NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Rep. Dan Crenshaw calls out Omar for describing 9/11 attacks as ‘some people did something’ By Lukas Mikelionis

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ilhan-omar-under-fire-after-describing-9-11-terror-attacks-as-some-people-did-something

Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar is facing backlash after her speech at a Muslim rights group’s event in which she described the September 11, 2001 terror attacks as “some people did something.”

Omar spoke at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) fundraiser last month, where she called upon other Muslim Americans to “make people uncomfortable” with their activism and presence in the society and criticized the Jewish state.

But another part of the speech surfaced on social media earlier this week, in which Omar described the terror attacks perpetrated by al Qaeda.

“CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something, and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,” Omar said at the event.

The comments from the Minnesota freshman Democrat, still reeling from a number of anti-Semitic controversies, prompted Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw to slam Omar for her description of the terror attacks.

“First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as ‘some people who did something,’” Crenshaw wrote in a tweet. “Unbelievable.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

AG Barr: The Obama Administration Was ‘Spying’ on the Trump Campaign “Yes, I think spying did occur.” By Tyler O’Neil

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/ag-barr-the-obama-administration-was-spying-on-the-trump-campaign/

On Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr insisted that intelligence agencies under former President Barack Obama did spy on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. He did not declare that this spying was illegal, but the spying is unsettling regardless.

“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal,” Barr said in a Senate hearing on Wednesday. “There are a lot of rules put in place to make sure that there’s an adequate basis before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance. I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated but I think it’s important to look at that.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) pressed him on the issue of spying. “You’re not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?” she asked.

“I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur,” Barr replied. “The question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Barr testifies ‘spying did occur’ on Trump campaign, amid reported review of informant’s role Brooke Singman By Brooke Singman

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-watchdog-fbi-informant-in-russia-probe

Attorney General Bill Barr testified Wednesday that he believes “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016, as he vowed to review the conduct of the FBI’s original Russia probe — and the focus of a related internal review shifted to the role of a key FBI informant.

“I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated. … I think it’s my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane,” he testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, while noting that “spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”

The comments follow a new report that the Justice Department’s internal watchdog also is scrutinizing the role of an FBI informant who contacted members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, as part of a broader review of the early stages of the Russia investigation. The New York Times reported that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is looking into informant Stefan Halper’s work during the Russia probe, as well as his work with the FBI prior to the start of that probe.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Nation of Islam and Women’s “Social Justice” by Denis MacEoin

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14046/nation-of-islam-womens-march

Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, stands for almost everything the Women’s March principles claim to deplore. He is a misogynist who wants to keep women in their traditional roles, he hates all LGBT people in an exceptionally vicious way, he is a black separatist, unlike the marchers, who call for unity between races, and has shown close support for a number of dictators, notably the late Libyan president Mu’ammar Ghadhafi, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, and Cuba’s Commadante Fidel Castro — even though the Women’s March progressives seek reform through democratic means achieved through working hand-in-hand as free people.

Given that most of the values are those on which most liberals and conservatives agree, one might ask how three of the four board members of the Women’s March came to embrace Louis Farrakhan, praise him, and even attend his 2018 Saviors’ Day rally. These three were Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, and Carmen Perez.

“Rank, vile, open, gutter-level anti-Semitism is apparently a pleasure that the progressive left is unwilling or unable to abstain from. Why?” — James Kirchick, Tablet, March 19, 2019.

It is well-known by some and wholly ignored by others that Islam has a long, sad history of antisemitism, a bigotry that originated in the seventh century CE (the first Islamic century) and has grown more vicious in the 21st. Combined with an almost universal anti-Zionism and bolstered by many on the political “left”, it is today the most ubiquitous and deadliest form of Jew-hatred. It takes the form, not just of insults, boycotts, and lawfare, but of wars, terrorist attacks, and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and the genocide of the Jews.

MEDIA Comments turned off

The Media Got the Israeli Election Completely Wrong Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273437/media-got-israeli-election-completely-wrong-daniel-greenfield

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings, but unless things change dramatically, Prime Minister Netanyahu is likely to form Israel’s next government. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Anyone studying the electoral math of Israel’s next government, one that is based on coalitions, not direct elections, would have had trouble coming to any other conclusion. While two startup right-wing parties appear to have committed the usual egocentric folly of wasting votes by failing to meet the threshold, as did the bizarre Gesher, the numbers are on the side of the right.

Only once the exit polls had begun coming in, did the media slowly tilt toward reporting a likely Netanyahu victory, but even so headlines covered Benny Gantz’s silly victory speech and depicted the results as a rebuke.

Considering that Likud’s numbers appear to be better than they have in a while, that’s some rebuke.

Israel’s political system (like those of most free countries) is somewhat weird. It’s understandable that the media might have trouble grasping it. But the media appeared not to care, taking its signals from those lefty Israeli reporters willing to tell it what it wanted to hear.

And this keeps happening in every Israeli election. Each time, Netanyahu’s victory is implausible and unimaginable until it actually happens.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

Parent Coalition Urges Halt to $5.7 Million Taxpayer-Funded Transgender Study on Children By Mairead McArdle

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/parent-coalition-urges-halt-transgender-study-children/

A group of hundreds of concerned parents is calling for an immediate halt to a taxpayer-funded study on transgender youth where the young participants are given powerful hormone blockers to stave off puberty and later a regimen of cross-sex hormones.

The Kelsey Coalition, a grassroots organization of parents whose children identify as transgender but who believe current transgender therapy has seriously harmed their children, sent a letter last week outlining their concerns to Dr. Jerry Menikoff, Director of the Office for Human Research Protections, which is part of Health and Human Services.

“The Kelsey Coalition contends this trial is unethical and violates laws protecting human subjects,” the group said in a statement.

The group said the OHRP confirmed Monday that it will “start a review” of the study.

Four pediatric gender clinics were awarded a $5.7 million grant in 2015 by the National Institutes of Health for the five-year study, “The Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth,” which had 279 participants in the cross-sex hormone cohort and 71 participants in the puberty blocker cohort as of April 30, 2018.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Socialism Fails Every Time The best outcome is a reversion to capitalism. The worst? Hundreds of millions dead. By Joshua Muravchik

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/socialism-fails-every-time-11554851786

Self-described socialist Bernie Sanders has become a favorite of young voters by posing as an apostle of daring new ideas. Socialism, however, is anything but new. It’s hard to think of another idea that has been tried and failed as many times in as many ways or at a steeper price in human suffering.

The term “socialism” was coined by followers of Robert Owen (1771-1858), whom Karl Marx would label a “utopian socialist.” In 1825 Owen founded New Harmony, an Indiana commune, to demonstrate the superiority of what was first called the “social system.” The same year, Owen explained his experiment to a joint session of Congress attended by Supreme Court justices, President James Monroe and President-elect John Quincy Adams. Although Owen poured his fortune into it, New Harmony collapsed in disarray and recrimination within two years.

Owen’s son Robert Dale Owen salvaged the community by implementing what he called “a policy the very reverse” of socialism: “giving each respectable citizen every facility and encouragement to become (what every adult ought to be) a landed proprietor.”

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Netanyahu celebrates ‘tremendous, tremendous victory’

Posted By on April 10th, 2019

https://worldisraelnews.com/netanyahu-celebrates-tremendous-tremendous

“The right-wing bloc led by Likud clearly won. I thank Israeli citizens for their trust,” Netanyahu stated at Likud headquarters Tuesday night.
It was a tense national election day on Tuesday, with the 10 p.m. exit polls showing the new Blue and White party in the lead or standing neck and neck with Likud.

Just after 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged as the clear winner, with Likud leading 35 to 34 over Blue and White. They were followed by religious and right-wing parties – natural partners for Likud – putting Netanyahu in a strong position to form the next government.

“The right-wing bloc led by Likud clearly won,” Netanyahu told thousands of jubilant supporters at Likud headquarters. “I will begin forming a right-wing government with our natural partners already tonight… This is a night of tremendous, tremendous victory.”

“Already tonight, almost all of them declared publicly that they will recommend me to form the next government,” he said. “I intend to finish the job quickly in order to establish a nationalist, stable government.”

“It will be a right-wing government, but I intend to be the prime minister of all the citizens of Israel – right and left, Jews and non-Jews alike. All the citizens of Israel,” he declared.

Acknowledging the major hurdles facing Israel regarding security, economy, society and foreign relations, Netanyahu expressed confidence that “we will be able to meet all these challenges.”

Concerning the “path to peace with Arab nations,” for example, “even as we speak, it’s happening,” he said.

The Israeli leader tearfully thanked his wife and children for their support, noting “how much suffering my family has endured” during a particularly vicious election campaign fraught with mudslinging and defamation.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Congratulations to Texas Tech By Roger Clegg

Posted By on April 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/texas-tech-eliminates-racial-preference-in-admissions/

As a result of a complaint that the Center for Equal Opportunity filed in 2004 against Texas Tech, the medical school there recently signed a Resolution Agreement (RA) with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, ending its use of racial preferences in admissions. As of March 1, “an applicant’s race and/or national origin are no longer to be considered.”

Kudos to Texas Tech: This is even more impressive than its run to the Final Four!

Our complaint was filed when, after the Supreme Court had issued its 2003 decisions narrowly upholding the use of racial-admission preferences in some circumstances, Texas Tech announced that it would begin considering race, notwithstanding the fact that it had not been doing so and had achieved plenty of racial and ethnic diversity nonetheless. In our view, since the Court made clear that race was not to be used except as a last resort, Texas Tech’s announced new policy was unjustifiable.

In the course of the 15-year investigation that followed, the university clarified or backed away from its 2005 pronouncement until, by last November, only the investigation of the five health-science schools remained. They, too, then clarified or backed away, so that by early this year the medical school was the only outlier. And on February 20 it came around, too. The relevant documents are posted on our website, here.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Pete Buttigieg and the Most Convenient Narrative By Jim Geraghty

Posted By on April 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pete-buttigieg-and-the-most-convenient-narrative/

Jim Treacher asks when Mike Pence has ever had a quarrel with Pete Buttigieg, pointing out that the vice president has never said anything negative about the South Bend mayor.

The “quarrel” between Pence and Buttigieg more or less begins and ends with Pence’s decision to support and sign the Religious Freedom Restoration Act back in 2015, which allowed individuals and companies to cite their religious beliefs and significant burdens upon those beliefs in legal proceedings. Opponents such as Buttigieg charged that the law would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. The law was broadly popular; it passed the Indiana Senate 40 to 10 and the Indiana House 63-31. After Pence signed it into law, opponents vehemently denounced the law as “state-sanctioned discrimination.” Several large companies, sports leagues, and nonprofit institutions threatened to boycott the state. After about a week, Indiana lawmakers enacted an amendment that clarified that the RFRA could not be cited in certain discrimination cases.

In today’s Morning Jolt, I went through Buttigieg’s autobiography and noted that he describes his relationship with the then-governor as “complicated,” but that complication is mostly disagreeing on the RFRA. Buttigieg can never muster any examples of Pence being rude, hostile, or hateful, or ever making an issue out of Buttigieg’s sexual orientation, but the mayor laments “the complications of being openly gay in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”