, enemies are enemies. You find them and put them out of business, on the sound principle that that’s what they are trying to do to you. If what happened on Tuesday does not give Americans the political will needed to exterminate men like Osama bin Laden and those who conspire with them in evil mischief, then nothing ever will and we are in for a procession of black Tuesdays.

“The worst times, as we see, separate the civilised of the world from the uncivilised. This is the moment of clarity. Let the civilised toughen up, and let the uncivilised take their chances in the game they started.” Amen! rsk

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000762,00.html