Israeli ‘liberals’ aren’t doing the LGBTQ flag—or democracy—proud By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/israeli-liberals-arent-doing-the-lgbtq-flag-or-democracy-proud/

In a Army Radio interview on Monday, MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu—an openly gay member of outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party—warned that the coalition deals currently being finalized could be deadly for the LGBTQ community. He was referring, in particular, to a Religious Zionist Party (RZP)-proposed amendment to existing anti-discrimination laws. The updated version would enable private businesses not to provide services that contradict their faith.

“I really think it will end in murder,” he said, dubbing the issue in question “incitement” by “irresponsible elected officials … Words will not be the end of it; words have power.”
Funny he should have mentioned that, given the incessant, ugly, anti-Orthodox vitriol his camp has been spewing, not to mention calls for civil insurrection against the not-yet-instated government. But then, Lahav Hertzanu is among the many disgruntled losers of the Nov. 1 Knesset election who distort the language of their nemeses, while displaying bald-faced hypocrisy in the process.

Let’s start with the first half of the double whammy. The latest brouhaha erupted when RZP MKs Orit Strock and Simcha Rothman defended the need to legislate the right of establishments to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs. Strock said that this should apply to doctors, if and when alternative physicians are available to take their place. Rothman gave hotels as an example.

Predictably, the response from the soon-to-be opposition has been to accuse Prime Minister-designate Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu of caving to his “homophobic” and “racist” partners. Petitions and letters rejecting the move, assumed by detractors to be targeting LGTBs—have popped up all over, from the ivory towers of academia and high-tech to the halls of hospitals.

The outrage, like that expressed by the “anybody but Bibi” crowd over the haredi parties’ demand for the right to hold gender-segregated events, wasn’t spontaneous, however. On the contrary, it’s been cultivated and nurtured over time to combust on command.

Israel’s New Government Isn’t What You’ve Heard Contrary to U.S. media reports, we seek to bring the Jewish state closer to the American model. By Bezalel Smotrich

https://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-new-government-isnt-what-youve-heard-free-market-religious-exercise-democracy-judicial-reform-eu-11672172820?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

The U.S. media has vilified me and the traditionalist bloc to which I belong since our success in Israel’s November elections. They say I am a right-wing extremist and that our bloc will usher in a “halachic state” in which Jewish law governs. In reality, we seek to strengthen every citizen’s freedoms and the country’s democratic institutions, bringing Israel more closely in line with the liberal American model.

Israel is a Jewish and democratic state and will remain so. After five elections in less than five years and suffering the rule of a weak and fractious coalition dependent on a radical Islamist party’s backing for a year and a half, the country has finally formed a popular and stable government. Our bloc will strengthen Israel in the face of radical Islam and its terror proxies, open the country up economically, and usher in growth and prosperity for the benefit of all citizens.

As finance minister, I will pursue a broad free-market policy. This includes removing the government price controls and import restrictions that have limited competition and kept consumer prices high, as well as regulatory reforms and a loosening of bureaucratic control over small businesses. Inspired by U.S. right-to-work laws, we will pursue similar measures to reduce union control in Israel’s labor force.

On matters of religion and state, the new government will never seek to impose anything on a citizen that goes against his or her beliefs. We wish only to increase the freedom of religious people to participate in the public sphere in accordance with their faith, without coercion on secular people. For example, arranging for a minuscule number of sex-separated beaches, as we propose, scarcely limits the choices of the majority of Israelis who prefer mixed beaches. It simply offers an option to others. We also will work to guarantee that religious believers aren’t punished by the government for standing by their beliefs. This is no different from the rights the U.S. Supreme Court recently affirmed in its Masterpiece Cakeshop decision. Contrary to some American reporting, we seek to protect all citizens from coercion that would violate their conscience—nothing more.

The Blue State Exodus Continues The latest Census data show California losing, and Florida gaining, from U.S. domestic migration.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-blue-state-exodus-census-data-red-blue-lockdowns-pandemic-florida-california-economy-progressive-11671993469?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Texas and Florida make up about 15% of the U.S. population but accounted for 70% of its population growth this past year. That’s one of the revealing facts in the Census Bureau’s annual assessment of U.S. migration released last week. The biggest news is that the exodus from progressive-led states hasn’t slowed even as Covid lockdowns eased.

The U.S. population grew by about 1.2 million between July 2021 and July 2022, with foreign immigration accounting for a million of the total. Yet the Census Bureau found that some states still lost population because migration to other states exceeded foreign immigration.

California (343,230), New York (299,557) and Illinois (141,656) lost the most residents to other states, but New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Louisiana were also big losers. Where are all these folks moving?

Mostly to states with lower taxes, more affordable housing and a higher standard of living. Florida drew the most newcomers (318,855), followed by Texas (230,961), North Carolina (99,796), South Carolina (84,030), Tennessee (81,646), Georgia (81,406) and Arizona (70,984). More people moved to West Virginia than left for the first time in a decade.

Texas ranked first in overall population growth (470,708), followed by Florida (416,754), North Carolina (133,088), Georgia (124,847), Arizona (94,320), South Carolina (89,368), Tennessee (82,988), Washington (45,041), Utah (41,687) and Idaho (34,719).

One new trend is the migration from the Pacific Northwest. Between 2010 and 2020, Washington drew 371,258 newcomers from other states.

Erdogan’s Syrian Gambit by Burak Bekdil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19265/erdogan-turkey-syria-gambit

Since the violence resumed, Erdogan has threatened to launch a full-scale military incursion into Syria’s Kurdish areas — which would be the fourth such major Turkish incursion since 2016.

Erdogan most likely calculates that fresh epic tales of military heroism would further consolidate his nationalistic voting base [before June 2023 presidential elections], especially at a time when most Turks are struggling to survive after their incomes have severely eroded under a year-on-year inflation rate of 84%.

A Turkish military incursion would be a fight in a land that already looks like hell.

An estimated 15.3 million Syrians (out of a population of 22.1 million) will require humanitarian assistance in 2023, compared to 14.6 million people in 2022, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. — Washington Post, December 12, 2022.

The report also cited… [that] at least 25% of children under the age of five in some [Syrian] districts are stunted and at risk of irreversible damage to their physical and cognitive development as well as “repeated infection, developmental delay, disabilities and death.” — Washington Post, December 12, 2022.

In the predominantly Kurdish northeast Syria, the number of malnourished children has surged by over 150% just in the past six months. — UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, November 8, 2022.

“Washington… is urging Turkey in ever stronger terms not to launch an operation. The Turks do not appear to be heeding Washington’s call, in part because they heard the same tune before their 2018 incursion against the SDF in Afrin, Syria, and didn’t suffer any long-term consequences for ignoring it that time.” — James Jeffrey, Chair of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center and former U.S. ambassador to Ankara, Foreign Policy, December 9, 2022.

The only advantage of a Turkish military incursion might be for Erdogan, who may well be using a war in Syria to distract potential voters from the wretched economy he gave them.

The northernmost region of Syria, which has a 910-kilometer border with Turkey, offers one of the world’s most complex war theaters. That is so not only because of the countless number of state and non-state actors operating in this third-world land with limited hydrocarbons, but also because of shifting alliances, conflicts with conventional and asymmetrical warfare tactics, and the surreal bedfellows that these factors often create.

Biden Opens Door to China Sabotage in North Dakota by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19260/china-sabotage-north-dakota

The Biden administration just cleared a Chinese company to own 370 acres of land within 12 miles of Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

As a result, China will be able to use a proposed $700 million corn milling plant on the site to spy on military communications and even disrupt them. In Beijing, they must be shaking their heads in disbelief….

[T]he failure to include all military installations in the implementing regulations was a clear case of regulatory malpractice.

As a result of these enormous mistakes, Fufeng USA, a subsidiary of a Shandong province-based agribusiness giant, is, at least for the moment, free to build its wet corn milling and biofermentation plant in Grand Forks.

“The worst-case scenario involves active sabotage of operations at the Grand Forks facility. Should the U.S. and China end up in a shooting war over, say, Taiwan, Fufeng’s property near the Air Force base could be used to send malicious signals to jam passing satellites or disrupt the operation of drones. We have made ourselves vulnerable on our own territory.” — Brandon Weichert, author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, to Gatestone; December 2022.

President Joe Biden can use his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to block the sale of the Grand Forks land and the building of the milling facility.

“[T]he most serious problem: The [CIFIUS] Committee is chaired by Treasury, which never saw a foreign investment it did not approve. “This means, as a practical matter, that an agency that basically doesn’t give a damn about national security is entrusted with running a process that supposedly evaluates and protects national security.” — Frank Gaffney, Vice Chair of the Committee on the Present Danger; to Gatestone, December 2022,

The CFIUS mandate must be broadened “to include any foreign investment that threatens our national security interests or, for that matter, other vital interests, in the face of unrestricted and especially economic warfare.” — Frank Gaffney to Gatestone; December 2022

China’s regime, which has declared a “people’s war” on the U.S., uses investments to undermine America. In wartime — the Communist Party believes it is currently in such a struggle with America — Washington needs to prohibit all investments from China, especially ones near critical Air Force installations in North Dakota.

The Biden administration just cleared a Chinese company to own 370 acres of land within 12 miles of Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

What Did Nancy Pelosi Know and When Did She Know It? The January 6 select committee never intended to act as a truth-seeking mission but rather perform a cover-up for what actually happened. By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/26/what-did-nancy-pelosi-know-and-when-did-she-know-it/

The January 6 select committee finally released its long-delayed report late on December 23 after most Americans had happily turned away from politics to enjoy the Christmas weekend with family and friends. The Friday night news dump, a common tactic when government officials want to bury something controversial, was not exactly a vote of confidence in the panel’s ultimate work product.

As expected, the bulk of the 845-page document spun a well-worn tale that portrayed Donald Trump as the sole villain in a so-called “insurrection” the committee wants us to believe was engineered to keep him in the White House. Page after page included dramatic interpretations of snippets from witness testimony intended to bolster the committee’s preconceived conclusions.

Analysis of how law enforcement and intelligence services failed to prepare for the “attack,” a promise made by the committee in its original sell job to the public, is buried in a relatively brief appendix at the end. And despite confirmation the government was aware violence might occur—the FBI used a threat tag, “CERTUNREST2021,” purportedly to categorize in advance information related to January 6—federal and local agencies did not prevent what the Biden regime branded a terror attack comparable to 9/11. (FBI Director Christopher Wray’s name is not mentioned once in the report and it appears unlikely he sat for a transcribed interview.)

Even so, in the face of extensive evidence that those agencies were on high alert, committee members still faulted Trump: “Few in law enforcement predicted that the President of the United States would incite a mob attack on the Capitol, that he would send them to stop the joint session knowing they were armed and dangerous, that he would further incite them against his own vice President while the attack was underway, or that he would do nothing to stop the assault for hours,” the report dishonestly stated.

Another official who escaped accountability in the report is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the lawmaker mainly responsible for protecting Capitol grounds. Committee members avoided any criticism of Pelosi, instead allowing her to write the foreword. (It’s also unclear whether committee investigators interviewed the speaker.)

Left-Wing Academics Seek to Revoke Honorary Degrees for Conservatives By Eric Lendrum

https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/26/left-wing-academics-seek-to-revoke-honorary-degrees-for-conservatives/

Multiple far-left activists at various universities and colleges are demanding that schools rescind any and all “honorary degrees” that have been bestowed upon prominent conservative figures.

The Daily Caller reports that the latest example comes from Syracuse University, which has begun taking steps to revoke an honorary degree given to Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City and later attorney for President Donald Trump. In April, the University Senate passed a resolution demanding that the Board of Trustees take action to rescind Giuliani’s degree. Giuliani, who was hailed as a national hero for his leadership after the September 11th attacks, led the legal team that attempted to fight back against voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Since the 152-year-old university has never done so before, the school does not even have a formal process in place for revoking anyone’s degree. Yet due to pressure from the far-left, a spokeswoman for the school confirmed that the school has officially adopted a new process for doing so, solely for the purpose of hurting Giuliani. The Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees will now make the final decision, and could make its choice as soon as spring.

In addition to Syracuse, three other universities have already revoked honorary degrees for Giuliani: Drexel University, Middlebury College, and the University of Rhode Island.

The effort to revoke honorary degrees has targeted multiple officials from the Trump Administration, including the President himself. Lehigh University and Wagner University rescinded President Trump’s honorary degrees following the peaceful protest at the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021. He also lost an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University simply for running for president in 2015.

The University of Rhode Island, in addition to Giuliani, also revoked a degree for Lieutenant General and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was falsely accused of coordinating with the Russian government and was later exonerated.

DIE on the Road to Global Tyranny By Harry G. Hutchison

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/12/die_on_the_road_to_global_tyranny.html

Francis Fukuyama claimed, dubiously, that we are witnessing the end of history, with the universalization of liberal democracy as the final form of human government.  Yet we live in a world of worrisome pendulum shifts.  Republican congressional leaders disprove Fukuyama’s claim as they celebrate their stunning betrayal of the American people by supporting the passage of the $1.7-trillion McConnell-Schumer omnibus bill.  Rather than protect America’s southern border and comply with Congress’s constitutional duty, this bill moves the country farther to the left by explicitly funding a “woke” identity group supporting LGBT indoctrination in elementary schools, abolishing ICE, and defunding the police.  At the same time, this bill hands more power to a federal government dedicated to the preposterous claim that America is systemically racist.

This explosive proposition is aided and abetted by several additional contentions.  Dangerous contentions include claims that enforcing the United States Constitution fairly and equally, administering laws without focusing on visual identity, and advancing merit rather than identity-based preferences are forms of unconscious racism.  Such claims flourish because our overlords ignore the observation that truth is no defense against fools determined to believe lies.

Elites’ hysterical claims verify René Girard’s observation that concern for victims overwhelms modern culture and signals a genuine exhaustion of all other sources of authority.  Elites’ vulgar claims regarding race also ignore evidence showing that Asian-American women surpass white men in weekly earnings, as well as data showing that Syrian-Americans, Korean-Americans, and Filipino-Americans had significantly higher median household incomes than whites.  They also have higher test scores, lower incarceration rates, and longer life expectancies.  Indeed, African-born black women had higher earnings than U.S.-born white women.

A leaked document shows the EU seeking to clear Jews from Judea and Samaria By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/12/a_leaked_document_shows_the_eu_seeking_to_clear_jews_from_judea_and_samaria.html

Europe has always dreamed of being Judenrein (Jew-free). Even as countries that the Nazis occupied bemoaned their fate, most cooperated with the mandate to turn over their Jews, some more enthusiastically than others (Ukraine, I’m looking at you). The impulse lives on, whether it’s the way in which Europe has spent decades inviting in Arabs who hate the Jews every bit as much as the Nazis did or the way it has undermined Israel at every turn. Regarding the latter effort, a leaked EU document shows that the EU has a secret plan to turn the Jewish sections of Judea and Samaria over to the “Palestinians.”

I should explain why I put the word “Palestinians” in quotation marks. It’s because they are an invented people, a product of Yassir Arafat’s manufactured history for the region. The scant number of Arabs who populated the swampy, fever-ridden land that marked the Biblical nations of Israel and Judah–land that had been a continuous home to the Jews for almost 4,000 years–was a mix of Tunisians, Algerians, and random Arabs who drifted there beginning in the early 1800s when the land was a colony of the Ottoman Empire.

It was the Romans who imposed the name “Palestine” on the Jewish land they controlled as a colony. They did so as an insult, to remind the Jews under their rule of the hated Philistines. There has never been a Palestinian nation. It is a name that reflects only colonial rule, whether Roman, Ottoman, or British.

San Francisco Dying A city in a death spiral.Michael Letts

https://www.frontpagemag.com/san-francisco-dying/

You may have heard the phrase, “Get woke, go broke.” It has become a common phrase in the past few years, mainly because it keeps proving itself true.

San Francisco is a prime example of the death spiral going broke puts cities, businesses, and people into.

The city has long been a bastion of liberalism. When it became fashionable after the death of George Floyd to defund the police, the city jumped at the chance. The people elected a prosecutor who was willing to allow criminals to go free.

This led to police resigning and crime in the city skyrocketing. Not only did violent crime rise, so did public drug use and homeless encampments because no one would enforce those laws.

The citizens and some government officials suddenly realized that police were needed. Politicians tried to refund the department as citizens called for police to enforce the laws.

The problem was the city has slipped into the death spiral. Even as politicians tried to pull it back, the crime problem led to citizens and companies leaving the cities in droves. San Francisco now has some of the lowest office occupancy rates in the country, “thanks to the tech companies that make the city’s lifeblood retreating to remote work, San Francisco has seen residents move to the suburbs – pushed also by rising crime,” the Daily Mail reported.

This has reduced the tax base, which means there is less money available to fund cities programs and services.

To compensate, programs and services will need to be cut or taxes raised. Both of which will drive more people from the city, leaving behind those most in needs of programs and less likely to be contributing much to the city’s coffers through taxes.