HISTORY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Ben Gurion Legacy: Independent National Security Policy Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Posted By on July 23rd, 2020

 https://bit.ly/39lOus0

The Ben Gurion legacy contradicts conventional wisdom. It rejects the assumption that a White House “green light” is a prerequisite for the application of Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Ben Gurion’s May 14, 1948 Declaration of Independence was not preconditioned upon a “green light” from President Truman. Ben Gurion demonstrated independence of national security action in defiance of the US State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Furthermore, President Truman was irresolute until the day of the declaration, while the US Mission to the UN was preoccupied with rounding up votes for a UN Trusteeship in Palestine (instead of an independent Jewish State).

Moreover, Ben Gurion applied Israeli law to areas in the Galilee, coastal plain, the Negev and Jerusalem – which were acquired during Israel’s War of Independence, expanding Israel’s land by 30% – in defiance of a glaring “red light” from the White House and the entire foreign policy and national security establishment in Washington, DC.

According to James McDonald, the first US Ambassador to Israel: “[Ben Gurion] warned President Truman and the US Department of State that they would be gravely mistaken if they assumed that the threat, or even the use of sanctions, would force Israel to yield on issues considered vital to its independence and security…. Much as Israel desired friendship with the US, there were limits beyond which it could not go.  Israel could not yield at any point which, in its judgement, would threaten its independence or its security. 
The very fact that Israel was a small state made more necessary the scrupulous defense of its own interests; otherwise, it would be lost (My Mission in Israel 1948-1951, Simon and Schuster, p. 49)….

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

How the Chinese Communist Party Has Botched Its Xinjiang Coverup By Jimmy Quinn •

Posted By on July 23rd, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/chinese-communist-party-xinjiang-coverup/

S hocking drone video footage of blindfolded Uighur prisoners being herded onto trains went viral this past week. The clip, which originally surfaced in September 2019 and which analysts confirmed was filmed in China’s Xinjiang region, has elicited comparisons to the Holocaust and calls to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Similarly eerie incidents abound. On July 1, 2020, U.S. customs agents seized a 13-ton shipment of beauty products made of human hair that originated in Xinjiang. As evidence of the Chinese Communist Party’s conduct increasingly seems to meet the criteria for genocide set out in the Genocide Convention, CCP officials have attempted to deny clear-cut evidence, such as this video, in one case going as far as threatening to sue researchers. However, in an international environment increasingly wary of Beijing’s ambitions, this is a self-defeating strategy that has only galvanized international action.

While the U.S. government has spoken out against the “political re-education” camps in Xinjiang for a couple of years — imposing some visa restrictions in 2019 — and although knowledge of the camps has been commonplace outside of China for three years, minimal concrete action followed. But the tide started to shift this summer, as Beijing subjected itself to increased scrutiny with an increasingly assertive coronavirus-era grand strategy. The U.N.’s human-rights mechanisms started to turn its attention to China — a group of independent experts penned a letter calling for “renewed attention” to be directed to the situation in Xinjiang. A few days later, a top China scholar published a groundbreaking report showing that Uighur birthrates have plummeted in the past year — the result of government policy of forcibly administering birth control to Uighur women, in addition to injecting some with unknown substances that seem to have resulted in sterilization. Many observers have already applied the term “cultural genocide” to the situation in Xinjiang, but the June report added heft to the case for dropping that qualifier. The images circulating this week will add momentum to that push.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced a new set of sanctions on four CCP officials for their involvement in the Xinjiang human-rights abuses, an overdue move that had been delayed by trade negotiations. The Commerce Department followed that on Monday with sanctions on eleven companies for involvement in forced-labor supply chains. Meanwhile, an international coalition of legislators has vowed to push for action on Xinjiang, and just this past weekend, U.K. foreign minister Dominic Raab accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human-rights abuses during a television interview. Raab’s comments follow a slate of other actions by the British government in a new, hawkish turn on its China relations. While Raab stopped short of a genocide accusation, these actions together mark a significant change in policy. No doubt, the U.K.’s souring attitudes toward Beijing are the result of the sharp downturn in China’s relations with liberal democracies that has been accelerated by the coronavirus, but the startling images out of Xinjiang have also created more public awareness and pressure to act.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Alex Berenson rips teachers unions for opposing reopening schools: They hate Trump ‘more than they care about kids’

Posted By on July 23rd, 2020

https://www.foxnews.com/media/alex-berenson-teachers-unions-reopening-schools-hate-trump

Teachers unions are largely in favor of postponing the reopening of schools, due to COVID-19

Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson slammed teachers unions for being against reopening schools in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Across the country, teachers unions are largely in favor of postponing the reopening of schools, which have been closed since March as the pandemic was underway. In Wisconsin, the teachers unions of the state’s five biggest school districts are urging Democratic Gov. Tony Ivers to keep classes online at the beginning of the school year. In Florida, teachers unions even filed a lawsuit against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing ahead in getting children in the classroom despite the rise in COVID cases.

Berenson has been an outspoken critic against what he calls “coronavirus alarmism.”

“I realize the teachers unions hate @realDonaldTrump far more than they care about kids, but they would be wise to consider the consequences of the game they’re playing here,” Berenson tweeted. “If parents believe the public schools can’t be trusted to run, they will find new options.”

President Trump and the White House have repeatedly urged schools across the nation to reopen in the fall, warning that the consequences for  children and parents may outweigh the risks of spreading the disease.

“The science should not stand in the way of this, but as Dr. Scott Atlas said — I thought this was a good quote, ‘Of course, we can do it. Everyone else in the Western world, our peer nations are doing it. We are the outlier here,'” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said last week, quoting the former Stanford Medical Center neurology chief.

However, other countries also brought their coronavirus outbreaks under control, unlike the United States. A major study out of South Korea found that children between the ages of 10 and 19 can actually spread coronavirus as well as adults do.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

ON MASKS: EDWARD CLINE

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2020/07/no-masks.html

BRENDAN O’NEILL  

“The New Normal. These are the three most chilling words in public discussion right now. Masks, keeping our distance from each other, avoiding overseas travel, half-empty pubs, nods of the head taking the place of handshakes and hugs… these are all part of The New Normal….It’s clear now that the regime of social distancing has little to do with Covid-19. Rather, it’s the latest manifestation of contemporary society’s culture of distrust, suspicion and separation, where we’re always encouraged to see our fellow citizens as dangerous and diseased, liable to harm us with their words, their come-ons, their second-hand smoke, etc.”

Nor to mention the absence of masks, which if one is not wearing one will precipitate the instant deaths of customers at the neighboring table, even as they sip their latte. 

For relief from this insane totalitarian culture, I repair to several of my bought movies, such as: North by Northwest,, The Manchurian Candidate, Gladiator, and a dozen more, such as Shane and High Noon.

The big attraction for these and other films is the absence of face masks in any of the stories. They are the “Normal” for me, not “New,” or regurgitated assertions of “fighting” the virus to mandate obedience and “patriotism,” which are political impositions and aspirations, hiving on totalitarian opportunism if anything else..I need  to see these films as a relief from the constant threat of being punished for not wearing a mask (which I will not wear; I’ll starve first) and the incessant announcements  and reminders to wear masks and maintain one’s “social distance.”

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison : RAPE No Longer Concern of Police July 21, 2020 By Stephen Frank

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/democrat-attorney-general-rape-no-longer-concern-of-police/

Keith Ellison is the Attorney General of Minnesota.  On numerous occasions he has been charged and investigated for sexual assault.  The Bill Clinton of the mid-West.  Now he wants to make sure others get away with sexual assault and rape.  He wants social workers, not cops investigating rapes and assaults on women.

“Ellison stated: “If you’re a woman who’s been a victim of a sexual assault, and the assailant ran away, wouldn’t you rather talk to somebody who is trained in helping you deal with what you’re dealing with, as opposed to somebody whose main training is that they know how to use a firearm? Right?”

In a tweet one user was appalled by the attorney general’s disregard for police officer capabilities, writing, “How is this guy an AG? Doesn’t he know they have special units trained to deal with sexual assault victims. What an insult – ‘their main training is how to use a weapon.’ Yes, help the victim, but catch the perp! Good grief.”

GOP rapid response director Steve Guest tweeted his prediction should Ellison and the radical left win in November, “This is Joe Biden’s Democrat Party and a reminder that you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”

Defund the police and rape becomes a daily event—any women that votes for Biden is voting to put their lives at risk under the Democrats.

Another question is whether Keith Ellison can be considered a credible and unbiased voice on the issue of violence against women.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Another ‘Mostly Peaceful’ Protest: 49 Chicago Police Officers Injured By Carmine Sabia Jr

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/carminesabia/2020/07/21/another-mostly-peaceful-protest-49-chicago-police-officers-injured-n669341

Chicago has devolved into something that resembles the opening scene of the Sylvester Stallone movie Demolition Man where Los Angeles is crime-ridden and on fire.

The lack of care for the law, or law enforcement, is at an all-time high in the real world and on Friday night 49 Chicago police officers where injured in a scrap with protesters, The Daily Mail reported.

The Chicago Police Department released the video of the incident this week as the city’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, continues to insist that she does not want help from the feds and President Donald Trump.

When the protest got to the statue of Christopher Columbus, which the officers were protecting, the crowd began hurling objects at the police.

Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown said that the mob of protesters “deliberately sought to injure officers.”

EDUCATION Comments turned off

The Two-Step of the Elite Professors By Mark Bauerlein

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/07/21/the-two-step-of-the-elite-professors/

The question to pose to our humanities signatories is this: why have your fields proven so discouraging to African Americans?  It takes quite a bit of cluelessness and self-regard to deflect your poor performance onto others.

Grave calls for the end of systemic racism are echoing throughout academia, broadcast in open letters and in-house emails, official declarations on college websites and commentaries in campus newspapers, pledges by college presidents, and promises by professors to remedy longstanding injustice. If one were to grade these self-righteous expressions, they would earn a D- for credibility, but an A+ for brazenness.

The lack of credibility we can prove by consulting the Left’s own measure of disparate outcomes. The now-famous list of demands issued by a good portion of the Princeton University faculty in an open letter to President Christopher Eisgruber has several signatories from humanities departments. Among the demands is this:

Redress the demographic disparity on Princeton’s faculty immediately and exponentially by hiring more faculty of color.

We might point out the illegality of reserving jobs by race, but the credibility problem lies elsewhere. In order for systemic racism to exist in the hiring process at a prestigious university such as Princeton, there has to have been a pipeline of African American job candidates who have faced discrimination. If a group identity is not proportionately represented in the professoriate and more individuals in that group need to be hired, we presume that a pool of persons from that group is waiting to be tapped for a job.

But here is the situation in the humanities. According to the Digest of Education Statistics, in 2016-2017, of the 1,347 individuals who earned a Ph.D. in English, only 54 of them were “black.” That’s a rate of 4 percent. The following year yielded a better number, but not by much: 65 out of 1,295 doctorates (5 percent). Both ratios fall way below the national African American share of the population, just below 13 percent. 

In foreign languages and literatures (several professors in these areas signed the Princeton letter), things are much, much worse. In 2016-2017, the tally was 12 black honorees in a total of 1,168 doctorates granted—barely 1 percent. The following year’s result: 20 out of 1,213.

BOOKS, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Common Sense About China By Robert Curry

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/07/21/common-sense-about-china/

A review “Communist China’s War Inside America,” by Brian Kennedy (Encounter, 56

China’s goal, Brian Kennedy writes, is “demoralizing the United States to the point where America believes that further resistance is futile.” They can’t succeed without the help of America’s elite.

Something really strange is going on in America today. If you have wondered why political correctness requires you to avoid using the word “Chinese” with regard to a virus that came from China, then I have the book for you. It’s Communist China’s War Inside America by my friend Brian Kennedy. The good news is that the book—the latest in Encounter Books’ “Broadside” series—is very brief (the main text is only 49 pages). It is also written in a beautiful, clear style. Despite its brevity, it provides all you need to understand the nature of the Chinese threat to America, and to understand what can be done and must be done.

Kennedy gets straight to the point, writing that the Chinese 

are confident that America has grown corrupt, and that its political, financial, and cultural elites are in near-complete sympathy with the globalist project of an interdependent world, with the P.R.C. [the People’s Republic of China] at its head.

And make no mistake: the Chinese have ample evidence that their confidence in America’s elites is not misplaced. 

I have a story from my own life that illustrates Kennedy’s point. Recalling what it was like before the pandemic panic took total control of American life will help to set the stage. Back then, the media, the celebrities, and the politicians had not yet mastered the talking points of the COVID-19 narrative. During one of those early days, a local radio news personality announced with great excitement that she had secured an interview with a prominent epidemiologist from the most prestigious university in our region. After thanking the professor profusely for granting the interview, the reporter asked the obvious question, the one that was on my mind at that time: “What is the difference between this flu and the Spanish flu of 1918?” 

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Oregon’s Dem Senators and Portland’s Mob The Left’s romance with destruction and mayhem intensifies. Joseph Klein

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/07/supporters-portlands-mob-joseph-klein/

Oregon Democrat Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are demanding a full investigation of “the unrequested presence and violent actions of federal forces in Portland.” Law-abiding Oregon citizens are not their primary concern. Neither is the safety of federal personnel trying to protect federal property. These pitiful excuses for public servants, along with other congressional Democrats, are all torn up about the welfare of the rioters who have committed unprovoked assaults on federal enforcement officers standing their ground on federal premises. They pretend not to understand the fundamental difference between constitutionally-protected peaceful assembly and mob violence.

“Oregonians’ demand for answers about this occupying army and its paramilitary assaults in Portland at the direction of Donald Trump and Chad Wolf [Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary] cannot be stonewalled,” Wyden said. “That’s not how it works in a democracy,” Wyden added.

Wrong, Senator Wyden. The real “occupying army” consists of the mobs who have occupied the streets of Portland for more than 50 nights, spreading chaos and destruction. Law-abiding Oregonian citizens are entitled to know why their own state and local police are not protecting their personal security and property.

The United States is a constitutional republic, not a pure democracy. The people rule through their elected representatives, with institutional protections for individuals and minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

The Founding Fathers detested mob rule. “Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint,” Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers, No. 15. “The very idea of the power and the right of the People to establish Government presupposes the duty of every Individual to obey the established Government,” said George Washington in his presidential farewell address.

MEDIA, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Big Surge In Coronavirus Deaths Is A Media-Fed Myth

Posted By on July 22nd, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/07/22/the-big-surge-in-coronavirus-deaths-is-a-media-fed-myth/

Almost daily now we’ve been reading about how daily deaths from COVID-19 have reached record highs. It’s a scary prospect. But the truth is the mainstream press is grossly misleading the public by misreporting the death counts.

Here’s a typical report, from USA Today a few days ago: “As the outbreak continues to surge across the southern states, Florida, Texas and South Carolina set records for new daily deaths, reporting 156, 129 and 69, respectively.”

ABC News reported that “Nineteen states set single-day records for the most cases this week … Three states set a record today.”

According to PBS in Arizona, the state “on Saturday (July 18) set a record for coronavirus-related deaths reported in one day, with 147, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.”

The last story is particularly illuminating because the website the PBS article links to includes a chart of daily deaths in the state. It lists only three deaths on July 19. What’s more, the chart shows that there hasn’t been a single day in the state where deaths exceeded 65.

So where did that scary 147 number come from? The same place all the other “surging” numbers come from. Each day Arizona and other states file reports on how many people died from COVID-19. It’s not a measure of how many died that day. In most cases, the people died days or even weeks earlier.