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January 2020

Prince Charles to make Great Britain’s first official royal visit to Israel By Ruth S. King

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/prince_charles_to_make_great_britains_first_official_royal_visit_to_israel.html

In what may well be a dress rehearsal for his forthcoming ascension to the throne, Prince Charles will be making Britain’s first official royal visit to Israel to attend an event at Yad Vashem, “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism,” on January 23. He will be joining the presidents of Russia, France, Germany, Italy and Austria, as well as the kings of Spain and Belgium. These are all nations where anti-Semitism has a vigorous past and present presence.

Charles himself, his brother Edward, and his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, have all traveled to Israel, but never in an official capacity. In 1994 the Duke attended a ceremony at Yad Vashem honoring his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who had been awarded the title for saving many Jewish lives during the Holocaust. She is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem at her own dying request, a fact omitted in the Netflix series “The Crown.” Charles also represented the Queen privately at the funerals of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and Shimon Peres in 2016.

The no longer “bonnie” prince carries a historic burden.

 Great Britain has a sordid history with respect to the Holocaust and Israel.  After a betrayal of the promise of the Balfour Declaration, in 1922 eighty percent of the Palestine Mandate was deeded to the Hashemites with no historical or religious ties to ancient Palestine. This was followed by a series of “White Papers” which severely limited Jewish immigration to Palestine. At the Evian conference of 1938 the British slammed the door of Palestine against any sizable admissions of Jewish refugees effectively trapping millions of hapless Jews in Europe.

While British callousness to Jewish suffering in slamming shut the gates of Palestine is well known, less widely known is how indifferent the royals were.

King George, father of the present Queen Elizabeth, was stalwart during the Blitz but no friend of the Jews. The King not only supported the White Paper but also stated that he was “glad to think that steps are being taken to prevent these people (read Jews) leaving their country of origin.” Halifax’s office telegraphed Britain’s ambassador in Berlin asking him to encourage the German government “to check the unauthorized emigration of Jews.” The King and Queen, who visited veterans and orphans in displays of solidarity with ordinary people, were silent on the Holocaust.

Greta Hectors Davos: Why Are Elitists Thrilled To Be Lectured By A Child Who Knows Nothing? by Frank Bullitt

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/01/22/why-is-greta-thunberg-allowed-to-address-influential-institutions-when-shes-so-wrong/

Swedish teen Greta Thunberg scolded the political and business aristocracy Tuesday at the World Economic Forum, insisting “that we start listening to the science and that we actually start treating this crisis as the crisis it is.” Why is she continually treated as a savant and prophetess when she has nothing to offer but embellishment?

Though only 17, Greta is an accomplished nag, a word we don’t use lightly, but it fits because she is perpetually badgering and complaining. In her speech, which the New York Times posted in transcript form as if it were actually important and must be preserved for future generations, she demanded international leaders “immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels.

“We don’t want these things done by 2050, or 2030 or even 2021,” she said, “we want this done now.”

She even went so far as to tell the Davos crowd “our house is still on fire,” and declared “your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour.”

Of course “our house” – the world we live in – isn’t on fire, though large parts of Australia are, and that generates not only news but wild speculation from the zealots and the political operators that man’s greenhouse gas emissions are responsible. The evidence, however, indicates that green environmental policy is responsible.

The story is the same in California, where wildfire season produced global headlines. It was green policies, not anthropogenic global warming, that charred the state.

Feel the Purge . . . er, Bern The statements captured by Project Veritas do not damn Bernie Sanders. But they are an accurate snapshot of a significant portion of this following. Ray McCoy

https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/21/feel-the-purge-er-bern/

On January 14, the investigative outlet Project Veritas released undercover footage of dialogue between one of their embedded journalists and a senior member of the Iowa field operation for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.

In the video, Kyle Jurek predicts with relish violence in the event of a Democratic convention in which the Vermont senator is denied the nomination. And, of course, cities will burn if Donald Trump wins reelection. Jurek also praised the approaches of Joseph Stalin and the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba toward counterrevolutionaries, and said Sanders could not campaign by openly espousing views such as his own.

As usual, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe teased at the end that this was not even the most inflammatory footage of Jurek. The campaign staffer, in fact, was arrested in Iowa earlier this month for driving while intoxicated and related offenses.

If recent history is a guide, it would be a mistake to give journalists the standing of rock stars. Nevertheless, O’Keefe’s track record would make him the Jimmy Page of investigative reporting, at least on the Right.

But O’Keefe’s latest scoop could use some perspective. Jurek’s private statements do not necessarily reflect the views of Sanders, other campaign staffers, volunteers, or reporters. Certainly some of Jurek’s disparaging remarks about his candidate—particularly calling him a poor judge of character for retaining long-time campaign manager Jeff Weaver as an advisor—shouldn’t be ascribed to the campaign.

Anti-Christian Oppression Around the World Atrocious — and accelerating. Jack Kerwick

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/anti-christian-oppression-around-world-jack-kerwick/

Whether it is true that attacks against Jews are, as we’ve been hearing from certain Jewish leaders, activists, and commentators within some quarters of the media, actually on the rise may or may not be true.  The very same people—American blacks—who are overwhelmingly responsible now for preying upon Jews have been harassing, insulting, pummeling, and, in some instances, murdering Jews for many years.

Nevertheless, that this pattern of predatory conduct on the part of black thugs is a national outrage that should be resoundingly, unequivocally condemned by all decent people should be self-evident.

And it has indeed been so condemned, but not just by Jewish figures, but as well by no small number of non-Jews, specifically those of a Christian background.

At the same time, though, it’s easy to forget—if anyone in the United States (or elsewhere throughout the West) ever noticed it to begin with—that Christians throughout the world constitute by far and away the single largest persecuted religious group. 

In other words, it is “Christophobia,” not “anti-Semitism” and most assuredly not “Islamophobia,” that, globally speaking, is the most pervasive and cancerous form of anti-religious bigotry.

Biden Says Only Felons Should Be Deported And He Doesn’t ‘Count Drunk Driving as a Felony’ By Tobias Hoonhout (!!!!????)

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-says-only-felons-should-be-deported-and-he-doesnt-count-drunk-driving-as-a-felony/

Former vice president Joe Biden said Monday that “I don’t count drunk driving as a felony” during a Vice News panel on minority issues, despite falsely claiming for years that his first wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver.

Biden’s comments came after he was asked “what exact changes would you bring to ICE as an agency,” and he responded by saying he would fire an agent who tried to deport an undocumented immigrant not charged with a felony.

“You change the culture by saying you are going to get fired. You are fired if, in fact, you do that. You only arrest for the purpose of dealing with a felony that’s committed, and I don’t count drunk driving as a felony,” Biden said.

Following a 1972 tragedy in which Biden’s first wife and baby daughter were killed when their car was struck by a tractor-trailer, Biden stated that the other driver was drinking at the time of the accident, despite the driver never being charged with drunk driving.

Hillary Clinton Defends Ties to Harvey Weinstein: ‘How Could We Have Known?’ By Tobias Hoonhout

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hillary-clinton-defends-ties-to-harvey-weinstein-how-could-we-have-known/

Hillary Clinton defended her past association with disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in an interview released Tuesday, suggesting she would not have taken the thousands in donations to her 2016 campaign if she had “known what we know now.”

“How could we have known? He raised money for me, for the Obamas, for Democrats in general,” Clinton told The Hollywood Reporter when asked if she had any regrets about her association with Weinstein. “And that at the time was something that everybody thought made sense. And of course, if all of us had known what we know now, it would have affected our behavior.”

Weinstein donated the maximum amount possible for an individual contributor to Clinton in both the 2016 Democratic primary and the general election, which Clinton said in 2017 that she would donate to charity after allegations of sexual misconduct broke against the Hollywood producer. FEC records show that Weinstein has raised over $2.3 million for Democratic causes in his career.

Actress Lena Dunham and journalist Tina Brown have both said they informed Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign of Weinstein’s sexual misconduct and warned them not to associate with him or accept his donations.

All Aboard the Crazy Train Or at least that’s how populism’s rise feels to those at the World Economic Forum. By Walter Russell Mead

https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-aboard-the-crazy-train-11579554512?mod=opinion_featst_pos3

Davos, Switzerland

“As the millionaires, billionaires and Greta Thunberg assemble in Davos this week to debate the future of the world, they face a crisis of relevance. What if, with all of their competence, experience, cosmopolitan vision and, yes, goodwill, the Davoisie are merely passengers, comfortably ensconced in first-class seats, on a train whose route they do not know and cannot control?”

For half a century the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has brought a mix of business leaders, politicians, pundits, academics, activists, “social entrepreneurs” and celebrities to this small village high in the Swiss Alps. For the year-round inhabitants, the conference is a mixed blessing. Security barriers and heavy traffic turn the narrow streets into a nightmare. With well-situated one-bedroom apartments renting for as much as $5,000 a night, however, many a Davos-dweller can escape the madness and pocket a nice profit. The resort’s hotels also make out well; with corporations and governments competing to reserve ballrooms and salons for their events, local hoteliers can clear more in a week than they likely could make during the whole ski season in the old pre-WEF days.

There is something inescapably ridiculous about a gathering this self-important; certainly Marie Antoinette and her friends dressing up as shepherdesses to celebrate the simple life has nothing on the more than 100 billionaires descending, often by private jet, on an exclusive Swiss ski resort for four days of ostentatious hand-wringing about the problems of the poor and the dangers of climate change. This year an earnest young aide at registration told me that, to reduce the event’s carbon footprint, no paper maps of the town were being distributed; one could almost feel the waves of relief from the nearby Alpine glaciers at this sign of green progress.

Yet smirk as one may, and sometimes as one must, this year’s WEF arrived at a difficult time for the Davoisie—those who are at home in the thin air of this global gathering. Leaders the world over are now having to come to grips with a new age of populism, nationalism and protectionism.

For the Davoisie the rise of populism is a huge problem. A world increasingly separating into rival blocs as supply chains begin to decouple isn’t a hospitable environment for global governance, Third Way capitalist reform and their many other hopes and projects.

Calling All Trial Witnesses We doubt Democrats want to hear from Hunter and Joe Biden.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/calling-all-trial-witnesses-11579652544?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

The Senate impeachment trial began Tuesday with political theater over rules. Senate Republicans prefer an expeditious trial while Democrats who rushed to impeach in the House are suddenly demanding witnesses and crying “coverup.” So let’s break down what’s really going on in the fight over witnesses.

By our deadline, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looked set to keep his caucus together for his organizing resolution. His framework provides Democratic House impeachment managers 24 hours over three working days to make their case, followed by the same for a White House defense. Bill Clinton’s trial also provided each side 24 hours, though neither ended up using even half.

But Democrats are demanding that the Senate also call former National Security Adviser John Bolton ; acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney ; Mulvaney adviser Robert Blair ; and White House budget official Michael Duffey.

This is more than a little disingenuous. House Democrats could have gone to court to challenge President Trump’s assertion of executive privilege over testimony, and the House did sue initially to compel former Bolton deputy Charles Kupperman. But House Democrats abandoned their demands when litigation didn’t fit their rushed political timeline. They declared instead that the existing evidence more than justified impeachment. Yet now their “overwhelming” evidence has become a GOP “coverup.”

Protesters in Puerto Rico Call for Governor’s Resignation After Aid Found in Warehouse By Rick Moran

https://pjmedia.com/trending/protesters-in-puerto-rico-call-for-governors-resignation-after-aid-found-in-warehouse/

Hundreds of protesters in Puerto Rico demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion and capitol building in San Juan, calling on Governor Wanda Vazquez to resign. The protest stems from a video showing tons of disaster relief supplies — some of it from Hurricane Gloria in 2017, that was discovered in a warehouse. A video of a crowd storming the warehouse went viral on social media last week, leading to nationwide outrage.

Associated Press:

“We have to get rid of all the corrupt officials,” said Mari Rivera, a government employee who said that Gov. Wanda Vazquez “needs to stop blaming others and show her face.”

About 600 people banged on pots and some waved Puerto Rican flags as one of them yelled into a bullhorn, “Wanda, turn over the disaster supplies!”

Evangelical preacher Ramón Marrero, who drove up from the southern coastal town of Guayama with his wife and daughters, said they came “to show our indignation, our annoyance, our rebellion.”

The scene reminded many of the beginning of protests that escalated over the summer and led to the resignation of former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, with demonstrators once again vowing to remain in the streets until Vázquez also steps down.

Rossello was forced out after private chats with close associates were leaked, painting an unflattering portrait of the governor.

But this is a far more serious situation, with questions swirling around the unused supplies.

Holocaust remembrance, Palestinian irrelevance Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/holocaust-remembrance-palestinian-irrelevance/

Bemoaning all the apparent attention on the Jews prior to the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, a columnist for the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper “Al-Hayat Al-Jadida” proposed murder as a solution to stop the proceedings.

(JNS) As the nearly 50 heads of state from around the globe began preparing for their arrival in Israel this week to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum—on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camp from the Nazis—the powers-that-be in the Palestinian Authority have been busy trying to figure out how best to channel their anger and envy.

Unfortunately for P.A. head Mahmoud Abbas and his disgruntled Fatah henchmen, however, nobody really cares—least of all U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who will be representing the White House at the somber Jan. 23 “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Anti-Semitism” event hosted by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.

The significance of the major happening is magnified by the recent spike in worldwide anti-Semitism, even in America, where the rearing of its ugly head in heavily Orthodox neighborhoods has been almost as shocking as its explosion on university campuses.

To the dismay of the aging Abbas, who alternates between denying the Holocaust—as he did in his Ph.D. thesis—and accusing the Jewish state of committing Nazi-like crimes against the Palestinians, very few members of the diverse group of dignitaries gathering in the Israeli capital that he does not recognize will be taking a break in their whirlwind visit to pay their respects, or even lip service, to him.

Bemoaning the above, a regular columnist for the official P.A. daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, proposed murder as a solution.