Displaying posts published in

January 2016

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Gunman Kills Two at Tel Aviv Bar, Police Say Police search for gunman, say motive for attack wasn’t immediately clear

By on January 2nd, 2016

JERUSALEM—A gunman opened fire outside a popular bar in the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon, killing two people and wounding at least three others before he fled the scene, police said.

The motive for the shooting spree, which took place on a busy street, wasn’t immediately clear, police said. Media reported the assailant was a member of Israel’s Arab minority and called it a nationalistically motivated attack, but police refused to comment, saying the investigation was under way.

Israeli Channel 10 TV showed CCTV footage of the incident, obtained from a health-food shop next to the bar. The video showed a man with short hair, glasses and a black bag over his shoulder scooping up some nuts, putting them in a plastic bag, then emptying them back. The footage then showed the man walking toward the entrance of the store, placing his backpack on a shopping cart and taking a gun out of it. He then stepped outside and started shooting, after which he ran away.

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Islamic State’s Deep, Poisonous Roots The group’s forerunner was Tawhid Wal Jihad, founded in 1999 by Abu Musab al Zarqawi.By Andrew Hosken

By on January 2nd, 2016

The final planning for the terrorist attack in Paris last month might have taken place in the Molenbeek district of Brussels—but, like the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., weeks later, the inspiration came from a continent away, in the self-proclaimed caliphate of Islamic State, or ISIS. The difference: ISIS directly engineered the Paris slaughter, while the San Bernardino killers appear to have simply taken cues from the terror group.

Even so, ISIS propagandists have been promising for months to bring the full panoply of their horror to Europe and the U.S. They began the Twitter hashtag #WeWillBurnAmerica. An article this spring in the official ISIS magazine, Dabiq, promised an attack that would make “any past operation,” including 9/11, look like a mere “squirrel shoot.”

Many in the West view Islamic State’s barbaric crimes—its genocidal campaign against the region’s Christians and Yazidis; its lovingly choreographed beheadings of innocent journalists and aid workers—with horrified bafflement. They see ISIS as an aberration that appeared last year as if out of nowhere. They have a vague idea that it is related to, or grew out of, al Qaeda.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

William Baldwin :Which Are Death Spiral States?Does your state have more takers than makers? Check it out.

By on January 2nd, 2016

California has a powerful economy, with 14 million private-sector jobs. It also has burdens: welfare recipients (12.6 million), generously paid government employees (2.1 million) and people collecting government pensions (1.3 million).

Add up the numbers. There are 114 clients drawing from the government for every 100 people chipping in by working outside the government and paying taxes. We’re calling this the Feedme Ratio. Six states have a number over 100.

These states are at risk of going into a downward spiral in the next recession. The burdens will remain but too many of the providers—employers in the private sector—might shrink or decamp. Why add jobs in a state that asks each productive worker to carry not just his or her own weight but also the weight of one other person?

New York is on the list of at-risk states, with a Feedme Ratio of 108. New Mexico is in the worst shape, with 143 government clients for every 100 private-sector workers.

The three other states with Feedme Ratios over 100: West Virginia at 116, Mississippi at 111 and Arkansas at 103. You can check your state on this map.

Continue reading →
BOOKS Comments turned off

Defending Israel to Diaspora Jews :Ruthie Blum

By on January 2nd, 2016

I spent the last days of 2015 meeting with British Jews in Birmingham. Along with many presenters from different countries and professional fields, I had been invited to participate in a Limmud conference, a multi-annual — and by now multi-continental — Jewish happening.

The topics on my agenda were ostensibly varied: the viability of a two-state solution; flaws in the Israeli political system; Israel-U.S. relations in the wake of the Iran deal; the cause and effect of the knife intifada; and whether anti-Semitism is sufficient impetus for immigration to Israel. Still, they all came down to basically the same debate — the extent of Israeli culpability in local and global affairs.

The Paris attacks were still fresh in everyone’s mind, and the heightened security in other European capitals was so palpable that it made Israel’s pale in comparison — as reports on the cancelation of public New Year’s Eve celebrations indicated. Nevertheless, the atmosphere at Limmud was upbeat. Attendees spent good money to live in not-so-luxurious conditions at a hotel repurposed to house the dozens of simultaneous lectures, classes, singles’ events and entertainment for both adults and children. This was a crowd of some 2,500 Jews who could have spent the week after Christmas doing anything they chose. And they opted to spend it reinforcing their sense of community and dedication. Impressive doesn’t begin to describe it.

Continue reading →
BOOKS Comments turned off

Overseas investors attracted to Israel Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

By on January 2nd, 2016

1. PricewaterhouseCoopers: Israeli mergers and acquisitions (M&A) totaled $12.6bn in 2015, a 73.3% increase over 2014 ($7.25bn). Moreover, 62 Israeli companies were acquired for $7.2bn, compared to 52 companies and $5bn in 2014, a fifth year in a row with over $5bn. Overseas investment in Israeli companies reached $6.5bn, compared to $3.8bn in 2014, a 71% increase. 2015 experienced a rise in the number of investors from the US, China, Hong Kong and Canada. Israeli entrepreneurs and developers are less inclined to sell early-stage startups, investing more resources to reach mature stage, hence the higher price per transaction/investment (Globes business daily, December 28, 2015).

2. Bloomberg (Dec. 18): “”Israel’s economic activity continues to grow, following a year with slightly weaker performance. Israel’s economy is expected to be one of the fastest growing among developed countries….The appreciation of the Israeli Shekel against the Euro and the dollar in 2015, despite the rise in US interest rates, is due to improving Israeli fiscal balances, optimism in the development of Israel’s large offshore natural gas fields, and a sustained strong economy…. Israel’s technology sector is a world-leader in a range of established and disruptive new tech areas…. Israel is home to scores of innovative companies bringing cutting-edge technologies to the global marketplace, [such as] advanced cybersecurity, medical technology, info tech and defense technology that protect airliners from terrorist missiles….”

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Liberal Nihilism in a Nutshell By Victor Davis Hanson

By on January 2nd, 2016

Barack Obama entered office in 2009 with overwhelming popular goodwill and solid majorities in both houses of Congress. He chose not to translate that political heft into passing “comprehensive immigration reform” (i.e., open borders and amnesties) or more gun control.

He opposed gay marriage. He warned that he could not use presidential fiats to grant amnesty, close down Guantanamo, or remake the EPA in his own image. He borrowed as never before, in vain hopes of kick-starting a natural recovery that he would soon abort through his own anti-business jawboning, more regulations, growth in government, and tax increases.

So far Obama’s legacy is a sudden crash in energy prices and an unforeseen huge expansion in U.S. oil and gas production that came despite — not because of — his efforts.

Indeed, Obama scarcely succeeded in ramming through Obamacare — and only through untruths that it would lower costs and premiums, expand coverage, and ensure continuance of existing plans and patient doctors — and then wisely quit trying to strong-arm other legislation that could have cost him the 2012 election.

Continue reading →