NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Rabbi Spero:Time for African-American, Latino, and Muslim Communities to Root Out the Jew-Hatred That is Spurring Attacks on Jews in the New York Metropolitan Area

Posted By on December 30th, 2019

Conference of Jewish Affairs 90 Washington Valley Road, Suite 1261 Bedminster, NJ 0792

– Conference of Jewish Affairs spokesman Rabbi Aryeh Spero released the following statement today:

“Virtually every recent stabbing and attack on Jews in New York City and the metropolitan area has been perpetrated by a black, Hispanic or sympathizers with jihad. It is time for leaders of those communities to admit to anti-Semitism within their midst and STOP it. Time for truth telling. Perpetrators must be punished.“New York’s extremely liberal politicians speak about anti-Semitism, but are not using anywhere near the force of law to bring these perpetrators to justice. In fact, we’re hearing that last week’s attackers against Jews, who were black or Hispanic, have already been released and are back on the streets.

“Much of the hatred against Jewish people is being fueled by jihadist talk, and yet, because of political correctness, authorities are not doing the pre-reconnaissance that common sense dictates.

“We have heard the evasive platitudes about ‘extremism’, ‘intolerance’, ‘hate’, but what we are witnessing in these attacks is raw anti-Semitism, specifically against Jews. Call it what it is!  New York’s liberal politicians want us to believe that this is coming from a climate of ‘extremism’ and ‘white supremacists’, whereas in the metro area it is a Jew-hatred being fomented within the minority communities.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

In Iran, It Is a Crime to Be a Christian by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15229/iran-christians-persecution

Three of the Islamist judges known to preside over the trials of Christians are Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Mohammed Moghiseh, and Ahmad Zargar. The international community needs to consider imposing sanctions on them.
Converts to Christianity from Islam, according the Iran’s Islamic law, can face the death penalty. The Iranian Islamist judges generally resort to verses from the Quran and Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings and acts) to justify their verdicts.
Iran systematically violates the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act and this is why, since 1999, the U.S. has designated the Islamic Republic as a “Country of Concern.”
Under international law, the Iranian government has an obligation to respect freedom of religion. Yet, while Christians are being increasingly persecuted and their rights are violated in Iran at an unprecedented level, the international community still remains silent.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is unleashing a sweeping crackdown on Christians, particularly those who have dared to convert from Islam to Christianity.

Most recently, nine Christians in Iran, possibly converts, have been convicted by the Islamic court, and each sentenced to five years in prison. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested them for attending church services at a private house. According to a report by Article 18, an Iranian NGO which promotes religious freedom:

“The arresting officers introduced themselves as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).

“They stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation at around 9am, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings.

“Arresting agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings.”

Christian families are generally dehumanized and humiliated in the community during the agent’s raids. As the Article 18 report explained, “The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

An Interesting Year Comes to an End by Amir Taheri

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15349/interesting-year

International organizations, starting with the United Nations itself, appear less relevant than ever.

Classical media have also lost much of their power and relevance….

In the United States, female presidential wannabes dominated the Democrat Party’s list of candidates. This feminization shifts the emphasis away from the traditional goals of the nation-state that highlighted prestige, glory, economic growth, and hard power to social goals such as welfare, education, health, and help for real or imagined “victims of society.”

Iran is also heading for a transition as a regime of geriatrics that has lost much of its legitimacy finds it more and more difficult to frustrate the ambitions of a mostly young, creative, and determined nation.

As 2019 ends, the phrase that comes to mind is “what an interesting year!” And, the word “interesting” in this context should be taken in its traditional Chinese meaning, which is full of risks and dangers.

The year now ending confirmed a trend that started earlier in the decade, marking a slow, but undeniable, retreat from globalization which, at the start of the new century, was believed to be the panacea for all our ills. The new trend, taking shape in many countries, is that of nationalism highlighted by a return to the nation-state as the most effective model of political organization.

MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

Clint Eastwood Portrays the American Greatness of Ordinary Americans Robert Curry

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/28/clint-eastwood-portrays-th

Something really interesting is happening at Malpaso Productions, Clint Eastwood’s movie production company. Eastwood’s films, especially in recent years, portray the best in the American character through real stories of ordinary Americans called by events to stand up and shine. In his latest, “Richard Jewell,” Eastwood continues exploring a theme I’ve called “American Greatness in the Shadow of 9/11.” The result is a body of work that is awe-inspiring and unlike anything we have seen before in American cinema.

His subject is the American hero in the still unfamiliar new world that emerged after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Eastwood’s theme is made quite clear in “Sully.” The film tells the story of “the Miracle on the Hudson.” On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) and co-pilot Jeff Skiles managed to do the impossible. U.S. Airways Flight 1549 from New York’s La Guardia Airport slammed into a flock of geese right after takeoff, causing both engines to fail. The successful water landing on the river next to Manhattan saved the lives of all 155 people on board—and averted another disaster for the city similar to the one on 9/11.

The 9/11 attacks are evoked subtly throughout the film, and the very first moments brilliantly establish the connection between 1/15/09 and 9/11/01.

“Sully” tells the story of a miracle, and is itself a kind of cinematic miracle. This is filmmaking at its best. Like Sully Sullenberger managing to do the impossible, Clint Eastwood manages to do what most directors won’t even attempt because it is simply too difficult. He tells a story we all know, tells it as it actually happened, and succeeds in making a great film. He even makes a film in Hollywood that celebrates America!

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Standing Committee on Impeachment Roger Kimball *****

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/28/the-standing-committee-on-impeachment/

Start talking about impeaching a president 19 minutes after he is inaugurated, go on talking about it at every opportunity, regardless of whether there are any grounds to deploy this most serious of political rebukes. Could a Standing Committee on Impeachment do any better?

You might think that what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the “sad” and “solemn” pre-Christmas impeachment special was a one-off. The Democrats owed it to the country, you see—they had (are you sitting down?) a “duty to the Constitution” to impeach Donald Trump, otherwise (as Representative Al Green of Texas put it) he might well be re-elected. We certainly can’t have that! Hence the show of those “sad, very sad” faces Pelosi described and the memo from headquarters with the instructions, “Don’t cheer. Keep it solemn.”

The Washington Post didn’t get that bulletin right away, so some of their staff posted an image with the words, “Merry Impeachmas from the WaPo team!” amidst smiling faces at an impending feast. Someone must have thought that impugned the paper’s sterling reputation for impartiality. The image was deleted, but not before some enterprising souls saved and posted it for posterity.

I do not claim any special insight into the collective mind of the Democratic Party. I freely confess that their decision to follow through with their threat to impeach Donald Trump seemed to me bizarre. I wondered, in fact, whether it was at least partly inadvertent. The boy keeps crying “Wolf!” when there is no wolf. What happens when a real wolf shows up?

Remember, the Democrats had been talking about impeaching President Trump—when they weren’t fantasizing about assassinating him—since before he took office. The Washington Post—always a good barometer of the prevailing pressure in the fruitier districts of the Democratic fiefdom—waited a full 19 minutes after Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017 before announcing that “the campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.”

Don’t cheer. Keep it solemn.

BOOKS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

How Obama Impacted the Military By Janet Levy

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/12_27_2019_16_54.html

Radical changes imposed on our military by progressives, begun in earnest during the Obama administration, are negatively impacting our combat readiness and jeopardizing the lives of our men and women in uniform and, ultimately, our national security.  In Stand Down:  How Social Justice Warriors Are Sabotaging America’s Military, author James Hasson elucidates how Barack Obama fundamentally changed military culture to make our nation less secure. Hasson, a former Army captain, Army Ranger School graduate, and Afghanistan veteran, argues that military readiness was sacrificed for identity politics and progressive rhetoric. He lists examples such as policies that established “safe spaces,” prohibited “micro-aggressions,” denigrated “hyper-masculine” traits, implemented unwise “green” standards and injected “social justice” guidelines in military operations.

In his revealing book, Captain Hasson describes how Obama’s military appointees, mainly progressive ideologues lacking military experience and hailing from academic, political, and the private sectors, were placed in charge of seasoned combat generals with decades of combat experience.  The priorities, experience, and philosophies of the officers and appointees couldn’t have been more disparate. 

Many senior military staff members suffered in silence at Obama’s attempt to use the military as a “laboratory for progressive social engineering,” according to Hasson.  Exemplifying this shift was the naming of Navy ships after Leftist political heroes. Socialist labor-activist Cesar Chavez and slain gay-rights advocate Harvey Milk — who left the Navy for being gay — were among those who Ray Mabus, Obama’s secretary of the Navy, announced would have ships named after them.  This practice flew in the face of the hallowed Navy tradition of naming ships after presidents and war heroes.  

HOMELAND SECURITY, IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

New York State Blocks ICE and Border Patrol Access to DMV Database Cuomo’s gift to ISIS, the drug cartels, and human traffickers. Michael Cutler

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/12/new-york-state-blocks-ice-and-border

On December 17, 2019 Democrat & Chronicle, a publication affiliated with USA Today, published this extremely worrisome report: ICE, Border Patrol had access to NY’s DMV database. With a new license law, now they don’t.

Here is how that report begins:

ALBANY, N.Y. – Federal immigration and border officials have been blocked from New York’s DMV database, a move that keeps them from accessing data that can be used to help determine whether a vehicle owner has a criminal history or a warrant for their arrest.

New York’s Green Light Law took effect Saturday, allowing those without legal immigration status to apply for driver’s licenses in New York.

But the law also included a provision prohibiting state DMV officials from providing any of its data to entities that enforce immigration law unless a judge orders them to, leading the state to cut off database access to at least three federal agencies last week.

Among them were U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP — which patrols the U.S.-Canada border in New York — and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses is reckless beyond belief, and reverses a previous policy that had been implemented in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

I detailed some of my more salient concerns about the dangers inherent in providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses in my earlier article, “New York Will Provide Illegal Aliens With Driver’s Licenses.”

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL- FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Israel on unparalleled and outsize contributions to the health, welfare, longevity and quality of life of billions of people in the globe! And thanks to my friend Michael Ordman who brings us these news clips almost every week of the year. rsk

 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Breakthrough in the fight to cure Lupus. Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University and the US NIH have identified a trigger for the autoimmune disease Lupus. They have also developed what the media is calling a “miracle” molecule, that blocks the trigger in Lupus and other diseases, e.g. Alzheimer’s and IBD.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ben-Gurion-University-develops-miracle-molecule-for-fighting-Lupus-612163  https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/Fight-lupus.aspx

Reversing the aging of the brain. Researchers from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University and the University of California have discovered that a small molecule called IPW is able to heal a damaged Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). It can also alleviate the inflammation that leads to Alzheimer’s and other age-related diseases.

https://www.jns.org/new-drug-diagnostic-techniques-slow-and-even-reverse-cognitive-decline-from-aging/

https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/11/521/eaaw8283

Stopping cancer in its tracks. Israel’s Metabomed is developing treatments using small molecules that target and inhibit metabolic enzymes vital for cancer cells’ survival.  It currently has four pipeline programs. Metabomed has just raised a further $12.5 million of funds to help it prepare for clinical trials.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3776158,00.html

https://www.metabomed.com/our-pipeline/

Developing AI for spinal surgery. Israeli intelligent scan analysis startup Zebra Medical (see here) is partnering with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes to jointly develop artificial intelligence technologies for spine and other orthopedic surgeries.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3776155,00.html

Israel’s first live multi-organ donor. Rabbi Elad Gadot recently donated one of his kidneys to a total stranger for whom he was a rare match. Years ago, Rabbi Gadot donated a liver lobe to his son Eliyahu (now in the IDF) who needed a liver transplant.  Coincidentally, the kidney recipient’s name was also Eliyahu.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/israels-first-multi-organ-donor-is-a-rabbi-father-of-11-and-idf-veteran/

Prescription checking software can save the US a fortune. As reported previously (see here), Israel’s MedAware prevents prescription errors and saves lives.  Now a 5-year Harvard study shows it would have cut $800 million a year from US Health costs. 70% of the errors detected would not have been found otherwise.

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Harvard-Israels-MedAware-can-save-US-health-system-800m-a-year-611478

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Machete-wielding suspect stabs 5 at Hanukkah celebration in New York

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HksD7TBkU

Police in the town of Monsey, where the attack occurred, say they apprehended the suspected attacker; Jewish organization tweets images of large emergency response near a house of a Hasidic rabbi, next door to a synagogue.

A man attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s home north of New York City late Saturday, stabbing and wounding at least five people with a large knife or a machete before fleeing in a vehicle, police said.

Although police said the extent of the injuries was unclear, sources told The New York Post that at least one victim was in a critical condition. Between 50 and 100 people were reportedly inside the house when the attack occurred.
According to the report in the Post, the attacker slashed five people inside the rabbi’s house and attempted to enter a local temple, but failed to gain access. The rabbi’s home is next door to the synagogue.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Rise of anti-Semitic attacks suggests history repeating itself

Posted By on December 29th, 2019

https://www.ynetnews.com
From parliaments to campuses, verbal and physical assaults on Jews are increasing, showing that ‘The Longest Hatred,’ deemed taboo for much of the second half of the 20th century, is once again being mainstreamed and normalized
The Simon Wiesenthal Center this week released its annual list of Top Ten Worst Anti-Semitic & Anti-Israel Incidents at a press conference in New York.
The index comes amid an upsurge in violent anti-Semitic attacks throughout the globe, including in the United States, long considered the foremost safe haven for Jews.
When factoring in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a trend seemingly emerges: “The Longest Hatred” that for much of the second half of the 20th century was deemed taboo and therefore suppressed, is once again in the process of being mainstreamed and normalized.
“The bottom line is that it was a terrible year, by virtue of the fact that Jewish houses of worship have been targeted with murderous actions,” says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Director Global Social Action Agenda at the Wiesenthal Center.