The Toxic Racialist Obsessions of Joe Biden Somehow Biden has transferred his own checkered history of racial disparagement onto the white working class. By Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2023/02/20/the-toxic-racialist-obsessions-of-joe-biden/

Joe Biden ran on “unity,” which is critical in a multiracial America. He vowed to heal the divisions supposedly sown by Donald Trump. Instead, he is proving to be the most polarizing president in modern memory. Often his racialist rhetoric and condescension have proven demeaning to both blacks and whites. In a volatile multiracial democracy that demands tolerance and restraint, a highly unpopular Biden, for cheap political advantage, continually proves incendiary and reckless. 

Last week Joe Biden snarked after watching a White House screening of Till:

Lynched for simply being black, nothing more. With white crowds, white families gathered to celebrate the spectacle, taking pictures of the bodies and mailing them as postcards. Hard to believe, but that’s what was done. And some people still want to do that. 

 Exactly who are these “some people”? Who fits Biden’s innuendos of contemporary “some people” who, he alleges in 2023, still wish, as “white crowds, white families” of the past, to mail celebratory postcards after they lynch black people? The Ultra-MAGA villains of his recent Phantom of the Opera speech? Have his current targets ever echoed anything like Biden’s own racist past warning that busing would force people to “grow up in a racial jungle”?

What current data might support Biden’s absurd charges? Is Biden referring to federal interracial crime and hate crime statistics charting violent white propensities against blacks? None exist. In fact, they continually reveal that so-called whites are underrepresented as perpetrators in both categories, while overrepresented as victims in interracial crimes—dramatically so in the case of black-on-white violent crime.

In our sensationalist YouTube world, are we suffering an epidemic of Internet-fed, white-on-black incendiary crimes that might have prompted the president’s demagogic accusations? Not at all. Most of the most recent publicized interracial violence—a woman in a gym fighting off a would-be rapist, a bicyclist doctor stabbed to death in an intersection as his attacker spewed racial hatred, a 26-year-old mother lethally shot in the back in front of her children in front of her children in a parking lot over a minor argument, a young boy violently choked on a bus, a small girl on a bus beaten repeatedly by two teenage boys—have involved black perpetrators and apparent white victims. So, what contemporary evidence or widely publicized anecdotes prompt Biden’s recent charges of “white rage”-fueled violence?

Biden Administration Funds Anti-Netanyahu Protest Group A coup in Israel is backed by Washington D.C. by Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-administration-funds-anti-netanyahu-protest-group/

Even while Israeli children were being murdered by terrorists, the only thing the media wanted to talk about were the leftist protests against the new Israeli government’s democratic judicial reforms. And the Biden administration has joined this campaign attacking the move.

Israel’s new conservative government under Prime Minister Netanyahu has finally initiated the long overdue process of restoring democratic checks and balances by limiting the unlimited power of Israel’s Supreme Court. And the Left has threatened everything up to civil war to protect its illegitimate power while its angry protests have been spun as grassroots opposition.

What none of the news reports, editorials, public letters by prominent figures or statements by officials have revealed is that the Biden administration is funding the group behind the protests.

As David Isaac at JNS reported, the first major rally against democratic judicial reform attended by leftist opposition politicians was organized by a group known as the Movement for Quality Government. MQG receives annual funding from the State Department to purportedly conduct “classes” on democracy in Israeli schools. The State Department is well aware that MQG has a long history of waging lawfare against the Israeli government because its work has been cited in its “human rights” reports. While State Department funding was not programmed for protests, money is fungible and the Biden administration knows it’s funding an anti-Netanyahu group.

The Covid Lockdown Disaster: Three Years Later Beginning in March 2020, many bad decisions were made that will impact untold numbers of young people for the rest of their lives. by Larry Sand

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-covid-lockdown-disaster-three-years-later/

There has been nothing but awful news about the unnecessary Covid-related shutdown of American schools. Study after study and a mass of anecdotal evidence show the harm done by the forced lockdowns.

Yet more research, released in January, extends the grim scenario. A meta-analysis of 42 studies across 15 countries assessed the magnitude of learning deficits during the pandemic, and finds “a substantial overall learning deficit…which arose early in the pandemic and persists over time. Learning deficits are particularly large among children from low socio-economic backgrounds.”

The analysis finds the losses are larger in math than in reading and in middle-income countries relative to high-income countries. The learning progress of school-aged children slowed substantially during the pandemic and overall, students lost about 35%, of a school year’s worth of learning. One of the studies included in the analysis found that the average public school student in third grade through eighth grade lost half a year of math learning and a quarter of a year in reading.

Two countries, Sweden and Denmark, managed to avoid the upheaval. Swedish children experienced no learning loss because they were not subjected to mass school closures during the pandemic. While Denmark did have closures, it is theorized that the lack of learning loss could be attributed to the country’s “reliable digital infrastructure with Denmark being one of the absolute top-scorers in digital skills, broadband connectivity, and digital public services in Europe.”

“Hatred, Fueled by Identity Politics, as a Unifying Force”Sydney Williams

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt’s rebellious daughter, is supposed to have quipped: “If you haven’t anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” Regardless of the quote’s validity, most of us were taught that “speech is silver, but silence is golden” and that “love conquers hate.” However, Vanessa Van Edwards, the behavioral scientist and author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, says her research suggests that Alice may have been on to something. People form stronger bonds when they talk about someone they hate rather than someone with whom they have positive feelings.

Hatred, often coupled with tribalism, has been prominent throughout history and has led to millions being killed. Hatred of Native Americans, as well as desire for more land, was a motivating factor in opening North America to European settlers. Hatred for blacks in southern U.S. states led to an estimated 4,400 of them being lynched between Reconstruction and World War II.

Why ‘The Right Not To Be Offended’ Is Offensive Andrew I. Fillat and Henry I. Miller

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/20/why-the-right-not-to-be-offended-is-offensive/

This is the last of our series about the worship of false idols and how these secular religions are eroding the fabric of our society. (The previous columns appeared  here, here, and here.) Climate obsession, the concept of ensuring equal outcomes as opposed to equal opportunity, and the unmooring of gender from biology have profound implications, but these generally do not have as pervasive effects as the imaginary “right not to be offended” and its progeny, self-censorship.

Claiming to be offended has become a weapon to exert control over others that is neither justified nor deserved. It is, itself, offensive, to say nothing of annoying.

For instance, a recent study conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found, among other perceptions of a stifling environment, that more than two-thirds of students feared for their future if they said the wrong thing. This is hardly an isolated example of fear about hurting somebody’s feelings. Looking back, many of us laughed at “participation trophies” in everything from athletic competitions to spelling bees, because they made a mockery of genuine achievement. The concept was rooted in the belief that those who did not possess exceptional skills should be sheltered from disappointment – despite the near certainty that they were well aware of their skill level and limitations.   

Will Biden’s Ukraine Trip Inspire Even More Of His Lies?

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/21/bidens-ukraine-trip-an-inspiration-for-more-of-his-lies/

President Joe Biden made a “surprise” visit to Ukraine Monday. It doesn’t take a cynic to wonder how many tales from the trip he’ll come up with to pad his already bursting catalog of self-aggrandizing lies, which the media has mostly ignored for decades.

We can imagine Biden in the coming months telling audiences that “we were shot down twice” as the Air Force Special Air Mission jet approached the Rzeszow airport in Poland near the Ukraine border, and then while visiting the front, the Ukrainian forces “let me shoot some of their artillery,” which was particularly rewarding because “I know I killed bunch of Russkies and took out Corn Pop, too.”

“It reminded me,” he’ll say, “of when I was storming the beach at Normandy in ’44.”

All too much? Not even Biden would go that far in concocting some outlandish fables to make himself look better than the dolt he is? Of course he would. That’s what he does. Remember when:

Biden lied about how “his plane was fired upon” while he was flying in the Balkans, and below “bombed-out homes with snipers inside could be seen”?
During a speech he told the audience he knew “where Al Qaida lives” because it was “the area where my helicopter was forced down with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains,” but failed to mention the flight had to land due to snow and there were no terrorists around?
He told mine workers that “I am a hard coal miner,” and another time said his ancestors were coal miners, when of course he wasn’t and they weren’t? 

The CDC’s Long-Covid Deception A recent study exaggerates the incidence of postviral symptoms among young adults and deflects attention from misconceived pandemic policies By Allysia Finley

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cdcs-long-covid-deception-depression-anxiety-vaccine-mandate-university-gwu-testing-mental-health-48bdd11b?mod=opinion_lead_pos7

Many liberals label themselves “pro-science” as if that’s a political position. Then again, so many putatively scientific studies seem intended to promote progressive policies rather than advance scientific knowledge. Such studies then get amplified by the media and self-appointed experts on social media.

Consider a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that claims to find that nearly 36% of Covid cases among students, faculty and staff at George Washington University resulted in “long Covid.” The study suggests that young, healthy people face a high risk of chronic debilitating symptoms after infection despite being at low risk of getting severely ill with the virus.

The study also finds that the unvaccinated were at more than twice as high a risk of developing long Covid as those fully vaccinated who had gotten boosters. This sounds plausible. But drill down, and it becomes clear that the evidence is too thin to draw any conclusions.

Like many colleges, George Washington University held classes online during the first year of the pandemic even as some students returned to campus. Those on campus were required to undergo weekly Covid testing. During the 2021-22 school year, classrooms reopened but students were required to be vaccinated and later boosted.

The college recorded 4,800 Covid cases between August 2020‒and February 2022. Those who tested positive were later asked to complete 15- to 20-minute surveys about their health and behavioral changes. Only one-third completed the surveys, and those who did might have been more likely to report lingering health problems—a phenomenon known as nonresponse bias.

The study suffers from two other major methodological problems. First, it doesn’t include a control group of students and faculty that weren’t infected. The finding that nearly 36% reported long Covid symptoms is meaningless without such a sample to determine how common such symptoms were among people who never had Covid.

Did Biden’s Trove Of Classified Docs Jeopardize U.S. National Security? I&I/TIPP Poll Terry Jones

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/20/did-bidens-trove-of-classified-docs-jeopardize-u-s-national-security-ii-tipp-poll/

Recent revelations that President Joe Biden kept classified government documents at his two namesake think tanks, his Delaware home and even his garage have largely been treated with a yawn by big media. But average Americans are paying attention and worry that Biden’s careless stewardship of classified documents endangers U.S. national security, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

In our national online I&I/TIPP Poll of 1,358 adults, taken from Feb. 1-3, we asked Americans two questions, the first being: “How closely are you following the story about classified documents from Joe Biden’s time as Vice President found at his former office and home?”

As it turns out, Americans are paying pretty close attention to the story. Among those responding to the I&I/TIPP Poll, which has a margin of error of +/-2.8 percentage points, 60% said they were “closely” following the developments.

Among those following closely, 26% said they were following “very closely,” versus 34% who said “somewhat closely.”

Meanwhile, just 36% of Americans said they were not following the news closely, with 22% saying they were following it “not very closely” and only 13% saying “not at all closely.”

So it’s definitely a topic in the public eye.

‘Only God Can Make a Tree’: Brooklyn’s Tribute to Joyce Kilmer by Lawrence Kadish

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19430/joyce-kilmer

Amidst the unrelenting stories of carnage, corruption and incompetence comes a reminder there is good news if you look long enough to find it.

And it should come as no surprise that this reminder comes from Brooklyn.

Generations ago, the New York City Department of Parks took a triangular piece of park property along Kings Highway in Midwood and renamed it “Sgt. Joyce Kilmer Square.” It lies along a historic Indian trail that became a major thoroughfare for European settlers traveling between rural communities called Flatbush, Gravesend, and New Utrecht.

In time, New York City would acquire the parcel as the arrival of the automobile required the realignment of many Brooklyn streets, resulting in this modest triangle. It was dedicated as parkland in 1934, and named “Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Square” in 1935.

Today it is lined with benches shaded by large oak trees, with a flagpole along East 12th Street. It is a respite for local neighbors seeking a moment’s relief from the challenges of the day.

It is a modest tribute to a giant of an American – and he likely would have had it no other way.

Kilmer was born in New Jersey before the start of the 20th Century and educated at Rutgers University and Columbia University, from where he earned his degree. Kilmer married and had four children. After teaching Latin for a year at Morristown High School in New Jersey, Kilmer began his career in 1909 as a dictionary editor with Funk & Wagnall’s Company. In 1912, he served as the Literary Editor of The Churchman, an Anglican newspaper, also contributing freelance articles and poems to several other publications. On the eve of World War I, he joined the staff of the New York Times and subsequently converted to Catholicism.

The Newswashing of ISIS Bride Shamima Begum by Uzay Bulut

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19428/shamima-begum

ISIS brides were complicit in ISIS’s genocide and crimes against humanity. Never mind that hostages were hung upside down and then burned alive, or locked in cages then lowered into water to drown, or crucified for hours “like Jesus;” or that children were crucified or sold as sex slaves; or that countless others were tortured, raped or lined up to have their throats slit.

The Free Yezidi Foundation recently wrote of ISIS and Begum: “Not only terror death cult, but mass-rape genocidal organization. The decision to join was hers. Her actions contributed to unspeakable acts of brutality, which she would have continued had ISIS, Daesh not been militarily defeated.”

“Ms. Begum, for example, claimed that she was only a housewife and did not participate in any heinous crimes or violation of human rights as an ISIS member. Some portrayed her as an innocent schoolgirl who was brainwashed, uninformed, and simply wanted to return home to Britain…. evidence now suggests that she was in fact a member of the ISIS ‘morality police, a group of ISIS women which was an integral part of ISIS’ terror and atrocity apparatus, and was armed with an automatic weapon on her patrols. The crimes allegedly committed by the morality police include major human rights offenses, including support to ISIS’ slave trade of Yezidis.” — Free Yezidi Foundation, September 19, 2019.

“‘Why are the BBC giving Shamima Begum more airtime?’: ‘Sickened’ viewers slam broadcaster for airing 90-minute documentary that ‘parades ISIS bride as a celebrity’ just weeks after it launched 10-part podcast ‘retracing her steps’. — The Daily Mail, February 18, 2023.

“What we Yazidis expect from the international community is support and solidarity, not digging into our wounds. ISIS criminals must face justice for what they have done and practiced. We expect the West to hold ISIS accountable in court rather than putting them on the cover of their magazine. Such stories are particularly difficult for us as Yazidis because these ISIS women tortured and abused Yazidi women while they were in ISIS’s captivity.” — Activist for Yazidi rights who lives in Iraq, to Gatestone, February 2023.

The question is: Why are some big Western media corporations obviously siding with a genocidal terror group and not with its innocent victims?

“I think this is a slap in the face of all those who suffered in the hands of terrorism, not just ISIS but other death cults such as Boko Haram. This is a spit in the face of all those whose loved ones were murdered, and I do not mean only Yazidis, Assyrians or Nigerians, but all the innocent Westerners who perished to Islamic terrorism such as in France, the UK, the US and elsewhere. Media has utterly lost its moral values.” — Juliana Taimoorazy, founding president, Iraqi Christian Relief Council, to Gatestone, February 2023.

While around 3,000 Yazidi children and women are still being held captive at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization, many in the Western media are portraying a former “ISIS bride” not only as a victim but as a celebrity.