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Ruth King

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Peace Doesn’t Exist – Nor Do the Palestinians Ask these three questions if you really want peace. Daniel Greenfield

By on July 10th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274210/peace-doesnt-exist-nor-do-palestinians-daniel-greenfield

Salah Abu Miala, a Hebron businessman, traveled to Bahrain to attend the Bahrain peace conference. When he returned home, he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority.

A security official for the Islamic terror group admitted that there was no actual charge.

“It was a warning,” he said. “He must understand the implications of this sort of collaboration.”

Collaboration with the United States. The country that set up the PA and lavished billions in aid on it.

Another businessman managed to evade the crackdown on peace conference attendees.

The Palestinian Authority had not only boycotted the peace conference, but it arrested participants in the peace conference, and warned that participating in the peace conference was collaboration.

Collaboration, under Palestinian Authority law, can be punishable by death.

The message is that the Palestinian Authority really doesn’t want peace. It has sabotaged peace conferences under Clinton, Bush, Obama, and now Trump. Every approach running the same narrow gamut from pressuring Israel to bribing the Palestinian Authority has been tried. They all end the same.

Just ask Salah who was locked up for attending a peace conference.

The pattern here is so obvious that it would take a diplomat or a politician to miss it. That’s why we’ve been mired in it for so long. And the billions of dollars wasted and thousands of lives lost could have been saved if only our leaders had questioned their premises by asking three simple questions.

1. What if the Palestinians don’t want peace?

2. What if there are no Palestinians?

3. What if there’s no such thing as peace?

The three assumptions, that the Palestinians exist, that they want peace, and that enduring peace is an attainable condition in the region, are at the root of the senselessly Sisyphean peace process.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

The Civil Rights Movement and Stolen Valor Kamala Harris leverages her (half-)black victimhood for political advantage.Bruce Thornton

By on July 10th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274220/civil-rights-movement-and-stolen-valor-bruce-thornton

After the recent Democrats’ presidential primary debate, California Senator Kamala Harris was the media’s consensus winner. It’s early days yet, but Harris is shaping up to be the Democrats’ favorite for defeating the hated Donald Trump and returning to the glory days of Barack Obama’s presidency. This makes sense, as Harris most closely duplicates the persona, tactics, and policies of the progressive messiah.

Harris’s moment came when she chastised and befuddled the now-fading frontrunner, Joe Biden. Biden’s mortal sin in this age of the “woke” Inquisition was his opposition in the Seventies to forced busing of schoolchildren, usually black, to achieve the integration of schools. Her clever use of her own personal experience in Berkeley, with a maudlin evocation of herself as a “little girl,” was pure demagoguery against which the slow-witted Biden had no response.

It didn’t matter to the media that Harris’s claim that she participated in the desegregation of Berkeley’s “public schools” was misleading. Berkeley’s one high school was already de facto integrated, and its three junior highs were desegregated in 1964, when Harris was three. Harris participated in the desegregation of the elementary schools. Also left unsaid was the fact that affluent,  progressive Berkeley had little of the violence that marked other cities.

But Harris brought up her personal experience in order to exploit the connection of busing with racist violence of the sort that took place in Boston in 1976, as represented by the iconic, Pulitzer-Prize-winning photograph of a white teenager using a flag-pole flying Old Glory to seemingly spear a black attorney. Though the assailant missed the attorney, and whites were injured and killed in retaliation, the striking photograph and busing in general became another historic example of endemic white racism. This was the point of Harris’s reference to her own experience, to give these connotations of “busing” some pathos by referring to herself as “a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools,” and whom Joe Biden wanted to deny pedagogical equal opportunity.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Can Anyone Beat Boris? By John O’Sullivan

By on July 10th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/can-anyone-beat-boris/

The question looms large over the future of the Tory party, British politics, and Brexit.

‘Can Boris Beat Boris?” the Remainer classes have been wondering since Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt emerged two weeks ago from the scrum of Tory leadership hopefuls to take their campaigns to the party grassroots, which will finally choose between them. It’s not so much a question as a heartfelt plea from leading figures in the May Cabinet, including Theresa May herself and chancellor Philip Hammond, many Tory placeholders (thirty is the latest figure) lower down, their sympathizers in the media, the establishment, and the metropolitan chattering classes.

With less than two weeks to go before by the 22nd of July, when the votes will be counted, it’s starting to look like Boris may try to beat himself, but he won’t come near to succeeding.

That’s because Boris is the firm — no, undislodgeable — favorite of most Tory activists. And that in turn is not only because they have long liked his deceptively Bertie Wooster-ish public persona, but because he has become a progressively firmer Brexiteer in the three years since he declared for Leave in the 2016 referendum. And, finally, achieving Brexit is what the Tory leadership election is all about.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Report: Migrant Apprehensions at Southern Border Drop by 37,500 in June By Jack Crowe

By on July 10th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/report-migrant-apprehensions-at-southern-border-drop-by-37500-in-june/

The number of migrants apprehended crossing the southern border illegally dropped by more than 37,500 in June, the first month-to-month decline since apprehensions began skyrocketing six months ago.

Border Patrol agents apprehended 94,487 people crossing the border between ports of entry in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California in June after capturing 132,000 migrants at the southern border the previous month, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.

While the official figures have not yet been released, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan estimated during a recent press conference that June saw a 25 percent decline in apprehensions. The numbers reported by the Examiner indicate a 28 percent decline.

McAleenan credited President Trump’s recent tariff threat with prompting increased border enforcement by Mexican officials. But the weather may also have played a role as apprehensions usually drop off from spring to summer due to dangerously hot temperatures.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

What Would Colleges be Like If SATs Were the Sole Admission Criterion? By Peter Skurkiss

By on July 10th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/07/what_would_colleges_be_like_if_sats_were_the_sole_admission_criterion.html

Many bar and dorm room conversations probably have centered on what colleges would look like if SAT scores were the sole criteria for admission. People have had their suspicions and cite anecdotal observations but now Georgetown University has quantitatively answered the question as least as far as elite universities go.

Anyone with a passing awareness of today’s college admission policies knows that the student makeup would change if academics were the sole criteria. How much they would change is the question. As to whether using just SAT scores — i.e. academic performance — is good or bad is another matter.

Back to the Georgetown report.

It claims the percentage of blacks and Hispanics would fall sharply from 19 percent to 11 percent. The whites student population would rise from 66 percent to 77 percent.  And surprisingly, Asian students would fall from 11 percent to 10 percent. The study goes on to say that many of the whites in these select college would lose their seats to other better qualified white students.  

 In other words, the student mix would change noticeably.

There are a number of reasons why higher academically performing students lose seats to others. There are legacy admissions and sport scholarships. Both these skew the college population downward on the academic scale especially when it comes to big money-making sports like football and basketball. However, the greatest factor is a commitment to racial diversity. College administrators will literally go to any length the prove they are ‘woke.’

Zero Hedge noted that black and Latino college enrolment is almost twice what it would be based on “merit” alone. And this is before the College Board introduces its so-called “adversity score,” which is specifically designed to increase the minority presence in universities, to accompany a student’s SAT result.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Why Are They All So Angry? Francis Menton

By on July 9th, 2019

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2019-7-8-why-are-they-all-so-angry

It’s the defining characteristic of today’s progressive left: Anger. And it’s not just the rioters like Antifa, or the unspeakably rude people who confront administration figures in restaurants and gratuitously yell at them. Take a look at any of the new icons of the Democratic Party when they are speaking — for example Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Ilhan Omar — and you see them seething with barely controllable anger, if not outright fury. Same with essentially every left-wing commenter on CNN or MSNBC.

And I’m just getting to the Democratic presidential candidates. Bernie Sanders. Is there anybody angrier? Always, and about everything. For that matter, all the contenders who have broken out of the less-than-1% category (and most of those who haven’t) are putting on a show of trying to out-angry all the others. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris. Anger must be what sells these days to the categories of voters they are pursuing.

But how about Joe Biden, you say? Certainly he is not as angry as these others. You must have missed Biden’s July 5 interview with Chris Cuomo of CNN. Having just been outmaneuvered by Kamala Harris at the first Democratic debate, Biden decided that it was time to show that he can do anger with the best of them. According to that New York Post report of the interview, “throughout it all, Biden was angry.” It reached the boiling point when Cuomo raised the issue of Russian election interference, drawing this outraged response from Biden:

“You think that would happen on my watch, on Barack’s watch? You can’t answer that, but I promise you it wouldn’t have. And it didn’t.”

Sure, Joe.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Jeffrey Epstein’s Lolita Express and the art of unequal justice The nexus of power, money, and influence is why this scandal is likely to widen Charles Lipson

By on July 9th, 2019

https://spectator.us/jeffrey-epstein-lolita-express-unequal-justice/

Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest on federal charges of sex trafficking minors has all the features of a tabloid extravaganza: money, sex, power, and serious crimes. No one deserves the notoriety more. The billionaire financier was already convicted of similar crimes in 2008 and received a very light sentence. Epstein’s plea bargain ended the earlier investigation before any of his friends were implicated. That won’t happen again. The floodlights are on this one.

In 2008, the prosecution negotiated the plea deal while it kept victims in the dark. The underage girls Epstein exploited were not notified in advance about the agreement or allowed to object. A federal judge recently ruled the case was mishandled and the victims should have been heard.

The old case resonates today, not only because the new charges echo the old ones but because the US attorney in charge then, Alex Acosta, is now secretary of labor. The unusual deal had to be approved in Washington, though it is still unclear which Department of Justice officials gave it the green light or why. We’ll undoubtedly learn more about the old case as the new one unfolds.

One thing is certain about the new charges. They will not proceed quietly through the courts, away from inquiring eyes. This time, they are front-page news. The DoJ has already devoted serious attention to them, and they won’t be interested in a backroom deal. The press will be interested, too. The more big names and juicy details, the better.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

William Barr says he sees legal way to add citizenship question to 2020 census

By on July 9th, 2019

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barr-census-citizenship-question-sees-legal-way-to-add-it/

Edgefield, S.C. — Attorney General William Barr said Monday he sees a way to legally require 2020 census respondents to declare whether or not they are citizens, despite a Supreme Court ruling that forbade asking the question.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said the Trump administration will take action in the coming days that he believes will allow the government to add the controversial census query. Barr would not detail the plans, though a senior official said President Trump is expected to issue a memorandum to the Commerce Department instructing it to include the question on census forms.

The Supreme Court recently blocked the question, at least temporarily, saying the administration’s justification “seems to have been contrived.” That was a blow to Mr. Trump, who has been pressing for the government to demand information about citizenship.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s experts have said requiring such information would discourage immigrants from participating in the survey and result in a less accurate count. That in turn would redistribute money and political power away from Democratic-led cities where immigrants tend to cluster to whiter, rural areas where Republicans do well.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Mr. Trump wants to add the demand for citizenship information because he wants to “make America white again.”

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is replacing the legal team that has been pursuing Mr. Trump’s efforts, putting in place a new team consisting of both career and politically appointed attorneys.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

In Praise of Crowdfunding By Douglas Murray

By on July 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/noah-carl-andy-ngo-in-praise-of-crowdfunding/

The deranging effects of tech are visible every day. But there are also positive aspects — among them a tool that strikes me as having many of the capabilities needed to restore some sanity to our times. I refer to the process of crowdfunding. In recent weeks I have been struck by the response to two crowdfunding efforts in particular, which are vital in different ways.

The first relates to the case of Andy Ngo, the young Portland-based journalist whom I wrote about here last week. Ngo, readers will remember, was recently assaulted by so-called “Antifa” in broad daylight as the police stood aside. In the hospital afterwards it became clear that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage, among other injuries. Another journalist immediately set up a crowdfunding site to try to help pay Ngo’s substantial medical bills and to replace the equipment that the Portland Antifa thugs had broken or stolen from him. The goal of that crowdfunding appeal was reached (and indeed exceeded) in a matter of days by American citizens and others horrified at what had been allowed to happen on their streets.

Now another crowdfunder has been set up, this time to launch legal proceedings against those responsible for assaulting the journalist. Among those who may be in the firing line of legal proceedings are not just the thugs who the authorities have allowed to run rampant through an American city, but also the authorities themselves. A link to the legal appeal can be found here.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

Kentucky Democrat Amy McGrath Announces 2020 Challenge to McConnell By Mairead McArdle

By on July 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/kentucky-democrat-amy-mcgrath-announces-2020-challenge-to-mcconnell/

Kentucky Democrat Amy McGrath on Tuesday announced that she will run to unseat Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell in 2020.

The former Marine fighter pilot and mother of three, who lost her 2018 bid to defeat Republican representative Andy Barr, made her announcement in a video message posted to Twitter.

McGrath says in the video that she wrote a letter when she was 13 to McConnell, her senator, telling him she wanted to fly fighter jets in combat.

“He never wrote back,” McGrath says in the video. “I’ve often wondered, how many other people did Mitch McConnell never take the time to write back or even think about.”

“Everything that’s wrong with Washington had to start somewhere — it started with him,” she wrote in an accompanying tweet.

McGrath argued that “the things that Kentuckians voted for Trump for are not being done” thanks to McConnell, who she explained has blocked legislation his constituents supported, such as measures that would have lowered drug pricing.

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