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Friday, December 8, 2023

Heads of Universities Run Damage Control After Horrific Testimony

Townhall: Antisemitism has become a growing concern on college campuses across the U.S. since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, but the Ivy Leagues have seen a particularly alarming increase in incidences. Harvard President, MIT President, and University of Pennsylvania President appeared before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Tuesday where they were grilled by lawmakers about their respective responses. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik was stunned by the responses she received when she asked whether the calling for genocide and mass violence against Jews would be considered a violation of harassment and bullying policies. The women more or less all said it “depends on the context” or “when speech crosses into conduct” (Townhall). Bill Ackman: I learned from someone with first person knowledge of the Harvard president search that the committee would not consider a candidate who did not meet the DEI office’s criteria. Shrinking the pool of candidates based on required race, gender, and/or sexual orientation criteria is not the right approach to identifying the best leaders for our most prestigious universities (X). Elise Stefanik: This pathetic PR clean up attempt by Penn shockingly took over 24 hours to try to fix the moral depravity of the answers under oath yesterday. And there was not even an apology. There is zero question that the world knows that the only answer is for Penn to deliver accountability and bring in new leadership immediately (X).

Café Employees in Oakland Attempt to Block a Jewish Woman from Entering Restroom

Times of Israel: Employees at a cafe in Oakland, California, were filmed in recent days denying a customer said to be Jewish from using the bathroom at their shop. The female patron of Farley’s East was said to have complained to the staff about anti-Israel messages graffitied inside the bathroom and then wanted to go inside again to film the messages but was blocked from doing so by a staff member with blue hair. “We have a right to refuse service.” “Currently, this is a private property,” says a staff member. “You’re also misgendering them, so I need you to leave.” A fourth employee then tells the customer that she is allowed to use another restroom in the cafe if she would like (Times of Israel). Andy Ngo: Far-left staff at Farley’s East coffee house in Oakland, CA tried to stop a woman from documenting the “Zionism is fascism” graffiti they approve of in the restroom. “I know Israel likes taking private property and saying it’s their own,” staff said to her (X). NY Post: The customer is finally allowed in after asking: “If you agree with the graffiti, why are you afraid that I will take a picture of it?” “Oh, actually, great — please!” the male worker says with apparent joy at what she is about to see. She then films messages including “Zionism = Fascism,” “Your neutrality/apathy is enabling genocide” and “Free Palestine.” “History didn’t start in 1948, lady,” the male worker quips while the patron quickly films the inside of the restroom. “Free Palestine. Now, please leave,” one of the women says (NY Post).

CAIR Executive Director Openly Celebrates Hamas Attacking Israel in Antisemitic Speech

Katie Pavlich: The country’s largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on Islamic Relations, is celebrating the October 7 Islamic terrorist attacks in Israel. Today marks two months since Iranian backed Hamas murdered 1400 Israelis, Americans, Thai and other innocent civilians inside their homes and at a music festival in the country’s south. Women and men were raped, babies were shot or burned and hundreds were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip (Townhall). Memri: CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad at AMP Convention: I Was Happy to See the People of Gaza Break the Siege on October 7; They Were Victorious; the People of Gaza Have the Right to Self-Defense – Israel Does Not (X). Guy Benson: Notice that this is not a “hot mic” or hidden camera admission caught on tape. This is a declarative statement, enthusiastically made in public, at a Muslim-American conference. It drew applause in the room. Open, brazen, fearless support for terrorism and violent anti-Semitism (X).

Republicans Stop Ukraine, Israel Aid Bill to Address the Southern Border

Wall Street Journal: President Biden’s push to pass tens of billions in new aid for Ukraine stalled in the Senate on Wednesday, but the setback could inject new urgency into bipartisan talks over border-security measures that Republicans have demanded as a condition for their support. Democrats’ sweeping foreign-aid measure providing $110.5 billion for Ukraine, Israel and other global hot spots was blocked by Republicans in an initial procedural vote. Forty-nine senators backed the measure and 51 were against, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance. In remarks just ahead of the vote, Biden warned that failure by Congress to pass new aid for Ukraine could ultimately lead the U.S. into direct conflict with Russia if it won and continued to march westward (Wall Street Journal). Townhall: Earlier Wednesday, after accusing “extreme Republicans” of “playing chicken with our national security,” President Biden signaled he was open to making “significant compromises on the border” in exchange for Ukraine aid (Townhall). RNC Research: Biden Budget Director Shalanda Young dismisses border security as “the politics of the day.” AMERICANS WANT A SECURE BORDER (X)!

Crime is Deteriorating Major Cities

SMDP: According to the Santa Monica Police Department, officers were called to The Real Real on Nov. 27 at about 10:55 a.m. after four masked suspects entered the luxury resale store and forced their way past the front door security. Once inside, they used hammers to smash multiple display cases containing brand-name purses worth over $50,000. The suspects then fled the scene in a waiting vehicle (SMDP). RNC Research: “I voted for Karen Bass. I voted for Biden. I voted for Gavin Newsom. I’m sick of it” (X). Now, city leaders are trying to work with police departments to prevent crime just after trying to defund them. Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is expected to announce on Thursday a new “real-time crime center,” where police will monitor live-stream video from hundreds of closed-circuit television cameras across the city. The crime center, not yet completed, will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The crime center is another component to Bowser’s strategy to confront crimes such as carjackings, robberies and homicides that are soaring in the District this year. Her administration is under increasing pressure to curtail violence and restore a sense of safety to the city. The crime center initiative will include partnerships with several federal agencies and suburban police departments (Washington Post).

House Censures Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for Pulling Fire Alarm

Associated Press: House members voted again Thursday to punish one of their own, targeting Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings when the chamber was in session. The Republican censure resolution passed with some Democratic votes, but most Democrats stood by Bowman in opposition of an effort they said lacked credibility and integrity. The prominent progressive now becomes the third Democratic House member to be admonished this year through the censure process, which is a punishment one step below expulsion from the House (Associated Press). NBC: Bowman admitted to pulling the alarm in the Cannon House Office Building in September as Republican lawmakers sought to vote on the spending measure. He said in a statement after the incident that he accidentally activated the alarm after he came across a door that was typically open for votes, but would not open that day. Bowman pleaded guilty in October to one count of falsely pulling a fire alarm. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, he was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology to the U.S. Capitol Police chief, after which prosecutors would dismiss the charge pending no further violations of the law (NBC).

UNLV Shooter is a Career Professor Who Was Denied a Position

CNN: The shooter who killed three people Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was a 67-year-old career college professor who may have applied for a job at the university but not been hired. The gunman died at the scene after a confrontation with police outside a university building, Las Vegas Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. He was identified as Anthony Polito, that source and another source in law enforcement said. Investigators are looking into the possibility Polito may have been passed over for a job at UNLV (CNN).

Donald Trump Attends Civil Fraud Trial in New York City

CBS: Former President Donald Trump returned to a New York courtroom on Thursday to attend his civil fraud trial, where his defense team questioned its final expert witness as the case approaches its conclusion. Trump, two of his sons and their company are accused of participating in a decade-long fraud scheme involving vast misrepresentations of Trump’s wealth to attract favorable rates on loans and insurance. They have all denied wrongdoing in the case. Eric Trump joined his father in court on Thursday. The former president listened as his attorney questioned Eli Bartov, a New York University accounting professor who testified about the role of property valuations in financial statements that are at the heart of the fraud case. He said that he saw “no evidence whatsoever for accounting fraud,” and that the statements of financial condition “were not materially misstated” (CBS). Salem News Channel: Donald Trump makes comments from a New York courthouse. “I’m sitting in a courthouse instead of being in Iowa, where I should be…even though I’m leading by about 40 points” (X).

Mollie Hemmingway Files Censorship Lawsuit Against the State Department

Federalist: “We filed a lawsuit against the State Department for their illegal and unconstitutional violation of free speech rights, of our First Amendment rights. We did it with The Daily Wire, with the State of Texas, with the New Civil Liberties Alliance. And what the suit shows is that the State Department was engaged in setting up, funding, marketing, promoting, and continuing to work with these private companies that are engaged in censorship of speech,” said Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway (Federalist). Fox News: In the suit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Texas, the State Department is accused of “funding and promotion of censorship technologies and private censorship enterprises that blacklist” conservative news sites The Federalist and The Daily Wire, which negatively impacts the platforms’ “ability to circulate and distribute their publications to both current and potential audiences.” The lawsuit claims that the State Department technologies are “intentionally destroying” the conservative sites’ ability to obtain advertisers (Fox News).

10.

A Record 14 Million Guns Have Been Purchased in 2023

Washington Examiner: The public has purchased at least 14 million guns this year, proving that there is no end to the country’s appetite for firearms and support of the Second Amendment. In November alone, sales hit the high point of the year, fueled by a historic Black Friday and growing concern that foreign-influenced terrorism would spread to the nation. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry representative that adjusts FBI background check data to estimate gun sales, said that there were 1,595,476 sales last month. The group said earlier that there were 214,913 guns sold on Black Friday alone, a new high for the day known for Christmas sales and buying. For the year, the group estimates sales at 14,072,224 (Washington Examiner). Mark Oliva: Crime and threats of more gun control. That’s what is driving lawful gun sales (X).