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April 2017

The Honorable Neil Gorsuch took his Constitutional oath in a private ceremony and the Judicial Oath in the Rose Garden today to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court. From Fox News:
Gorsuch took the Constitutional Oath in a private ceremony, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court’s Justice’s Conference Room. He was accompanied by his wife Louise, who held the Bible, and his two daughters. That oath will be followed by a public ceremony at the White House where Justice Anthony Kennedy – Gorsuch’s former boss – will administer the Judicial Oath.

Surprising consensus on today's Morning Joe that Barack Obama blew it bigly in Syria by punting on his redline. Even Obama fan Mike Barnicle admitted, "Syria was a serious mistake that the Obama administration made." Foreign policy honcho Richard Haass said "history's going to be rough on this. This is going to be the defining moment for the Obama presidency." It wasn't just the panel that trashed Obama's mishandling of Syria. Joe Scarborough noted that not only did leading Dems like John Kerry and Hillary quickly come out in support of Trump's strikes, but that Dems were saying things that were "almost disloyal to Barack Obama, saying we could have never moved this quickly."

The Trump administration is exploring the possibility of punching a hole in former President Obama’s 2015 ozone pollution rule.
Justice Department attorneys are asking the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to delay oral arguments scheduled for later this month in a lawsuit challenging the Obama rule, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews the regulation and its position on it. “EPA intends to closely review the 2015 rule, and the prior positions taken by the agency with respect to the 2015 rule may not necessarily reflect its ultimate conclusions after that review is complete,” the attorneys wrote. Under the Obama administration, attorneys were defending the pollution rule against a coalition of business groups and conservative states, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

I have seen this movie before. In early April 2014, anti-Israel students at Cornell University, led by Students for Justice in Palestine, brought a last minute resolution before the student assembly to divest from certain companies doing business with Israel. The resolution was managed in such a way as to provide the bare minimum notice and, most important, just before the Jewish Holiday of Passover, when many Jewish students travel home. These student divestment resolutions have no power, because student governments do not control university investments. Rather, these are symbolic resolutions meant to demonize Israel. I reported on April 8, 2014, ALERT: Sneak Passover Anti-Israel Divestment attack at Cornell:

The year, as we mark the season of Passover, there has been a discovery of the remains of a pyramid in Egypt that was reportedly built around the time of the Exodus:
Ahead of the Passover holiday, an unknown pyramid was discovered in Egypt, dating roughly to the time of Jews’ exodus from bondage. A top antiquities official says an Egyptian excavation team has discovered the remains of a pyramid dating back to the 13th Dynasty, some 3700 years ago.

A Syrian survivor of the 2013 gas attack—in response to which Obama ignored his own red line—calls out Hillary Clinton. Brooke Baldwin, and the left for their rampant hypocrisy regarding Syria and refugees. PJ Media reports:

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin had a chemical attack survivor on her show Friday to discuss the Syrian regime's sarin gas attack on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun and President Trump's subsequent military response. To say Baldwin's transparent attempt to coax an anti-Trump soundbite from Kassem Eid -- who now lives in Germany -- wildly backfired is an understatement.

Last week, Pepsi received massive backlash from people on the left and right with an ad that starred Kendall Jenner. Those on the left claimed the ad made light of the Black Lives Matter movement while the right stated it put cops in a bad light. Pepsi pulled the ad in less than 24 hours. Now one of the extras in the ad spoke with People magazine and said the majority of the actors were foreign and that he, being from Thailand, did not understand the significance of the ad.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for two attacks on two Coptic churches in Egypt.  The attacks took place this morning and left 37 people dead and over a hundred wounded. Fox News reports:
The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for two separate Palm Sunday bombing attacks at Coptic Christian churches in Egypt that have killed 37 people and injured more than 100.

Lefty journalist Jeremy Scahill found a graphic way to describe the MSM's support for the cruise missile attack that President Trump ordered this past week. Appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources today, The Intercept's Scahill said, "Fareed Zakaria: if that guy could have sex with this cruise missile attack, I think he would do it." Along similar lines, Scahill said that MSNBC's Brian Williams seemed to be "in true love with the cruise missile strike."

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a non-Jewish organization that undermines the fight against, and enables, antisemitism by legitimizing and mainstreaming the anti-Israel movement’s assault on Jewish identity. JVP presents itself as a social justice organization committed to non-violence and peace. But as we’ve documented in dozens of posts, its tactics and affiliations tell a different story. JVP masquerades as merely devoted to ending Israel’s ‘occupation’ of Judea and Samaria/the West Bank when what it really wants is to end Israel. Its leadership and activists frequently promote and partner with extremist individuals and groups that demonize the Jewish state and delegitimize Zionism, while trafficking in negative stereotypes of Jews.

As Holy Week begins for Christians around the world, some intriguing information on the faith has been released by the Pew Research Center.
Christians remained the largest religious group in the world in 2015, making up nearly a third (31%) of Earth’s 7.3 billion people, according to a new Pew Research Center demographic analysis. But the report also shows that the number of Christians in what many consider the religion’s heartland, the continent of Europe, is in decline. Christians had the most births and deaths of any religious group in recent years, according to our demographic models. Between 2010 and 2015, an estimated 223 million babies were born to Christian mothers and roughly 107 million Christians died – a natural increase of 116 million.