ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

A UN Vote That Will Live in Infamy Peter O’Brien

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/israel/2024/05/a-un-vote-that-will-live-in-infamy/

On the 7th of October last year, the terrorist group Hamas, which rules in Gaza and purports to represent the state of “Palestine”, committed the most foul attack upon Jewish people since the Holocaust.  Within days, that atrocity was celebrated all over the world, including in Australia.  Polls have shown the majority of Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank supported that action by Hamas, which is still the nominal government in Gaza. Hamas has vowed to repeat the actions of October 7 as often as is necessary to achieve their aim of eliminating Israel. Does anyone believe that if an election were held in Gaza today, even under, say, UN supervision, Hamas would not win?

Israel is in the middle of defending itself against this future. Australia has now voted in favour of granting Palestine, that non-existent nation, UN membership. In God’s name, what could have convinced the Albanese government that this is the right time to muddy the waters on this vexed question and signal that our support for Israel’s right to exist is less than 100 per cent?  To signal to Hamas that they are winning the propaganda war? To signal Hamas to hang in there, we’ve got your back?

Oh wait, I’m guessing Jason Clare and Tony Burke, inter alia, might have something to do with this appalling decision. The mealy-mouthed defence of this move, i.e., that it is in furtherance of a two-state solution, totally ignores the fact that Israel has offered a two-state solution, on generous terms, on at least three occasions and been rebuffed. From The Weekend Australian:

Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations James Larsen said Canberra had been “frustrated” by a “lack of progress” and wanted to signal “unwavering support for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security within recognised borders”.

So, in order to boost the chance of a two-state solution, our government has supported granting full UN membership to a non-existent state – an entity that does not possess the pre-requisites for nation status – that, under its current governance, repudiates that very same two-state solution.  Regardless of the status of Palestine, I would have thought a non-negotiable pre-condition would be that all its neighbours unconditionally support Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself to the maximum extent required.  

BOOKS Comments turned off

New book by Chuck Brooks for Amazon Pre-order: Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Cyber-Computing-Transform-Security/dp/1394254946

In an era where technological innovation evolves at an exponential rate, Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security by Chuck Brooks emerges as a critical roadmap for understanding and leveraging the next wave of tech advancements. Brooks, a renowned executive and consultant, breaks down complex technological trends into digestible insights, offering a deep dive into how emerging technologies will shape the future of industry and society. 

In the book, you’ll: 

Gain clear, accessible explanations of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, blockchain, and quantum computing, and their impact on the business world 
Learn how to navigate the cybersecurity landscape, safeguarding your business against the vulnerabilities introduced by rapid technological progress 
Uncover the opportunities that technological advancements present for disrupting traditional industries and creating new value 

Perfect for entrepreneurs, executives, technology professionals, and anyone interested in the intersection of tech and business, Inside Cyber equips you with the knowledge to lead in the digital age. Embrace the future confidently with this indispensable guide. 

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

This may be the week Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump falls apart Jonathan Turley

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/05/12/opinion/this-may-be-the-week-alvin-braggs-case-against-trump-falls-apart/

Even for those of us who have long been critics of the “hush money” case against Donald Trump and its dubious legal theory, it has been surprising to see that the prosecutors had no more evidence than we previously knew about.

The assumption was that no rational prosecutor would base a major criminal case almost entirely on the testimony of Michael Cohen, who was recently denounced by a judge as a serial perjurer peddling “perverse” theories in court.

The calculus of Alvin Bragg is now obvious. He is counting on the jury convicting Trump regardless of the evidence.

Which is also why Bragg likely fears that the judge, not the jury, will decide the case. After the government closes its evidence this week, the defense will move for a direct verdict by the judge on the basis that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.

Many of us agree with that assessment. After three weeks of testimony, there is still confusion on what crime Trump allegedly committed.

Bragg has vaguely referred to the labelling of payments to Stormy Daniels as “legal expenses” as a fraud committed to steal the election.

However, the election was over when those denotations were made.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Fall of the House of Presidential Persecutions What will be the endgame of all these attacks on the American legal system and the warping of it for blatant political purposes? By Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/05/13/the-fall-of-the-house-of-presidential-persecutions/

None of the five civil and criminal cases currently lodged against former President Donald Trump have ever had merit. They were all predicated on using the law to injure his re-election candidacy—given a widespread derangement syndrome among the left and a fear they cannot entrust a Trump/Biden election to the people.

These criminal and civil trials are merely the continuation of extra-legal efforts of the last eight years to destroy a presidential candidate in lieu of opposing him in transparent elections.

As such, the current lawfare joins the Mueller investigation of the Russian-collusion hoax. It is a continuation of the laptop disinformation caper and the “51 intelligence authorities” who lied about its Russian origins. It logically follows from the two impeachments, the Senate trial of Trump as a private citizen, and states’ efforts to remove him from their ballots.

The E. Jean Carroll case, the Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, and Fani Willis local and state trials, and the Smith federal indictment share various embarrassments.

Suspension of statutes of limitations: Carroll and Bragg could only go to court through the legal gymnastics of enlisting sympathetic judges and legislators to change or amend the law to suspend the statute of limitations as a veritable bill of attainder to go after Trump.

Violations of the Bill of Rights: In the Bragg case, Judge Merchan’s selective and asymmetrical gag order likely violates the First Amendment (prohibiting “abridging the freedom of speech”). Bragg violated the Sixth Amendment by denying Trump the right “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation”. Judge Engoron, in the juryless James case, violated the Eighth Amendment (“nor excessive fines imposed”) in assessing Donald Trump an unheard of $354 million fine for supposedly overstating the value of real estate collateral for loans, while violating the Sixth Amendment as well (“the accused shall enjoy the right … to trial by an impartial jury”). The FBI likely violated the Fourth Amendment (“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”) by raiding Trump’s private residence, seizing his papers and effects (many of them private), and then lying about its own shenanigans of rearranging the seized classified files to incriminate Trump.

The invention of crimes: The indictments of Bragg, James, Willis, and Smith had no prior precedents. These cases will likely never be seen again. Bragg bootstrapped a federal campaign violation allegation onto a state crime. Yet still, he has never explained exactly how Trump violated any particular law.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

UN Halves Its Estimate of Women and Children Killed in Gaza

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/05/11/un-halves-its-estimate-of-women-and-children-killed-in-gaza/

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revised its child fatality figure from the Gaza war sharply downward, reporting more than 14,500 deaths on May 6 but then 7,797 on May 8. OCHA also revised downward its figure for women fatalities from more than 9,500 deaths to 4,959 deaths. The Jerusalem Post first reported the changes on May 11.

The UN attributed its original, higher figures to the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, whose figures OCHA has cited continually for the past two months. The UN gave no source for the lower figures in its May 8 update, but the figures precisely match those in a May 2 report from a different Hamas-controlled organization, the Gaza Ministry of Health.

“This change may signal that the UN has finally recognized the lack of evidence behind Hamas’s original claims that more than 14,000 children and 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza. If so, the UN should state clearly that it has lost confidence in sources whose credibility it has affirmed for months. While this change may only reflect the conclusion of one UN office out of the many operating in Gaza, it is a clear step forward.” — David Adesnik, FDD Senior Fellow and Director of Research

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Chamberlain and Biden: Appeasement Then and Now Are we going to stand with the heirs of the Nazis, or with an embattled democratic ally? by Shmuel Klatzkin

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://spectator.org/chamberlain-and-biden-appeasement-then-and-now/

Holocaust Day was marked by solemn remembrances in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world. It was marked in the U.S., as has been customary, by a presidential address, where Biden said nothing that would garner more than perfunctory notice.

Turns out that that was by design. For Biden had already approved a decision that gives cheer to the shade of Hitler and all his modern wanna-be-s — embargoing any arms to Israel that would allow them to keep Hamas from surviving intact and reasserting its plan for death to Israel.

What is different between now and 1938 is just this — Israel is not going to slink away to its dismemberment.

Old Joe’s cowardice extends even to speaking plainly to his own people.

Let’s put his cowardice in perspective by looking at what is often held up as the gold standard for foolishness and fecklessness, the betrayal of the cause of freedom in the leadup to World War II by the appeasers.

By 1938, Hitler had already consolidated his control over Germany. This included freeing himself from the bonds of the treaty which had ended the First World War, with all its limitations on German rearmament and it prohibition of militarizing the German territory west of the Rhine River. As the year progressed, his plans progressed further as he raped an Austria whose people seemed — in a huge demonstration in Vienna — to be stimulated to ecstasy by Hitler’s attentions.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Hey Google, Antisemitism Is A Feature, Not A Bug, Of The Left

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/05/13/hey-google-antisemitism-is-a-feature-not-a-bug-of-the-left/

Google has come in for some well-deserved criticism after its “artificial intelligence” wouldn’t answer a simple question: How many Jews did the Nazis kill? That’s bad enough. But then a not-so-intelligent Google employee compounded the problem with a lie about why it happened.

The story goes that Michael Apfel asked a Google “virtual assistant” this question: “Hey Google, how many Jews were killed by the Nazis?”

Google’s answer: “Sorry, I don’t understand.”

Then he asked: “How many Jews were killed during World War II?”

Google: “I don’t understand.”

“How many Jews were killed in the concentration camps?”

“Sorry, I don’t understand.”

“What was the Holocaust?”

“I don’t understand.”

After that series of questions, Apfel asks, “Hey Google, what was the Nakba?”

Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know the answer, because it’s an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe,” referring to the displacement of Palestinians by Israel in 1948.

While pleading ignorance about the Holocaust, Google’s bot gave a long and detailed answer about the Nakba.

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Even Stupider Than The Stupidest Litigation In The Country Francis Menton

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2024-5-11-even-stupider-than-the-stupidest-litigation-in-the-country

I have had several posts on a collection of related cases that I have called “The Stupidest Litigations In The Country.” These are cases where climate hysterics have sued oil and gas producing companies, or the federal government, or both, seeking various extreme punishments ranging from massive damages up to and including an order to end all production of fossil fuels. The asserted grounds vary somewhat from case to case, but a central theme is a claimed constitutional right to a “clean and healthy environment.”

My last update on these cases was a post on April 9. A main subject there was the lawsuit of Juliana v. United States, which is one of the cases where the federal government is the defendant and the goal is to require it to force an end to the production of fossil fuels. The occasion for the post was that, nine years into the litigation, the federal defendant had just launched its third effort to get the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to end the case on the ground of “non-justiciability” — that is, to get the court to rule that such an issue of society-wide energy policy is not a proper subject to be decided by a court. Instead, the Department of Justice was arguing, this sort of question must be left to the political branches of government, that is, legislatures and executives. (On May 1, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit in fact ordered that the Juliana case be dismissed. We’ll see if that sticks. The plaintiffs still have a few litigation options left, including seeking “en banc” review from the full Ninth Circuit, and seeking review from the Supreme Court.)

Meanwhile, be careful what you wish for. If the decision to blame energy-producing companies for everything wrong with the environment is to be left to the political branches, what’s to stop those political branches from jumping into this act?

In the last few days, the legislature in the state of Vermont has done just that. NBC News has the story on May 7, with the headline “Vermont passes bill to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change.”

It looks like little Vermont (population about 650,000) is going to step up to save the planet where all the big players like the federal government and California have failed. The idea here is that the state will force the fossil fuel producers to pay damages to compensate for any losses attributable to “climate change.” If you believe that all extreme weather is the fault of “climate change” (and it appears that they do believe that), then this could add up to some enormous sums. From NBC:

Vermont lawmakers passed a bill this week that is designed to make big fossil fuel companies pay for damage from weather disasters fueled by climate change.

BOOKS Comments turned off

CHAPTER 18: American Marxism: The Biden Regime—Obama’s Third Term Space Is No Longer the Final Frontier—Reality Is (forthcoming release June 2024) by Linda Goudsmit

Posted By on May 13th, 2024

https://goudsmit.pundicity.com/27771/chapter-18-american-marxism-the-biden-regime

Karen McKay (Chapter 17) described with precision the cultural terrorism Marxist George Lukács brought to Hungary as deputy commissar for education and culture in 1919, and Marxist Barack Obama brought to the United States as president in 2008. The ideological motivation for cultural terrorism is purely political, and it is documented in America by W. Cleon Skousen, a former FBI employee, in his 1958 book, The Naked Communist.[i] Skousen lists forty-five communist goals that promote social progressivism, internationalism, societal collapse, and imposition of communism worldwide.

On January 10, 1963, the forty-five communist goals were read into the United States Congressional Record to archive them for future generations. The goals that articulated and exposed the thinking and strategies of the political elite sixty years ago are the same goals and policies being implemented collaboratively by today’s radical leftist Democrat party, corrupt Republicans (RINOs), the colluding media, and the globalists who pull all of their strings. Some of the familiar names are Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, George Soros, Bill Gates, and Klaus Schwab.

Of particular interest in this chapter are Goals 24, 25, 26, 40, and 41:

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free   speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.”

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

FOREIGN POLICY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Betrayal of Israel by the US Administration Is Almost Complete by Guy Millière

Posted By on May 12th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20636/betrayal-of-israel

The Biden administration does not appear ever to have issued the slightest threat, warning or ultimatum to the authors of the war: Hamas, Iran or Qatar.

US Senator Chuck Schumer, after declaring himself a friend and defender of Israel, suggested overthrowing Israel’s democratically elected prime minister, and — as if Israel, and not America, were within his jurisdiction — called for new elections.

Meanwhile in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where anti-government demonstrations began again, one of their leaders, Ami Dror, revealed on social media that the demonstrations and riots are part of a plan by the Biden administration to bring down the Netanyahu government…. The US State Department has, for more than a year, been providing financial support for protests hostile to the Netanyahu government.

Biden, it seems, is frustrated that Netanyahu is objecting to humanitarian aid — which basically resupplies Hamas. Hamas, Israel’s argument goes, released hostages only after unremitting pressure. Relieving that pressure by backing Hamas makes the probability of seeing any more hostages released less likely. Biden is also reportedly frustrated that Netanyahu, for some inexplicable reason, objects to the creation of a terrorist Palestinian state next door.

One cannot leave aside that the Biden administration, through ignoring sanctions on Iranian oil, has allowed the Iran’s regime to earn up to an estimated $100 billion… Without those funds, the massacre of October 7 would not have been possible, Hezbollah would not have been able to fire so many missiles into Israel from Lebanon, and Iran itself would not have been able to launch more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in April, and to attack US troops more than 150 times on, just since October 7, 2023 — evidently in an attempt to drive the US out of the Middle East.

The Biden administration, it seems, does not want a definitive end of the conflict — as with Ukraine as well — especially if the end would entail the defeat of Hamas or Russia. Hamas is a protégé of Qatar and Iran, the world’s two leading state sponsors of terrorism. The Biden administration has been rewarding them — Iran with money and Qatar with renewing its protection by Al-Udeid Air Base, headquarters of America’s CENTCOM, as well as controlling the new terror pier the US has built in Gaza At the same time, the Biden administration is falsely accusing Israel of violating human rights.

The Biden administration may even be complicit in the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that might be issued by the International Criminal Court – possibly as a way to dispense with him.

The mullahs are, in effect, using their proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and so on — as their “human shields”.

The Biden administration has placed the existence of Israel in danger to protect Biden from the dangerous voters of Michigan.

Worse, with the Biden administration now having come down squarely against Israel and on the side of Iran, Qatar and Hamas, they have to feel no inclination to agree to anything. Why should they? Iran’s mullahs have a new proxy, the United States, backing their terrorism for them.

Even worse, at almost the same time as the US told Israel it was withholding arms shipments that Congress had already approved (a move for which Democrats tried to impeach then President Donald Trump), the Biden administration waived sanctions for arms purchases by Lebanon, Qatar and Iraq — countries that host groups working to destroy Israel.

Worst of all, if you are Ukraine, Taiwan, China, Russia, Japan – just about any US ally or foe — you probably cannot avoid thinking something like: We have watched the supposedly mighty US surrender Afghanistan, its ally of 20 years, to a bunch of terrorists, the Taliban. Now we are watching the US surrender its closest ally in the Middle East, Israel, the only democracy there, to terrorists: to Hezbollah in Lebanon with 150,000 rockets and missiles pointed at Israel, and to Hamas in Gaza by sending “humanitarian aid,” that will used by terrorists.

Where are any prosecutions or sanctions by the UN and international courts for war crimes and human rights violations on countries such as Qatar (here and here), China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Yemen and Sudan?

Currently, the Biden administration appears to want three things: Netanyahu OUT – reportedly to be replaced by a puppet who will do whatever the US tells him; a terrorist Palestinian state IN, and to preserve Iran and Qatar’s client, the terrorist group, Hamas. So far, all the pressure from Washington has been on Israel, none at all on Hamas or on its patrons, Qatar and Iran. The fighting could indeed stop tomorrow if either of them or the US seriously ordered Hamas to stop fighting and immediately return the 132 remaining hostages.

Did the Biden administration even ask?