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September 2017

Posted by Miriam Elman on September 20, 2017 3 Comments
Mitchell Flint, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II who later became a founding member of Israel’s legendary first fighter squadron and flew dozens of missions on behalf of the fledgling Jewish state during its 1948 War of Independence, died of natural causes on Saturday (September 16) at his home in Los Angeles. In several prior posts, we described how Flint and other non-Israeli volunteers played a key role during the second phase of the 1948 war, when the combined armies of five Arab states threatened to overrun and cripple Israel and “throw the Jews into the sea”:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 20, 2017 13 Comments
The right of the private citizenry to make a public record request has, at least until recently, required local and federal governments to maintain a certain level of transparency. But a disturbing new trend has private citizens and even journalists flummoxed. In Louisiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Oregon, individuals requesting public records have been sued by the agencies whose documents they requested. This new lawfare front has successfully kept public records out of the hands of requestors and made others think twice before making FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 20, 2017 2 Comments
I have been documenting the horrors the Rohingya minority are facing in Myanmar and their cries for help as they face genocide and ethnic cleansing. 421,000 Rohingya have escaped to Bangladesh with next to nothing and aid groups doing as much as they can to help these people. The U.S. has answered the call. Right before the UN General Assembly kicks off its second day of speeches, the State Department announced the U.S. will send $32 million in aid to help the Rohingya minority.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 20, 2017 13 Comments
Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Bob Corker (R-TN), two members with opposing views on fiscal policy, have announced "a path forward on tax reform" that "would allow for a tax reduction, as scored on a statistic basis, over a 10-year period." They hope to Senate Budget Committee will vote on said plan next week. The senators did not release any details about the plan, but new outlets have stated it will allow tax reductions up to $1.5 trillion. The Wall Street Journal reported that the "agreement would allow Republicans to lower tax rates while making fewer tough decisions on what tax breaks to eliminate to help pay for the cuts."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 20, 2017 3 Comments
The Caribbean is bracing for another, potentially catastrophic hurricane, and the US territory of Puerto Rico appears to be in its projected path.
Category 5 Hurricane Maria's maximum sustained winds have increased to 175 mph. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter plane took the reading Tuesday evening as the storm was about 60 miles (115 kilometers) southeast of St. Croix.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 20, 2017 34 Comments
WiretapGate keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. A couple of days ago there were reports that Team Mueller told Paul Manafort he likely would be indicted, and that Manafort was wiretapped before and after the 2016 election. Today brings a report from CBS News that those wiretaps took place during the campaign. The media reaction focuses heavily on Manafort having spoken with Russians, but there is no indication about what. What is lost in translation in the headlines is that, according to CBS, conversations between Manafort and Trump may have been scooped up in the surveillance:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 20, 2017 8 Comments
Virginians will vote for governor this November after a race that has drawn little notice until recently. Lt. Governor Ralph Northam is the Democrat and former RNC chair Ed Gillespie is the Republican. The Virginia Constitution prohibits Terry McAuliffe from running again.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 20, 2017 32 Comments
Officers arrested three Democratic congressmen outside of Trump Tower during a protest against President Donald Trump's policies on immigration. From Fox News:
Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva‏, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutiérrez and New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat were taken into custody by police, according to Grijalva’s campaign Twitter account and a Gutiérrez aide.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 20, 2017 18 Comments
Newsela is a relatively recently-established educational resource that purportedly specializes in non-fiction content for the nation's K-12 schools, teachers, and students.  It sprung up as a private partner of Common Core, and the service reaches at least 75% of America's K-12 classrooms. Newsela recently came under fire for its 9/11 instructional material. Newsela's 9/11 "Fact Sheet" included reference to Israel's "long and shady history" and to Israel as belonging, originally, to Muslims. A historical impossibility. Nonetheless, this drivel was published far and wide, and America's 5th and 6th grade students across the nation were spoon-fed it. Newsela has, under pressure from parents and alarmed educators, retracted and corrected the materials, but not before the damage was done.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 19, 2017 25 Comments
For almost a year, the Myanmar army has conducted "clearance operations" in Rokhine state against the Muslim Rohingya minority. 417,000 of those who survived have fled to Bangladesh, telling stories of rape and murder in their villages. The UN and human rights groups have described the situation as genocide and ethnic cleansing. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has largely remained silent. But on Tuesday she broke that silence with a speech that is laughable, mainly because she said she has no idea why the Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 19, 2017 17 Comments
It's that time again; time for pumpkin spiced everything, college football, candy corn, and cheesy political ads. As we enter campaign season, we have an early contender for worst political ad ever. Though it's no "I'm not a witch" (still my favorite), this one is so very terrible in other ways. Dan Helmer, Democrat, is running for Congress in Virginia's 10th district. An army veteran, Helmer appears to be running as a centrist Democrat (even though he's defending Planned Parenthood?). Helmer's running against Republican incumbent, Rep. Barbara Comstock.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 19, 2017 15 Comments
Today was the day. Convicted terrorist murderer and immigration fraudster Rasmea Odeh's last day on U.S. soil. She's been stripped of her citizenship and put on a plane out of O'Hare for Jordan, where she'll join convicted terrorist murderer Ahlam Tamimi, the mastermind of the Sbarro Pizzeria Massacre.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 19, 2017 5 Comments
The Cornell campus currently is in turmoil over two racial incidents. In one, a student shouted "build a wall" near the Latino Living Center. At least two reports (Campus Reform and The New American) claim the student was Hispanic and said it to mock Trump. The Cornell administration has declined to confirm or deny those reports, referring me instead to prior general statements from university officials. I may have more on that in a subsequent post.
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