RUTHFULLY YOURS

Asa Kasher, professor emeritus of philosophy at Tel Aviv University, is the co-author of the IDF code of ethics (1994). In 2000 he was awarded the Israel Prize for his contributions to philosophy.

In “Who Censored the Six-Day War?,” his scrupulous investigation of the Israeli film Censored Voices, the historian Martin Kramer has performed an important public service. The film is one of the latest entries in what has become a regular feature of culture and politics in Israel. We are quite often invited to watch a film or a play, read a pamphlet or a column, always made of two ingredients: first, stories about IDF commanders or troops who seemingly acted in an ethically improper or even atrocious manner in their military capacity, during an old war or a recent operation; secondly, claims against the Israeli occupation of the territories beyond the eastern border of Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. The gist of such presentations of alleged stories and political claims is usually the simple demand to jump from the stories, which are presented as facts, to the conclusion, which is presented as a moral obligation. Alas, each of the three parts of the plot—stories, claims, and conclusion—is problematic, ethically or morally, legally or logically.

The horrific Iran nuclear deal is, these days, overshadowing the miracle of the Israeli economy, particularly in the area of high technology. With the exception of the U.S., Israel–a country of a mere 8 million people–leads the world in high tech, an astonishing feat. In this interview Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about the big, exciting things that are happening in the high-tech powerhouse center emerging in Beersheba–and much else, including why Israeli milk cows are the world’s most productive and how this desert nation solved its water crisis (California, take note).

Steve Forbes: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. We’re meeting here in Beersheba. By all accounts Israel is now one of the top two or three high-tech powers in the world–ahead of the European Union, with its 500 million people. You’ve done this with 8 million people. How? And how do you maintain your leadership with only 8 million?

I have written about the issue of the politicization of immigration and use of deceptive language where immigration is concerned many times. However, these issues are important to contemplate – especially as the campaigns for the 2016 presidential election ramp up. It is important to know where we have been to understand how we have come to be where we are.

Jimmy Carter was the first politician to engage in “Immigration Orwellian Newspeak” by referring to illegal aliens as “Undocumented Immigrants.” Carter intentionally created the misleading perception that all foreign nationals should be given equal standing through misuse of the term “immigrant.”

This is as false as referring to burglars as “residents” of a home they have broken into and devalues the lawful system by which aliens are lawfully admitted into the United States. Simply stated, this is anarchistic. Use of such language also devalues lawful immigrant status as well as United States citizenship.

Live Blog: Over 10,000 at #StopIranRally in Times Square

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/07/22/live-blog-stopiranrally-in-times-square/

5:50 p.m. EDT: Fox News contributor Monica Crowley offers the most powerful speech of the rally so far: “Everybody who’s here tonight in Times Square wants to save Western Civilization before it’s too late,” she says. “Never again! Seventy years after the Holocaust, have we forgotten already?”

She adds: “Of the countless destructive things President Obama has done, this deal is the most dangerous of all….President Obama says that he can basically do what he wants because ‘he’s got a pen and a phone.’ Well, guess what, Mr. President? We’ve got pens and phones, too.”

Crowley singles out Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), daring him to lead. She said that Schumer would not be able to get away with voting against the deal once enough votes were secured for its passage.

Finally, Crowley attacks Hillary Clinton, who received a round of boos from the crowd, taking her to task for supporting the Iranian regime while toppling the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak. At a black-tie dinner in Bahrain, Crowley says, “She [Clinton] literally chased the Iranian foreign minister around the room, and got blown off by the Iranian foreign minister, not once, but twice.”

The number of children seeking asylum in Sweden has exploded over the last ten years, presumably because children are granted asylum much quicker than adults, and Swedish authorities don’t verify the age of these “children.” Refugees are allowed to bring their entire family to Sweden once they get residency status.

Swedish journalists do everything in their power to maintain this image of “refugee children.”

“I’m risking my job by telling you this. … Many of us are under state orders to keep quiet. It’s professional misconduct to contact, for example, immigration services with information about someone lying on their asylum application.” — “Isak,” an employee at a facility for unaccompanied children.

During the last few years, violent incidents at homes where the “children” live have become more and more prevalent.

Unaccompanied refugee children are the next billion-dollar industry in Sweden. With an average cost of 2000 kronor ($233) per child per day, the 7000 refugee “children” who came last year cost 5.1 billion kronor ($595 million).

One of the fastest growing refugee groups in Sweden is the so-called “unaccompanied refugee children.” The number of children who seek asylum has exploded over the last ten years. It is presumed that the reason for this is that children are granted asylum much quicker than adults, and that Sweden does not verify the age of these “children.” Refugees are also allowed to bring their entire family to Sweden once they get residency status — even if you claimed to be alone in the world when you arrived.

Words have meanings, which is why those who read newspapers and op-eds and listen to pundits must approach declarations and arguments with a dose of caveat emptor. The Left claims that the goal of the Right is “unfettered” capitalism, while smugly speaking of “progressive” capitalism. To be unfettered means to be totally free from restraint, to be unleashed. The definition of the word “progressive,” when used as an adjective refers to something that is changing gradually, that is progressing in stages. The adjectives may or may not accurately reflect the intent of the speaker or writer, so it is necessary to place the words in context. The Left is clever: “progressive” has a soft and approachable feel, while “unfettered” has a harsh and uncompromising tone.

Conservatives are not looking for an economy swaddled in anarchy. They believe in safety nets. They recognize that many regulations serve society well by protecting consumers from damaged or spoiled goods and from unscrupulous manufacturers and marketers. On the other hand, they also know that bureaucracies are self-perpetuating – that job security for a bureaucrat is building a bigger department, adding more rules and regulations. (The 2012 Federal Register added 78,961 pages to the 1.4 million pages that had been added over the previous twenty years! As of this April, the federal tax code comprised 74,608 pages!) The Right also knows that cronyism serves both politicians and favored industries, and that it does so without regard to competition and consumers. The Right is not asking for unfettered capitalism; they are asking for relief from regulation that stifles innovation, hinders competition and hampers economic growth.

Immigration Agency: New Citizens No Longer Need to Pledge to Bear Arms to Defend the United States By Rick Moran….

Another scathingly brilliant idea from the president’s minions — this one, a real winner.All new citizens take the oath of allegiance upon becoming naturalized Americans:
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.
The oath has been unchanged since 1929, and such oaths have been required upon naturalization since at least 1795.

This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on NY Daily News.

Oops, we forgot the American hostages in Iran. After we handed Iran $150 billion dollars in sanctions relief. That’s the impression the Obama administration is now trying desperately to shake off while selling an Iran nuclear deal that left our fellow citizens behind.

On Monday, the administration pushed the Iran deal through the UN at warp speed in order to blackmail Congress with America’s newly-created international legal obligations. Speaking at the Security Council, Ambassador Samantha Power threw the following into the middle of her self-congratulatory remarks:

“Let me use this occasion to call once again on Iran to immediately release all unjustly detained Americans . . . I also call on Iran to help locate Robert Levinson, who has been missing from Iran since 2007.”

Saeed Abedini is imprisoned for his religious beliefs. Amir Hekmati is a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps falsely accused of espionage. Jason Rezaian is a Washington Post correspondent who once covered the nuclear negotiations. And Robert Levinson is a retired FBI agent.

http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/ CONTENTS 1. Obama and Jon Stewart go head-to-head on Iran deal 2. Power steers through a unanimous endorsement of the Iran deal 3. Kerry “disturbed” by Supreme Leader’s anti-American, anti-Semitic diatribe 4. Fars: Deputy FM: Iran to continue supplying friends with arms 5. Jafari: “We will never accept” sections of the UNSC resolution 6. […]

Obfuscation, equivocation and denial.

Less than one week after the slaughter in Chattanooga, Tennessee of four U.S. Marines and one sailor by Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, a Kuwaiti-born Islamist who grew up in suburban Chattanooga, a pattern has emerged in Middle East studies scholars’ analyses of the shooting: obfuscation of any Islamist or jihadi motives accompanied by efforts to depict Abdulazeez as one among many troubled killers whose recent actions have shocked the country. No specialized knowledge of the Middle East is required for such politicized and misleading analyses, and none is evident in the examples that follow.