ISRAEL, MEDIA Comments turned off

Bill Maher’s guest applauds host’s tirade against ‘weak and woke’ Dems who think America is ‘cringe’ Rep. Mike Lawler reacts after HBO host went off on Dems for ‘indulging nonsense’ from anti-American students By Madison Colombo

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://www.foxnews.com/media/bill-mahers-guest-applauds-hosts-tirade-against-weak-woke-dems-who-think-america-cringe

HBO host Bill Maher is taking aim at young Democrats, accusing them of supporting anti-Israel movements and sympathizing with Hamas.

“Liberals are weak and woke, especially the white ones, and they indulge all sorts of nonsense from their kids,” Maher said on a recent episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

“So talk to your children and remind them you don’t really want to live like your heroes in Hamas.”

Maher criticized young progressives for what he sees as a misguided admiration of extremist groups, hosting Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile on his panel. 

Lawler said on “America Reports” that Maher’s commentary “hit the nail on the head” and the left must change course. 

“America is a beacon of hope, of freedom, of opportunity. And yet, they are embracing some of the worst actors on the stage, whether it be Hamas, China, or other countries around the globe that certainly do not provide for freedom of expression or speech in their countries.”

Maher’s comments come amid a wave of renewed anti-Israel protests on college campuses. In early May, dozens of protesters were arrested at Columbia University after occupying the school’s library. At least 80 people, mostly women, were detained.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Christopher F. Rufo, Ryan Thorpe Inside Harvard’s Discrimination Machine The university has adopted race-conscious hiring policies, potentially in violation of civil rights law.

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://www.city-journal.org/article/harvard-university-discrimination-dei-hiring-trump?skip=1

The Trump administration has escalated its battle with Harvard University, freezing all future grants and threatening to strip the school’s tax-exempt status. In response, Harvard has adopted some conciliatory measures— rebranding its DEI office and cancelling its racially segregated graduation ceremonies—but, behind the scenes, the university’s discrimination machine continues to operate at full capacity.

We’ve obtained a trove of internal documents that reveal Harvard’s racial favoritism in faculty and administrative hiring. The university’s DEI programs are more than “unconscious bias” training. They are vectors for systematic discrimination against disfavored groups: namely, white men. As one Harvard researcher told us, “endless evidence” suggests that the university continues to discriminate against the supposed oppressor class in hiring and promotions.

For years, Harvard’s DEI department has explicitly sought to engineer a more racially “diverse” faculty pool. The university-wide Inclusive Hiring Initiative provided “guidelines and training” for those involved in the hiring process and was explicitly tied to Harvard’s DEI goals. The stated mission of the initiative is to “[i]nstill an understanding of how departments can leverage the selection process” to build “an increasingly diverse workforce.”

In another hiring guide, “Best Practices for Conducting Faculty Searches,” the university recommends several discriminatory practices. At the beginning of the hiring process, Harvard instructs search committees to “ensure that the early lists include women and minorities” and to “consider reading the applications of women and minorities first.” The university counsels that committee chairs should “continually monitor” the racial composition of the candidate list and, as they narrow it down, “attend to all women and minorities on the long list.”

Harvard deliberately factors race into the hiring process. The university gives committee chairs privileged access to “self-identified demographic data, including gender, race, and ethnicity” and encourages chairs to “use this information to encourage diversity in the applicant pool, long list, and short list.” Harvard admits that some of its hiring programs have explicit “placement goals” for women and minorities—which, despite the university’s denial, function as a soft quota.

HISTORY, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Terrible Legacy How Americans came to think the government would solve all their problems. by Robert Spencer

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm-plus/franklin-d-roosevelts-terrible-legacy/

In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, the architect of the New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, declared that fear was all that Americans should fear. He also attempted to lower expectations for an economic recovery by trying to convince the nation that material prosperity wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “Happiness,” he declared sonorously, “lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” He continued, “The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits….” He called on Americans to recognize “the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success.”

During his 1936 reelection campaign, Roosevelt reiterated his determination to redistribute wealth, adapting the Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” in saying: “Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.”

As was so often the case with Roosevelt, this sounded better than it was. A graduated income tax has been in place in America for many years, but that doesn’t negate the fact that penalizing wealthier Americans by forcing them to pay higher taxes only decreases their ability and reduces their incentive to maintain businesses that provide jobs for ordinary citizens. A genuine “American principle” would be to tax everyone equally, which would naturally result in the wealthy paying more anyway.

As the Great Depression dragged on, perhaps there were some Americans who comforted themselves with the realization that they were not corrupted by “the falsity of material wealth.” They had scant other comfort. In May 1939, halfway through Roosevelt’s lengthy presidency, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau went before the House Ways and Means Committee and frankly admitted that the New Deal had been an abject failure.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Trump Tariffs Did Not Raise Prices, Slowed Inflation So much for the hysteria. by Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/trump-tariffs-did-not-raise-prices-slowed-inflation/

The tariff doomer hype promised utter catastrophe.

Trump tariffs: When consumers should expect inflation, price hikes to hit wallets – CNBCNearly 90% of Americans expect tariffs to raise prices, Gallup poll finds – CBS News

I wonder who told them to expect that?

Trump’s Tariffs Would Boost Inflation, Shrink the Economy, Trump’s tariff plan amounts to a $3 trillion tax hike – Senate Committee on the Budget

Tariffs May Push Up Inflation Just As It Was Getting Better – Investopedia

Trump’s Tariff Would Cost the Typical American Household Roughly $1,500 Each Year – Center for American Progress

Trump’s tariffs could cost American households $5,200 annually – Center for American Progress

Which one was it? $5,200 or $1,500?

Well the numbers are in and the hype is dead.

Trump tariffs have little impact on prices so far, defying grim forecasts – Politico

Inflation eased after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, defying fears – ABC News

The experts win again.

Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said Monday that the administration’s new taxes on imports are still “pretty high” and that she expects inflation to rise and growth to slow soon.

Any day now, says a former fellow with the Center for American Progress nominated by Biden.

They want America to fail. If it succeeds, it’ll raise questions about them, won’t it?

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Macron scolds Netanyahu, backs review of Europe-Israel trade ties By David Isaac

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://www.jns.org/macron-scolds-netanyahu-backs-review-of-europe-israel-trade-ties/

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “unacceptable” and “shameful” behavior for the blocking of aid to Gaza, and agreed Europe should revisit its cooperation agreement with Israel.

Speaking during a three-hour interview special on French television titled “The Challenges of France,” Macron said of Netanyahu, “What he does is a shame. It’s shameful.”

During the interview, on French channel TF1, the French president fielded questions from public figures and regular citizens on a host of subjects.

“We must fight absolutely to reopen first,” Macron said of Israel’s closing of its borders with the Gaza Strip.

Asked why France does not sanction Israel, Macron said his administration had taken action on several occasions. “We’ve even refused to send [Israel] equipment that would allow them to go into combat. We’re giving them equipment that allows them to protect themselves, particularly against Iranian missiles. But we’ve made things a lot harder,” he said.

Netanyahu responded sharply to Macron’s comments in a statement issued by his office on Wednesday afternoon. “Macron has once again chosen to stand with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels,” Netanyahu said.

“Instead of supporting the Western democratic camp fighting the Islamist terrorist organizations and calling for the release of the hostages, Macron is once again demanding that Israel surrender and reward terrorism,” Israel’s prime minister added.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

One Of Trump’s Most Important Executive Orders Went Entirely Unnoticed

Posted By on May 15th, 2025

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/05/15/one-of-trumps-most-important-executive-orders-went-entirely-unnoticed/

Not long after Michelino Sunseri, a professional mountain runner, finished a race across Grand Teton last fall, he found himself on the receiving end of a Justice Department criminal charge. His offense? Running on a closed trail, for which he could end up serving six months in jail.

We are not making this up.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to prevent such gross abuses. It is one of the most important – and underappreciated – actions he’s taken.

The “crime” Sunseri committed wasn’t a federal law passed by Congress. It was a crime invented by the National Park Service – one of some 300,000 federal crimes (although nobody knows exactly how many there are) that unelected bureaucrats have conjured up when writing regulations.

What’s more, many of these regulatory crimes are “strict liability” offenses, which means that you don’t need to have criminal intent to be charged with a crime.

“This status quo is absurd and unjust,” Trump says in his executive order. “It allows the executive branch to write the law, in addition to executing it. That situation can lend itself to abuse and weaponization by providing government officials tools to target unwitting individuals.”

All true. And deeply disturbing to anyone who cares about civil liberties.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Genocide in Syria: Jihadists Massacre Druze, Christians, ‘Infidels’ by Uzay Bulut

Posted By on May 14th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21614/syria-jihadists-massacre-druze

Ever since the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) conquered the Syrian capital Damascus with Turkey’s help in December of 2024, HTS fighters and their affiliated militias — often offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda — have been massacring religious minorities throughout the country. The internet has been flooded with images… of Alawite men, women and children being barbarically shot at close range.

Most recently, after slaughtering Alawites, HTS and Syria’s new Islamic regime, under the self-proclaimed “presidency” of former jihadist commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, are massacring other religious minorities in the country, including Christians and Druze.

HTS is still designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, EU, US and UK.

Qatar and Turkey are apparently the powers behind the new regime in Damascus.

Sunnis in Inkhil, Daraa, were filmed running buses for those who want to go after the Druze. HTS supporters in Idlib waved ISIS flags and incited against the Druze and Jews.

Endless footage from Syria signals that HTS and its supporters have a genocidal intent towards all religious minorities in the region.

“The targeted areas were the places of Alawites and Christians. Many innocent Christian victims were also killed. Residents of some of those places were forced to leave their homes. Then they were shot and killed. Then their houses, property, and cars were stolen.” — John X, Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, March 9, 2025.

The fate of these communities should not be left to al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in Syria. Moreover, Syria should not be left to the savagery of al-Sharaa and his HTS offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda, or to Turkey’s terrorist mastermind, Erdogan.

For years, Erdogan has repeatedly vowed to “liberate Jerusalem,” as he seems to be attempting to rebuild the Ottoman Empire and install himself as Sultan. Now, with HTS and his other proxy militias in Syria, Erdogan finally has the unimpeded path he has been waiting for to do it.

Ever since the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) conquered the Syrian capital Damascus with Turkey’s help in December of 2024, HTS fighters and their affiliated militias — often offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda — have been massacring religious minorities throughout the country. The internet has been flooded with images — some discredited as old or manipulated, but many not — of Alawite men, women and children being barbarically shot at close range.

Most recently, after slaughtering Alawites, HTS and Syria’s new Islamic regime, under the self-proclaimed “presidency” of former jihadist commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, are massacring other religious minorities in the country, including Christians and Druze.

HTS is still designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, EU, US and UK.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Donald Trump has scrambled the old class allegiances Oligarchs, professionals and the working class are all divided among themselves. Joel Kotkin

Posted By on May 14th, 2025

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/05/14/donald-trump-has-scrambled-the-old-class-allegiances/

US president Donald Trump has disrupted the nature of class politics. In a reversal of long-standing allegiances, working-class Americans – including many minorities – have shifted towards the MAGA right. Meanwhile, the well-educated, the corporate elites and the government-dependent have generally veered leftwards.

Rather than the relatively simple Marxist notion of a proletarian conflict with the bourgeoisie, we are seeing a more splintered and nuanced class politics across the West. These divisions are not simply driven by income, race or education, but increasingly also by how people earn their living, and how tariffs, policies and regulations impact their daily lives. These new class tensions threaten to push politics towards the fringes, both left and right. As society frays, the era of consensus politics is firmly at an end.

Until last year, the oligarchy that dominates much of the world economy (and that of the US) reliably allied with the political establishment, whether in Davos, Washington, London, Ottawa or Brussels. They embraced many of the woke positions on gender, race and especially climate, while largely disdaining MAGA as well as more traditional Republicans.

As a result, in the US, the main beneficiaries of the much-discussed oligarchic ‘dark money’ have been, contrary to the general media perception, the Democrats. Big-spending oligarchs like Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and Marc Benioff helped Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris raise well over $1.5 billion – the highest figure in history – for her losing campaign.

Now that some oligarchs, like X owner Elon Musk and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, have come out for Trump, the woke left has started to finally push back against their power over US politics. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have launched a ‘fighting oligarchy tour’ to wild applause in the largely oligarch-owned mainstream media. In the same vein, the Atlantic, owned by Steve Jobs’s widow, has denounced Musk’s oligarchic embrace of ‘strongman politics’. Progressives were far less concerned when Google camped out at the Obama White House (visiting 427 times during his administration) or when Harris scooped up big cash from oligarchs.

Perhaps the biggest political divide between the oligarchs comes from how they make their money. Many of those rallying to Trump actually build things and compete directly with China. Most obviously, this includes Elon Musk, who sources from China but also competes with its industrial machine at both Tesla and SpaceX.

Another important component of the right-wing oligarchical shift is the ‘defence bros’, like Palantir co-founders Joe Lonsdale and Peter Thiel and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey. These are mostly habitués of the defence and space centres in Texas, Florida and southern California. In these places, they are building what could be a MAGA-friendly tech base. Military tech and space projects, which for security reasons must be built in the US, require factory space, skilled workers, reasonable housing costs and, as one executive told me, ‘good places to blow things up’. For this, he added, the wide open spaces of Texas are a unique blessing.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Judge backs Trump’s invocation of Alien Enemies Act for deportations But the ruling also emphasizes the need for more due process in advance of the deportations. Kyle Cheney

Posted By on May 14th, 2025

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/alien-enemies-act-trump-ruling-00346312

A federal judge for the first time has backed President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a war power Trump has used to deport Venezuelans he claims are part of a criminal gang.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines, a Trump appointee to the bench in Pennsylvania, upheld Trump’s March 14 proclamation declaring that Tren de Aragua, a violent gang based in Venezuela, is mounting an “incursion” into the United States.

Though that “incursion” looks nothing like the military invasions the founders envisioned when they passed the Alien Enemies Act in 1798, Haines said old statutes can be applied to modern developments in the world. And she compared Tren de Aragua to the “military detachments or pirates” that pillaged the United States when the law was passed.

It’s a rare legal victory for Trump on the most aggressive plank of his mass deportation effort. Judges in New York, Colorado and Texas have reached the opposite result, concluding in effect that the gang is not mounting the type of government-backed “incursion” needed to justify the president’s invocation of the act. Almost simultaneously with Haines’ ruling, a second judge in Texas barred Alien Enemies Act deportations without 30 days notice.

But Haines’ ruling is double-edged. Despite backing Trump on the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, her ruling sharply rejected the administration’s primary goal: to deport those targeted by the Alien Enemies Act quickly — sometimes within hours — with limited due process.

Indeed, Haines said the Trump administration had fallen woefully short of its obligation to allow those targeted by the Alien Enemies Act to raise legal challenges. The judge said that the administration must allow individuals subject to the act 21 days to file lawsuits challenging their deportations, up from the 12 to 24 hours the Department of Homeland Security says is sufficient.

If the administration abides by that three-weeks notice requirement, Haines’ ruling permits the officials to deport a single individual, identified only by the initials A.S.R., who is being held in Haines’ western Pennsylvania district. That individual had sued on behalf of himself and other potential targets of the Alien Enemies Act residing in western Pennsylvania, urging the court to block his summary deportation.

BOOKS Comments turned off

When the Stones Speak: The Remarkable Discovery of the City of David and What Israel’s Enemies Don’t Want You To Know by Doron Spielman

Posted By on May 14th, 2025

This is the untold story of the rediscovery of the ancient City of David in Jerusalem and the powerful evidence that proves the Jewish people’s historical and indigenous connection to the Holy Land.

Since the founding of Israel in 1948, the Jewish people have faced nine wars against multiple enemies. Yet, beyond the physical conflicts, a deeper ideological battle has been waged against Israel and the Jewish people. This war, crafted by certain Arab leaders and echoed by international organizations like the United Nations, seeks to erase the Jewish people’s ancestral ties to the land, casting them as outsiders, imposters, and “settlers.”

One thing, however, stands in the way of the denialists: the 3,800-year history of the City of David, a site lying just south of the Old City. Archeologists at the site are unearthing evidence that proves the Jewish people’s origin story in the land for over three millennia. Every shovel of dirt reveals that while others may claim to be indigenous to Jerusalem, the Jewish people are, in fact, more indigenous to the Land of Israel than perhaps any other group living anywhere in the world.

This is the timely story of those who transformed City of David from a neglected hilltop village into one of the most important archeological heritage sites in the world, while facing powerful global institutions and terror groups that would do almost anything to keep this truth hidden. Highly relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this book foreshadows the events and historical denialism that unfolded with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.