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Joel Kotkin The Next Californias Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have adopted many of the policies contributing to the Golden State’s decline.

Posted By on August 25th, 2025

https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-colorado-washington-oregon-decline

Not long ago, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon were widely hailed as states with bright futures. For decades, they attracted scores of out-of-state migrants, turning Denver, Seattle, and Portland into celebrated urban hubs.

But that changed as these states began adopting the very policies—above all on energy, housing, and regulation—that many newcomers had fled from in California. Once politically purple, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have turned solid blue, embracing the same agenda that even the New York Times concedes has turned “the California dream” into “a mirage.”

True, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have yet to reach California’s levels of dysfunction. Yet each shows signs suggestive of the Golden State’s experience, including lower job growth, sluggish housing-construction rates, a deteriorating business climate, and surging domestic out-migration.

The shift in migration patterns may be the clearest sign of the three states’ Californication. Like California, these states long attracted newcomers with their remarkable natural beauty. People only began leaving California—still arguably the most beautiful state in the continental U.S., with some of the most pleasant weather on earth—when its political, economic, and cultural climate became unbearable, especially for young families.

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The New York Times: Still Dishonest After All These Years Why does so much of the world still fall for manipulated news? by Jeff Davidson

Posted By on August 25th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-new-york-times-still-dishonest-after-all-these-years/

The New York Times recently published an article and an accompanying picture showing a child so emaciated that his spine is rippling through the back of his skin. The article claimed that Israel intentionally is starving Palestinians, particularly Palestinian children.

In truth, the young child had a pre-existing condition, apparently cerebal palsy. This was unrelated to the conflict with Israel. Curiously, the boy’s mother and brother were of normal weight and appeared healthy. The Times subsequently had to admit the “error.”

No Concern for Truth

Here is the part that they chose to ignore: Israelis have prepared hundreds of thousands of meals for Palestinians who are caught in the treacherous combat between Israel and Hamas. Did the Times deign to report on that, or simply offer more lies? Hamas steals food and supplies and, when Palestinians attempt to flee, Hamas shoots them and then blames Israel.

If Times editors had any dignity they’d strive to publish accurate articles, especially after deceiving America and the world for four years about the health and capabilities of Joe Biden. They’d feel ashamed about perpetually pushing the Trump ‘Russiagate story’ that has been thoroughly disproven.

Alas, Times editors have no concern about whether or not they’re being truthful, except when they’re caught. Compare, for instance, their treatment of the presidential offspring. The Times forsook countless possible stories on the veracity of Hunter Biden’s laptop, drug abuse, virulent racism, sexual escapades, pay-for-play schemes, and shady deals. Any Trump offspring involved in 1% of Hunter’s transgressions would yield endless coverage.

Terror at the Top 

In the last 95 years has anything changed at the alleged newspaper of record? In 1932 and 1933, the Joseph Stalin-loving Times deliberately buried the news of the “Terror-Famine,” which killed at least 3.9 million Ukrainians, but perhaps as many as 7.0 million, equal to one in eight Ukrainians, or possibly one in four.

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‘107 Days’ Will Cover Up Kamala’s Campaign Catastrophe What to expect from this “suspense novel” of a memoir. by Mark Tapson

Posted By on August 25th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/107-days-will-cover-up-kamalas-campaign-catastrophe/

In case you missed the exciting announcement back on July 31, failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris revealed in an Instagram post that Simon & Schuster will publish her behind-the-scenes account of her 2024 campaign debacle. The memoir, titled 107 Days in reference to the mercifully shortest presidential campaign in modern history, will be released on Sept. 23, so mark your calendars.

For those keeping score, she had previously published two books under her name: 2009’s Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer and 2019’s The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. The former book faced accusations of plagiarism of a degree that sank Harvard’s Claudine Gay’s career, but which were shrugged off by the Left-dominated media as a “conservatives pounce” non-controversy. The latter book was panned even by NPR as full of campaign platitudes and awkward prose (Kamala’s prose is awkward? Imagine that).

Mainstream media announcements about her forthcoming book have been muted in tone, reflecting the Democrat Party’s general lack of enthusiasm about the catastrophic choice for presidential candidate who shows every sign of intending a comeback run at the White House. Everyone knows that Harris will never win a presidential election; if she couldn’t beat Trump the first time around, she certainly won’t beat JD Vance in 2028; Vance will wipe the floor with her in debates, and he will be riding a wave of four years of epic Trump successes. It’s hard to imagine a conservative opponent that she could beat. She won’t even win her own Party’s nomination over a white male, Gavin Newsom, whose lust for the Oval Office is white-hot. Kamala is out of her league at the level of national politics, and unlikeable.

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Despite Recent Good News, The Public Remains Sour On The Economy, I&I/TIPP Poll Finds

Posted By on August 25th, 2025

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/08/25/despite-recent-good-news-the-public-remains-sour-on-the-economy-ii-tipp-poll-finds/

Inflation may have moderated, and the economy is showing signs of healthy growth, but the public remains deeply concerned about both, according to the latest I&I/TIPP poll.

The poll found that fully 80% of those surveyed by I&I/TIPP say they are either “very” (45%) or “somewhat” (35%) concerned about inflation. Just 17% say they are not concerned. That’s despite the fact that inflation has averaged just 2.6% this year – which is significantly lower than any year under the Biden administration – and came in lower than expected in July.

And while the economy grew a healthy 3% in the second quarter – which was better than expected – only 38% say the economy is improving, and more than three quarters (76%) say they are concerned about an economic slowdown or recession in the next 12 months.

The latest I&I/TIPP poll asked a series of questions to gauge the public’s views about whether the economy is in a recession, if it’s improving, concerns about inflation, whether their wages are keeping pace with prices, and the top three economic issues facing the economy. The national online I&I/TIPP Poll was taken by 1,362 voters from July 30-Aug. 1, and has a margin of error of is +/-2.7 percentage points.

The results show that most Americans remain highly troubled about the cost of living and are concerned about the near-term trajectory of the economy.

Concerns about inflation, for example, cross all ideological and demographic boundaries. While 90% of Democrats say they are concerned about inflation over the next 12 months, so are 71% of Republicans and 79% of independents. In fact, concern about inflation topped 70% in every one of the dozen demographic categories the I&I/TIPP Poll tracks.

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Qatar’s Muslim Scholars: Nothing More Important than Killing Israelis by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on August 25th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21867/qatar-scholars-killing-israelis

As far as Qatar’s Muslim scholars are concerned… the war in the Gaza Strip did not start on the day Hamas launched its invasion of Israel. Rather, the war began the moment Israel fired back, and the only victims are the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, not those who were murdered, raped, beheaded and burned alive on October 7.

Several Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have added Qatar’s IUMS to their terrorism blacklists, saying it used “Islamic rhetoric as a cover to facilitate terrorist activities.”

Needless to say, the scholars have not called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages and accept a ceasefire that would end the war and the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Instead, the conference has unleashed scathing criticism of Israel for daring to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorism.

For the Muslim scholars, boycotting and isolating Israel is more important than halting the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. Their interpretation of Sharia laws and international humanitarian principles suggests that it is fine to sacrifice as many Palestinians as necessary for the sake of murdering Jews and destroying Israel.

The IUMS’s position does not come as a surprise. Instead of urging Muslims to denounce terrorism and renounce violence, the organization, earlier this year, issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) in which it called on all Muslims to wage Jihad (holy war) against Israel. The scholars want to see Muslims commit more massacres against Jews.

Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Once again, Qatar and Turkey have proven that their top priority is to promote the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as part of the Islamists’ Jihad to destroy Israel…. It is time for the Trump administration to call out Qatar and Turkey for their ongoing support for Hamas. It is also time for the US to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

More than 150 prominent Muslim scholars from 50 countries are currently attending a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals. At least 20 Muslim citizens of Israel were among 1,200 people murdered by Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians that day. Thousands more were injured, and 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, where 50 — dead and alive — are still held captive.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on August 24th, 2025

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Heartwarming Israeli recovery stories from the war in Gaza.

Israeli breakthrough in spinal cord surgery.

Israelis are restoring vines and olive trees at a monastery

Israeli startup speeds up production of eco-friendly aviation fuel.

Two Israeli women win the lottery on consecutive days.

Israeli comedy about kidnapping is a (surprise?) hit with Israeli audiences.

Israelis were dancing for joy (and medals) in Vietnam.

More ancient Jewish history unearthed in Israel.

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Avi and Eden are married. IDF Commander Avi, shot in the head on Oct 7 2023, was rehabilitated at Raanana’s Lowenstein center where he met and got engaged to his nurse Eden (see here previously).  They were recently married.  See links here. And here. And note the multicultural Jewish wedding in Israel.
 
Idan Amedi’s reunion with medic who saved his life. Actor and singer Idan Amedi reunited with the doctor who saved his life after he was severely injured in Gaza. At his Jerusalem concert for thousands of fans, Amedi paused his performance, hugged Dr Tuvia Book, saying “I love you, “I will never be able to thank you enough.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413376  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413495
 
Hearts go out to female soldiers. (TY Yanky) Lev LeChayalot (Heart for Female Soldiers) was started as a grassroots initiative to raise the spirits of thousands of courageous female IDF soldiers defending the country, providing them with the vital care they need to help them better able to serve their country.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-835281  https://chayalot.com/who-we-are/
 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-864530
 
Attack on Iran stopped its cyber-attacks against the UK. (TY OurCrowd) In May, Israel’s Cyabra (see here previously) uncovered an Iranian bot network attack intending to manipulate UK political sentiment and deepen domestic divisions. But for 16 days in June, after Israel began attacking Iran, the bots went silent.
https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2025/07/11/3114008/0/en/Cyabra-Uncovers-Iranian-Bot-Operation-Undermining-UK-Democracy.html 
 
Oct 8. Jewish-American filmmaker and author Wendy Sachs showed her documentary “October 8”, which tries to reclaim control of the narrative, at the Jerusalem Film Festival. According to her, the film seeks to explain “how we got to where we got,” and it’s intended for an international and not necessarily Jewish audience.
https://www.jns.org/hollywood-has-no-spine-jewish-director-fights-antisemitism/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
The first human spinal cord implant. Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Matricelf (see here previously) are to perform the world’s first surgery, where a personalized engineered human spinal cord will be implanted in a paralyzed patient. The procedure aims to enable the patient to rise from a wheelchair and walk again.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-864808  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UYHX2NNLRUg
 
Eliminating EoE. Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a food allergy (milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, fish etc.,) disease that affects 1 in 2,500 people. Now a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that blocking the protein TSLP might stop the disease from developing. It may also help understand other allergic disorders.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-food-allergy-disease-eoe-rises-israeli-team-says-blocking-a-protein-can-shut-it-down/   https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.25.640192v1
 
4th FDA clearance for AI blood analysis. Israel’s Scopio Labs (see here previously) has now received the fourth FDA clearance for its groundbreaking, full-field digital hematology imaging platform. The new Decision Support System significantly helps labs analyze blood smears for anomalies.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/startup-news/scopio-labs-receives-fourth-fda-clearance-elevating-digital-morphology-with-enhanced-ai-powered-rbc-and-platelet-capabilities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9HqaBCg4Ac
 
Good Medicine. (TY Sharon) The Good Medicine experience at Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion, featured Chief Joseph and Dr. Laralyn RiverWind, founders of FireKeepers International, a Native American Zionist charity. They gave messages of support and the gift of healing, from one indigenous people to another.
https://rjstreets.com/2025/08/17/jerusalem-protests-beating-drums-but-more/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/r9bg_iR3Pk0  https://www.firekeepersinternational.org/  
https://www.firekeepersinternational.org/copy-of-projects
 
Therapeutic playroom in memory of Bibas family. Schneider Children’s Medical Center has inaugurated its first therapeutic playroom, dedicated to the memory of murdered hostages Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. It offers hospitalized children a space for play, healing, and hope. It was created thanks to non-profit “Toys for Simcha.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/413450  https://israelactive.com/?s=%22Toys+for+Simcha%22

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Aiding, Abetting and Rewarding Evil Peter Smith

Posted By on August 24th, 2025

https://quadrant.org.au/news-opinions/qed/aiding-abetting-and-rewarding-evil/

“You have to despair for Australia in the year of Our Lord 2025. A battle between good and evil is going on before our very eyes. And our government, representing all of us in the eyes of the world, is aiding and abetting evil.”

The minister at my church, an Army Reserve chaplain, studiously and admirably steered cleared of politics from the pulpit. It was Sunday, October 8, 2023. Who could not have been affected by the previous day’s horrendous events in Israel? He took a step out of his lane. Israel had a right to fight back, he said. Adding, provided it was proportionate.

We debated afterwards on the meaning of proportionate. He lent me a book, Military Ethics by Stephen Coleman. Thereafter we had more informed discussions without necessarily reaching agreement on what proportionate meant in the circumstances Israel faced. It is fair to say that once obvious abuses such as the wanton killing of civilians are put aside, proportionality is highly subjective. Best to quote Coleman:

The fact that something is a legitimate military target means that it can be directly targeted, but an attack will only be justified if is also proportionate … The commander will need to determine what the military value of the target is, what collateral damage is likely to be caused … and whether the target is of sufficient military value to justify the level of collateral damage that will be caused. (p.192)

Unsurprisingly, there is no uncontested view about any number of past war-time events: from the Allied saturation bombing of German cities to the Dambusters Raid to Hiroshima to the sinking of the Belgrano, and so on. What is not contested is that “War is Hell”, as General Sherman put it during the American Civil War. And this remains the case despite the Geneva Conventions, which pointedly do not in the least restrain Hamas terrorists. Which brings me to the war in Gaza.

Israel is up against an enemy emerging from tunnels to shoot from behind women’s skirts, from hospitals and schools; an enemy which invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing, raping and kidnapping its citizens, and which expresses a religious determination to wipe Israel off the map. Yet, bizarrely, Israel is being held solely accountable by the media and assorted prime ministers for any and all deprivations suffered by the resident population in the enemy’s territory. The situation is unique in the annals of war. I wonder what Churchill would have said about the deprivations of German civilians who voted the Nazis into power; just as Gazans voted Hamas into power.

ANTI-SEMITISM, ISRAEL, MEDIA Comments turned off

Gaza Part Two: The Global Political Fallout Western elites, from academia to media, keep amplifying Hamas propaganda—fueling unrest abroad and eroding their own nations’ credibility. By Thaddeus G. McCotter and Andrew Zack

Posted By on August 24th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/08/23/gaza-part-two-the-global-political-fallout/

This is the second installment of a three-part series on the Gaza situation, political fallout, root causes, and real-world ramifications.

The United States and the European Union have rightly designated Hamas a terrorist organization. Yet one would be hard-pressed to know it, given the global political fallout regarding Gaza.

Literally, the day after Hamas invaded Israel—killing, raping, and kidnapping innocent civilians—and weeks before Israel counterattacked, there were pro-Hamas demonstrations throughout the United States and Europe. Some Hamas supporters denied outright that the designated terrorist organization had committed their atrocities, claiming it was all fabricated Israeli propaganda. Still, other Hamas supporters accepted that Hamas had committed the terrorist atrocities but argued they were justified by Israel’s purported “occupation” of Gaza. Both sets of Hamas supporters tendentiously alleged Israel was a genocidal, racist Western colonial power oppressing “people of color,” i.e., the Palestinians.

In the U.S., pro-Hamas activists took over parts of many American college campuses, denouncing Israel and chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” and “globalize the intifada.” Both slogans are barely disguised demands that Israel be destroyed and its Jewish citizens be expelled or, more likely, slaughtered. Pro-Hamas supporters also chant them to seek to instill fear and intimidate Israel’s supporters, especially American Jews, into silence. Pro-Hamas supporters assaulted American Jews, notably by physically harassing students. College administrations, many of whom are sympathetic to Hamas and its aims, did nothing to quell these acts. Nor did the Biden administration. Seeing no pushback to end the intimidation and abuse of Israel’s supporters, in particular, and Jews, in general, professional associations took it as a green light to demand a U.S. boycott of Israel (along the lines of their continued Boycott, Divest, and Sanction campaign), and, yes, to continue to make American Jews feel unwelcome.

Such assaults and batteries against Jews are not limited to the United States. Antisemitism in Europe, already rising before Hamas attacked Israel, has sharply increased. Israelis have been assaulted in Europe, including the pogrom against Jews in Amsterdam earlier this year. Jewish restaurants in Europe (and the U.S.) have been damaged, and their patrons have been harassed. Israeli cruise ships have been prevented from landing at European ports by gangs of pro-Hamas demonstrators. Predatory acts against Israelis and Jews seemingly abound worldwide with apparent impunity and abetment.

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When even consensus in Israel is contentious By Ruthie Blum

Posted By on August 24th, 2025

https://www.jns.org/when-even-consensus-in-israel-is-contentious/

Consensus is so hard to come by in Israel that even when it exists, it’s a source of strife. The issue of the hostages’ rescue is a perfect case in point.

At this juncture, everyone agrees that all 50 captives—20 of them living—have to be freed together. In other words, no more partial deals that involve a Nazi-like selection process determined by Hamas.

Rather than alignment on this score, however, the protest movement is demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu send a delegation back to the negotiating table to engage in talks over the very “Witkoff plan” that involves the return of half of the hostages in a phased ceasefire arrangement.

The backdrop, and the reason that Hamas suddenly expressed willingness to reconsider Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff’s previous blueprint, is the Cabinet’s decision to launch a major military operation to take over Gaza City—the terrorist group’s last stronghold in the Strip—and finally conclude the war. It’s important to note that the protest movement is also calling for an end to the war.

The way it’s doing this is through anti-government demonstrations. Anyone unfamiliar with the Israeli psyche might find this peculiar. After all, both the government and those who oppose it want all the hostages to come home in one fell swoop and for the war to finally be over.

Ditto for U.S. President Donald Trump, who declared last Monday on Truth Social: “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed. The sooner this happens, the greater the chances of success.”

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Trump’s Whirlwind Week: Peace Talks, D.C. Cleanup, and a CBO Win Trump’s whirlwind week: pushing peace abroad, restoring order in D.C., boosting markets with tariffs, and scoring a CBO win—all while critics scramble to keep up. By Roger Kimball

Posted By on August 24th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/08/24/trumps-whirlwind-week-peace-talks-d-c-cleanup-and-a-cbo-win/

A week ago, I was writing about Donald Trump’s summit meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska to talk about ending Russia’s war with Ukraine. A few days before that, I wrote about the Trump administration’s announcement that it would conduct a thorough “internal review” of the Smithsonian Institution and its vast network of museums, research centers, and related activities. It turns out that when Trump ordered the elimination of DEI initiatives, he meant it. In recent years, the Smithsonian has gradually morphed from an institution for the “increase & diffusion of knowledge among men” into a woke repository of progressive, anti-American shibboleths. Among other things, the colonoscopy-like review will counter the pervasive assumption that the history of the United States is tantamount to a history of oppression.

Last Monday, Trump quickly made good on his promise in Alaska to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, when he assembled the heads of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the European Union, and NATO at the White House to talk with Zelensky. It was an extraordinary event. Alas, “intransigence” seems to be Putin’s—or is it Zelensky’s?—middle name, so peace in that deadly conflict (total casualties have topped one million) continues to be elusive, despite Trump’s heroic efforts.

That disappointment has not stymied Trump. Instead, he took his peace agenda to Washington, D.C., putting the city under federal control—it had withered under home rule since 1973—and calling in the National Guard to help the Metropolitan Police reestablish order, aesthetic as well as legal. Homeless encampments were disassembled, grass is being replanted, and the law is being enforced. The results were nearly instantaneous. CNN put it this way: “Trump’s DC takeover produces moderate drop in crime—and huge spike in immigration arrests.”

A reporter for Fox was more forthright. “DC just had a murder-free week, and yes, Dems, Trump did that.” “As of Wednesday afternoon,” we read, “the nation’s capital has had no murders for seven days, something that had not been achieved since March and something I can find no recent record of in summer months when the murder rate is typically at its highest.”

And it’s not just murder, according to the local police union. Robbery dropped 46% in the week after the takeover, carjackings were down a whopping 83%, and violent crime was down 22%. Who could possibly argue against that?

Ask CNN.

Tariffs were supposed to be the stupid Trump idea that was going to eviscerate the stock market and crash the U.S. economy. A couple of days ago, Canada joined the long list of countries to drop its retaliatory tariffs in order to curry favor with Trump. Friday, the DOW logged an 840-point gain, closing above 45,600.