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UAE Pledges $200 Million to Support Sudan by Robert Williams

Posted By on February 16th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21400/uae-pledges-200-million-to-support-sudan

“The war has lasted too long, cost too many lives, and caused immense suffering. What we seek to do, alongside our partners, is call for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach those in need.” — Reem al-Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 14, 2025.

Iran is establishing another Hamas-like entity in Sudan, mirroring its creation of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces. This group, known as “Kizan,” maintains ties to Hamas, Hezbollah, and African branches of Al Qaeda. If Iran’s allies gain full control over Sudan, Iran will have effectively tightened its grip on Israel’s southern flank, adding yet another hostile front to the region.

The Biden administration’s failure to act decisively has emboldened Iran and endangered both Israel and American strategic interests.

President Donald Trump, as a leader committed to restoring U.S. strength, must confront the Iranian infiltration in Sudan head-on. Stopping Iran’s growing foothold in Africa is not just about Israel’s security — it’s about protecting U.S. economic and military interests…. The time to act is now.

Amid Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis, Addis Ababa, February 14, 2025: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken a significant step in alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people by announcing a $200 million aid package, in a high-level humanitarian conference held in Addis Ababa. The conference, organized by the UAE in collaboration with the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and Ethiopia, is taking place on the sidelines of the 38th African Union Summit.

A Call for Action: Mobilizing Support for Sudan’s Dire Humanitarian Needs

The UAE’s contribution is a response to the devastating civil war in Sudan, which has torn the country apart since April 2023. The brutal conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Sudan’s military has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 12 million people. The UAE’s announcement serves as a call for global attention and a coordinated effort to provide much-needed support to the Sudanese population.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Why did God save Trump? Diane Bederman

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://dianebederman.com/why-did-god-save-trump/

Why did God save Trump? We know He did because the bullet grazed Trump’s ear instead of killing him. It was so close one can only believe that Hand of God was involved.

Considering all the incredible things Donald Trump has done for Jews and Israel, one might ask, in a whisper, is Trump the Messiah?

I have to admit I have asked a few people. In Jewish belief, though, the Messiah (also called Mashiach) is a Jew, specifically a descendant of King David, who will be the future leader of the Jewish people and will usher in a messianic age of peace and justice; essentially, a Jewish king from the Davidic line. For those of us who whispered – is it Trump? It cannot be him. He is not Jewish.

But is Trump the one who precedes the Messiah and the Messianic era? I have been told that someone from the line of Esau must do repentance for him before the Messiah can come. The two brothers, Jacob and Esau, are considered the fathers of the two nations – goiim( non-Jews) and leumim(belonging to the nation). Esau, Jacob’s brother, forsake his birthright for a bowl of soup. Their mother, Rebecca, knew that Jacob was meant to be the leader of the Jewish people and helped him to get the blessing from his father that was meant for Esau.

Esau continued on a path that led him astray. At the age of 40, Esau married two Canaanite women: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Ahalivamah, daughter of Tzivon the Hivite. His wives made his parents miserable, blatantly sacrificing incense to pagan deities.

Twenty-three years later, he married a third wife—his first cousin, Basmat, daughter of his uncle Ishmael. Ishmael is also considered the father of Muslims. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the descendant of Ishmael. For these transgressions, repentance must be made.

Let’s look at Donald Trump. His father, Fred, donated to many Jewish charities  and built the first Synagogue for Jewish refugees in the 1950’s. Donald learned compassion and empathy from his father. And a love for the Jews and Israel.

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‘Why Did You Sit at Home among the Sheepfolds?’: Israel and the People of the Book by Nils A. Haug

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21390/israel-people-of-the-book

Zionism is simply the right of the Jewish nation to live peacefully in its ancestral home — the land promised them in millennia past. Canaan is their inheritance, and has served as their sanctuary for nearly 4,000 years in a world that largely despises them.

The great British statesman Winston Churchill said in 1922 that Jews had returned to Palestine, as it was called then — based on its revised name, given by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was trying to sever Judea from the Jews — “as of right and not by sufferance, and that this was based on their ancient historical connection.”

The biblical Song of Deborah praises those tribes who participated in the battle under the leadership of Barak, the son of Abinoam, and scorns those who did not: “Why did you sit at home among the sheepfolds?” the song asks; “Why did Dan stay home?”

“Even an ancient vision has its moment of birth,” wrote the Israeli poet Nathan Alterman (1910-1970). Alterman lovingly described Israel: “The surroundings of the Kinneret have been a kind of symbol of earthly beauty to us….”

Alterman’s vision of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, and her natural beauty, seems to have been given birth through a deep commitment to an ancient promise made by the Creator to the patriarch Abraham, forefather of all Jews. This covenant was repeated to his son Isaac and then grandson Jacob, again by the Creator. Moses emphasized this promise at Sinai when he declared to the twelve tribes that G-d would restore to them the land of their ancestors.

In this way, the area to be possessed became known to the world at large as the “promised land.” The biblical book of Bereshit (Genesis) records the extent of the land, Zion.

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‘The existential danger for Israel now threatens Europe’ Geert Wilders explains why Europe’s anti-Israel sentiment may no longer be on the rise, and why the political wave led by Trump will bring global change. Ariel Bulshtein

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/02/06/the-existential-danger-for-israel-now-threatens-europe/

Anyone checking Geert Wilders’s Twitter account last week might have mistaken it for an Israeli feed. As millions of citizens in Israel shed tears of joy with the families of Karina, Daniella, Liri and Naama—the female IDF lookouts released from Hamas captivity, the Dutch politician posted their photos accompanied by four hearts and an Israeli flag, with two hashtags: Israel and Freedom.

Though we’ve grown accustomed to the Dutch politician’s unequivocal support for Israel in times of both joy and sorrow, his gestures continue to surprise. Unlike most of his political colleagues, Wilders, 61, doesn’t calculate political expedience. He stands with Israel because he believes it’s morally right, regardless of the cost. The two hashtags he attached to his post about the released hostages are, in his view, one and the same.

In an interview with Israel Hayom, Wilders predicts a bright future for these two causes dear to his heart—Israel and freedom—and points to the White House. He’s convinced that Donald Trump’s presidency marks the beginning of a wave.

“This wave actually started during his first term. Though he didn’t win by a significant margin then, as he did this time, the political effects of his first victory were felt in Europe and beyond, and now his sweeping victory is creating an unprecedented wave. Even his opponents know he’s at his strongest point and will have to live with this wave.

“After all, this isn’t some remote country but the United States of America, the world’s strongest superpower and NATO’s central member, so the wave is inevitable and will have all kinds of implications—political, security, and cultural. Add to this Trump’s fight against woke ideology and his professional, calculated attempt to withdraw from various unrealistic international agreements, like the climate accord—he’s changing the world in almost every aspect, not just the U.S.”

When asked if we’re at the beginning of an entirely new political era, Wilders responds, “That’s an excellent question, really. Generally, I believe Trump’s return to the White House signals a major shift in global politics, both geopolitically and on every other level. The U.S. has a new president, whom I applaud and respect, if only for putting his people first. Fighting for your people, their sovereignty, their interests—that should be the purpose of politics. Not everything he proposes will benefit Europe, and Holland in particular—we’ll oppose some ideas—yet I can say we lack leaders and elected officials who put their nations first, so I commend Trump for this, and it’s indeed a good example for many others.”

BOOKS Comments turned off

The Builder’s Stone: How Jews and Christians Built the West—and Why Only They Can Save It – January 13, 2025 by Melanie Phillips

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

As the West struggles against attempts to destroy it from within and without, key lessons in resilience from its Jewish parent can enable both Christianity and civilization to survive.

Western civilization is facing a critical moment. Foreign enemies sensing its weakness are circling. Internally, the West is being consumed by division, decadence, and demoralization. The October 7 attack on Israel presented it with a choice between civilization and barbarism—a challenge the West has failed. But this damaged society is far from lost if it takes advice from an unexpected source. Western culture is based upon Christianity, whose own foundations in turn lie in Judaism. The unique survival of the Jewish people offers both the West and its struggling Christian church, as well as secular people who shun religion, priceless lessons in resilience that they must learn if their culture is to survive.

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Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson September 12, 2023

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982181281?

The #1 New York Times and global bestseller from Walter Isaacson—the acclaimed author of Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and World, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci—is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating, controversial innovator of modern times. For two years, Isaacson shadowed Elon Musk as he executed his vision for electric vehicles at Tesla, space exploration with SpaceX, the AI revolution, and the takeover of Twitter and its conversion to X. The result is the definitive portrait of the mercurial pioneer that offers clues to his political instincts, future ambitions, and overall worldview.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.

His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said.

It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

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Rory Stewart, Turquoise Mountain and the fall of woke colonialism Why were American workers funding a British charity that taught Afghan women about Marcel Duchamp? Brendan O’Neill

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/02/13/rory-stewart-turquoise-mountain-and-the-fall-of-woke-colonialism/

Oh no, how will the women of Afghanistan cope without lectures about Marcel Duchamp’s urinal? They’ll have to find a way. For it’s been revealed that Turquoise Mountain, a batty British charity that has lectured Afghan women about the wonders of conceptual art, has had its USAID funding slashed. I hope you’re happy now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk – no more will the tyrannised women of Afghanistan enjoy the sweet relief of a plummy Brit telling them about the time Duchamp put a porcelain piss station in an art gallery.

This is the heartbreaking news that the NGO founded by King Charles and run by Rory Stewart’s wife, Shoshana, has had its USAID handout of a million dollars slashed. It was Rory who broke the story. Looking even soppier than normal in his weekly conflab with Alastair Campbell on their surreally successful podcast, The Rest Is Politics, he said USAID funding for Turquoise Mountain ‘just stopped’. It had a contract with USAID, and it ‘had another million dollars to go’, and yet mad, bad Trump pulled the plug, Rory almost sobbed.

And what urgent work does Turquoise Mountain do? It promotes craft-making in Afghanistan. You can buy its ‘hand-knotted rugs’ made by ‘talented weavers’ – a must-have for every virtuous home in the West’s turbo-smug boroughs.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

EXCLUSIVE: A High Schooler Graduated with a 3.4 GPA. He Couldn’t Even Read.Frannie Block

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.thefp.com/p/high-schooler-graduates-illiterate-sues-tennessee-school?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Now, the Tennessee teen is suing his school district.

When William graduated high school in 2024 in Clarksville, Tennessee, he couldn’t read the words on his diploma. Despite ending the school year with a 3.4 GPA, he couldn’t even spell his own name.

That’s why William sued his school district, claiming it had left him “illiterate” and that he was denied the “free appropriate public education” guaranteed to all students by federal law.

On February 3, a federal appeals court sided with William, concluding that he was “capable of learning to read,” and agreeing with his claim that his lack of education had caused him “broad irreparable harm.”

William, whose last name is listed only as A. in the suit, first enrolled in the Clarksville-Montgomery County school district in 2016 when he was in the fifth grade. For the next seven years, he scored mostly in the bottom first, second, or third percentiles of his reading fluency assessment tests compared to national standards. In 2019 and 2020, he scored in the bottom ninth and sixth percentiles, respectively. But, a year before he graduated, his reading had regressed so much he was scoring below the first percentile.

That same year, William took a simple writing test asking him to spell 31 words in three minutes. According to his suit, he couldn’t spell half of them, including the word school, which he wrote as shcool.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Facebook, Google, et al., And DEI: Let’s Not Forget Their Insufferable Sanctimony Francis Menton

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2025-2-12-facebook-google-et-al-and-dei-lets-not-forget-their-insufferable-sanctimony

A few days ago, Google announced that it had abandoned its targets for “diversity, equity and inclusion” for its workforce. Here is the February 5 New York Times article covering the announcement. According to the Times, Google attributed the change of policy to its need “as a federal contractor . . . to comply with President Trump’s executive orders opposing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.” Google’s announcement came about a month after Facebook parent Meta had (formally) made the same change of policy. (See CNBC’s January 10 piece here covering the Meta announcement.). Google and Facebook are now two leaders in what has become a full-on parade of corporate giants making the same sudden 180 degree reversal of what had previously been broadcast as fundamental corporate policy. Among others in this group are Amazon, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s, and even Disney.

Was the commitment to DEI of Corporate America, and particularly of the tech giants, really this shallow, that they would all reverse course completely and suddenly and in unison and without a peep of objection?

The truth is that these companies are all breathing a huge sigh of relief at having finally been let off the DEI hook. Their DEI promises were always a ludicrous fantasy. And they were all quickly running into an impossible situation where the promises they had made could not be continued.

Meanwhile DEI had become an increasingly militant and desperate racial spoils regime. As further progress toward its goals became less and less possible, maintaining the regime inevitably required ever more enforced agreement and silencing of dissent. The end of this mess is something we should all welcome. And I do welcome its end, which I certainly hope is permanent.

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Flaws in a Recent Lancet Study on Phone Use in Schools Five problems that call into question the authors’ conclusion that phone restrictions don’t improve mental health or academic performance Jon Haidt, Zach Rausch, and Alec McClean

Posted By on February 14th, 2025

https://www.afterbabel.com/p/lancet-study-flaws?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_

In this post, we show why the recent Lancet study’s assertions that restrictive phone policies in schools yield no benefits are unfounded. For example, the phone-policies in the ‘permissive’ vs ‘restrictive’ schools did not differ very much, their measure of academic performance was crude, and their measures of screen time were unreliable.

A recent study published in The Lancet (Goodyear et al., 2025) has generated news headlines suggesting that restricting phone use in schools has no effect on the wellbeing or academic performance of students. This contradicts several previous studies that did find such benefits.

In this post, we lay out several flaws in the design and interpretation of the Lancet study, and several oddities in the data that we believe render its “no benefit” conclusion unjustified.

The authors of the study claimed to have

[E]valuated the impact of school phone policies by comparing outcomes in adolescents who attended schools that restrict and permit phone use.

The word “impact” implies the ability to discern causality. The authors then assert that,

[T]here is no evidence that restrictive school policies are associated with overall phone and social media use or better mental wellbeing in adolescents

and conclude that

[T]here is no evidence to support that restrictive school phone policies, in their current forms, have a beneficial effect on adolescents’ mental health and wellbeing or related outcomes, indicating that the intentions of these policies to improve adolescent health, wellbeing, and educational engagement are not realised.

The authors note that they do find substantial associations between time spent using phones or social media and worsened mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and sleep, and attainment and disruptive behavior:

[T]he negative associations found between increasing time spent on phones/social media and worsened mental health and wellbeing do provide evidence on the need to address phone and social media use in adolescents, and school policies should be developed as part of a more holistic approach.