RUTHFULLY YOURS

Political correctness now dominates the realm of this country. The result is that the law is maimed, and factual, logical, and rational thinking is attacked on a regular basis.

But the most egregious of political correctness stances is the one that maintains that Obama cannot be impeached because of the melanin level in his skin. In an incredibly prescient article from 2009, author L.E. Ikenga pointed out what would be America’s undoing if this country continued to obsess “over the color of Barack Obama’s skin” instead of paying more attention to his ardent desire to become a “despot.” At the time, Ikenga asserted that “Obama is intrinsically undemocratic and as his presidency plays out, this will become more obvious.”

And now six years later, Obama continues with his absolute and unrelenting intention to transform this country via unconstitutional means. The most shameful aspect of letting Obama get away with his unlawful actions is that it is an abject insult to the good people of this country. We are asked to ignore his actions and accept that, because he is black, his misdeeds do not matter. The message of moral rot is there for the next generation to see.

And see, they do. Millenials are beginning to understand the horror of Obamacare but only because it is hitting them in the pocketbook, not because of the inherent abuse of their freedoms. They may have voted Republican, but statistics show that they have lost faith with the system we have in America. And why wouldn’t they?

All they see is corruption from the top down. The latest revelation by Jonathan Gruber that Obama was in the room when the deceptive Cadillac tax was established is just another manifestation of the incredible hubris of Obama and company. Each Obama action makes a mockery of the Constitution and its safeguards of checks and balances.

And thus, we adults will have failed the millenials, if we do not put the brakes on Obama and his cronies. The Black American community has been terribly damaged by this man as well. Conservative writer Deneen Borelli, in her book Blacklash explains “how Obama and the Left are driving Americans to the government plantation” and that “members of the black community support what she says but can’t freely express themselves because of the attack[s] they will endure.” So law-abiding Americans are being muzzled. It is the ultimate insult to a free people as the rule of law becomes irrelevant and/or unjust.

Nobody asked your opinion. But when you spoke up we found you to be a turncoat.

Congratulations on becoming a filmmaker. So you’re in Canada promoting this film of yours “Rosewater.” Who knew you were so multi-talented.

Even those who do not watch your Daily Show know you as a comedian. So it comes as a surprise to find you making headlines as a Serious Person.

So this keeps coming up, about your hostility towards Israel and complaints that you are a self-hating Jew…and now where are all the writers you depend on for your material? I ask because to be quite honest something terrible happens when you stop being funny.

You become just another hotheaded jerk. Who knew you had such a large chip on your shoulder?

Maybe on the basis of one movie you imagine yourself an auteur. Well hold the chariots, Mr. DeMille.

So I’m reading (courtesy of Canada’s National Post) that you are beyond reproach because you lost family in the Holocaust. That’s an obnoxious evasion.

Every single Jewish person suffered the same infamy. You won’t get sympathy on the basis of being an orphan.

A version of this column will be posted Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, on the website http://yeoldecrabb.com/

The Chinese Riddle

A servile media has again misrepresented the important if unproductive Asian tour of Pres. Barack Hussein Obama, most importantly the promised engagement with China which failed to materialize.

The ballyhooed U.S.-China climate change agreement, appealing to the fashionable, signed between the U.S and China was much less than meets the eye. It committed America – until it gets to a Congress which will have a different sense – to a rigorous cutback in industrial carbon emissions to be achieved at the price of economic growth and jobs.

It couldn’t be more bogus. Beijing, by far the world’s greatest polluter and not only through carbon emissions but through poisoning of its arable land and most of its water, only formally signed on for something ambiguous down the road. Worse still, as Japanese and South Korean consumers have found – and those Walmart customers may one day learn too at their peril — it exports its poisons through cheaper processed foods.

Recent history is littered with the evidence of failures of the Chinese Communist adherence to international agreements it has signed. Ironically, many of them were pushed through international forums by Washington administrations, both Republican and Democrat, anxious to bring “a rising China” into the world family. For example, none of China’s promises have been fulfilled after the U.S. shoehorned it against considerable opposition into the World Trade Organization with all its benefits.

As previous administrations, most notably the two Bush II terms, Washington did not take on China’s manipulation of its currency and its subsidized exports which have disemboweled American manufacturing. That Chinese thrust had to be met at the same time U.S. industry was trying to cope with the digital revolution, with its enormous increases in productivity but an absence of low and medium-skilled job creation.

Mottos carved in granite over our nation’s universities carry words like “wisdom,” “truth,” “knowledge,” “virtue,” and “justice.” They are generally inscribed in Latin, which emits an even greater sense of solemnity and reverence. They are noble words that convey impartiality, places where contrary opinions can be debated and knowledge is imparted didactically. They suggest institutions from which students will graduate with unlimited possibilities.

Unfortunately those words lie. It is ideology not knowledge that students today are taught and that they master. Most of today’s great universities no longer search for an illusive “truth.” The quaint concept of “virtue,” or the fairness embedded in “justice” are just words whose definitions are irrelevant. Professors offer opinions as fact.

There are no ivy-covered arches etched with the words, “Ignorantia vos Servitus,” yet that motto would more accurately capture many of today’s universities. Too many students graduate ignorant of ideas and opinions that do not accord with those of their teachers and fellow students. Consequently, too many grow up dependent, either on family or government. It is curious how closely aligned are the traits, rebellion and conformity. Today’s students are both rebellious and conformists. They rebel against the evil they are told is personified in the Koch brothers, while admitting no one into their circle that does not conform to their political leanings. They shun independent thinking. They feel sanctimonious, yet lack virtue. It is an attitude both arrogant and supercilious. It is elitism at its most foul. It is not education these students are receiving; it’s indoctrination.

One manifestation has been the reluctance of teachers and administrators to allow those deemed politically incorrect to speak on their campuses. Last spring, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was denied the opportunity at Rutgers, despite her being the first African-American woman to serve in that role. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Muslim convert to atheism and a woman who suffered genital mutilation as a child, was denied a promised honorary degree and disinvited from speaking at Babson this past spring.

Islam’s Assault on Women’s Sexuality — on The Glazov Gang
A former Islamic Imam unveils the misogynist texts of Islam — and their earthly incarnations.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/islams-assault-on-womens-sexuality-on-the-glazov-gang/

FILE – In this undated file photo provided by his family, Peter Kassig stands in front of a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees. The Indianapolis, Indiana, aid worker being held by the Islamic State group told family and teachers that he’d found his calling in 2012 when he decided to stay in the Middle East instead of returning to college, according to an email released Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014 by his family. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kassig Family, File)

BEIRUT (AP) – The Islamic State group released a graphic video Sunday in which a black-clad militant claims to have beheaded U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, who was captured last year.
The militant was standing over a severed head, but it was not immediately possible to confirm that Kassig, 26, was pictured in the video. Family representatives were not immediately available for comment.
The video, which was posted on websites used by the group in the past, appeared to be the latest in a series of grisly messages to the U.S. warning of further brutality if it does not abandon its air campaign in Iraq and Syria.
“This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen, of your country; Peter who fought against the Muslims in Iraq, while serving as a soldier,” the militant says near the end of the nearly 16-minute video. He speaks in an audible British accent despite his voice being distorted to make it more difficult to identify him.
The video also shows what appears to be the mass beheading of several Syrian soldiers captured by the group. The militants warn that U.S. soldiers will meet a similar fate.

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Detecting preemie respiratory distress. (Thanks to Israel21c) Israeli startup Pneumedicare has developed the Pneumonitor to monitor premature babies on ventilation machines. A ventilator can cause pneumothorax, in which the infant’s tiny air sacs over-inflate and burst. Pneumonitor’s alarm sounds an hour before any problem arises. http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/helping-preemies-breathe-easier/

Discovery of the infertility gene. Tel Aviv University scientists have discovered that the genetic deletion of the protein Interleukin-1 (IL-1) improves fertility. It could help increase the effectiveness of IVF treatment. The discovery was made accidentally during research at TAU into IL-1’s role in the hardening of the arteries.

http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2014/10/30/tel-aviv-u-study-neutralizing-immune-gene-improves-success-of-fertility-treatments/

Israel funds cancer research. (Thanks to Israel21c) The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) has made 94 new research grants for the 2014/15 year, totaling a record $3,453,332. Since 1977, ICRF has made 2,115 grants, totaling over $52 million. Successes include 3 top cancer treatments and two major genetic discoveries.

http://www.israel21c.org/news/3-45-million-for-cancer-research/

Violinist continues to improve. Naomi Elishuv made headlines in September when she played the violin while Israeli surgeons implanted two electrodes in her brain to stop her tremors. Doctors say Naomi is recovering impressively and they hope the type of implant will soon be used in other cases.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=21153

Treatment for prostate problems. BPH won’t kill you – it stands for benign prostatic hyperplasia – but it can make life uncomfortable for 50% of men over 50 years old and 80% of men over 80. ClearRing from Israel’s ProArc Medical can address BPH in 10 minutes by a urologist, with no sedation required, and no complications

http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/hope-for-men-with-bladder-and-prostate-problems/

Treating burns in children. Israel’s MediWound has commenced a Phase 3 study to valuate the efficacy and safety of its innovative NexoBrid treatment for severe burns in children. The study plans to be conducted in around 25 sites in Europe and Israel. NexoBrid removes dead or damaged skin without harming viable tissue.

http://ir.mediwound.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=879786

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Israel develops the car of the future. (Thanks to Israel21c) All major auto manufacturers, including Volvo, Toyota, Renault, Fiat and BMW, seek after Israeli car-tech. Israel has about 150 companies developing some of the most advanced security and vision systems for the vehicles of today and tomorrow.

http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/israel-develops-the-car-of-the-future-audio/

Ford buys Israeli navigation system. The Ford Motor Company has signed a deal with Israel’s Mishor 3D, which develops augmented reality navigation systems for automobiles. Ford will fit Mishor’s navigation systems into future Ford vehicles. Mishor’s ShadowBox displays vital information onto the car’s windshield.

http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2014/10/31/ford-picks-israeli-mishor-3ds-navigation-systems/

IN the months since President Obama first seem poised — as he now seems poised again — to issue a sweeping executive amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, we’ve learned two important things about how this administration approaches its constitutional obligations.

First, we now have a clear sense of the legal arguments that will be used to justify the kind of move Obama himself previously described as a betrayal of our political order. They are, as expected, lawyerly in the worst sense, persuasive only if abstracted from any sense of precedent or proportion or political normality.

Second, we now have a clearer sense of just how anti-democratically this president may be willing to proceed.
The legal issues first. The White House’s case is straightforward: It has “prosecutorial discretion” in which illegal immigrants it deports, it has precedent-grounded power to protect particular groups from deportation, and it has statutory authority to grant work permits to those protected. Therefore, there can be no legal bar to applying discretion, granting protections and issuing work permits to roughly half the illegal-immigrant population.

This argument’s logic, at once consistent and deliberately obtuse, raises one obvious question: Why stop at half? (Activists are already asking.) After all, under this theory of what counts as faithfully executing the law, all that matters is that somebody, somewhere, is being deported; anyone and everyone else can be allowed to work and stay. So the president could “temporarily” legalize 99.9 percent of illegal immigrants and direct the Border Patrol to hand out work visas to every subsequent border crosser, so long as a few thousand aliens were deported for felonies every year.

The reality is there is no agreed-upon limit to the scope of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law because no president has attempted anything remotely like what Obama is contemplating. In past cases, presidents used the powers he’s invoking to grant work permits to modest, clearly defined populations facing some obvious impediment (war, persecution, natural disaster) to returning home. None of those moves even approached this plan’s scale, none attempted to transform a major public policy debate, and none were deployed as blackmail against a Congress unwilling to work the president’s will.

Between an ambitious India and a North American energy renaissance, Iran’s horizons narrow.

The Middle East is where generalizations go to die, but suffer a few: The Whac-A-Mole approach to jihadist franchises more or less closely affiliated with al-Qaeda will necessarily continue for the foreseeable future, and those organizations, though they pose a real threat, will be a relatively small problem except where they enjoy state sponsorship and the resources and safe haven that go along with it. Sunni–Shiite cooperation in jihadist projects, uneasy though it may be, will continue to present dangers beyond the expectations of many American analysts. Potential allies in and around Iraq, having been burnt more than once by a seemingly fickle United States that is unsure of itself and its interests, will seek out regional allies and hedge their positions vis-à-vis American power. All of which serves to underline a point repeated by a half-dozen military and foreign-affairs scholars during National Review’s floating policy salon aboard the Allure of the Seas last week: The short-term problem in the Middle East may be the Islamic State or some other du jour gang of stateless beheaders, but the long-term problem is Iran.

Iran is, in a sense, the sort of problem we want to have in the Middle East. It is not an amorphous, slithering coalition of non-state organizations and ad hoc militias; rather, it is a nation-state with infrastructure, institutions, and interests — i.e., a target-rich environment with a great many vulnerabilities. Its young people are restive, and recent sanctions showed Tehran — and the world — exactly what sort of sandy foundation its economy rests upon: Iranian exports fell by half, and the rial lost some 80 percent of its value. And by “Iranian exports” we mean petroleum and minerals, after which dates and figs loom large in the Iranian economy.

It is unknown whether or how or when military action might be undertaken to prevent Tehran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, which would be a truly catastrophic development. Some of Israel’s most sincere and well-informed admirers believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, recently denounced as a “chickens***” by one of Barack Obama’s suavity-dripping diplomatic lieutenants, does not in fact have the military capacity to undo Iran’s nuclear program, a mission that would be quite a bit more complex and challenging than the bombing of an Iraqi reactor in Operation Opera a generation ago. It is also unknown whether the United States would stand alongside its only reliable ally in the Middle East during the inevitably bloodthirsty retaliation from such an action. Likewise, the timing and conditions of any future U.S. military engagements in the area are impossible to forecast.

But some long-term developments are foreseeable, and the United States should make the most of these in its confrontation with Iran, forcing the Tehran regime to fight a war — economic, diplomatic, cultural, and, if it comes to it, military — on two fronts.

In writing Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama’s Impeachment, I had a purpose: Explain that the capacity of Congress to oust a lawless president is central to the Framers’ design of our governing system. Because executive power is awesome, and intended to be that way, certain abuses of it can be discouraged only by the credible threat that Congress will remove the president from power — or, if discouragement fails, can be remediated only by the president’s actual removal. That is why Madison believed that the inclusion of impeachment in Congress’s arsenal was “indispensible” to preserving the Constitution’s framework of liberty vouchsafed by divided power.

Abuse of the executive’s power over immigration enforcement now belongs in this category of maladministration that impeachment alone can counter. One must use the qualifier “now” because this was not always the case. Immigration enforcement was originally a state responsibility. Washington has supplanted the states since the early 20th century, an erosion of federalism largely responsible for our current immigration crisis. That, however, is a subject for another day. Like it or not (I don’t), the federal courts’ ill-conceived application of preemption principles has left the states and the American people vulnerable to a lawless president who refuses to protect them from illegal immigration while preventing them from protecting themselves. (Obama’s theory that disarming the state somehow promotes security works about as well in Arizona as it does in Ukraine.)

I drew on Faithless Execution in last weekend’s column and in a follow-up Corner post, positing that, short of credibly threatening impeachment, Congress and the courts can neither compel a president to enforce the laws nor stop him from using his plenary pardon authority to grant a sweeping amnesty. That gets Obama two-thirds of the prize he is pursuing — namely, several million aliens whose illegal status has been purged, put on the path to inevitable voting rights that will give Democrats an invincible electoral majority.

As for the remaining third, Congress could, in theory, block the president from granting illegal immigrants legal status and other positive benefits (such as work permits) without impeaching him. To do this in reality, though, Congress would have to use its power of the purse. Translation: It would take the credible threat of a government shutdown to check the president’s lawless conferral of benefits.