WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

How Immigration Changes Britain By Douglas Murray

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-immigration-changes-britain/

Almost nothing is discussed as badly in America or Europe as the subject of immigration. And one reason is that it remains almost impossible to have any sensible or rational public discussion of its consequences. Or rather it is eminently possible to have a discussion about the upsides (“diversity,” talent, etc.) but almost impossible to have any rational discussion about its downsides.

When I wrote The Strange Death of Europe, I wanted to highlight the sheer scale of change that immigration brings. Some people might be happy with it, others unhappy: but to pretend that the change doesn’t occur, or won’t occur, or isn’t very interesting so please move along has always seemed an error to me. For instance, as I noted then, an internal document from the Ministry of Defence that leaked a few years back said that Britain would no longer be able to engage militarily in a range of foreign countries because of “domestic” factors. It takes a moment to absorb this. We’re used to wondering about how immigration changes domestic politics. But foreign policy as well?

All of this is to say that the latest news from the U.K. is both thoroughly predictable and deeply disturbing. Readers of National Review will be familiar with the case of Asia Bibi. She is the Christian woman from Pakistan who has been in prison on death row for the last eight years. Her “crime” is that a neighbor accused her of “blasphemy.” As Mairead McArdle wrote:

In 2009, Bibi found herself in a quarrel when she went to get water for herself and other farm workers and two Muslim women objected to drinking from a container used by a Christian. A mob later came after Bibi, accusing her of insulting the prophet, and she was beaten up in her home. She was subsequently arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.

Her case has had ramifications throughout Pakistani society in the years since. For instance, it provoked the statement by the brave governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, which led to his own murder by one of his own bodyguards. In the days since her release from jail, there have been mass protests in Pakistan where thousands of enraged fanatics have called, literally, for Asia Bibi’s head. The case has amply demonstrated the type of country that Pakistan is these days. But who would have guessed that her case would also throw so much light on the type of country Britain now is?

POLITICS Comments turned off

Here’s a Preview of House Democrats’ Cavalcade of Investigations By Rick Moran

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/trending/heres-a-preview-of-house-democrats-cavalcade-of-investigations/

Incoming Democratic chairmen of various House committees spread out over the airwaves on Sunday to preview the coming avalanche of investigations into the president and Republicans.

All that’s missing is a guillotine.

I suppose this is what passes for “the people’s business” in the Democratic Party universe.

Axios:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week” that protecting the Mueller investigation will be his top oversight priority. Nadler said that if acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is still in office when he takes the gavel, his first order of business will be to invite or subpoena him to appear before the committee.

Nadler also added that the Judiciary Committee will re-examine the White House’s apparent stifling of the FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “the appointment of Mr. Whitaker should concern every American — Democrat, Republican, liberal conservative — who believes in rule of law and justice.”
Schumer said that he, Nancy Pelosi and several other ranking members have sent a letter to the chief ethics officer of the Justice Department asking him to issue guidelines urging Whitaker to recuse himself from all matters related to the Mueller investigation.
Incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said on “This Week” that one of his top oversight priorities involves the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the census.
He also added that looking into voter suppression is a priority: “We cannot have a country where it becomes normal to do everything in folks’ power to stop people from voting.”
Incoming House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Democrats will have to “ruthlessly prioritize” which investigations to follow so that their “positive agenda” — things like fixing health care — does not get lost.

IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Illegal Alien, Released in NJ, Charged with Triple Murder in Missouri By Rick Moran

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/trending/illegal-alien-released-in-nj-charged-with-triple-murder-in-missouri/

Advocates of sanctuary policies really don’t care if you live or die.

An exaggeration? I don’t think so. Not when they justify their policies after incidents like this.

An illegal alien, arrested in New Jersey in December 2017 on domestic battery charges, was released by local authorities even after ICE requested a detainer on him. Luis Rodrigo Perez then made his way to Missouri, where earlier this month he went on a murder spree — killing three people in two days.

Washington Times:

“Had ICE’s detainer request in December 2017 been honored by Middlesex County Jail, Luis Rodrigo Perez would have been placed in deportation proceedings and likely sent home to his country — and three innocent people might be alive today,” said Corey Price, acting ICE executive associate director.

John Tsoukaris, ICE’s deportation operations field director in Newark, New Jersey, called Middlesex County’s policy “reckless.”

He said Perez had a history of violence and would have been a clear candidate for cooperation.

Middlesex officials reject the notion that they are to blame, pointing the finger at ICE instead.

In a statement the county government rejected blame and said it was ICE that dropped the ball.

Officials said they have repeatedly told ICE they will only cooperate in some instances, such as someone convicted of a “first or second degree offense.” They said Perez’s case didn’t reach that level.

Still, they said, ICE had 51 days while Perez sat in jail during which the agency could have tried to get a deportation order for Perez. The county said it would have honored that order.

“Instead ICE officials chose to do nothing, which places all responsibility of Mr. Perez’s actions squarely upon ICE,” the county government said in a statement.

Police in Missouri say Perez attacked a home which he had been kicked out of. The victims could be heard “begging for their lives,” The Associated Press reported, citing charging documents.

So if Perez had been charged with a first-degree felony, they would have held him indefinitely? If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge over the Chicago River I can sell you.

The fact that he was illegal and proven violent should have been enough to assure his indefinite detention. But under sanctuary laws, drunk driving, slapping around your girlfriend, and other “lesser” offenses aren’t enough to protect the people from violent criminals.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Honor Our Veterans With a Better Foreign Policy . By William Ruger & Dan Caldwell

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/dan_caldwell/

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, millions of Americans were deployed overseas to combat zones in nearly a dozen countries. They joined the honored ranks of millions of other American veterans alive today who fought bravely in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, not to mention those who served during the Cold War or participated in 1990s conflicts such as the Persian Gulf War.

The veterans of our most recent wars distinguished themselves in challenging situations time and again. When we consider martial valor and individual sacrifice, we shouldn’t only think about our troops on the beaches of Normandy or Iwo Jima. We should also remember those who fought in dusty places like Fallujah, Baghdad, and Kandahar, displaying heroism to rival that of previous generations. Thus, we rightly honor their service today.

However, the tactical successes and individual bravery of American fighting men and women over the past 17 years cannot mask the broader failures of U.S. foreign policy since 9/11. Nor should they be used as justification to continue endless wars disconnected from U.S. security in places like Afghanistan.

The best way to honor the sacrifices of our post-9/11 veterans and their families is to make sure we pursue a foreign policy that only calls on our troops to fight when absolutely necessary for our safety, prosperity, and way of life. We shouldn’t ask people to risk everything for their country when what they are fighting for has little to do with U.S. interests or can only be connected to them indirectly via distorted or idealistic theories of the world. We dishonor veterans when we continue to pursue failed policies that can’t be clearly linked to why so many of them joined in the first place: to defend America and our freedom here at home.

It isn’t surprising when we hear so often about the need to “stay the course” in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan in order to honor our fallen and the veterans who served in those conflicts. We understand the psychology of not wanting our heroes’ sacrifices to have been in vain. However, when we can’t connect continued fighting to a plausible strategy for victory, it doesn’t honor anyone. Would those who have given the ultimate sacrifice want us to continue pursuing the same failed strategies that lead to the same disappointing results while also ensuring that more service members will serve and die in those places?

MEDIA Comments turned off

Jim Acosta: the Don Quixote of fake news I have at times wondered whether Jim Acosta pays the president a retainer for making him such a recognizable figure Roger Kimball

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://spectator.us/jim-acosta-don-quixote-fake-news/

Let’s face it, reality show star Jim Acosta could get a cover charge for his rendition of the Man of La Mancha. There he is, press conference after press conference, crooning his ‘unheard melodies’:

‘To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.’

Don Quixote tilted at windmills and was ridiculous but lovable.

Jim Acosta accosts his ‘unbeatable foe,’ Donald Trump and is ridiculous but disgusting.

Think back to his performance in August before the President’s Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Acosta kept badgering her to assure the scribes in the White House press pool that the President did not think the were ‘enemies of the people.’ Sanders refused to let him fulfill that impossible dream, which sent the CNN reporter into one of his signature windmill-tilting frenzies. ‘For the sake of this room, the people that are in this room, this democracy, this country,’ he said with characteristic understatement and politesse, ‘the president of the United States should not refer to us as the enemy of the people.’

Thanks for the lesson in civility, Jim. It was almost as pertinent as his invocation of ‘Nazis’ in response to the President’s observation that there were ‘some very fine people on both sides’ at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville a couple of years ago.

Nazis, eh? Someone should tell Jim Acosta about Godwin’s law and the perils of reductio ad Hitleram.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

Blacklisting Patrick Henry and American History By James Patrick Riley

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://amgreatness.com/2018/11/11/blacklisting-patrick

My days as an American historian may be numbered.

For the better part of 40 years, my extended family has featured American “living history” on our 760-acre apple farm in Oak Glen, California. When my wife and I built our Georgian inspired home on the farm in 1994, we originally hoped to offer 18th century dinner theater, but two mothers of fifth grade students approached us, asking for a field trip on the American Revolution.

I didn’t think it would work at first. As a child, our field trips were to museums and bakeries and theme parks. Allowing children to witness a mock battle? Allowing 11 year olds to pretend they were soldiers? I loved the idea of showing kids redcoats and minutemen, but I wondered if California elementary teachers would approve.

I could not have been more wrong. Within five years, we were seeing 50,000 students a year, and in the last 17 years, more than 1.2 million students, parents, and teachers visited programs on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the California Gold Rush.

Our program has no contemporary agenda and for decades it has been loved by all sorts of Americans, who are left, right, and center on the political spectrum. I’ve had great conversations with parents who were federal judges, Hollywood producers, fashion designers, actors and other farmers like me. I once had a pleasant dinner conversation with Bradley Whitford, (“West Wing,” “Saving Mr. Banks”). I wonder, had he known my politics, if the conversation might have taken an arch turn, because I’m pro-life, a lifetime NRA member, and a property rights advocate, but Brad and I kept it very human and convivial. I think, over the years, quite a few of my guests may have known something about my politics, because I’ve always been willing to speak my mind online, but if they ever did have trouble with my views, it always felt like a very Henry Fonda/Jimmy Stewart relationship. I love my customers, and most of them love me, my family, and staff.

Enter ubiquitous social media and a crusading socialist “blue wave” activist—who took the trouble to urge several public schools to blacklist our programs. For my thinking that the Reverend Louis Farrakhan is a bit more dangerous than some mythological (and certainly minuscule) “White Nationalism,” I was called a “racist.” For thinking Stormy Daniels was wildly over the top assaulting an undercover police officer, I was called a “misogynist.” For being bewildered by a sudden multiplicity of gender identities, I was called a “homophobe.” Suddenly, in these polarized times, Riley’s Farm is no longer considered a “safe space” for children by timid, progressive school administrators.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

The Lonely Mob By Kevin D. Williamson

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/11/antifa-lonely-mobs-fight-fantasy-nazis/

Feel blue? Lack purpose? Life a little dull? Get a lift by fighting some fantasy Nazis.

Just before the election, an Andrew Gillum intern named Shelby Shoup was arrested and charged with battery after assaulting some college Republicans on the campus of Florida State University. It was rather less exciting than that sounds: She went on a rant about “Nazis” and “fascism” — Gillum’s Republican opponent, Ron DeSantis, finished up at Harvard Law and then joined the U.S. military and helped to fight actual Jew-hating totalitarian thugs in Iraq, in case anybody cares about the facts — before dousing the Republicans with chocolate milk.

There isn’t much of enduring interest in that story: Feckless and hysterical young Caitlyns have been going all rage-monkey from coast to coast for a good bit now, and one might get a feel for the level of maturity at play here by meditating on the fact that a grown-ass woman of legal voting age was walking around drinking chocolate milk. Caitlyns gotta Caitlyn, I suppose.

Of course Shoup should be convicted on a misdemeanor battery charge, this being a fairly open-and-shut case supported by video evidence. Her actions are also a serious violation of the university’s code of student conduct, which could entail punishment up to and including expulsion. Kicking her out of the university would be excessive, I think, and she’s obviously in need of further and better education. I’d suggest having her write a 40-page essay on the works of Russell Kirk or F. A. Hayek, or maybe Ludwig von Mises on the actual Nazis and totalitarianism.

Spilt milk, indeed.

This sort of behavior should be understood as being on a spectrum.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Fire Brenda Snipes !!!

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/11/fire-brenda-snipes-florida-broward-county-election-supervisor/

Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections in Florida’s Broward County, does not deserve to be within a thousand miles of any election office anywhere in these United States. She should be fired at the earliest possible opportunity.

Snipes has held her position since 2003, in which year her predecessor, Miriam Oliphant, was suspended for “grave neglect, mismanagement and incompetence” and, quite literally, marched out of her office. Alas, Snipes has proven no better at fulfilling her duties than was Oliphant. On Friday, a court in Broward County found that Snipes was guilty of violating both Florida’s public-records laws and the state’s constitution by failing to provide mandatory updates to the public, and it ordered the immediate release of the missing information. As that ruling was coming down, Snipes’s office was laying out more lawsuit bait. According to the Miami Herald, an election worker found bags of “uncounted early ballots” in the Broward County office — ballots whose provenance could not be established. Snipes, meanwhile, was busy mixing together rejected provisional ballots and accepted provisional ballots, processing them all together. She justified her decision to add these provisional ballots to the official tally on the grounds that it would be better to include some illegal votes than to nix the legal ones with which, by her own incompetence, they had been blended.

Such behavior is by no means out of character. This year alone, Snipes has been reprimanded by the courts twice: once, in May, for illegally destroying ballots during the 2016 Democratic primary, in violation of both state and federal law; and again, in August, for illegally opening mail-in ballots in secret. How long, we wonder, does it take to establish a pattern?

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Academic anti-Semitism Encounters Setbacks By Kenneth H. Ryesky

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/11/academic_antisemitism_encounters_setbacks.html

University of Michigan professor John Cheney-Lippold unabashedly reneged upon his agreement to write a recommendation letter for his student Abigail Ingber solely because the program to which Ms. Ingber sought admission is under the aegis of an Israeli academic institution. This, in turn, has evoked various controversies in academic circles.

Even if motivated by politics, bias, or hatred, a professor’s decision to write or to not write a letter of recommendation for a student needs to be the sole and unquestioned prerogative of the professor; else recommendation letters would have no value or meaning. There must, however, be ethical behavior on the part of the professor.

Cheney-Lippold has a surfeit of ethical issues which extend beyond the fact that his reneging was admittedly timed to follow his receipt of his tenure letter from the university, beyond the fact that a few weeks prior to his tenure grant he presented a paper at a conference cosponsored in no small part by an Israeli academic institution, and irrespective of whether academic boycotts of any sort are or are not ethical.

First and foremost, Cheney-Lippold misrepresented his personal participation in the BDS academic boycott of Israeli institutions as the policy of his department, and when called out on that misrepresentation (which ran contrary to official University statements issued and publicized in 2013 and in 2017) lamely explained that his initial e-mail to Ingber

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on November 11th, 2018

This week’s newsletter features many articles where Israelis have developed solutions for major world problems, from AIDS and cancer to agricultural infestation and drought.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

AIDS / cancer treatment success & goes into production. (TY Hazel) Following successful human trials, Israel’s Zion Medical is to build a biotechnology plant to manufacture its “Gammora” AIDS / cancer treatment. Gammora (see here) eliminates HIV virus-infected cells – not the virus – preventing development of resistance.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zion-medical-announces-results-of-first-human-clinical-trial-of-hiv-drug-gammora-offering-potential-cure-300741569.html
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/24/c_137553489.htm http://zionmedical.com/?page_id=2603
https://www.youtube.com/embed/GZJw0yqZ9Qc?rel=0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvWN9gJ5ZQs

New molecule kills brain cancer cells. Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have developed a molecule to treat glioblastoma, a very aggressive type of brain cancer. The molecule blocks the ability of the MKNK2 gene to produce Mnk2b – a cancer-causing protein but increases the levels of Mnk2a – an inhibitor protein.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/31/c_137572222.htm

Destroys tumors in weeks. I reported previously (9th Sep) on Israel’s Alpha Tau’s radiation emitters starting trials in the USA. Trials have also been launched at two centers in Rome, Italy. But I should have mentioned that 70% of patients in earlier Israeli and Italian studies saw their tumors disappear in just a few weeks.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181107005024/en/Alpha-Tau-Medical-Launches-New-Clinical-Trials

Seeing early Alzheimer’s, before symptoms appear. I’ve reported previously (see here) that Israeli researchers at Sheba hospital have linked Alzheimer’s disease with loss of retina function. They have now found that in those with a family history of Alzheimer’s, the inner layer of the retina is thinner than usual.
https://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/evidence-eye-scan-may-detect-early-alzheimers

Shape-shifting pills for better targeted treatments. 3D-printing is relevant even in the medical industry. Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have engineered capsules from a hydrogel that can change shape upon various conditions. E.g. to release medication only in the intestines, or to expand to fill the stomach.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hebrew-u-team-develops-shape-shifting-3d-printed-pills-for-better-targeted-drugs/

Major partnership to prevent diabetes. (TY OurCrowd) I reported previously (Apr 2016) on Israel’s Sweetch and its system for detecting pre-diabetics. Sweetch is partnering with US-based WellSpan Health, providing its 15,000 employees with “the tool we have been looking for to augment our wellness assessment program”.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ai-mobile-health-app-sweetch-partners-with-wellspan-health-to-help-fight-diabetes-300741126.html http://nocamels.com/2018/11/diabetes-israel-sweetch-health/

Breathtaking technology. I reported previously (see here) on Israeli innovations that can detect illness by analyzing someone’s voice. Israeli startup HealthyMize (see here) has just won $75 million in the Henry Ford Health System’s “Increasing Patient and Caregiver Engagement to Reduce Readmission” Challenge.
https://www.israel21c.org/healthymize-wins-75k-award-from-henry-ford-health-system/
https://www.israel21c.org/smartphone-app-listens-to-your-voice-for-lung-disease/
http://www.healthymize.com/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/oq7fu95EKiw?rel=0

More about finding cancer treatment trials. I reported recently (21st Oct) on Israel’s TrailJectory which helps match cancer patients with clinical trials appropriate to their condition. I believe the subject to be so important that I’m publishing another recent article about this innovative startup. It could save someone’s life.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3749045,00.html

Why Israelis live longer. If the previous medical articles haven’t given you the answer, this article might. Then click the link (here) to see the youtube or (here)Facebook video “Nas Daily meets United Hatzalah”.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/heres-why-despite-it-all-israelis-live-longer/

Just a day in the lives of Hadassah medics. When 7-year-old Elisha Alush collapsed in the Judean desert, paramedics rushed him to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital. They realized he had been stung, but by what? They guessed a scorpion and the antidote worked. Had it been a Black Widow spider, it may have been too late.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/254275