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Ocasio-Cortez, at SXSW, blasts FDR, Reagan and capitalism, says political moderates are 'meh'. And:
Is she the new fraud?
The Brains Behind AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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AOC's attacks spill over.(See 1, 1a and 1b below.) Meanwhile:
The aftermath of Obama's efforts to increase our radical Muslim population. (See 1c be below.)
I can think of nothing more destructive to our nation's ability to cope with the many issues we are facing than Obama's ability to transform our country.
Democrats have placed hatred and Trump's defeat over our nation's best interests.
What Democrats may not understand when Trump likes something they are against it. Not because it is unwise, simply because thy hate him. He is manipulating them into corners from which they may regret.
Trump needs to try and not go overboard in his own disdain. If he said Democrats hate Jews that is dumb. Democrats do not have the guts to take on their anti-Semitic Representatives but that does not mean they hate all Jews.
At some point the mass media are going to realize they are wrecking the party they most favor and possibly start cooling it with AOC but then she helps bring in profits because entertainment is their goal not news reporting. (See 1 d below.)
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Another Rant. (See 2 below.)
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Aren't we lucky. (See 3 below.)
I have a liberal friend who believes the 2018 capturing of The House by The Democrats was a significant political victory and highlighted how the nation rejected Trump. He ignores the fact that Trump focused on campaigning for senators and increased his party's hold and what a Pyrrhic victory capturing The House has been for the Democrats.
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The return of various scourges. (See 4 below.)
And:
Remember when. (See 4a below.)
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More good news from Israel (edited.).(See 5 below.)
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This from a very dear friend and fellow memo reader: "Dick,
Hope all is well in your recovery from the recent unpleasantness at the hands of the medical profession. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Your quote today, viz., “I submit our republic is in danger of imploding.” brought to mind my oft repeated concern, is the next logical step revolution? Sad to say, I believe it is. And probably sooner rather than later. I may not live to see it but my children and theirs almost certainly will. I don’t think the “right” is going to take this very much longer. Sorry to sound like a member of the Greek Chorus but….…….What’s your view? E-"
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Some of the dumbest are also among the brightest. When one is basing their views on emotionalism they can become/appear quite stupid.(See 6 below.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dick
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1)
Ilhan Omar Swipes at Obam
By AAN Staff
Less than one day after the House voted 407-23 to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar implicitly for her anti-Semitism, the controversial lawmaker took a devastating swipe at President Barack Obama.
Nearly two dozen Republicans rejected the measure because it failed to mention Omar specifically.
The congresswoman called the president's mantra of "hope and change" a "mirage" while blasting his use of drones to vaporize terrorists and border detention policies.
Fox News' Liam Quinn reports:
Omar, D-Minn., took aim at the president's famed slogan, while further criticizing the Democratic Party for “perpetuating the status quo,” in the interview with Politico.
“Recalling the ‘caging of kids’ at the U.S.-Mexico border and the ‘droning of countries around the world’ on Obama’s watch," Omar charged that Obama "operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor,” the piece reads.
Omar is then quoted as saying: “We can’t be only upset with Trump… His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was.
“And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”
Omar apologized earlier this year for a 2012 tweet accusing Israel of hypnotizing American. Last month, urged by party leaders, she apologized for suggesting the Jewish State bribes members of Congress for their support. Even House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-NY) rebuked Omar and demanded an apology for what he referred to as a "vile antisemitic slur."
1a)
Omar Trashes Obama: ‘Hope and Change’ Was a Mirage, He ‘Had Really Bad Policies’
By David Rutz
Rep. Ilhan Omar / Getty Images
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) trashed former President Barack Obama in a new profile of the freshman lawmaker, saying the "hope and change" he offered was a mirage and he was one of many predecessors to President Donald Trump to have "really bad policies."
Omar was the subject of a Politico story on her and fellow Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips (D., Minn.), who represents a neighboring district. The two are framed as symbolizing the colliding forces in the new Democratic House majority, with Omar representing the far-left flank and Phillips the more center-left sensibilities that helped recapture suburban districts from Republicans in 2018.
Omar, a Somali-born refugee, was fed up with the Democratic establishment by the time she ran for office in 2016 for a seat in the Minnesota state house. She won and then easily captured a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, and she wasn't shy about telling Politico her objections to Obama-era policies, like detention centers for illegal immigrant children and the "droning of countries around the world:"
As she saw it, the party ostensibly committed to progressive values had become complicit in perpetuating the status quo. Omar says the "hope and change" offered by Barack Obama was a mirage. Recalling the "caging of kids" at the U.S.-Mexico border and the "droning of countries around the world" on Obama’s watch, she argues that the Democratic president operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor.
Without naming Obama specifically, Omar said no one should get away with malfeasance in office if they had "the pretty face and the smile."
"We can’t be only upset with Trump … His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was," Omar said. "And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile."
Omar's specific invocation of the "hope and change" motto of Obama was striking, given she tweeted during his farewell address in 2017: "Thank you Obama for being a source of inspiration, hope and change. I have always been proud to call you my president!"
Omar is at the center of her second anti-Semitic controversy in as many months as a sitting member of Congress. After being forced to apologize last month for saying pro-Israel politicians are paid off by the lobbying group AIPAC and saying it was "all about the Benjamins," she said last week she wanted to "talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country."
The latter remarks set off an uproar within the Democratic caucus, with some members condemning her anti-Semitic tropes and others saying she was being unfairly singled out. Democrats ultimately voted on a resolution that started off condemning anti-Semitism and was ultimately amended to include opposition to all forms of hate, without mentioning Omar.
One of the prominent liberal critics of Omar's "all about the Benjamins" flap last month was former Obama Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who said she had made "outrageous" comments and should be condemned by all Democrats.
1b)
Ocasio-Cortez Faces New Challenge
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has been named in an ethics complaint for her seemingly shady campaign finance practices. IJR reports:
A conservative group has filed another ethics complaint against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for her shady professional relationship with her boyfriend, Riley Roberts.The Coolidge Reagan Foundation — a conservative, First Amendment activist group — filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) against Ocasio-Cortez for misuse of congressional resources relating to interactions with Roberts.As IJR previously reported, the Coolidge Reagan Foundation also filed a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint against Ocasio-Cortez and her campaign manager-turned-chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, after it was revealed that Chakrabarti’s PAC paid Roberts a total of $6,000 within two months of his LLC being paid $6,191.32 by Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign.The OCE complaint is unrelated to the campaign payments and instead calls for an investigation into an official mail.house.gov email address provided to Roberts by the congresswoman.
Liberals will rail about “dark money” and condemn the right of Americans to exercise their First Amendment rights, but will be the first to violate the law if it brings them any kind of edge.
1c) Philadelphia imam calls Jews ‘vilest people’
Abdelmohsen Abouhatab of the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society live-streams anti-Semitic sermons on YouTube
An imam based in Philadelphia has delivered a number of anti-Semitic sermons in recent months, calling Jews “the vilest people” and accusing the late former prime minister Menachem Begin of slitting the stomach of a pregnant woman as part of a “bet.”
Speaking to members of the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in Philadelphia in mid-February, Imam Abdelmohsen Abouhatab, who is of Egyptian origin, accused the “nefarious” Jewish media of causing people to see Muslims as “oppressive and predatory lions,” the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which obtained a recording of the sermon, reported.
“The Jews are the vilest people in terms of their moral values, their nature, and their violation of agreements, but when they lived near Arabs, they adopted some of their moral values and customs,” Abouhatab said.
MEMRI partially transcribed and aired excerpts of his sermons from November 2018 through February 2019.
In that same recording, Abouhatab said “the enemies of Allah” were now freely touring [Arab] capitals [a reference to visits made in recent months by Israeli officials] and they order the heads [of state] to come to the table at the Knesset. They sit there and plot against their people, according to what the others want.”
He further claimed that during the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of Palestinians refugees by Christian Phalangists in Beirut, Begin made bets on whether a pregnant woman was carrying a boy or a girl before slitting her belly open to find out.
“Remember Sabra and Shatila. Remember the wars of the past. Remember how Menachem Begin, that Polish crook, would stand next to a pregnant woman, and would make bets whether it is a boy or a girl. He would make bets, while the woman was still alive! Then he would slut [sic] her belly open, while she was still alive, to see whether it is a boy or a girl. Just like that. This happened. This happened,” Abouhatab claimed.
In a January sermon, Abouhatab claimed that the media was controlled by the Jews, who make people think that “power lies with 15 million people who own and control the riches of the world.”
Abouhatab’s sermons were streamed live on the mosque’s YouTube channel
1d)
1d)
Ocasio-Cortez Suggests America Is ‘Garbage’, Claims Reagan Stirred Conflict Between White Americans and Minorities
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., NY) suggested the current state of America is "garbage" and argued former president Ronald Reagan stirred up conflict between white Americans and minorities during an appearance at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas on Saturday.
Ocasio-Cortez referred to America's current state as garbage while being asked about the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and a $15 minimum wage.
"I think the thing that is really hard for people to sometimes see is that when we are on this path of a slow erosion and a slow, slow, slow, just like move away from what we've always been, we'll be a hundred miles, you'll, you know you won't even realize that you've drifted a hundred miles," Ocasio-Cortez said. "So, when someone's talking about our core, it's like oh this is radical, but this isn't radical, this is what we've always been."
"It's just that now we've strayed so far away from what has really made us powerful, and just, and good, and equitable, and productive, and so I think all of these things sound radical compared to where we are but where we are is not a good thing," Ocasio-Cortez continued. "And this idea of like 10% better from garbage, is, shouldn't be what we settle for, it's like this like it feels like moderate is not a stance it's just an attitude toward life of like ‘hmmm.'"
Ocasio-Cortez also claimed Reagan pit white working class Americans against African Americans and other minorities.
"One perfect example, I think a perfect example of how special interests and the powerful have pitted white working-class Americans against brown and black working-class Americans in order to just screw over all working-class Americans, is Reaganism in the '80s when he started talking about welfare queens," Ocaiso-Cortez said. "So you think about this image of welfare queens and what he was really trying to talk about was … this like really resentful vision of essentially black women who were doing nothing that were ‘sucks' on our country."
"And it's this whole tragedy of the commons type of thinking where it's like because these one, this one specific group of people, that you are already kind of subconsciously primed to resent, you give them a different reason that's not explicit racism but still rooted in a racist caricature," Ocasio-Cortez continued. "It gives people a logical reason, a ‘logical' reason to say, ‘oh yeah, no, toss out the whole social safety net.'"
The self-described democratic socialist congresswoman's attack on moderates comes soon after she warned moderate Democrats who vote with Republicans that they are "putting themselves on a list," prompting a backlash from fellow Democrats.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D., NJ) called Ocasio-Cortez's warning "Nixonian" and Rep. Dan Kildee (D., Mich.) said it was not productive.
Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal proposal calls for giving every resident of the United States a federal job with paid vacation and retirement benefits, "adequate housing," "healthy food," and "access to nature." It also seeks to make air travel unnecessary and provide jobs for those "unwilling to work." It does acknowledge, however, that getting rid of "farting cows and airplanes" will be difficult. One studysuggested the proposal could cost up to $94 trillion.
The libertarian Mercatus Center found Medicare for All would likely cost over $30 trillion over ten years and require enormous tax increases.
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2)
Best regards and Shalom.
Michael
-
In the 10th Mar 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Freezing bladder tumors. Israeli startup Vessi Medical has developed unique bladder-
Israeli school for migrants on Greek island. (TY Hazel) For nearly 4 years (see here)
2)
It is suddenly not clear what is happening with the China negotiations. Xi removed his trip to the US
from his official calendar. Trump is suddenly saying maybe there will not be a deal. Nobody else is
talking. Seems something may have hit a wall, but supposedly the Chinese are afraid Trump will walk
away if he meets Xi and does not get what he needs. The Chinese what it all buttoned up before any
face to face. There was pushback inside China against parts of the deal being discussed, so maybe it
hit the wall. Meantime Chinese exports dropped 20% last month. More companies are talking about
shifting production out of China. It is impossible to predict where this is going over the next few weeks.
If there is no deal the markets will tank. It is why the market was down this week.
The EU is now officially in trouble. The ECB lowered its forecast of GDP for the year to 1.1% and
instituted a new program of very low cost loans to banks to try to stimulate lending and to keep the
banks out of trouble. The situation in the EU is getting worse. The ECB is doing all it can, but the
dysfunctional politics are making things worse. Now Brexit is only three weeks and nothing has
changed since the last Parliament vote. There is still no way to predict what will happen.
The yellow vest protests in France continue, but now the numbers are less and the violence has
become more. It has become tinged with anti-Semitism. The whole situation in France remains bad.
The jobs report for February was flawed. The ADP number was 160,000 new jobs, and that appears to
be more correct. The BLS survey to get the jobs number, was conducted in the week of severe snow
and bad weather, and is just a survey. That is likely why construction jobs dropped so much. Not
because demand for construction workers dropped. The ADP number is based on actual payroll data.
If you average Jan and Feb BLS number you also get 160,000. In addition, unemployment dropped
from 4% to 3.8%, wages were up 3.4%, participation went up, and U6- a much more accurate number,
dropped to 7.3% which suggests a lot of hiring happened. Lastly, and very important, productivity is
rising nicely, and that is key to keeping inflation in check with rising wages. A big issue for slower
hiring is that there is nobody left to hire, and visas are slow to be issued. There is still 1 million fewer
unemployed than there are job openings. There is no question things are slowing, but best to ignore
this jobs report, just like the Dec retail report was wrong. There is no recession coming for 2019. The
other factor is the high dollar. It is creating more demand for cheaper imports, and less demand for
exports. It is also creating a worse situation for countries with dollar denominated debt. GDP growth
this quarter will be slow, but things are picking up.
The events around the anti-Semite resolution are despicable and a wake up call. What is happening is
the campus protest experience of the bartender from the Bronx and her Muslim buddies has moved to
Washington. The same sort of tactics are being used to resist Pelosi, who is like the dean, and the young
Congresswomen are the students on campus. The fact that Pelosi has lost control is very scary, and has
terrible ramifications. The fact that they did not kick Omar off the Foreign Relations Committee with
her virulent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements, is very bad. It just empowers the radical left by
encouraging them to do even more outrageous things. The Republicans stripped Steve King of
everything, for saying less. Now Pelosi said “She is not really anti-Semitic. Sher has a different
experience in the use of words” Wow. Pelosi is covering for a blatant anti-Semite. The Dems are in real
trouble now, but so is the country. Now the Muslims and AOC are empowered, and we will see much
more of this. This is just the start. Omar right after the vote attacked Obama, just as an example of what
is coming. Now the bartender went on to attack FDR, Reagan and capitalism at some major event. Omar
is blatantly anti-Semitic, and it is clear, so is her Muslim buddy and the kid from the Bronx. If the
Dems, the party of the Jews, cannot pass a simple resolution condemning anti-Semitism, and it folded
to a Muslim demand to change the resolution, then now we are in serious trouble. It is not just the far
right white supremacists who are anti-Semites, but now the far left, and they seem to have conned
other leftists in Congress to go along, especially the Black Caucus. It is outrageous, and a portent of
what is to come. There is an anti-Semitic drift on some campuses with the BDS movement, and
professors who spout pro-Palestinian rhetoric. On some campuses there have been physical intimidation
of pro-Israel students. My email lit up after the vote, and not just from Jewish friends. One major non-
Jewish war hero said- I shed my blood for this country, and this is unacceptable. The political
ramifications of this are huge. The Dems may lose a major part of the Jewish vote in 2020. They may
just not vote. Everyone needs to wake up as to what is happening on campus, and not just the anti-
Semitism, that is just one small aspect. It is why I am working with the group of prominent people to
try to reverse the anti- free speech situation now on so many campuses. Universities are turning out
uneducated and brain washed kids who are just like the bartender from the Bronx and her Muslim
buddies. Conservative professors and students are afraid to speak up now, and we are getting a
generation of college kids who do not share the American values we all cherish. This is not an over
statement, nor political. You just saw it first hand with the vote in Congress, and Pelosi making terrible
excuses claiming Omar did not understand her words and their impact, and Clyburn saying she is a
refugee, and is more entitled to her feelings than children of the Holocaust survivors of Japanese
internment. Harris, Bernie and Warren also are defending her, as is the Black Caucus. Pelosi and these
others making excuses to cover for Omar should scare the hell out of you. This is exactly how things
got so bad on campus. It just empowers this sort of
behavior and rhetoric.
Consider that the kid from the Bronx introduced the Green New Deal, and most Dems rushed to jump
on board without even understanding it was a socialist policy paper, and that it was unrealistic, huge tax
increases and they all jump aboard, anti-Israel rhetoric, killed the Amazon deal, and now the Dems
would not follow Pelosi and vote to condemn anti-Semitic language. The lunatics have taken control of
the asylum, and the press, which has the same left wing graduates now as reporters, supports all this.
30% of college kids think socialism is better than capitalism. Everyone needs to wake up to what is
happening.
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3) Historic Unraveling?
After a triumphant start this year in which she bested President Donald Trump in an epic showdown over a government shutdown, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now struggling to unify Democrats after two weeks of painful infighting that could have lasting ramifications for
her newfound majority and the 2020 election.
Republicans, meanwhile, are elated at their sudden change in fortune. For two years, House GOP leaders tried to play down their own
internal strife as Trump threw the party into disarray. Now their divisions are an afterthought.
As it turned out, Dingell wasn't the only lawmaker who wanted to broaden the scope of the resolution.
The Congressional Black Caucus - furious that their colleagues hadn't done more to call out racist comments in the
past - agreed, as did some of Omar's liberal colleagues and several Democrats running for president, who took to
Twitter and pushed back against Pelosi's original plan focusing on anti-Semitism alone. A Pelosi spokesman said the
speaker supported broadening the language all along.
3) Historic Unraveling?
Pelosi struggles to unify Dems after fight over anti-Semitism
By Rachael Bade & Mike DeBonis
After a triumphant start this year in which she bested President Donald Trump in an epic showdown over a government shutdown, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now struggling to unify Democrats after two weeks of painful infighting that could have lasting ramifications for
her newfound majority and the 2020 election.
The bitter intraparty dispute, which centered on remarks by freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that many in both parties viewed as anti-
Semitic, resulted in the passage last week of a resolution broadly condemning hatred that received unanimous support from Democrats - yet
served to underscore Pelosi's deep challenges in bridging schisms of race, religion, age and gender within her vastly diverse caucus.
The episode also suggested that a power struggle between a group of vocal newcomers on the left, including Omar and Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and veteran lawmakers is likely to be a persistent problem for Pelosi, D-Calif., as she seeks to keep the party
focused on opposing Trump and his agenda ahead of the 2020 elections.
Omar has refused to apologize for the comments that set off last week's firestorm, when she suggested that Israel's supporters have "an
allegiance to a foreign country." And Ocasio-Cortez asserted in a fundraising message that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), an influential pro-Israel group, was "coming after" her, Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. over their foreign policy views.
Pelosi's ability to navigate such divisions could have far-reaching implications. If the party's tensions on subjects ranging from health care
to climate change - not to mention age and strategy - continue to boil over publicly, they are likely to distract from Democrats' desired
messages to voters and provide fodder for Republican attacks.
"I see the challenge [Pelosi] has with the far left and some of the freshmen coming in now who have high energy, so she's trying to balance
that out," said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., a centrist who has criticized Pelosi in the past but argued that she has done a good job under
the circumstances.
"Being a speaker - especially on the Democratic side - is like herding cats," said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.. ". . . The cats have to
understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter. Once the cats understand that, it'll get better."
Cohen also argued that the freshmen could cripple the party if they don't fall in line soon. "It's a shame because they weren't in the
wilderness for eight years, as we were in the minority," he said.
Republicans, meanwhile, are elated at their sudden change in fortune. For two years, House GOP leaders tried to play down their own
internal strife as Trump threw the party into disarray. Now their divisions are an afterthought.
"We understand what it's like to be in the majority. It's tough," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a former chief deputy whip. "And it's
clear they're having [an] even tougher time than we had."
Pelosi and her team have played down party tensions and blamed the news media for exaggerating internal Democratic strife.
"The Democratic Party is inherently a coalition party; we are not a caucus that is 99 percent old white men," Pelosi spokesman Drew
Hammill said in a statement Sunday. "Sometimes that takes time. Sometimes it takes a lot of discussion and listening. And that's always
been something [Pelosi] excels at - and at the end of the day we get the job done."
Asked about the fiery freshmen Friday during an interview at the Economic Club of Washington, Pelosi lavished praise on the newbies,
saying they were a "joy" and an "invigoration." During a news conference earlier in the week, Pelosi had also mused about how she had
once been a vocal activist just like them. "That was me pushing a stroller and carrying those signs!" she said.
But at other times, cracks showed through Pelosi's confident exterior.
During a leadership meeting on Tuesday night, Pelosi grew angry and raised her voice to Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., when Dingell
pulled out her phone and read a tweet by Ocasio-Cortez, according to two people who were there and requested anonymity to disclose
details of a private meeting.
In the tweet, Ocasio-Cortez defended Omar, her close friend, as Pelosi and her leadership team were readying an initial version of the
resolution responding to Omar's foreign allegiance remark.
In the meeting, Dingell agreed with Ocasio-Cortez's assessment that House Democrats shouldn't be focused on rebuking one of their own
but should also be calling out homophobia, racism and xenophobia in general. According to the people in the room, Pelosi was offended at
the suggestion that Democrats didn't already stand up against all forms of hate and grew visibly angry.
As it turned out, Dingell wasn't the only lawmaker who wanted to broaden the scope of the resolution.
The Congressional Black Caucus - furious that their colleagues hadn't done more to call out racist comments in the
past - agreed, as did some of Omar's liberal colleagues and several Democrats running for president, who took to
Twitter and pushed back against Pelosi's original plan focusing on anti-Semitism alone. A Pelosi spokesman said the
speaker supported broadening the language all along.
But when Pelosi changed course, Jewish members grew upset. One of them, Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, a Pelosi ally, took his concerns to
the House floor to ask why they couldn't simply pass a resolution calling out hate against Jews.
Trump reveled in the mess, accusing Democrats of being "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish." And the entire ordeal - sparked by a freshman who
refused to mute her criticism of U.S. policy toward Israel - stole headlines away from a major campaign finance package that the House
passed Friday.
Pelosi's predicament is a dramatic shift from just a month ago, when even her critics were awed by her ability to unify Democrats through a
-day shutdown, refusing to give Trump even $1 for his promised southern border wall with Mexico. The speaker, long hailed as one of the
savviest leaders in modern political history, found herself playing peacemaker and imploring her colleagues to play nice.
"The best advice I ever received when I came here those years ago was: Don't question the motivations of our colleagues," Pelosi told her
members in a tense private meeting last week, according to one source in the room. "You can disagree wholeheartedly, but do not question
their patriotism or their loyalty to our country in any way. And that holds for the Republicans as well."
During the same meeting, freshman Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., challenged Pelosi for not telling the caucus about the Omar resolution
before it became public. And Democrats scolded each other for tweeting mean comments at their colleagues.
"Look, when you have an exciting, diverse class with many new members, we all have to get to know each other and respect each other's
values. But at this point, we're moving on," said Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y., a Jewish member who fought with Omar on Twitter about
her comments. "I think the lesson learned is that we have to understand each other and respect each other."
Speaking privately to members Thursday morning, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., compared the atmosphere among
Democrats with his own experiences in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Clyburn was a member of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee, which wanted aggressive action to force radical changes. That group clashed with the old guard of activists, led
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who were determined to move more carefully
toward the same goal.
"We all have roles to play," Clyburn told reporters Friday, describing what he learned from his experiences then. "My thing is: You listen to
people, you make sure that you get them to some level of comfort."
The progressive wing is not the only group causing headaches for Pelosi. Democrats have been clashing over Republican maneuvering after
moderates - many of them freshmen who defeated GOP incumbents - voted against their own party on politically divisive Republican
amendments. The internal frustration kicked into high gear last month after the GOP notched a surprise win on a high-profile gun-control
bill, with Pelosi demanding that lawmakers toe the party line.
The issue remains a point of tension. Pelosi's deputies - Clyburn and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. - had encouraged some in the
caucus to vote their district even if it meant siding with Republicans occasionally, while Pelosi protested. The three huddled last week to
try to get on the same page.
On Thursday morning, some freshmen vented privately about the mixed messages they had gotten from House leaders about the process at
a meeting hosted by Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., according to two people present.
With a major Democratic bill involving elections and ethics rules changes hanging in the balance on Friday, Pelosi faced a fresh test as she
sought to enforce order. When Republicans offered a measure targeting voting by illegal immigrants, her leadership team chose one of the
moderate freshmen who had voted for some of the earlier GOP amendments, Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., to rally his colleagues.
"This is a political stunt meant to divide us, meant to sow hatred, and it's a game, nothing less," Rose said.
During the vote, Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn huddled over a table monitoring lists of how Democrats were voting. When only six broke with
the party, Democrats cheered - a bright spot in a tough week.
"When you assume the role of the majority party, there are necessarily steps that must be taken in order to adjust," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver
II, D-Mo., said. "There are some things that need to be worked out in the caucus, but the [leadership team] understands that and is working
on it."
Said first-term Rep. Eliss Slotkin, D-Mich.: "What we learned is that we're a caucus with growing pains, which is totally normal and
natural."
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4)
Why the Nazis, Commies, and Measles Are Back
History has gone full circle. Suddenly, we find a new unhealthy fixation with socialism on the rise in the United States, people are defending commies, the Nazis are back, and measles is surging. They are all related.
We won decisive victories against Nazis and commies and vaccines. We put them on the ash heap of history. But the lessons of history show that things only stay on that ash heap if we stay vigilant. People forget. The people who won stop crowing. That becomes a bit dangerous in the age of the internet...
4a) REMEMBER WHEN !!!!
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5)Israel's positive profile has risen even higher this week. More patients are up and about,
thanks to Israeli medicine. More Israeli start-ups are springing up and several big Israeli
have "upped" their earnings. The number of tourists visiting Israel has gone up yet again, as
has the quality of life in Israel. And a photo of Israel's spaceship 37,600km above the Earth
went viral.
Best regards and Shalom.
Michael
In the 10th Mar 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
- An Israeli device is the first wireless, battery-less heart monitoring implant.
- Israel’s spaceship goes into higher orbit after taking a selfie.
- Israel’s Ramon Airport has opened to International flights.
- Two Israeli companies earned over a billion dollars last year.
- Israeli “special” band Shalva will play at Eurovision semi-finals.
- An Israeli won 3 gold medals at an international gymnastic grand-prix.
- Israel Railways staff returned a lost property item worth 234,000 shekels.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Freezing bladder tumors. Israeli startup Vessi Medical has developed unique bladder-
cryotherapy technology for treating surface cancer on the inside lining of the bladder. Existing
therapies are invasive and have a high recurrence rate. Vessi has conducted clinical trials
and hopes to begin human trials shortly.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
A computer in your heart. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported 3 years ago (see here)when Israel’s
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
A computer in your heart. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported 3 years ago (see here)when Israel’s
Vectorious Medical raised funds to trial its V-LAPTM microcomputer that monitors for
imminent heart failure. The device has just been successfully implanted in the first human
trials in a six-minute procedure, under local anesthesia. It is said to be the world’s first digital,
wireless, battery-less device that can communicate from deep within the body.
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/
http://vectoriousmedtech.com/
ReWalk’s soft suit completes trials. I reported previously (see here) about ReStore, the
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/
http://vectoriousmedtech.com/
ReWalk’s soft suit completes trials. I reported previously (see here) about ReStore, the
soft suit exoskeleton from Israel’s ReWalk that enables stroke patients to walk. ReStore
recently completed successful trials at five US rehabilitation centers and ReWalk has now applied for US FDA and European CE approval.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Treatment for refractory seizures. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Teva has launched a generic
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Treatment for refractory seizures. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Teva has launched a generic
version of Sabril (vigabatrin) in the US for the treatment of refractory Complex Partial
Seizures (CPS). It is meant for adults and children over 10 with this form of epilepsy who
have failed to respond to several alternative treatments.
https://www.tevapharm.com/
Unique way to mend a broken heart. A 29-year-old Israeli staggered into Sheba Medical
https://www.tevapharm.com/
Unique way to mend a broken heart. A 29-year-old Israeli staggered into Sheba Medical
Center with a left ventricle aneurysm (ruptured heart artery). Cardiologist Professor Victor
Guetta performed a “first in the world” procedure using a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)
occlude (normally used to open arteries) to plug the hole.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Lab-grown bone patient competes in triathlon. Danny Yaakobson suffered a serious leg
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Lab-grown bone patient competes in triathlon. Danny Yaakobson suffered a serious leg
injury in a car accident and risked losing his leg. He was the first patient to receive a
transplant using bone grown from his own fat cells by Israel’s Bonus Bio. Danny completed the 112-mile cycle race of Eilat’s 2019 Israman triathlon.
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/
Predicting the spread of melanoma. Scientists at Ben Gurion University, working with
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/
Predicting the spread of melanoma. Scientists at Ben Gurion University, working with
others at the University of Texas, have used microscopic cameras to film live cancer cells.
They then used artificial intelligence to identify cells with metastatic potential that were likely to spread to other parts of the body.
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/
https://www.the-scientist.com/
Finding the cause of genetic diseases. Israeli biotech Emedgene has developed a platform
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/
https://www.the-scientist.com/
Finding the cause of genetic diseases. Israeli biotech Emedgene has developed a platform
that can pinpoint the genetic mutation(s) responsible for rare genetic diseases. Emedgene
gets cases from healthcare organizations and uses Artificial Intelligence and information
databases to help geneticists uncover the underlying problem.
https://emedgene.com/emedgene-
Hope for safer skin grafts. It’s early days, but Shahar Ben-Shaul from Israel’s Technion
https://emedgene.com/emedgene-
Hope for safer skin grafts. It’s early days, but Shahar Ben-Shaul from Israel’s Technion
Institute looks to have improved the success rate for skin grafts. In laboratory trials, she and
her team were able to connect blood vessels faster and safer using more mature (14-day-old)
cells grown in the lab, in combination with real skin.
https://www.israel21c.org/
https://www.pnas.org/content/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Muslim and Jewish medics train together in Jerusalem. (TY Hazel) Many Arab (Muslim
https://www.israel21c.org/
https://www.pnas.org/content/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Muslim and Jewish medics train together in Jerusalem. (TY Hazel) Many Arab (Muslim
and Christian) volunteer first responders participated in an emergency drill in the Jerusalem
neighborhood of Zur Bahr. They trained together with Israeli security forces, firefighters and
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service.
https://www.jewishpress.com/
https://www.jewishpress.com/
over Israel, took part in a pre-accelerator program in Jaffa, aptly named Starting Up Together.
Around 50% were Jews and 50% Arabs (Muslim including Bedouin, Christian and Druze).
They formed groups to work on “smart city” projects.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Israeli school for migrants on Greek island. (TY Hazel) For nearly 4 years (see here)
Israelis have been helping migrants from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan on the Greek
Island of Lesbos. There is no other foreign support. IsraAID runs a school for the migrants,
some of whom even became teachers themselves.
https://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel opens Rwandan embassy. Israel’s new embassy in Rwanda is its 11th in Africa. The
https://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel opens Rwandan embassy. Israel’s new embassy in Rwanda is its 11th in Africa. The
new Ambassador, Ronny Adam presented his credentials to Rwanda’s President Paul
Kagame in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.
https://www.jewishpress.com/
https://www.jewishpress.com/
africa/2019/02/23/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Beresheet takes a selfie and fires up. Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft to the moon, took a
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Beresheet takes a selfie and fires up. Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft to the moon, took a
selfie of itself and the Earth some 37,600 km above our planet. The photo shows the Israeli
flag, “Small Country Big Dreams” and “Am Yisrael Chai” (the Nation of Israel Lives).
then blasted into a new 270,000km maximum orbit.
https://www.jewishpress.com/
http://www.israelnationalnews.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Dutch to use Israeli water-based fuel. I reported previously (4th Nov) on Israeli-founded
https://www.jewishpress.com/
http://www.israelnationalnews.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Dutch to use Israeli water-based fuel. I reported previously (4th Nov) on Israeli-founded
Electriq-Global which extracts hydrogen from water to power electric vehicles. Electriq-Global
is partnering Dutch company Eleqtec to power an eMobility solution for trucks, barges and
mobile generators in the Netherlands in 2020.
https://www.electriq.com/
Helping you to get fit. Israel’s Matok V’Kal has launched Fit4style Energy Spray - a
https://www.electriq.com/
Helping you to get fit. Israel’s Matok V’Kal has launched Fit4style Energy Spray - a
refreshing 6-calorie, zero-caffeine, quick-shot mint-flavored spray to help boost stamina
during high-endurance workouts and sports activities. Lightweight and user-friendly, it gives
both mind and body the motivation to continue exercising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The cybersecurity system that sees all. (TY Atid-EDI) Customers using the Cybersecurity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The cybersecurity system that sees all. (TY Atid-EDI) Customers using the Cybersecurity
Asset Management Platform from Israel’s Axonius get a single point of view of all IT devices,
automatically. They can then answer the question: are my devices secure? Axonius has just
raised $13 million of funds.
https://www.axonius.com/
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6)
And now bigots have found a home in Congress. Bigots feel free to spew hate filled memes, in the words of Ilhan
Omar calling on Americans to acknowledge that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken
the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel” and that Israel is “an apartheid regime.” BDS, the
movement whose goal is to ultimately bring the very existence of Israel to an end, has a significant number of
defenders in Congress, many of whom will be running for president in the next election.
So I return to my contention that when it comes to politics Jews somehow display an incredible level of
stupidity. Politicians have come to take for granted that Jews are willing to forsake their self-interest. Yes,
Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans – but Puerto Ricans themselves are smart enough
to vote for what is good for Puerto Ricans. Why is it that only Jews think it is indecent for Jews to ask
themselves at the voting booth the most obvious question, “is it good for the Jews?”
In a country where barely 50% go to the polls, Jewish voter turnout averages around 85%. In a
presidential system based on electoral votes, where key “swing states” like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Michigan, Jews have sizable concentrations in southern Florida, Cleveland, Philadelphia Pittsburgh and
Detroit, Jews theoretically are blessed with considerable political power. That potential influence, however, is
wasted and unlike any other voting block of comparable self-interest is negated by its unwillingness to
identify and fight for its own causes.
Ilhan Omar was elected after her pro-Palestinian views and anti-Semitic tropes were already well known. She
cruised to victory in November in Minnesota’s fifth district which encompasses Minneapolis and some of its
suburbs, including St. Louis Park which has a large Jewish population. The seat opened up when 12 year
incumbent representative Keith Ellison, with past ties with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, decided to run
for state attorney general – to which he was in fact elected.
Jews are smart – but when it comes to politics we have a long history of stupidity. We still can’t believe we have
enemies. We still can’t acknowledge there are evil people who want to destroy us. We still can’t recognize that
those who express anti-Semitic ideas really mean what they say even if they subsequently offer halfhearted
apologies.
In an age when the lessons of the Holocaust seem to have been condemned to forgetfulness, we can’t afford to
become victims of political suicide. It is high time for us, as every other group anxious about its own survival, to
make “is it good for the Jews” a chief concern of our voting behavior.
About the Author: Rabbi Benjamin Blech is a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally
recognized educator, religious leader, and lecturer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://www.axonius.com/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
6)
Jews and political suicide
By Rabbi Benjamin Blech
To tell the truth I’m not surprised at the resurgence of anti-Semitism – not only across the world but even
here in the United States. Anti-Semitism is an ancient sickness long ago predicted by the Torah and the
prophets, historically rooted in theological hatred as well as xenophobic fears, and utilized by despots of
every generation to scapegoat Jews as a way of diverting attention from their crimes.
What continues to amaze me though is – and let me be as blunt about it as possible – Jewish stupidity.
Jews are supposed to be smart. We never stop boasting, at least to ourselves, about the number of
Nobel prize winners from our people, the amazing contributions we have made and continue to make to the
world in every field of endeavor. Why is it then that when it comes to politics, to making our voices heard in
ways which promote the most important areas of our self-interest and yes, even our survival, we seem to
abdicate reason and side with those who make clear that they are our enemies?
A number of years ago, in a now classic article in Commentary magazine, Philip Himmelfarb made the
astute observation that “Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.” Jews may have risen to
financial security but their political support remained solidly for liberal causes in line with the disenfranchised
and economically oppressed in the social order. Jews voted more in line with their liberal views than their
personal needs. Leonard Fein said it explicitly: “Politics is our religion; our preferred denomination is
liberalism.”
And that may have been fine a generation or two ago. Liberalism which preaches fairness, liberalism
which is grounded in biblical and Jewish traditions of concern for fellow human beings, is a cause to which
we may all subscribe with devotion.
But there is a tragic truth we have learned in the recent past. It has taken off on college campuses across
the country. It has made its appearance in organizations ostensibly founded on liberal concern for justice and
equal treatment for all, no matter race or religion. It has even, and most disconcerting, found an unlikely
home in the Congress of the United States of America. It is nothing less than “hateful liberalism” – liberalism
with love for all, just not for Jews; liberalism with fairness for all, just not for Israel.
In a collection of some of the best, funniest and most profound lines in cinema history critics cite the
Oscar-winning Woody Allen movie Annie Hall and the scene where Alvy Singer, played by Alan, tells the
woman who will become his first wife, “Right, I’m a bigot, I know, but for the left.” It is a revelation almost
prophetic: bigots exist not only as fanatics on the right – they can also very often come in the form of bigots
on the left.
Liberals who demand equality for the LGBT community and then side with the Palestinians against their
Israeli “oppressors” seem to have no problem with the inherent contradiction that Palestinians throw gays off
rooftops to their death while Israel permits gay parades as part of their being a democracy. Liberals manage
overlook the “pay to slay” policy of Palestinians, giving lifetime rewards to Arab terrorists who murder
innocents like 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher, a young Orthodox Jewish girl who was completing a year of
computer national service in Israel working with children in a youth center in Jerusalem. Somehow there are
a lot of bigots on the left- bigots whose hearts only bleed for non-Jewish blood and who couldn’t care in the
least when the victims are victims of anti-Semitism, the oldest hate crime in history.
And now bigots have found a home in Congress. Bigots feel free to spew hate filled memes, in the words of Ilhan
Omar calling on Americans to acknowledge that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken
the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel” and that Israel is “an apartheid regime.” BDS, the
movement whose goal is to ultimately bring the very existence of Israel to an end, has a significant number of
defenders in Congress, many of whom will be running for president in the next election.
So I return to my contention that when it comes to politics Jews somehow display an incredible level of
stupidity. Politicians have come to take for granted that Jews are willing to forsake their self-interest. Yes,
Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans – but Puerto Ricans themselves are smart enough
to vote for what is good for Puerto Ricans. Why is it that only Jews think it is indecent for Jews to ask
themselves at the voting booth the most obvious question, “is it good for the Jews?”
In a country where barely 50% go to the polls, Jewish voter turnout averages around 85%. In a
presidential system based on electoral votes, where key “swing states” like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Michigan, Jews have sizable concentrations in southern Florida, Cleveland, Philadelphia Pittsburgh and
Detroit, Jews theoretically are blessed with considerable political power. That potential influence, however, is
wasted and unlike any other voting block of comparable self-interest is negated by its unwillingness to
identify and fight for its own causes.
Ilhan Omar was elected after her pro-Palestinian views and anti-Semitic tropes were already well known. She
cruised to victory in November in Minnesota’s fifth district which encompasses Minneapolis and some of its
suburbs, including St. Louis Park which has a large Jewish population. The seat opened up when 12 year
incumbent representative Keith Ellison, with past ties with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, decided to run
for state attorney general – to which he was in fact elected.
Jews are smart – but when it comes to politics we have a long history of stupidity. We still can’t believe we have
enemies. We still can’t acknowledge there are evil people who want to destroy us. We still can’t recognize that
those who express anti-Semitic ideas really mean what they say even if they subsequently offer halfhearted
apologies.
In an age when the lessons of the Holocaust seem to have been condemned to forgetfulness, we can’t afford to
become victims of political suicide. It is high time for us, as every other group anxious about its own survival, to
make “is it good for the Jews” a chief concern of our voting behavior.
About the Author: Rabbi Benjamin Blech is a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally
recognized educator, religious leader, and lecturer.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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