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September 2019

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Yale Alumni Stage an Intervention By Nathan Harden

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2019/09/27/yale_alumni_stage_intervention_110360.html

When a somber-looking group of family and friends tell you to sit down because it’s time for a serious heart-to-heart conversation about your drug addiction or some other destructive behavior, we call it an intervention. Imagine you are Yale University, and the man telling you to sit down is Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz. Behind him are a host of other concerned alumni, each wearing the look of tough love. 

Rosenkranz is currently campaigning for a seat on the Yale Corporation, the university’s governing body. Backed by a grassroots effort of alumni, his campaign comes in the wake of several high-profile controversies at Yale in the areas of racial politics, free speech, and academic freedom. Perhaps the best known of these controversies resulted in Nicholas Christakis, a prominent member of the Yale faculty, resigning his position as a college master after becoming the target of an angry student protest over views he and his wife expressed on the censorship of Halloween costumes. Mr. Rosenkranz agreed to a brief email interview with RealClearEducation to discuss his bid to become a Yale trustee, his ideas for reform at Yale, and his vision for higher education more broadly. 

Can you tell readers a little about yourself, your career, and your interest in higher education? 

I teach constitutional law at Georgetown. For many years, my primary extracurricular activity has been my work to support free speech and intellectual diversity at American universities. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is the preeminent defender of free speech on campus, and on the Board of Directors of the Federalist Society, which is the leading proponent of intellectual diversity and debate in legal education. In 2015, Jonathan Haidt and I co-founded Heterodox Academy, which promotes intellectual diversity of university faculty and unfettered debate on university campuses.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Wake Up, Grow Up and Shut Up Until You Are Sure of the Facts Before Protesting……Unattributed but apposite

By on September 27th, 2019

This from a Sky News Australia reporter who go it from an unknown source on Facebook!

To all the school kids going on “strike” for Climate Change.
You are the first generation who have required air-conditioning in every classroom.
You want TV in every room and your classes are all computerised.
You spend all day and night on electronic devices.
More than ever, you don’t walk or ride bikes to school but arrive in caravans of private cars that choke suburban roads and worsen rush hour traffic.
You are the biggest consumers of manufactured goods ever and update perfectly good expensive luxury items to stay trendy.
Your entertainment comes from electric devices.
Furthermore, the people driving your protests are the same people who insist on artificially inflating the population growth through immigration, which increases the need for energy, manufacturing and transport.
The more people we have, the more forest and bush land we clear and more of the environment is destroyed.
How about this…
Tell your teachers to switch off the air-con.
Walk or ride to school.
Switch off your devices and read a book.
Make a sandwich instead of buying manufactured fast food.
No, none of this will happen because you are selfish, badly educated, virtue signalling little turds, inspired by the adults around you who crave a feeling of having a “noble cause” while they indulge themselves in Western luxury and unprecedented quality of life.”
Wake up, grow up and shut up until you are sure of the facts before protesting.

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CHARLOTTE’S NEWS WEB

By on September 27th, 2019

www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/09/adam_schiff_artist_of_evil.html 

Adam Schiff, ‘artist of EVIL.’

Patricia McCarthy, AmericanThinker.com/blog

After watching Adam Schiff’s reprehensible performance in his committee hearing Thursday morning, it is clear we are benighted by yet another sinister, scheming member of the House who, like Shakespeare’s Iago[i], is adept at (and enjoys) ruining lives. 

Climate Worship Is Nothing More Than Rebranded Paganism

We’re seeing sexualized dances, hallucinogens, worshiping nature, confessing sins in pagan animism, worshiping purified teen saints, all to promote a supposedly greater cause.

Sumantra Maitra – https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/26/climate-worship-is-nothing-more-than-rebranded-paganism/

Lynn Townsend White Jr., an American historian from Princeton, wrote an influential essay in 1967, at the height of the cultural revolution in Western campuses, arguing that Christianity and Judeo-Christian values are responsible for ecological disaster and climate change. The essay, naturally, was adapted by generations after, ironically almost like a document of faith.

September 26, 2019 by Seth Connell

https://nypost.com/2019/09/26/former-cia-official-on-whistleblower-how-could-this-be-an-intelligence-matter/

The whistleblower was C.I.A. – and had a LOT of help.

The “whistleblower” who revealed that Donald Trump had a private phone call with the president of Ukraine about the possible illegal activities involving Joe Biden was NOT a loner.  In fact, a former CIA analyst named Fred Flietz – who edited transcripts of presidential phone calls with foreign leaders – has just posted a series of tweets explaining why the “whistleblower” had friends in high places:

“The way this complaint was written suggested the author had a lot of help. I know from my work on the House Intel Commitee staff that many whistleblowers go directly to the intel oversight committees. Did this whistleblower first meet with House Intel committee members?”

It’s very possible that the House was involved. If so, this could prove to be very damaging for Democrats. It would completely prove that the whistleblower was NOT following the rules which specify not speaking to the press or congressional Democrats.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Presidential Abuse of Power or Partisan Swamp Gas? Charles Lipson

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/09/27/presidential_abuse_of_power_or

The impeachment furor is a purely political fight, not a legal one. The essential question, which the Democrats have raised continuously since Donald Trump was elected, is whether he is fit for office. Trump’s response has essentially been: “I was duly elected. I’ve done nothing wrong. You are using congressional committees, deep-state bureaucrats, a partisan special prosecutor, Democratic state attorneys general, nationwide injunctions from left-wing judges, and friendly media to prevent me from governing.”

Trump and his allies see the same basic strategy in play over the Ukrainian phone call. Where the Democrats see presidential abuse of power for personal and political gain, Trump and his supporters see zealots overreaching, trying to nullify a popular election.

This political fight boils down to four issues.

No. 1: Did President Trump abuse the U.S. Constitution so badly that he should be thrown out of office for asking “a favor” from his Ukrainian counterpart?

Career officials at the Department of Justice scrutinized the phone call transcript and determined that Trump violated no laws. Did he seek “something of value” from a foreign source, in violation of campaign laws? That is the “quid pro quo” issue, and 
DoJ rejected it.

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MEDIA Comments turned off

No Amount Of Journalistic Malpractice Embarrasses The New York Times

By on September 27th, 2019

https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=a9fdc67db9&u=9d011a88d8fe324cae8c084c5&id=20d41ff719

In your case, you probably long since gave up on reading the New York Times. In my case I still look at it, but that has nothing to do with finding out what’s happening in the world. Rather, I’m only performing a service to my readers by trying to get a handle on the latest fantasies of the crazy left in their efforts to oust what they see as the illegitimate occupants of the White House and the Supreme Court. Any relationship between what is found in Pravda and actual fact could only be some kind of pure coincidence.

For two plus years in the Times, it was the Russia Collusion hoax. Every day a new front page headline, trying to keep the story alive until finally the Mueller Report would vindicate it all. Then the Mueller Report came out, and the whole thing was fundamentally wrong from the get-go. Was there ever a correction, a retraction, an apology of any sort? I’m still looking for it. Instead, the Times’s Executive Editor Dean Baquet got up in front of the staff back in August and offered nothing but praise for the catastrophe:

Did Donald Trump have untoward relationships with the Russians, and was there obstruction of justice? That was a really hard story, by the way, let’s not forget that. We set ourselves up to cover that story. I’m going to say it. We won two Pulitzer Prizes covering that story. And I think we covered that story better than anybody else.

In recent weeks new initiatives have been coming faster and faster; but instead of taking two years to blow up, the cycle from new “bombshell” disclosure to complete discrediting now only lasts a few days.

On September 14, it was the op-ed by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, promoting their new book “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh.” In their op-ed, Pogrebin and Kelly dropped an apparent big scoop from their book of what they claimed was a “previously unreported story” of Mr. Kavanaugh “with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party,” abusing yet another woman. But within one short day, the Times had been forced to append this correction to the op-ed:

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Muslim Brotherhood Must Be Confronted by Tawfik Hamid

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14895/confront-muslim-brotherhood

The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) states: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our constitution. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” If “jihad is our way” and “the Quran is our constitution,” it would irrational not to postulate that the MB and its related groups in the U.S. endorse violence to change the U.S. constitution and replace it with the Quran.

We cannot say at this stage that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been brought fully into modernity. We can say, however, that we have two leaders who want to — or are actually are — taking their Muslim majority countries onto this path. This is a nightmare for the MB, whose goal is to return the Muslim world to the time of Islamic Caliphate. Designating the MB as a terrorist group can impede their ability to resist the noble attempts of these leaders.

“The importance of identifying the Muslim brotherhood as a terrorist organization could not be more clear to our national security and counterterrorism strategy…. Designate the Muslim Brotherhood (MP) a foreign terrorist organization beginning in Egypt and then on a country by country basis. Libya, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen branches of the MB are the most obvious follow-ons…. Stop engaging Muslim Brotherhood legacy groups in government and media and NGO’s and recognize their Islamist terror sympathies, misogyny, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and anti-American ideological underpinnings. We must recognize that they are not the only voice for American Muslims or any community of Muslims.” — Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, July 11, 2018.

The White House has, since April, been considering officially designating the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). This designation would follow in the footsteps of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, which have first-hand experience and understanding of the serious threat the MB represents.

The MB’s modus operandi typically works through four stages: Preaching, sharing, use of violence, full control. It would therefore be wise to confront them sooner rather than later, before they manifest their full power.

Some of the organization’s sympathizers and apologists seem sincerely to believe that the MB is a “moderate” group. Sadly, the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Let us consider some examples.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

As attack drones multiply, Israeli firms develop defenses A host of Israeli companies have developed defense systems they say can detect or destroy incoming drones. But obstacles remain, particularly when operating in crowded urban airspaces.

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/09/26/as-attack-drones-multiply-israeli-firms-develop-defenses/

Israel, one of the pioneers of drone warfare, is now on the front lines of an arms race to protect against attacks by the unmanned aircraft.

A host of Israeli companies have developed defense systems they say can detect or destroy incoming drones. But obstacles remain, particularly when operating in crowded urban airspaces.

“Fighting these systems is really hard … not just because you need to detect them, but you also need to detect them everywhere and all the time,” said Ulrike Franke, a policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations.

Drones present unique challenges that set them apart from traditional airborne threats, such as missiles or warplanes.

They can fly below standard military radar systems and use GPS technology to execute pinpoint attacks on sensitive targets for a fraction of the price of a fighter jet. They can also be deployed in “swarms,” which can trick or elude conventional defense systems. Even small off-the-shelf drones can be turned into weapons by rigging them with explosives or simply crashing them in crowded areas.

A series of drone strikes across the Middle East, including an attack on a Saudi oil field and processing plant that jolted international markets earlier this month, have underscored the devastating effectiveness of small unmanned attack aircraft.

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Israeli birth rate reaches all-time high as population tops 9 million by Zeev Klein

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/09/27/israeli-birth-rate-reaches-all-time-high-as-population-tops-9-million/
Jewish population in Israel hits 6.74 million, or 74.2% of the country’s population. 43% of the population describes itself as secular, 10% as haredi, and the rest fall somewhere in between. Shanah tovah!

As the Jewish world prepares to usher in the year 5780, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics published its annual population data for the country, which show that this past year, the population reached 9.092 million people and is expected to increase to 10 million by 2024.

According to demographic projections, when Israel celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2048, it will have a population of 15 million.

According to the CBS data, 43.2% of the population is secular, with 12.8% defined as “traditional,” 11.3% “religious,” and 10.1% ultra-Orthodox. Another 22.1% define themselves as “traditional but not very religious.”

Heading into the new year, Israel’s Jewish population numbers 6.74 million, or 74.2% of the total population. The Arab population numbers 1.91 million, or 21% of the population. Another 4.8%, or just over 440,000 Israelis, made aliyah under the Law of Return but are not listed as Jewish by the Interior Ministry’s Population Administration.

Since Rosh Hashanah 2018, Israel’s population grew by 184,000 (2.1%), a growth rate that has remained fairly stable in recent years. This past year also saw an all-time high birth rate for Israel, with 196,000 babies born. The average Israeli woman gives birth to 3.09 children.

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MEDIA Comments turned off

Quid Pro Crap Are all NeverTrumpers too far gone? George S. Bardmesser

By on September 27th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/09/26/quid-pro-crap/

The dust is still swirling around the Trump-Zelensky phone call and the released transcript, but I would like to direct my exasperation at the one NeverTrumper who should know better than to fall for it. The one NeverTrumper for whom I still had a few shreds of respect, and whom I would on occasion read and actually enjoy his writing. Perhaps the only such NeverTrumper out there. Yes, that’s right—I am talking about David French. The last of the Mohicans.

Most NeverTrumpers are pitiful. Max Boot long ago became a complete non-entity—and a reasonable case can be made that he never was an entity in the first place. Jennifer Rubin was more or less readable at one time, but became a miserable whiny hag after Trump’s election—I gave up on her in 2016, and haven’t read a thing she’s written in three years. Bill Kristol is a sad, pathetic wreck of an ex-conservative, eking out a living off the crumbs from a lefty billionaire’s table and peddling Democratic Party talking points on a website no one ever reads. George Will ceased to exist for me after he opined in 2018 that electing rabid socialists took priority over electing Republicans (such as they are, sadly).

But David French? I admit, occasionally he says some things worth saying. Occasionally. Sometimes they are even interesting.

So why is it so hard for him to look in the mirror in the morning, take a deep breath, and say to the reflection: “Dave, you handsome devil, you! I know you’ve been confused these last few years. I know that cheesy trick Kristol pulled four years ago, trying to get you to run for president, really messed with your head. Dave, since you’re me, I know how hard it can be to let go. But while Trump is no God’s gift to the planet, and while Trump might not always be right or politic or temperate, he has done more for conservative causes than all the Republican politicians put together in the last 30 years.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Trump Urging Ukrainian Probe of Biden Breaks No Laws A Clinton-era U.S.-Ukraine treaty requires the two countries to provide mutual legal assistance. Matthew Vadum

By on September 27th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/09/trump-urging-ukrainian-probe-biden-breaks-no-laws-matthew-vadum/

A treaty from 2000 between the Ukraine and the United States requires the two countries to cooperate on law enforcement matters, a factor that may help to explain why President Donald Trump felt comfortable questioning the involvement of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in Ukrainian affairs, during a telephone conversation two months ago with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The American and Ukrainian governments, it turns out, are legally required by treaty to render mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

The treaty, signed at Kiev on July 22, 1998, provides in Article 1 that “[t]he Contracting States shall provide mutual assistance, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, in connection with the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of offenses, and in proceedings related to criminal matters.” As every schoolchild used to know before teachers’ unions, New Age thinking, and identity politics dumbed down the educational system, under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, properly ratified treaties are the supreme law of the land.

The document states that each “Contracting State shall have a Central Authority to make and receive requests pursuant to this Treaty.” For the U.S., it is “the Attorney General or a person designated by the Attorney General.” For Ukraine, it is “the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Prosecutor General.”

During the presidency of Bill Clinton, the U.S. Senate approved the treaty on Oct. 18, 2000, on a division vote. This means that senators rose from their seats to vote and how each of them voted was not recorded. It is, therefore, unclear, how then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware voted.

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