NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Unlike House, U.S. Senate Unanimously Condemns Anti-Semitism By Melissa Langsam Braunstein

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/06/14/unlike-house-u-s-senate-unanimously-condemns-anti-semitism/

When you write about anti-Semitism, there’s typically not much good news to report; the world’s oldest hatred has been making a comeback not only overseas, but also here in the US of A. So, it’s both good and important to pause and celebrate the U.S. Senate unanimously passing a resolution that unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism.

Where the House of Representatives fumbled, the Senate succeeded. And thank G-d for that.

In March, the House struggled to rebuke blatantly anti-Semitic remarks from freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar. Rather than forcefully denounce anti-Semitism within their own ranks, House members passed a watered-down resolution calling out out all hatred. While that message was unobjectionable, it was also totally non-responsive to the historical moment.

By contrast, Sens. Ted Cruz and Tim Kaine led the Senate in embracing a resolution yesterday that squarely condemns anti-Semitism in all of its forms. The Senate resolution offers a sweeping historical view of anti-Semitism across borders and millennia. It recognizes that the virus of anti-Semitism is different than other forms of hatred, has occurred both overseas and domestically, and that it requires a unique, targeted condemnation.

In addition to citing pogroms, forced conversions, and the Holocaust, the resolution mentions that Jews retain the dubious honor of being the most targeted religious group for hate crimes. While Omar isn’t named, the resolution alludes to her poisonous remarks, noting that “Jews have faced, and continue to face, false accusations of divided loyalty between the United States and Israel, [and] false claims that they purchase political power with money.” Given the struggle to pass anti-anti-boycott legislation on the Hill this year, the resolution also crucially castigates those who would “boycott, confiscate or destroy Jewish businesses.”

ISRAEL, POLITICS Comments turned off

Resolution Supporting Two State Solution to counter any attempt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex Sections of Judea and Samaria

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

A group of Democratic U.S. senators are drafting a resolution declaring U.S. support for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, The purpose of the resolution is to counter any attempt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank. Something that was promised by Netanyahu during his previous election campaign.

The draft resolution was made by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein, Tammy Baldwin, Tom Udall and Dick Durbin.

The resolution says that “the policy of the United States should be to preserve conditions conducive to a negotiated two-state solution”.

“Unilateral annexation of portions of the West Bank would jeopardize prospects for a two-state solution, harm Israel’s relationship with its Arab neighbors, threaten Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity, and undermine Israel’s security,” the resolution says.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Florida sets an important precedent By Arnold Cusmariu

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/06/florida_sets_an_important_precedent.html

As reported in the Miami Herald News, on Friday 14 June, 2019 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Federal Immigration Enforcement bill, SB 168, keeping a promise he had made during his campaign for governor.

Here is a summary of the bill’s provisions shown on the Florida Senate website:

Prohibits a state entity, local governmental entity, or law enforcement agency from having a sanctuary policy, which is a law, policy, practice, procedure, or custom that restricts a law enforcement agency’s ability to communicate or exchange information with a federal immigration agency on immigration enforcement matters or from complying with immigration detainers.
Provides procedures for a court to follow to reduce a defendant’s sentence by up to 12 days and thereby permit a law enforcement agency to transfer the defendant to a federal facility and complete the remaining 12 days of the sentence.
Requires a law enforcement agency that has custody of someone who is subject to an immigration detainer to notify the judge of the detainer, record in the person’s file the existence of the detainer, and comply with the detainer.
Requires a county correctional facility to enter into an agreement with a federal immigration agency for the payment of costs associated with housing and detaining defendants.
Provides that the Governor, in an exercise of his or her constitutional duties, may initiate judicial proceedings against any executive or administrative state, county, or municipal officer to enforce compliance with duties under the act or restrain unauthorized actions contrary to the act.
Permits the Attorney General to institute an action for a violation of this law or to prevent a violation of the law.
Requires any sanctuary policies currently in effect be repealed within 90 days after the effective date of the act.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Director of Berlin’s museum resigns over Tweet endorsing antisemitic BDS  Benjamin Weinthal

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/German-Museum-director-sparking-BDS-controversy-resigns-after-condemnations-fly-592564

The director of Berlin’s Jewish Museum, Peter Schäfer, announced his resignation on Friday “to avoid further damage” a week after The Jerusalem Post first reported that the institution endorsed the BDS campaign on the museum’s Twitter feed.

The pressure for Schäfer’s removal rose over the past week, and experts in the field of antisemitism told the Post that they implored German Culture Minister Monika Grütters, who oversees the board of the museum foundation, to take action against Schäfer and the antisemitism scandals at the museum.

“All those responsible must help ensure that the Jewish Museum Berlin can again concentrate on its important work in terms of content,” Grütters said on Friday. Schäfer’s deputy, Martin Michaelis, will assume responsibility for running the museum until a successor can be hired.

B’nai B’rith International president Charles O. Kaufman, who sent a letter last week to Schäfer about the museum’s anti-Israel direction, told the Post on Friday: “What’s crucial now is for the museum to identify leadership that commits to professionalism and the truth of sharing the long and rich Jewish life of Germany. This museum must earn the name Jewish Museum and, in doing so, earn the trust of the country, Europe and all visitors from around the world. It must not immerse itself in politicizing history, stooping to propaganda and, worse, revisionism.”

British journalist Tom Gross was invited to tour the museum by Schäfer’s office last year and expressed his dismay afterwards at some of the anti-Israel political aspects he saw.

“The important thing now, since the museum is currently replacing its permanent exhibit, due to reopen next year, is to make sure Schäfer’s replacement is someone who is more interested in remembering the enormous contributions of Berlin’s Jews to German and world history, and in accurately explaining the sheer sadistic horrors of the Holocaust, rather than engage in anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, extreme left-wing posturing,” Gross told the Post.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

TOM GROSS: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH GERMAN ANTI-SEMITISM

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”
https://wp.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/

[Note by Tom Gross]

I attach an article from today’s Haaretz exploring the increasing way the neo-Nazi right and the extreme “progressive” (and all too often anti-Semitic) left are mimicking each other’s phrases and slogans.

After that, I attach articles from The Jerusalem Post and The New York Times, about the enforced resignation of Peter Schäfer, the director of Berlin’s Jewish museum, on Friday.

This followed widespread criticism of the increasing politicization of the museum (including my quote to the Jerusalem Post last Monday and the fact that the museum had coddled up to the Islamic regime of Iran and promoted Europeans who support the destruction of Israel).

I attach a new front-page story from yesterday’s Jerusalem Post, which included this follow-up quote by myself:

British journalist Tom Gross, who was invited to tour the museum by Schäfer’s office last year and expressed his dismay afterwards to the director’s office at some of the anti-Israel political aspects he saw, told the Jerusalem Post:

“The important thing now, since the museum is currently replacing its permanent exhibit, due to reopen next year, is to make sure Schäfer’s replacement is someone who is more interested in remembering the enormous contributions of Berlin’s Jews to German and world history, and in accurately explaining the sheer sadistic horrors of the Holocaust, rather than engaging in anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, extreme left-wing posturing.”

“Enough is enough,” said Dr. Josef Schuster, president of the nearly 100,000-member Central Council of Jews in Germany. “[Under Schäfer] the Berlin Jewish Museum seems to be completely out of control. Under these circumstances, one has to think about whether the term ‘Jewish’ is still appropriate.”

Tom Gross adds: Because of the Holocaust, and because it was opened to great international fanfare in 2001 using the designs of award-winning architect Daniel Libeskind, the Berlin Jewish museum is in some ways the most significant Jewish museum in the world.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Beto Tells Black Leaders They Need Protection ‘From their Own Country’ By Rick Moran

Posted By on June 17th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/beto-tells-black-leaders-they-need-protection-from-their-own-country/

Beto O’Rourke was in South Carolina yesterday on a mission to pander to black people. The black vote in South Carolina is critical and Democrats have been vying with each other to see who can emote most fervently when speaking of the difficulties of American blacks.

I think Beto got a little carried away.

Washington Examiner:

Appearing before a gathering of 10 black community leaders and activists at Park Circle Creamery, the 2020 presidential candidate addressed the lack of trust in the law enforcement community that has arisen from incidents of police brutality.

“I don’t know the right word to describe what we need to do as a country, but it’s not just leveling the playing field. It is protecting people from their country and those who hold positions of trust, including in law enforcement right now,” the former Texas congressman told the group. “And it’s protecting from a criminal justice system, it’s protecting from a kindergarten classroom, it’s also protecting from who’s polluting the air that we breathe and the water we drink,” he said, making an apparent reference to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

I guess the concept of equality of opportunity is dead in the Democratic Party. Instead, as some cheap-suit mob boss would do, Beto is offering “protection.”

“We have these very specific proposals about ensuring there’s more capital in the community, capital in society, making sure everyone has access to it,” O’Rourke said. “I understand that it’s much larger than any given policy proposal or any part of the system because it is systemic. And I will in all humility admit I don’t have the answer.”

POLITICS Comments turned off

A Hawaii Democrat’s Surprising Views Tulsi Gabbard opposes impeachment and dislikes identity politics. And she’s running for president. By Michael Tracey

Posted By on June 16th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hawaii-democrats-surprising-views-11560714036

New York

Of all the Democratic presidential candidates, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard may most defy easy categorization. She fuses appeals to national honor—drawn from her Army service in Iraq—with resolutely left-wing policy prescriptions, especially on foreign affairs. Yet she appears frequently on Fox News, has earned plaudits from Republican colleagues, and staunchly opposes impeachment proceedings against President Trump, which she warns would “tear the country apart.”

“The whole reason the Mueller investigation started was to investigate collusion,” she said in an interview between recent campaign stops in Manhattan. The special counsel “was very clear in his report that there was no evidence found that collusion took place.” But she is at pains to distinguish her reasoning from that of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose reticence about impeachment, Ms. Gabbard says, is rooted in partisan calculation: “That’s exactly what people are sick and tired of.”

Ms. Gabbard, who represents Hawaii’s Second District, also doesn’t belabor her sex, her ethnic background (Samoan) or her religion (Hindu). “I think identity politics, again, is one of those things that is unfortunately being used to divide us. . . . [it’s] a dangerous road to walk down,” Ms. Gabbard told me in a podcast interview, lamenting fellow Democrats and the media for often treating Americans “as though we are the sum of the color of our skin.”

Since she launched her campaign in January, liberal media outlets have scorned her. NBC News published an article alleging that she had the backing of “Russia’s propaganda machine.” The Daily Beast charged that she was being “boosted by Putin apologists.”

But she’s found support from a popular alternative-media figure, Joe Rogan, who has hosted Ms. Gabbard twice on his video and audio podcast—consistently a top-ranked offering on YouTube and iTunes. Like Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Rogan is politically heterodox. He’s endorsed libertarian Republican Ron Paul, shuns ideological labels, and has a following among right-leaning listeners.

Perhaps because of her reliance on alternative media, Ms. Gabbard is unusually sympathetic to conservatives who complain of social-media censorship. Asked about YouTube’s penalization of right-wing personality Steven Crowder, Ms. Gabbard says: “I think it points to the dangerous level of power that these platforms have, and how they can seemingly arbitrarily make their own rules, and make decisions about what kind of free speech is acceptable.” It amounts to a kind of monopoly, she argues: “If you get cut out from YouTube, there’s nowhere else you’re going to be able to go.”

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Now They Want to ‘Fix’ the Climate Michael Kile

Posted By on June 16th, 2019

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/06/now-they-want-to-fix-the-climate/

They have always been around, the weeping prophets and merchants of doom, as have their credulous followers. The descendants of Jeremiah and Nostradamus also claim to have had special insight and esoteric knowledge. They urge us to make sacrifices, change behaviour, go solar and wind, buy carbon-offsets to annul our sins of emission and restructure global energy in less than ten solar revolutions. Cometh the hour, cometh a saviour: the climate fixer.

Welcome to Warmerland, where tweets warn of the coming inferno of Hothouse Earth and twits churn out yet another “tipping point”. Our Deep Fry moment could occur as soon as April 1 next year or perhaps by 2030. The Doomsday Clock is showing two minutes to midnight, so don’t miss an update.

If, as some claim, “perilous tipping points are idestabilising our global climate system and making it more unpredictable”, it has not deterred them from making dodgy causal claims, as did Canadian prime minister Trudeau in early June:

We need to be taking real action to prevent climate change [and extreme weather]. That’s why we’re moving forward on a price on [carbon dioxide] pollution right across the country.”

Yet if the global climate is “destabilised” – and “more unpredictable” – how can one make predictions about it?  What is “stability” in such a chaotic system? Where is the science on tipping points? How and when will Canadians know whether it has been effective? What are Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s key performance indicators?

The inconvenient truth is taking “real action to prevent climate change”– in Canada, Australia or anywhere — is gesture politics, a waste of other people’s money and time in pursuit of a chimera.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Uncle Bernie Saws Off His Own Limb with Outlandish Socialism Defense Bob Maistros

Posted By on June 16th, 2019

https://issuesinsights.com/2019/06/16/u

Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders’ attempt to promote “democratic socialism” as a political platform recalls former Vice President Walter Mondale’s 1984 convention speech promise: “Mr. Reagan will raise taxes. And so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.”

A gift which my bosses at President Reagan’s re-election campaign accepted with undisguised glee. Especially when Fritz helpfully quantified his planned pocketbook raid, which our guys extrapolated to a $3,000 per-household hike.

Game. Set. Match. 

For some inexplicable reason — perhaps tempting polls showing that 70% or more of Democrats find socialism attractive, or young gun Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s rock-star status — Crazy Uncle Bernie didn’t just climb out on a similar political limb with his own daffy idea to cling ever more tightly to the banner of “democratic socialism.” Like Fritz, he proceeded to saw the branch off himself.

Roared the Vermonter: “It is my very strong belief that the United States must … find the moral conviction to choose a different path, a higher path, a path of compassion, justice and love. It is the path that I call democratic socialism.”

Uh, huh. Certainly, going all-in on socialism is the new ticket!

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel’s Right Resists Unity At Its Own Risk BY: David Isaac

Posted By on June 16th, 2019

“Shooting in the halftrack,” an Israeli phrase connoting friendly fire, was the term used to describe the behavior of Israeli right-wing politicians and pundits, who spent last week sniping at one other. Israeli history is rife with examples of right-wing divisions leading to left-wing victory, a lesson its politicians struggle to learn.

One needn’t delve deeply into Israel’s past. In April, a multitude of parties split the right-wing pie into smaller pieces—the electoral threshold is set at 3.25 percent. Each party needs at least that percentage of the general vote to win four seats in Israel’s Knesset. If a party doesn’t make it, all its votes are lost.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the danger, which is why he knocked heads together in February, convincing the Jewish Home and National Union parties, which had already made an alliance, to bring into the fold the more extreme Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Strength”) Party. They went into the election under the ticket “United Right.”

It wasn’t enough. A quarter-million votes were still lost due to the failure of two parties, the New Right and Zehut, to cross the threshold. This is what gave Avigdor Liberman of the Israel Beiteinu Party the ability to torpedo Netanyahu’s coalition efforts. Liberman withheld his party’s support over a law concerning military recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox. Netanyahu couldn’t muster a majority to govern. Back-to-back elections were called, a first in Israel’s history.

Liberman hopes to become the go-to address for anyone unhappy with religious influence in society. Although the other parties on the right would love to punish him by pushing him below the electoral threshold, current polls have him gaining three to four more seats over the five he won last time. That means he might again be the deciding factor—Netanyahu’s nightmare. The right needs a cushion to cancel out Liberman, so that they won’t need him to form a coalition.