===
If Obama's economy is so strong why are manufacturing jobs and activity slowing?
Must be GW's fault! (See 2 below.)
===
As Obama's term in office winds down I would look for a series of destructive actions or attempts.
First, he has already begun to release, in a wholesale manner, those in prison he deems were railroaded by stringent enforcement of our drug laws.
Second, I have repeatedly written he will take measures negative to Israel's interests and survival and will ignore Iran's consistent breaking of The Iran Deal thereby, elevating this rogue nation's status, as well as enhance its ability to destroy Israel and engage in and fund increased terrorist activity. (See 3 below.)
Third, I suspect he will continue to release radical Guantanamo prisoners who will return to kill their captors, ie. Americans. .
Fourth, I believe he will continue to speak out, when opportunities present themselves, about income inequality, climate change, immigration , police abuse and gun ownership. These are hot button issues which serve to keep Americans pitted against each other. The more Obama stirs the pot of discord and divisiveness the more he is able to skirt our laws, impose his wishes and employ efforts to remake our nation.
Fifth, I suspect he will engage in the election by throwing his weight behind Hillarious because she is his best hope of continuing his term in office through her election. I further believe Hillarious might try for a "Hail Mary" by selecting "Doofus" as her running mate to curry favor with Obama in order to win his support. Yes, a long shot but still within the realm of possibility.
Sixth, when the opportunity presents Obama will continue to lie and be deceitful because that is what he does and it has proven effective because the press and media will not call his hand nor do those who believe he has been a great president understand the damage he has caused..
Finally, Obama will continue to employ troops in a defensive and reticent manner so as to create the appearance he is at war with radical Islamists, whom he refuses to define, and will continue to espouse he has cornered Putin into a no win quagmire in Syria. (See 3a below)
Time will tell whether I am right,misguided and/or biased.
===
My good long time friend, former senior analyst and fellow memo reader offers a logical approach towards altering voting requirements but his proposal will never happen because dependency is not going to self destruct and his idea would be unconstitutional..
"Dear Dick,
Crazy as it may seem, I believe there is a fundamental flaw in our voting rights. As the nation becomes more and more socialistic and more and more citizens are welfare recipients, then the equation for more and more social spending becomes more and more a forgone conclusion. What welfare recipient would vote for less welfare? Before the nation reaches the tipping point of more welfare recipients than tax payers, I suggest we change the voting laws to give the vote only to those citizens who pay more in taxes than they collect in welfare payments.
Haven't heard you address liberalism vs conservatism in this light. Perhaps you could voice your opinion about it in one of your future messages.
All the best,
S------."
Response:
Response:
Yes, the goal of progressives and ultra liberals, who believe socialism is the answer to creating something out of nothing or theft by taking, have increased the numbers who embrace their dependency nonsense through entitlement legislation.
Socialism leads to economic stagnation which creates wage earner disparity thereby, boosting the argument for more socialism and so it goes.
Another way of putting it is Socialists are engaged in a circular argument. Socialists begin by creating the problem which then demands the solution (read Socialism) that created the problem.
I repeat - socialism is self-defeating. It creates distortions which support progressive solutions that are destined to fail thus, laying the foundation for more economic insanity, uncontrolled debt and diminished economic activity. Bernie believes we are Denmark and for a Socialist who honeymooned in Russia you have to wonder what planet he lives on but then he lives in a state where there are more cows than people.
This is what Demwits are all about and they sell their nonsense by wrapping it in a taco called empathy and compassion
===
Then an uncle (Nobel Prize winner Obama) came along who was the neglected son of a Muslim father and who was raised by a forlorn and deserted white mother. The uncle (read Obama) associated with Communists and attended the church of a minister who hated the very country that allowed him to preach freely.The uncle (read Obama) also met a young lady (read aunt) who also agreed with the minister who hated the country, and the uncle (read Obama) married her (read aunt.). One day, the uncle (read Obama) became president of the father's nation (read America) and everything went downhill.
While all this was happening, the uncle (read Obama) became unhappy with the child's (read Israel) leader (read Netanyahu) and the uncle (read Obama) began to distance himself from the child (read Israel) and decided it was time to "diss" the child (read Israel) and treat him like he was a bastard because the mother (read U.N) had disowned the child (read Israel) and began to scold the child (read Israel) because it had grown into manhood and was able to defend himself.
If this wasn't bad enough, the uncle (read Obama) further decided it was time to help one of the child's (read Israel) enemy and bully (read Arab). The uncle (read Obama) did not like the child (read Israel) because the child (read Israel) responded "disproportionately" when it was constantly attacked and kept expanding into areas that had been recaptured from the bullies (read Arabs) who seem to enjoy attacking the child (read Israel.)
The uncle (read Obama) was head strong and quite narcissistic and did not like being told he was an utter failure and had messed up just about everything he touched so the uncle (read Obama) needed enemies to blame. His predecessor (read President G.W) was a convenient goat as was the child (read Israel.)
The uncle (read Obama) will soon no longer be president so he must hurry up doing everything he can to make sure he accomplishes his goal which is remaking the father's (read America) personality. Why? Because the father (read America) had also been bully like in the uncle's (read Obama) eyes and the father (read America) was constantly swaggering around and creating trouble for all the other bullies (read Arabs.)
The uncle (read Obama) thought that if he weakened and bankrupted the father,(read America) by excessive spending it would make the father (read America) weak and he would withdraw from the family of nations so the uncle (read Obama) set about to get rid of many of America's senior military, downsize its naval fleet and attacked the police among other things. This caused dissension and discord. and that seemed to please the uncle (read Obama) because there were so many things about the father (read America) that disturbed him.
After all,the father (read America) liked his doctor and his medical care, liked making things and felt obligated to take care of his family. The uncle (read Obama) believed otherwise and told the father ( read America) you did not build anything and when the father (read America) objected to the uncle allowing illegals to flood his home the uncle became very angry.
The story has not ended but the father (read America) is now sad, confused even angry because he no longer can see his doctor, has been told what he thought he had built was all a lie.and what he does not understand is why laws, he used to obey, are violated by others without any consequences.
This story took only 7 years to be written because the uncle (read Obama) was very articulate and was able to mesmerize a lot of other fathers ( read Americans) and he was loved by the press and media who dared not tell the truth because if they did they would not make money which was more important than being objective.
Savannah voted today and a thug was re-elected to the City Council. The current mayor faces a run off and several of the in-crowd were thrown out of office.
The crime problem in Savannah is a knife that hangs over the city and must be addressed or this beautiful city will have a lot of empty hotel rooms and more filled graves.
===
Dick
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1)Candy Carson: The Anti-Michelle Obama
One might have thought when a mother (read U.N). births a child (read Israel) and the child (read Israel) is constantly attacked in the school yard by bullies (read Arabs) the mother (read the U.N), and even the father (read America), might defend the child (read Israel.) However, in this case, because Israel is inhabited by Jews, constantly beats back their enemies, retook land which had been taken from them and continue to hold onto that land until such time as the bullies (read Arabs) learn their lesson , ie. quit screwing around with Israel, (read Child) that is not what happened. Why? Because the home the mother (read the U.N.) lived in became occupied by the child's (read Israel) bullies (read Arabs.)
Then an uncle (Nobel Prize winner Obama) came along who was the neglected son of a Muslim father and who was raised by a forlorn and deserted white mother. The uncle (read Obama) associated with Communists and attended the church of a minister who hated the very country that allowed him to preach freely.The uncle (read Obama) also met a young lady (read aunt) who also agreed with the minister who hated the country, and the uncle (read Obama) married her (read aunt.). One day, the uncle (read Obama) became president of the father's nation (read America) and everything went downhill.
While all this was happening, the uncle (read Obama) became unhappy with the child's (read Israel) leader (read Netanyahu) and the uncle (read Obama) began to distance himself from the child (read Israel) and decided it was time to "diss" the child (read Israel) and treat him like he was a bastard because the mother (read U.N) had disowned the child (read Israel) and began to scold the child (read Israel) because it had grown into manhood and was able to defend himself.
If this wasn't bad enough, the uncle (read Obama) further decided it was time to help one of the child's (read Israel) enemy and bully (read Arab). The uncle (read Obama) did not like the child (read Israel) because the child (read Israel) responded "disproportionately" when it was constantly attacked and kept expanding into areas that had been recaptured from the bullies (read Arabs) who seem to enjoy attacking the child (read Israel.)
The uncle (read Obama) was head strong and quite narcissistic and did not like being told he was an utter failure and had messed up just about everything he touched so the uncle (read Obama) needed enemies to blame. His predecessor (read President G.W) was a convenient goat as was the child (read Israel.)
The uncle (read Obama) will soon no longer be president so he must hurry up doing everything he can to make sure he accomplishes his goal which is remaking the father's (read America) personality. Why? Because the father (read America) had also been bully like in the uncle's (read Obama) eyes and the father (read America) was constantly swaggering around and creating trouble for all the other bullies (read Arabs.)
The uncle (read Obama) thought that if he weakened and bankrupted the father,(read America) by excessive spending it would make the father (read America) weak and he would withdraw from the family of nations so the uncle (read Obama) set about to get rid of many of America's senior military, downsize its naval fleet and attacked the police among other things. This caused dissension and discord. and that seemed to please the uncle (read Obama) because there were so many things about the father (read America) that disturbed him.
After all,the father (read America) liked his doctor and his medical care, liked making things and felt obligated to take care of his family. The uncle (read Obama) believed otherwise and told the father ( read America) you did not build anything and when the father (read America) objected to the uncle allowing illegals to flood his home the uncle became very angry.
The story has not ended but the father (read America) is now sad, confused even angry because he no longer can see his doctor, has been told what he thought he had built was all a lie.and what he does not understand is why laws, he used to obey, are violated by others without any consequences.
This story took only 7 years to be written because the uncle (read Obama) was very articulate and was able to mesmerize a lot of other fathers ( read Americans) and he was loved by the press and media who dared not tell the truth because if they did they would not make money which was more important than being objective.
Stay tuned, the story is not over and the worst may yet be ahead. (See 4 below.)
===Savannah voted today and a thug was re-elected to the City Council. The current mayor faces a run off and several of the in-crowd were thrown out of office.
The crime problem in Savannah is a knife that hangs over the city and must be addressed or this beautiful city will have a lot of empty hotel rooms and more filled graves.
===
Dick
In our country individuals and the personal decisions they make really do make the difference. In the beginning those of us from the positive group try to help the gripers and carpers to see that, but age has shown me they never will and the earlier in life a person gets that lesson the sooner they can ignore the negative group, which is the only reasonable way to treat them, and get on with the rest of us building our future.
Is she and the whole family a model for America? Michelle Malkin captured the essence of what CAN truly make America great again.
How refreshing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Michelle Malkin
After nearly eight years of the East Wing's politics of mope and complain, it's
refreshing to see a presidential candidate's spouse who is always smiling.
By Michelle Malkin
After nearly eight years of the East Wing's politics of mope and complain, it's
refreshing to see a presidential candidate's spouse who is always smiling.
Candy Carson -- wife of GOP 2016 hopeful Dr. Ben Carson, mother of
three sons, and grandmother of two -- is the anti-Michelle Obama.
She's a quiet but confident ray of sunshine: down-to-earth, devoutly
Christian and proudly patriotic.
While Mrs. Obama first gained notoriety carping about racism and
trashing America, Mrs. Carson helped kick off her husband's 2016
bid by playing the violin with a gospel choir as they performed a
joyful, rousing rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.
trashing America, Mrs. Carson helped kick off her husband's 2016
bid by playing the violin with a gospel choir as they performed a
joyful, rousing rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.
I met the couple, who recently celebrated their 40th wedding
anniversary, a few weeks ago during a campaign stop in Colorado
Springs. Dr. Carson's dazzling career as a Johns Hopkins pediatric
neurosurgeon is well known. But Mrs. Carson's own personal
story is remarkable as a standalone exemplar of the American
Dream achieved.
anniversary, a few weeks ago during a campaign stop in Colorado
Springs. Dr. Carson's dazzling career as a Johns Hopkins pediatric
neurosurgeon is well known. But Mrs. Carson's own personal
story is remarkable as a standalone exemplar of the American
Dream achieved.
The daughter of a teacher and a factory worker, Candy Carson
grew up poor in inner-city Detroit with four siblings. She earned
a scholarship to attend Yale University, where she met her future
husband and fellow Detroit native. Mrs. Carson triple-majored in
music, psychology and pre-med. She played violin for the Yale
Symphony and Bach Society. Just as her church-organist mother
insisted that all her children learn to play instruments, Mrs. Carson
formed a string quartet (two violins, cello and viola) with her own
three sons dubbed the "Carson Four."
Feminists loved Mrs. Obama's relentless jokes openly denigrating
her spouse's shortcomings as a husband and father on the campaign
trail. Victory did not improve her dour disposition. Even after
moving into the White House and enjoying multiple taxpayer-
financed vacations around the world, President Obama's bitter
half bizarrely lamented her plight as a "busy single mother."
By contrast, Mrs. Carson revels in her role as family matriarch
and life partner in her husband's endeavors. "The calling of a
neurosurgeon isn't easy to live out, and Ben has been required to
go above and beyond the call of duty many times," she writes in
her upcoming memoir, "A Doctor in the House." "The life of a
neurosurgeon's wife isn't much easier. But it's all been worth it.
Together, we've been through poverty, tragedy, wealth, and joy,
and I've come to love Ben more as each year has passed."
grew up poor in inner-city Detroit with four siblings. She earned
a scholarship to attend Yale University, where she met her future
husband and fellow Detroit native. Mrs. Carson triple-majored in
music, psychology and pre-med. She played violin for the Yale
Symphony and Bach Society. Just as her church-organist mother
insisted that all her children learn to play instruments, Mrs. Carson
formed a string quartet (two violins, cello and viola) with her own
three sons dubbed the "Carson Four."
Feminists loved Mrs. Obama's relentless jokes openly denigrating
her spouse's shortcomings as a husband and father on the campaign
trail. Victory did not improve her dour disposition. Even after
moving into the White House and enjoying multiple taxpayer-
financed vacations around the world, President Obama's bitter
half bizarrely lamented her plight as a "busy single mother."
By contrast, Mrs. Carson revels in her role as family matriarch
and life partner in her husband's endeavors. "The calling of a
neurosurgeon isn't easy to live out, and Ben has been required to
go above and beyond the call of duty many times," she writes in
her upcoming memoir, "A Doctor in the House." "The life of a
neurosurgeon's wife isn't much easier. But it's all been worth it.
Together, we've been through poverty, tragedy, wealth, and joy,
and I've come to love Ben more as each year has passed."
Mrs. Obama regularly grumbles about juggling her various
roles. "Finding balance has been the struggle of my life and
my marriage, in being a woman, being a professional, being a
mother," she kvetched to Ladies Home Journal. "What women
have the power to do, through our own experiences, is to push
that balance out into the culture.
If people are happier, and they're more engaged, and they have
jobs they can value that allow them to respect and value their
homes, that makes the home life stronger."
roles. "Finding balance has been the struggle of my life and
my marriage, in being a woman, being a professional, being a
mother," she kvetched to Ladies Home Journal. "What women
have the power to do, through our own experiences, is to push
that balance out into the culture.
If people are happier, and they're more engaged, and they have
jobs they can value that allow them to respect and value their
homes, that makes the home life stronger."
Struggle this, struggle that. Time for another Aspen ski vacation
or carbon footprint-enlarging jaunt to Milan!
or carbon footprint-enlarging jaunt to Milan!
Elitist liberal working mothers expend an astounding amount of
energy letting everyone know how hard they toil, how
much "sacrifice" they've made, and how unhappy they are if
they're not working outside the home earning "respect" from
other elitist liberal working mothers.
energy letting everyone know how hard they toil, how
much "sacrifice" they've made, and how unhappy they are if
they're not working outside the home earning "respect" from
other elitist liberal working mothers.
Meanwhile, moms like Candy Carson operate in a no-whine
zone. It is a blessing to have so many opportunities and choices.
And there's no time to waste.
zone. It is a blessing to have so many opportunities and choices.
And there's no time to waste.
In addition to raising the Carson children, co-founding the Carson
Scholars Fund charity (which has awarded nearly 7,000 scholarships
across the country to academically gifted students of all backgrounds
who give back to their communities), and serving as sounding board
and co-author of three of the Carsons' New York Times bestsellers,
Mrs. Carson worked in trust administration, insurance and real estate.
She also found time to earn a masters degree in business from Johns
Hopkins and conduct the University of Maryland Medical Center
Chamber Players.
Scholars Fund charity (which has awarded nearly 7,000 scholarships
across the country to academically gifted students of all backgrounds
who give back to their communities), and serving as sounding board
and co-author of three of the Carsons' New York Times bestsellers,
Mrs. Carson worked in trust administration, insurance and real estate.
She also found time to earn a masters degree in business from Johns
Hopkins and conduct the University of Maryland Medical Center
Chamber Players.
Like the Obamas, the Carsons have experienced their share of racial
discrimination and prejudice. But it does not define them. Neither
have they let their phenomenal success get to their heads. "Did I
ever imagine I would live in a place like this?"
Mrs. Carson reflected in an interview at her elegant home with
Baltimore Magazine. "Of course not. Growing up poor, you
try to be a good steward of the money you have."
discrimination and prejudice. But it does not define them. Neither
have they let their phenomenal success get to their heads. "Did I
ever imagine I would live in a place like this?"
Mrs. Carson reflected in an interview at her elegant home with
Baltimore Magazine. "Of course not. Growing up poor, you
try to be a good steward of the money you have."
What a refreshing change from the arrogant profligacy that has
marked the past two presidential terms in Washington. The most
common refrain you'll hear from people who meet the couple is
how humble and gracious they are.
They've made sure to instill the values of thrift, personal
responsibility and private philanthropy in their children.
Both Carsons emphasized in our visit their profound concern
for their grandchildren's future, the abandonment of constitutional
principles, and the fiscal cliff that young generations of
Americans now face.
marked the past two presidential terms in Washington. The most
common refrain you'll hear from people who meet the couple is
how humble and gracious they are.
They've made sure to instill the values of thrift, personal
responsibility and private philanthropy in their children.
Both Carsons emphasized in our visit their profound concern
for their grandchildren's future, the abandonment of constitutional
principles, and the fiscal cliff that young generations of
Americans now face.
Attitude is everything.
The narcissism and nihilism of the Beltway stand in stark contrast
to the faith of the Carsons in God, their country and each other.
However their political adventure turns out, they are "ready to follow ...
whatever He has in store for us next," Mrs. Carson writes.
The narcissism and nihilism of the Beltway stand in stark contrast
to the faith of the Carsons in God, their country and each other.
However their political adventure turns out, they are "ready to follow ...
whatever He has in store for us next," Mrs. Carson writes.
Keep smiling, work hard, be grateful, and play on. This is what
makes America great.
makes America great.
Michelle Malkin is author of the new book "Who Built That: Awe-Inspiring
Stories of American Tinkerpreneurs." Her email address is malkinblog@gmail.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) U.S. Manufacturing Activity Expands at Slowest Pace in Two Years
Amid growing indications that Iran does not plan to comply with the July nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), there is a new report that the huge U.S. concessions offered to Tehran to get this agreement are already undermining global efforts against nuclear proliferation.
The brothers, interviewed in their childhood home, gave a bit of insight on their very different personalities. Charles was very much the more outgoing of the two during the interview, but he insisted that they both share the same vision and values.
"I believe to have any long-lasting partnership, there are three requirements," he said. "You've got to share vision and values and bring complementary capabilities and we're quite different. We share vision and values and we have quite different capabilities, although we both studied engineering, I was more in math, philosophy, scientific method, philosophy of science and David was an engineer."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4)
2) U.S. Manufacturing Activity Expands at Slowest Pace in Two Years
ISM’s manufacturing PMI slowed to 50.1 in October from 50.2 in September
By HARRIET TORRY
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at its slowest pace in more than two years in October, reflecting deeper pressure on factories from a weak global economy and strong dollar.
The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of manufacturing activity fell to 50.1 from 50.2 in September, the purchasing managers’ group said Monday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The reading was the weakest since May 2013 and indicates that the sector barely skirted a contraction in October.
U.S. manufacturers are “not in a robust growth mode,” said Bradley Holcomb, chairman of the ISM’s manufacturing business survey committee. “It’s a little bit of wait and see.”
Factories saw new orders come in at a faster pace, offering some optimism. But exports shrank for the fifth straight month, a sign of troubles coming from abroad. Factory employment contracted in October after five consecutive months of growth, reaching the lowest level since August 2009, just as the nation’s economic expansion began.
“Tepid overseas demand, a strong U.S. dollar, and a sizable inventory overhang have created the perfect storm for U.S. manufacturers,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Businesses are reporting cautious optimism across several industries, tempered by concerns about the dollar’s strength. Some manufacturers, meanwhile, are seeing trouble tied to weak oil prices, though others are benefiting from low input prices. Manufacturers reported that prices for raw materials contracted for the 12th consecutive month, the ISM said.Overall manufacturing activity has expanded for 34 straight months, but the pace of growth in the main ISM gauge has deteriorated for four months in a row.
The report’s findings echo concerns voiced by bellwether companies as they reported quarterly earnings.
“We can’t precisely predict how long pressures from currency, [agricultural] challenges, reduced global industrial production and a slowdown in emerging markets may continue,” DuPont Co.’s interim chief executive, Edward Breen, told investors and analysts last week.
General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra last month said the slowdown in China, the world’s second-largest economy, “is not only affecting our business in China but also in the other international operation markets outside of China because these economies are so dependent on China.”
Some economists believe U.S. manufacturers could be pulling out of their slowdown, pointing to the uptick in new orders. While separate regional manufacturing gauges were mixed throughout October, a national measure released Monday by Markit Economics showed manufacturing activity across the U.S. jumped to a six-month high in October.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) As Predicted, the Iran Deal Has Begun to Wreck Global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Efforts
Amid growing indications that Iran does not plan to comply with the July nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), there is a new report that the huge U.S. concessions offered to Tehran to get this agreement are already undermining global efforts against nuclear proliferation.
One of the most significant of these concessions allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium even while the JCPOA is in effect. This contradicts years of U.N. Security Council resolutions calling on Iran to halt all uranium enrichment, and previous U.S. policies that have strongly discouraged nations from beginning peaceful uranium-enrichment programs due to the ease with which they can be used to produce weapons-grade nuclear fuel.
Although Obama-administration officials deny it, this concession has been interpreted by Iran and other nations as conceding to Iran the “right” to enrich uranium. Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review in August that this denial is hard to take seriously, since John Kerry conceded Iran's right to enrich in 2009, when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The chickens have already come home to roost on the uranium-enrichment concession: The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which in 2009 signed an agreement with the U.S. barring it from pursuing uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing, is now considering renouncing these commitments.
On January 15, 2009, just before President George W. Bush left office, his administration signed an agreement to share peaceful nuclear technology with the UAE (known as a Section 123 agreement), which prohibits UAE uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. After renegotiating these provisions to strengthen them, the Obama administration signed an amended version of the agreement with the UAE in May 2009. In October 2009, the UAE adopted legislation to permanently forgo the acquisition of uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing.
The UAE's language barring uranium enrichment is so strong that it has been called the “gold standard” of 123 agreements. The hope was that this agreement would become a template for all future U.S. agreements to share peaceful nuclear technology.
The Obama administration began to back away from the “gold standard” language in 2011, when it decided, over the objections of Congress, to no longer pursue blanket prohibitions on uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing in 123 agreements, deciding instead to negotiate these issues on a case-by-case basis. Senator (then Representative) Ed Markey (D., Mass.) and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton denounced this decision at the time in a February 10, 2012 Christian Science Monitor op-ed titled, “How an Obama shift helps unstable regimes get nuclear weapons.”
Despite this flip-flop on the “gold standard” 123 language, the UAE until now has stood by its promise not to pursue uranium enrichment.
During a September 2015 hearing, however, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said UAE ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba told him that his country no longer felt bound to its commitment not to pursue uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing due to concessions made to Iran in the JCPOA. Royce told the Associated Press that al-Otaiba told him, “Your worst enemy has achieved this right to enrich. It's a right to enrich now that your friends are going to want, too, and we won't be the only country.”
Royce explained that he interpreted al-Otaiba's comment as meaning the UAE believed it had the right to walk away from its 123-agreement commitments and was considering doing so. The UAE embassy responded to an AP query about this issue with a one-sentence e-mail that said “the government has not formally changed its views or perspective on the 123 Agreement or commitments.”
Reports that the UAE may renege on its agreement not to pursue uranium enrichment confirm what critics of the JCPOA predicted – that the Obama administration has made unacceptable and dangerous promises to Iran that will both worsen the nuclear threat from Iran and undermine nuclear non-proliferation efforts worldwide.
In a March 2015 BBC interview, Saudi Arabian prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, said that his country and others would want the same nuclear rights awarded to Iran in the nuclear talks. According to Prince Turki, “If Iran has the ability to enrich uranium to whatever level, it's not just Saudi Arabia that's going to ask for that.”
The Saudi prince predicted that concessions to Iran would lead nations all over the world to pursue uranium enrichment when he told the BBC, “The whole world will be an open door to go that route without any inhibition, and that's my main objection to this P5+1 [the six world powers] process.” Since the JCPOA has conveyed what is widely regarded as Iran's right to enrich uranium, I fear Prince Turki is right that the deal will make it difficult if not impossible to bar other states from pursuing it as well.
In addition to these warnings by Prince Turki, there have been reports that Saudi Arabia may buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan in response to the nuclear deal with Iran.
As the UAE's reported plan to renege on its commitment suggests, the JCPOA is likely to lead to new nuclear-proliferation risks in the Middle East and around the world as other nations seek to exercise their uranium-enrichment and plutonium-reprocessing “rights.” Given how far America's prestige has sunk under President Obama, I believe there is a good chance Russia and China are already discussing deals to help these nations develop nuclear technologies to exercise these rights.
January 20, 2017, cannot come fast enough to reverse this disastrous Obama foreign-policy legacy.
Fred Fleitz writes for the Center for Security Policy.
3a) Charles Koch: American Foreign Policy a 'Form of Insanity'
By Sandy Fitzgerald
America's foreign policy issues are a "form of insanity," billionaire Charles Koch said Tuesday, during the first-ever joint interview with his brother, David, as there is nothing to show for the effort that is being made.
"To me, foreign policy is a form of insanity, and I mean that in the sense that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result," the elder brother told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
"We keep kicking out dictators and we don't get anything better, and we mess up a lot of lives in the process," he continued. "We spend fortunes and have many Americans killed and maimed? What do we have to show for it? It's kind of like my support for some of these Republican candidates."
The brothers, interviewed in their childhood home, gave a bit of insight on their very different personalities. Charles was very much the more outgoing of the two during the interview, but he insisted that they both share the same vision and values.
"I believe to have any long-lasting partnership, there are three requirements," he said. "You've got to share vision and values and bring complementary capabilities and we're quite different. We share vision and values and we have quite different capabilities, although we both studied engineering, I was more in math, philosophy, scientific method, philosophy of science and David was an engineer."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4)
Debating Against BDS - and Winning
When I was invited to debate in favor of the motion "Is BDS Wrong?" at the Oxford Union, I fully expected to lose the vote of the 250 or so students and faculty who are members of the oldest debate society in the world. "Israel always loses at Oxford," I was warned by colleagues who had debated other Israel-related issues. Nonetheless, I decided to participate, hoping to change some minds.
I proposed as my opponent Omar Barghouti, the Qatari-born, Israeli-educated, co-founder and spokesperson of the BDS movement, but he refused to debate me. The Union then selected Noura Erekat, a Palestinian-American human rights attorney, who has been a vocal supporter of BDS.
When she backed out at the last minute, I began to get suspicious: was the BDS movement boycotting me? After all, BDS advocates have called for "common sense" academic boycotts against individuals who they feel are too vocal in their support for Israel, in addition to a blanket boycott of all Israeli academic institutions. After speaking with the organizers of the debate at Oxford, I continue to believe that I was in fact being boycotted.
The Union then selected Peter Tatchell, a distinguished and popular British human rights activist who has participated in 30 Union debates, most of which he has won. I knew I was in for a difficult time, especially when the audience applauded his points more loudly than mine and when many of the questions seemed hostile toward Israel, though polite.
Alan Dershowitz at Oxford Union. (Image source: Embassy of Israel in London)
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Mr. Tatchell's main argument was that BDS was a nonviolent form of protest against Israel's occupation and settlement policies that mirrored the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa, and followed the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He was articulate in arguing that boycott tactics generally were a non-violent alternative to war and terrorism. The force of his argument was somewhat weakened by the recent spate of terrorist knife attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, which leaders of the BDS movement such as Barghouti have justified as resistance to the "decades-old regime of occupation."
I argued that BDS was not an alternative to war but rather an alternative to peaceful negotiations by the Palestinian leadership. This is because the BDS movement is firmly opposed to the two-state solution. Omar Barghouti confirmed as much when he said, "definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine." Thus, the BDS movement makes it more difficult for the Palestinian leadership to accept the kind of painful compromises that both sides must agree to if there is to be a negotiated resolution.
Together with other efforts to delegitimize and isolate Israel, BDS also sends a false message to the Palestinian street: namely, that international economic and political pressure can force Israel to capitulate to all Palestinian demands, without any compromise on territorial issues. In turn, this disincentivizes the Palestinian leadership from accepting Prime Minister Netanyahu's offer to begin immediate negotiations with no preconditions.
Such discussions are particularly important now, to halt the gruesome cycle of violence that has intensified in recent weeks. Both sides must return to the negotiations table, and both must be willing to make concessions. For the Israelis this means rolling back settlements, and granting greater autonomy to the West Bank; for the Palestinian Authority, it means renouncing violence against Israeli civilians, disavowing Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and accepting the need for territorial compromise with land swaps.
BDS opposes any effort at negotiation that isn't premised on the recognition that Israel is an apartheid state. Indeed, many of its leaders refuse to recognize the right for Israel to exist as a nation-state for the Jewish people. In so doing, they are empowering radicals on both sides of the issue who have no desire to see a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Many liberal activists such as Mr. Tatchell—whose advocacy on behalf of LGBT rights I greatly admire—have made common cause with BDS, hoping to pressure Israel to end the occupation, and afford greater self-determination to Palestinians in the West Bank. They seem to believe that a movement advocating non-violent tactics is necessarily the best way to achieve a lasting peace. But BDS is radically opposed to any negotiated settlement, and has increasingly begun to regroup bigots of all stripes who feel comfortable with the language used by its leaders, such Mr. Barghouti.
Mr. Tatchell and many pro-BDS academics also feel that Israel has committed human rights violations both in the occupation of the West Bank, and in its prosecution of the armed conflicts in Gaza. During the course of the debate, I issued the following challenge to the audience and to my opponent: name a single country in the history of the world, faced with threats comparable to those faced by Israel, that has a better record of human rights, compliance with the rule of law or seeking to minimize civilian casualties.
I invited audience members to shout out the name of this country. Complete silence. Finally, someone shouted "Iceland", and everyone laughed. When the best is treated as the worst, in the way the BDS movement singles out Israel for accusation, the finger of blame must be pointed at the accusers rather than the accused. In the end, the case against BDS won not because of the comparative skill of the debaters but because I was able to expose the moral weakness of the BDS movement itself.
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