Month: December 2025

WORLDWIDE TERRORISM ON THE ASCENSION

The following blog is based on information disseminated by multiple media sources supplemented by my personal opinion where noted.

We are at war! Not with Russia. Not with China. Not with Iran. Not with any of the other “bad actor” countries prominently in the news. Actually, not with any individual country at all.

We are at war with radical Islamic terrorism, and we have been for some time. Many people trace the commencement of this war to the 9/11 attacks. I contend that the war goes back much further, all the way back to the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries. In any event, at the present time radical Islamic terrorism is omnipresent. Most of us are focused on the US, but as the recent attacks at Brown University and Bondi Beach in Australia illustrate the perpetrators can strike anybody, anywhere, at any time.

The definition of terrorism varies in different countries depending on their laws and legal systems. To me, however, terrorism involves violent acts or threats intended to create fear, intimidate civilians, or coerce governments for political or ideological goals.

The Global Terrorism Index, produced annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, systematically ranks 163 countries based on the impact of terrorism, considering factors like the number of incidents, fatalities, injuries, and property damage. Based on the GTI for 2024, which utilizes data from 2023, Burkina Faso, which most people (including me) have never heard of, is the country most impacted by terrorism, accounting for a quarter of all terrorism-related deaths globally in 2023. Burkina Faso is a tiny landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km. In 2024 the country had an estimated population of approximately 23 million.

The incidence and impact of terrorism have become increasingly concentrated. The epicenter of global terrorism has shifted from the Middle East to the Central Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, which now accounts for over half of all global terrorism deaths. Most of the top ten affected by terrorism were located in that region. If you’re wondering, Israel was #2. The US did not make the top 10.

For the most part the sub-Saharin countries on that list live in a constant state of terrorism perpetrated by internal strife and even by the government against its own people. According to the GTI terrorism remains a serious worldwide threat. The data in the 2024 report denotes an overall increase in deaths from terrorism worldwide of 22% to a total of 8,352 in 2023, the most since 2017. Moreover, attacks are becoming more deadly. Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.

For purposes of this blog, I will focus on terrorism as it relates to Western democracies. In 2023 the US accounted for 76% of terrorism-related deaths in Western democracies. By its very nature a terrorist act can occur anywhere, by any person at any time. As we have seen “soft” targets, such as a concert, a school, a place of worship, a mall, or a beach are inviting targets. Two recent attacks – at Brown University and Bondi Beach, Australia – illustrate this point. More on them below.

Most democracies, by their very nature, present a myriad of easy targets. We know that attacks are inevitable and predictable. We just don’t know where or when. For example:

  1. The US, Australia, UK, and France, among others, have sizeable Muslim populations that are disaffected, have failed to assimilate and are virulently antisemitic. The people are prone to recruitment by terrorist organizations. Many of them have carved out enclaves that are ruled by Sharia law, and even the police are loath to enter.
  2. Many countries have lax immigration policies and no or inadequate vetting. In Europe terrorists can move about easily from country to country. Thus, a terrorist entering a country with lax immigration policies can easily move to one with strict policies undetected and unimpeded.
  3. In the US due to the Biden Administration’s open border policy for the last four years as many as 18 million potential bad actors are believed to have gained entry undetected. We have no idea who they are, where they are, how many, or their intent.
  4. In many cases democratic countries’ civil rights laws and liberal politicians and policies have hampered law enforcement from acting until an attack is already in progress. Also, there is often limited funding and manpower.
  5. Many immigrants that have been vetted and approved for entry have become radicalized afterwards. Perhaps, a program of periodic vetting is needed. However, there would be restrictions emanating from a lack of sufficient funds and manpower.
  6. According to journalist Miranda Devine Australia’s lax immigration policies and strict gun laws have put them in the same boat as the US.
  7. Most governments have failed to curtail antisemitism, thus allowing it to fester. Often government officials and members of law enforcement, themselves, are antisemitic or at least indifferent. Thus, violent protesters are free to operate with impunity. The most common manifestation of this has been at various US colleges.
  8. Antisemitic-related attacks in the US, Australia and elsewhere have become common, particularly since 10/7/23. These include not just murders, rape and other violent crimes but also peaceful protests that often turn violent.
  9. Even locales that have strict gun laws are prone to violence because they hinder or prevent regular citizens from arming themselves, while perpetrators still manage to obtain weapons.
  10. In Australia politics has been a major factor. Government officials’ reluctance to identify certain people as potential terrorists for fear of being accused of bias is a problem. This was the problem regarding Bondi Beach.
  11. Like the Dem Party in Minnesota the Australian Labor Party panders to Muslims, perhaps due to the fact that they outnumber Jews 7:1 and constitute a strong and reliable voting bloc.
  12. Journalists who have dared to write about the terrorism problem have been denigrated as Islamophobic.
  13. In many cases potential terrorists are identified and placed on watch lists, because the country’s laws make it difficult to detain or deport them until they actually commit a crime. Often, persons on the Watch Lists are not monitored sufficiently due to incompetence or limited manpower.
  14. Just in the last week I became aware of four terrorist plots – (1) the shootings at Brown University, (2) the shootings at Bondi Beach, (3) a planned attack in LA that was thwarted by the FBI, and (4) Parisian officials canceling a planned NY Eve celebration due to fear of terrorist attacks by “rampaging migrant gangs.” French officials have been criticized for “giving in,” but one can argue that cancellation is better than suffering a tragic attack.
  15. The BB attack was a typical example of law enforcement incompetence. With Hanukkah approaching several Jewish leaders had warned officials that an attack of some kind was a strong possibility. In retrospect the Chanukkah by the Sea event was a tempting “soft” target and should have had better security. The perpetrators were a father and son who had suspected ties with a convicted ISIS terrorist. The Australia Daily Telegraph reported that both had traveled to an area of Southeast Asia that is a known ISIS training ground. Furthermore, supposedly the son was “known” to law enforcement and despite having “Islamic fundamentalist views” was disregarded as a “low level threat.” Somehow, between them, the pair owned six fully licensed weapons that were supposedly used for hunting. That dubious situation should have been a “red flag.” Why did they need six weapons to hunt? And did they actually hunt? Multiple witnesses and cellphone footage showed that when they commenced firing, inexplicably police in the area did not intercede for at least ten minutes while the perpetrators continued to mow down victims! That is inexplicable and unconscionable. It was only after an unarmed bystander interceded that they returned fire. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is known to be hostile to Israel and soft on antisemites. But, like a typical politician, in the wake of the BB attack, he tried to adjust his previous position by characterizing the massacre as “an act of evil, antisemitic terrorism… [adding] an attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.” Knowing his background, those comments rang hollow.
  16. To put it succinctly, the investigation of the Brown University shooting has been botched. As I write this it is nearly one week since the attack, and we have no more information than we did on Day 1. Usually by this time we know the identity of the shooter, what he looks like, his motive and his life history. Often, he would have been caught already. The press conferences have largely been attempts at “CYA” and a waste of time. The incompetence of the University and Town police has been astounding.

Conclusion

As I said at the beginning we are in a war with radical Islamic terrorism. Their oft-stated goal goes beyond the destruction of Jews and the State of Israel. Their ultimate goal is the destruction of all “non-believers” and Western civilization, itself.

The perpetrators are well organized, well-financed, relentless, and ruthless. Currently, most governments and law enforcement agencies, hampered by liberal/woke/socialist laws, policies and attitudes are ill-equipped to thwart them. Furthermore, terrorists have to be successful only once; the burden is on law enforcement to be successful every time.

As I said above the attacks, though fewer in number, have been getting more deadly. New Years Eve is in two weeks. We’d better “step up our game” quickly.

by Tags: , , , Leave a comment

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY – DECEMBER

Many historically-significant events have occurred during the month of December. Below please find what I consider the most significant:

12/1/1955 – Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. This action precipitated a year-long bus boycott and many other protests against segregation led by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, and was what many consider the seminal event for the civil rights movement.
12/2/1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France by Pope Pius VII.
12/2/1823 – President James Monroe articulated the “Monroe Doctrine,” which, essentially, forbad any further colonization of the Western Hemisphere by any European power, and which became a key element of the US’s foreign policy prospectively.
12/2/1954 – The Senate condemned Senator Joseph McCarthy for misconduct, effectively ending his irresponsible communist witch-hunt.
12/3/1967 – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa.
12/6/1492 – Christopher Columbus “discovered” the “New World,” landing at the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
12/6/1865 – The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery, was ratified.
12/6/1973 – Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president replacing Spiro Agnew who had been forced to resign following his pleading “no contest” to charges of income tax evasion.
12/7/1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the US constitution.
12/7/1941 – Japan perpetrated a surprise attack of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor destroying the US Pacific Fleet and precipitating the US’s entry into WWII. FDR called it a “date that will live in infamy,” and it has.
12/10/1896 – Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died. In his will he stipulated that a committee of the Norwegian Parliament award from his estate annual prizes (valued at approximately $1 million) for Peace, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Economics.
12/11/1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic radio signal.
12/11/1936 – King Edward VIII abdicated the English throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
12/13/1642 – Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand.
12/14/1799 – George Washington died at Mt. Vernon.
12/14/1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.
12/15/1791 – Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the Bill of Rights making it an official part of the Constitution. (Ratification of an amendment to the Constitution requires 75% of the states, and Vermont had become the 14th state. The three holdouts were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia, which did not ratify it until 1939.)
12/15/1961 – Notorious Nazi SS Colonel Adolph Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem for his role in the Holocaust during WWII.
12/16/1773 – A group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded British ships anchored in Boston Harbor and dumped 300+ containers of tea overboard as a protest to what they viewed as an unjust tax on the product. This became known as the Boston Tea Party and was a part of the chain of events that culminated in the American Revolutionary War.
12/17/1903 – The Wright Brothers – Wilbur and Orville – made the first successful airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
12/19/1946 – War broke out in what was then called French-Indochina. Eventually, the French were ousted, and the US got drawn into war in Vietnam, which did not end well for us.
12/20/1860 – South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Over the next few months ten other states followed, and the Civil War ensued.
12/21/1846 – Dr. Robert Liston was the first surgeon to use anesthesia (in a leg amputation in London).
12/21/1945 – General George Patton, aka “Old Blood and Guts,” died from injuries suffered in a car accident in Germany. Some historians have postulated that the accident was intentional, but this has never been proven.
12/23/1947 – The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories.
12/25 – Christmas Day when Christians commemorate the birth of Christ.
12/25/1776 – George Washington led a small contingent of Colonial troops across the Delaware River from Valley Forge, PA to Trenton, NJ in the dead of night, where they surprised and defeated a substantially larger contingent of Hessian mercenaries. This daring and famous victory provided a major boost to the flagging revolutionary war effort.
12/26 – Boxing Day is celebrated in the UK, Canada, and various other countries that, formerly, were part of the British Empire. It has nothing to do with pugilism. Most likely, it has evolved from the 18th Century English custom of giving a “Christmas box” containing gifts, such as food or clothes, to servants and tradesmen as a reward for good service throughout the year.
12/26 – 1/1 – Kwanza, an African – American holiday established in 1966, is observed. It celebrates family unity and a bountiful harvest. The word means “first fruit” in Swahili.
12/29/1890 – The US cavalry massacred in excess of 200 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee, SD., which became a symbol of the white man’s brutality to Native Americans.
12/31/1781 – The Bank of New York became the first bank to receive a federal charter. It commenced business on January 7, 1782, in Philadelphia.
12/31/1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison first demonstrated the incandescent lamp (light bulb) at his lab in NJ.
12/31 – New Year’s Eve is celebrated throughout the world.

Birthdays – Charles Stuart, American portrait painter (of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among others), 12/3/1755; Joseph Conrad, Polish novelist, 12/3/1857; Martin Van Buren, 8th President, 12/5/1782; General George Armstrong Custer, 12/5/1839; Walt Disney; 12/5/1901; Ira Gershwin (wrote several hit songs for “Broadway” shows), 12/6/1896; Eli Whitney (cotton gin), 12/8/1765; Clarence Birdseye (invented process for freezing foods), 12/9/1886; Emily Dickenson (poet), 12/10/1830; Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey (invented Dewey decimal system used to categorize books in libraries), 12/10/1851; NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia,12/11/1882; John Jay (first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), 12/12/1745; General James Doolittle (led audacious bombing raid on Tokyo during WWII), 12/14/1896; Alexandre Eifel (Eifel Tower), 12/15/1832; Ludwig van Beethoven (composer), 12/16/1770; George Santayana (philosopher) (“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”), 12/16/1863; Wily Brandt (Chancellor of West Germany), 12/18/1913; Harvey Firestone (Firestone Tire and Rubber), 12/20/1868; Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvli, aka Josef Stalin, 12/21/1879; Claudia Alta Taylor, aka “Lady Bird Johnson,” 12/22/1912; Japanese WWII Emperor Hirohito, 12/23/1901; Christopher “Kit” Carson, frontiersman, 12/24/1809; Howard Hughes, 12/24/1905; Isaac Newton (theory of gravity), 12/25/1642; Clara Barton (nurse who founded American Red Cross), 12/25/1821; Humphrey Bogart, 12/25/1899; Mao Tse Tung, 12/26/1893; Louis Pasteur (pasteurization process), 12/27/1822; (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 12/28/1856; Andrew Johnson (17th president, first to be impeached), 12/29/1808; Pablo Casals (cellist), 12/28/1876; Rudyard Kipling (poet, wrote Jungle Book), 12/30/1865; Hideki Tojo (Japanese WWII Prime Minister), 12/30/1884; General George C. Marshall (Army Chief of Staff, WWII), 12/31/1880.

by Tags: , , , Leave a comment

ANTISEMITISM FLOURISHING ON SELECTED COLLEGE CAMPUSES

The content of this blog is a compendium of publications from various media outlets supplemented by my own opinion, where noted.

Last year I wrote a series of blogs describing the prevalence of antisemitism. In the interest of time and space I will not regurgitate all the information in those blogs at this time, except to denote how antisemitism has been an integral part of society for thousands of years. I compared it to a volcano. Sometimes it remains dormant, covert, bubbling just below the surface, and then some occurrence will cause it to erupt violently and indiscriminately. Some examples would include the pogroms, the Holocaust and the current situation in Gaza. One of the most visible manifestations is what we’re seeing on various college campuses.

The term “pogrom” means “wreak havoc.” There were hundreds of pogroms against European Jews from the Middle Ages through the early 20th century. Typically, they occurred in response to a dreadful event, such as an assassination, a famine, or the Black Death Plague. The masses needed to blame someone for these events. The Jews always made a convenient scapegoat.

In the last few years, we have been experiencing a period of overt, violent antisemitism, particularly on college campuses. I believe the origins can be traced to the Islamic terrorists’ heinous, cowardly sneak attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza. Even though Israel and Jews were the victims it appears to have brought out all the latent hatred against Israel and Jews.

Recent reports and surveys have disclosed that the bigotry on college campuses is as pervasive as ever. Reports from various organizations and government bodies highlight widespread concerns and varying institutional responses. For example:

  1. There was an increase in antisemitic incidents, ranging from harassment and hostile environments to name calling and violence.
  2. The omnipresence of an indifferent administration that tolerates an atmosphere of antisemitism.
  3. Active groups of professors and students that espouse anti-Israel activism.
  4. Demonstrations that often turn violent. I maintain that many if not most of the demonstrators don’t have the foggiest understanding of the issues in the ME. They have no conception of the historical context. Many of them could not even find Gaza on a map. Some of them are probably not even students but professional agitators. Also, some may have entered the country on a student visa or illegally through the open border provided by the Biden Administration.
  5. Some 39% of Jewish college students had to conceal their identity on campus. Many have tried to remove telltale signs of Jewishness such as yarmulkes and Star of David chains.
  6. Approximately 62% reported being blamed for actions taken by the Israeli military, which, of course, is absurd on its face.
  7. 58% of Jewish students reported that they had personally experienced antisemitism.
  8. Only 12% reported that the incidents were properly addressed by the school they attended.
  9. What is being done? The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened investigations into dozens of universities for alleged antisemitic (and Islamophobic) discrimination and harassment. The Justice Department also formed a task force to combat antisemitism and has visited several schools.  That is a good beginning, but so far, I have not seen much empirical evidence of progress.

Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and StopAntisemitism have conducted studies grading universities on their handling of antisemitism and disseminated a sh**list, if you will. Most of these colleges have stellar reputations of academic excellence, however, Jews should think twice before enrolling their child there. Recently, StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez averred “Antisemitism on American college campuses is systemic and tolerated, and in many cases enabled by the very institutions tasked with protecting our [children].”

The current list of colleges that received an “F” from StopAntisemitism include:

  • Brown University
  • Columbia University
  • Harvard University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • Northwestern University
  • Pomona College
  • Portland State University
  • The New School
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • University of California, Davis
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Oregon
  • University of Washington
  • Yale University 

On the other hand, the following schools received an “A” from ADL based on data from March 2025:

  • Brandeis University
  • CUNY Queens College
  • Elon University
  • University of Miami
  • Vanderbilt University 

In addition, many other institutions including Stanford, Rutgers, Tufts and USC are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. On the plus side it should be noted that many universities that have consistently enforced their policies and mandated education on antisemitism have seen improvements in their campus climate ratings. 

In my opinion Columbia University still exhibits one of the most extensive, pervasive antisemitic cultures. As denoted by these surveys CU is by no means the only offender, just one of the worst. Below please find some examples of what Jewish students have been enduring there to illustrate the point:

  1. A CU public health professor addressing a group of students “denied the existence of a Jewish State” and asserted that Jewish donors were donating “blood money.”
  2. Another CU professor singled out a Jewish student who had served in the IDF ranting that the IDF was “an army of murderers and “pointing a finger at the student” proclaiming she was one of the murderers.
  3. In another instance when a student denoted to a CU professor that the Gaza War was being portrayed one-sidedly the professor embarrassed her by reading her email before the entire class and giving a line-by-line refutation of her points.
  4. Former CU graduate and co-founder of Jewish Alumni Association, Ari Shrage cited these as examples of how “deep and pervasive” antisemitism still remains at the university. He added that “few of the professors [who have exhibited antisemitism] have been held accountable. He opined that tenure does not give carte blanch to harass and demean students or to “violate [their] civil rights.” His overall assessment is that CU “clearly [still] has a lot of work to do.”
  5. One professor asserted that the reports of Hamas’ heinous crimes, such as murder, rape and mass destruction were either “exaggerated or fabricated.” Barnard student Shoshana Auszien, who heard these comments, reported she was “incredulous.” How could a professor, who is supposed to be objective say a such thing? Did he actually believe them? She concluded that the school is “overrun with historical revisionists.”

I repeat my earlier comment. Why would any Jewish parent send their child to these schools. Why pay tuition of up to $100,000 per year to subject him or her to this atmosphere of intolerance, ignorance and bigotry?

Conclusion

To state the obvious, people are not born bigots. Bigotry must be taught, learned. In my view in today’s world there are three primary sources of bigotry: (1) the home, (2) schools, and (3) social media. Those are the root causes. That’s where it all starts. As an example, recently, the NY Post published a story that eight high school students laid down on a football field in the shape of a swastika. As if that were not sick enough, they posted a picture of it on social media and attached a quote from Adolph Hitler!

Once the child reaches adulthood bigotry is engrained. Once it takes hold, it is very difficult to dislodge. It metastasizes, like a cancer. Obviously, we, as a society, must replace bigotry with tolerance, which given the foregoing, is a very tall task.

by Leave a comment

GOOD NEWS BLOG

Many readers have been clamoring for a positive blog. They say, “why are all your blogs so negative, so pessimistic?” The obvious answer is that virtually all of the news disseminated by the media is bad news. Bad news sells; good news generally doesn’t.

Others have suggested that my blogs are too long. Well, I can’t shorten my blogs; that’s my writing style. Plus, most of the issues I write about are complex, and I want to provide the full story. However, I am happy to report some good news.

One of the most underreported stories with respect to immigration over the last few years has been the fate of unaccompanied minors. Based on information provided by whistle blowers and gleaned from diligent investigation the conventional thought is that over 500,000 such children entered the US during Biden’s open borders presidency. Some simply walked across as part of the mass migration that characterized his tenure. Others were smuggled in surreptitiously by drug cartels, “coyotes,” or other means.

Even more disturbing is that the Biden Administration lost track of some 300,000 of them. Moreover, they were not actively looking for them. We suspect that most of them have been subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking, but we simply don’t know their fate. We don’t know if they are still in the country or even if they are still alive. They’re just “gone.” I think we can all agree that this is outrageous.

Right about now, you’re probably wondering, “where is the good news in all of this?” Well, under President Trump ICE personnel have been making a concerted effort to find and rescue these children. Recently, the NY Post reported that ICE has been able to rescue some 62,000 such children. Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters “I can’t discuss some of the mistreatment we found out about.” One can only imagine.

Conclusion

The mainstream media has been highly critical of ICE. It has been continually reporting incidents of protests and violence inferring that it is caused by ICE’s heavy-handedness. It has unfairly mischaracterized ICE personnel as “Nazis” and “storm troopers,” ignoring the fact that they are merely doing their job, and that it is perfectly legal.

Finally, we have a positive story of ICE rescuing missing children. 62,000 is but a small portion of the total, but it is a good start. We all “feel” for these innocent children many of whom are really young. My expectation is that ICE will continue to diligently look for these children and will continue to rescue more of them.

by Tags: , , Leave a comment

MAMDANI’S ILL-ADVISED PLAN FOR NYC’S HOMELESS

This blog is a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my opinion, where noted.

He won’t be sworn in as mayor until January 1, but Comrade Mamdani is wasting no time in publicizing his radical plans. His first targets are NYC’s affordable housing and homeless crises. The two are interrelated. Their severity is beyond dispute. In 2024 NYC had the highest homeless population of any city,158,000. That is higher than LA, SF or any other city that has recently been featured in the news.

Why is the homeless problem so severe? Why has it persisted unabated for so many years? Most observers cite the following factors: sustained political control by the far left, a severe shortage of affordable housing, relatively stagnant wages compared to the rising cost of living, general poverty of nearly twice the national rate, unemployment, mental health issues, domestic violence and the sharp increase of the migrant population. NYC remains a very attractive designation for migrants due to its sanctuary policies, and a disproportional percentage of migrants have been taking advantage of them.

Shelters are overflowing. People that have been unable to get into one have been sheltering in homeless encampments, subways, abandoned/condemned buildings, public parks or the street. This fosters crime. Residents, even young children, are forced to walk past these unsightly and dangerous people or mingle with them on subways and buses on a daily basis. I don’t mean to seem unkind or callous, but it is sad to witness this further deterioration of the quality of life in a once-great city.

Between March 2022 and January 2024, the number of people sleeping in NYC shelters grew by 142% to a total of approximately 89,000, of which some 34,000 were asylum seekers. A portion of homeless people, many of which are substance abusers, actually prefer to sleep unsheltered, because they prefer the freedom compared to the rules and restrictions imposed by shelters, especially with respect to alcohol and drugs. Not surprisingly the NY Post reported that a national survey had disclosed that 3/4 of unsheltered homeless persons had a substance abuse problem, which was significantly higher than the rate for sheltered persons. Moreover, as of 2024 it was estimated that in excess of 200,000 people were doubling up in the homes of others, and over 154,000 NYC public school students had experienced homelessness.

Comrade M wants to terminate the current policy of clearing out the city’s homeless encampments. He asserts that the current policy is “cruel.” He would prefer that the homeless be relocated to “affordable housing.” Like most of his policies this sounds good, but it simply is not practical. The sheer numbers are so immense there aren’t enough units to accommodate all of them. Plus, NYC already has a severe shortage of affordable housing for the reasons cited above. Comrade M claims the city will build them, but that will take years and boatloads of money that NYC does not have. Furthermore, if and when these units become available why should the unsheltered get preference over others living in shelters who followed the rules? Once again, this policy exposes M’s lack of experience and comprehension of the real world.

In other cities, such as Austin and LA clearing out homeless encampments resulted in safer streets and fewer deaths among the homeless, so there is empirical evidence that supports the current policy. In NYC the NYPD, Department of Sanitation, and the Department of Homeless Services have combined to “clear out” in excess of 18,000 “makeshift” shelters since the advent of the program in March 2022.

Comrade M’s policy has been universally panned by experienced officials. The consensus opinions have characterized it as “dangerous naivete at best.” Outgoing mayor Eric Adams opined that “leaving people to suffer in the cold …is a disgrace.” Staten Island Republican Councilman David Carr foresees “tent cities in a matter of months.” John Chell, a recently retired NYPD Chief predicts “a sharp rise in shantytowns.” These comments conjure up images of the “Hoovervilles” of the Great Depression.

Comrade M’s simplistic and naive proposal to resolve the city’s homeless crisis is a representative example of his inexperience and incompetence. He has never run a business or managed anything. He doesn’t have the foggiest idea of how to run a fruit stand, much less a complex city like NYC. He puts forth a simple “solution” to a complex problem that sounds good but has no chance of working.

As denoted above the affordable housing and homelessness crises are characterized by many underlying causes that have frustrated many other administrations over the years. As always, his plan is devoid of details. What are the sources of the financing to pay for these housing units? The city is already severely strapped for funds. The state and the federal governments have not indicated they can or `would provide it. The only viable source would be a massive tax increase to a populace and business community that are already among the highest taxed in the country. Meanwhile, the city’s tax base is shrinking as businesses and residents continue to exit in droves while migrants, most of whom continue to soak up social services and pay no taxes, keep pouring in.

Who will construct these units? Where will they be built? How long will it take? The answers are we don’t know and significantly longer and more costly than the most pessimistic projections.

Conclusion

Folks, this is a portent of the next four years. We are trapped in a “lose-lose” situation. Either his policies will cripple NYC and probably NYS, or they will succeed and become a political, economic and social blueprint for the rest of the country. I don’t know which would be worse. I do know that his brand of extreme socialism has never been successful anywhere, however it is already taking hold in other areas of the country such as Seattle and Portland.

New Yorkers elected this slick, smooth-talking communist charlatan. As the old expression says, “he speaks with a ‘forked tongue.’ ” For example, after years of denigrating the ultrarich, even railing that “billionaires should not exist,” he is now holding fundraisers with them.

Voters were blinded by the prospect of “free stuff” not knowing or refusing to acknowledge that nothing is free. Somehow, some way, someone has to pay for it.

They ignored or refused to acknowledge his political bent. They got gaslighted bigtime. As my parents used to tell me when I misbehaved, “you asked for it and now you’re going to get it.”

 

by Tags: , , Leave a comment

A DATE IN INFAMY

Sunday, December 7, will mark the 84th anniversary of one of the most heinous, despicable acts in modern history – Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 1994 Congress designated December 7 as “Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day” as a way to remember and pay homage to the 2,400 US military and civilian personnel who were killed and 1,800 wounded in the attack.  The day is not a federal holiday, but flags are flown at half-mast and many organizations hold special ceremonies.   

Each year thousands of people flock to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and Visitors’ Center to pay their respects. For many years thousands of survivors made the journey to honor their fallen comrades. At the present time according to the latest estimates provided by Stars and Stripes only 14 survivors remain alive, but, given their advanced age and issues of deteriorating health, by the time you read this there may be fewer. Most of them are too old and infirmed to attend the ceremonies in person. In addition, the bodies of at least 900 crewmen remain entombed in the USS Arizona.

The 84th commemoration is scheduled to commence at 6:55 am Honolulu time, the exact time of the commencement of the attack, following a moment of silence. Various ceremonies are scheduled mostly on December 5 – 8. Most of them will be livestreamed. Highlights will include ceremonies at the USS Arizona, USS Utah, and USS Oklahoma cites, the National Commemoration Ceremony (December 7), the annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade (usually the evening of December 6 or 7) featuring veterans, military, and community groups, and the “Blackened Canteen Ceremony.”

Appropriately, the theme of the parade will be “remembering our past while celebrating that once bitter enemies can become friends and allies.” In point of fact, that accurately characterizes the relationship between the US and Japan for the last 80 years or more.

As always, the annual “Blackened Canteen Ceremony” will take place on December 8 aboard the Arizona Memorial. The canteen is a relic of an air raid conducted by the US over Shizuoka, Japan in 1945. Afterwards, a local farmer found a blackened canteen amid the wreckage, and the canteen has become part of the annual PH Day Remembrance. US and Japanese survivors will gather on the Arizona, say a silent prayer, and pour whiskey out of a canteen into the water to pay homage to those who were killed in the attack. The Ceremony is a solemn, invitation-only event symbolizing U.S.-Japan friendship and is a key part of the overall PH commemorations to honor the past while building peace for the future. 

As President FDR forecast, December 7, 1941 is truly a date that has lived in infamy.  It is one of those dates we can never forget.  It is burned into our very souls. Mention that date to a person of a certain age and their reaction will be akin to later generations’ reaction to November 22, 1963 or September 11, 2001.  Most any person over the age of five on those dates remembers where he was, what he was doing and how he felt when he heard the news.  Those are dates that had a profound effect on our lives both individually and collectively.

On December 6, 1941 America was still working its way out of the Great Depression, which began in 1929 with the stock market crash.  Unemployment was at 9.9%, not good, but a significant improvement from the peak of 25% in 1932.  Americans were not thinking about war.  After all, we had just fought the “Great War,” (aka, the “War to End Wars”).  Sure, there was a war waging in Europe, but we were not involved directly.  We had no boots on the ground, and we had a vast ocean between us and them.  Most Americans were focused on their own lives, not on world events. America was in full isolationist mode.  All that was about to change suddenly, violently, tragically and irrevocably.

We all know what happened on December 7, 1941.  We know that the Japanese executed a devastating surprise attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor that precipitated our involvement in WWII.  Approximately, 2,800 lives were lost, civilian as well as military, along with most of our Pacific Fleet and airplanes.  America switched immediately from peacetime mode to wartime mode.  Patriotism and nationalism abounded.  The “greatest generation” was on the march.

As we all know, America recovered to win the war after four years of intense and costly fighting.  There is no need for me to rehash those events.  The Pacific War has been the subject of numerous books, movies, and tv productions.  The central theme of this blog will focus on the events that led up to the war with Japan.

Every war has its immediate cause and its underlying causes. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the immediate cause. But, what were the underlying causes? What would make Japan start a war that it had virtually no chance of winning? Glad you asked. Read on.

Many, if not most, historians maintain that the US actually provoked Japan into starting the war, although we did not intend for them to devastate our naval fleet in the fashion they did.  During the 1930’s we took various actions that, in reality, left Japan no choice, to wit:

1. The US was providing assistance to the Chinese who were at war with Japan.  This included providing airplane pilots, armaments and other supplies and materials. Japan had been at war with China since the 1930’s.  Its extreme brutality was exemplified by the Nanking Massacre, aka the “Rape of Nanking,” which began in December 1937.  In a six-week period over 300,000 Chinese civilians were murdered, and there was widespread raping and looting.  This shocking brutality was a portent of the Pacific War.

2. Along with the British and the Dutch the US military was actively planning prospective military operations against the Japanese in the Far East to counter its aggression.

3. Japan had few natural resources of its own; it needed to import raw materials, such as coal, iron, oil, rubber and bauxite, from the US and other countries in Southeast Asia to fuel its burgeoning industries.  In the late 1930’s the US began to severely limit its access to these materials by enforcing sanctions, limits and embargoes.  This aided the British and the Dutch, who were concerned about Japan’s aggressive behavior in the Far East, but ultimately it provoked the Japanese.

4. Thus, one can view the attack on Pearl Harbor, not as an isolated event, but rather, as the last act in a long line of connected ones.

Many historians believe that FDR provoked Japan intentionally, because he wanted to go to war against the Axis Powers, and the American people were decidedly against doing so. Before you scoff at that notion, consider that we have fought other wars following provocations that may or may not have been fabricated. For example:

1. The Spanish-American War in 1898 began when the battleship, Maine was blown up in Havana harbor under mysterious circumstances. 75% of her crew were killed. “Remember the Maine” became the signature battle cry of that war.  There is evidence that suggests that the Maine was not blown up by the Spanish but may have blown up by accident or been sabotaged to provide a pretext for us to enter that war.

2. The legal basis for commencing the Vietnam War was the Gulf of Tonkin incidents of August 2 and 4, 1964. A US destroyer, the USS Maddox, exchanged fire with North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf, which is off the coast of Vietnam. As a result, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized President Johnson to assist any Southeast Asian country that was being jeopardized by “communist aggression.”  Johnson was only too eager to do so.  It was later determined that some key facts, such as who fired first, are in dispute.

3. President Bush, 43, “sold” the Iraq War to the American people by asserting there was “proof” that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction.” Such weapons have never been found.

So, if FDR did, in fact, goad Japan into attacking us so that we could enter the war against the Axis Powers, it would not have been the only time the US Government used that tactic. In the 1950’s the renowned historian Harry Elmer Barnes (who, ironically, later lost much of his credibility by becoming a vociferous denier of the Holocaust) published a series of essays describing the various ways in which the US Government goaded the Japanese into starting a war it could not win and manipulated American public opinion.  After the war, Secretary of War Henry Stimson admitted that “we needed the Japanese to commit the first overt act.”

Most historians agree that even the Japanese leadership in the 1930’s knew it could not win a prolonged war with the US. They realized that the US was vastly superior in terms of men, material and resources, and eventually, it would wear down the Japanese.  That, in fact, is precisely what happened.

In 1941 the die was cast when a more militant, nationalistic government came into power headed by Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.  They spent several months planning the pre-emptive strike. In his best selling book, “Killing the Rising Sun,” Bill O’Reilly denoted that the Japanese sought to imbed spies into the Hawaiian civilian population to gather intelligence.  O’Reilly quoted one senior officer who found out that his Japanese gardener was actually a colonel in the Japanese army.

Many historians believe that the Japanese hierarchy was emboldened, in part, by the successful surprise attack on the Russians in 1905 led by then-Admiral Tojo during the Russo-Japanese War. It had worked once; why not again? Their intention was to neutralize American naval power in the Pacific so that it would be unable to block Japan’s aggression in Southeast Asia. They determined that Sunday would be the best day of the week to attack. They also weighed the advantages and disadvantages of attacking the fleet in the harbor or at sea before settling on the attack in the harbor. Although the battleships were “sitting ducks” in the more shallow harbor, Admiral Chester Nimitz pointed out later that one crucial advantage to the US was that we were able to raze several of them later and return them to active duty.

Despite its years of provocations, the US was ill-prepared for an attack. In addition, we had failed to confront the Japanese directly earlier when they could have been dealt with more easily. So, instead of fighting a small war in the 1930s we ended up fighting a world war just a few years later.

One could argue that there were strong parallels between then and our more recent history with respect to various terrorist groups operating in the Middle East and elsewhere. Once again, we failed to deal with these problems when they were manageable; once again most of the country was very reluctant to get involved in “other people’s problems (Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Iraq);” and, once again we became embroiled in the more costly aftermath (terrorist attacks, refugees, and an insane open borders immigration policy the aftereffects of which persist to this day).  History, when ignored, does tend to repeat itself.

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, the Japanese underestimated the US. Their leaders knew we were in isolationist mode. They did not think we had the “stomach” to fight a prolonged, brutal war.  Also, they knew we would be fighting the Germans and Italians as well. Furthermore, they figured that with our Pacific Fleet decimated, if not destroyed, we would be unable or unwilling to counter their aggression in the Far East.  The Far East was their end game for reasons discussed above; they were not interested in attacking the US mainland, although much of the US civilian population feared that they would.

Obviously, the Japanese misjudged us.  They were not the first enemy to do so, and, in all likelihood, they will not be the last.

As an aside, following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor no one suggested that the US refrain from going all-out to defend itself, to retaliate with full force. Moreover, if anyone had done so we wouldn’t have listened anyway. A nation’s right to retaliate is well established and incontestable. History is replete with instances in which a country that was attacked retaliated against its attackers. On the other hand, I am not cognizant of ANY situation, other than the recent one involving Israel, in which restraint was advocated. Think about that.

by Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

TRUMP SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND OTHER ECONOMIC MATTERS

President Trump has been responsible for a myriad of accomplishments in his short tenure, for example, closing the border, deporting illegal immigrants, reducing crime in cities that welcomed his assistance, passing the “Big Beautiful Bill (the effects of which will kick in commencing in 2026), reducing inflation, and eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities, among others.

To be sure, those accomplishments are laudable, however, a large portion of the electorate is still dissatisfied with the state of the economy, particularly the rate of inflation, the price of gas, the cost of healthcare and the unaffordability of buying a first home. Home ownership is and always has been an endemic part of the “American Dream.” Since Trump is the president, rightly or wrongly, most of them are blaming him.

According to the latest Economist/YouGov survey despite all of the above positives President Trump’s approval rating has been in a steady decline for the last seven weeks. His latest approval rating was 38%, and his disapproval rating was 57%. The latest Reuters/Ipsos survey yielded similar results. Even more ominous the same polls disclosed that 55% of the respondents were more likely to vote for the Democrat candidate in their district, compared to 41% who said they would vote for the Republican candidate. This does not augur well for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. If they lose control of the legislature Trump’s ambitious agenda is likely to be thwarted.

Also, history is not on his side. Normally, the party in power loses a goodly number of House and Senate seats in the off-year elections.

Of course, Trump is cognizant of all that. Consequently, he is beginning to focus more on the economy. Historically, absent a monumental catastrophe, such as a world war or a 9-11 style terror attack, the most important issue to voters is always the economy. Yes, people care about other issues such as crime, healthcare, security and immigration, but they care more about a good job, the cost of food, being able to afford a nice place to live, supporting their family, the cost of gas, the cost of healthcare, their retirement, and their children’s and grandchildren’s future. Hence, the well-worn expression: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Below please find some of the recent Trump initiatives regarding the aforementioned, which are designed to lower the cost of living and enhance the quality of life for all Americans. Some of these are already in process; others are just proposals, some of which may require the approval of Congress.

  1. Ramping up drilling for oil and gas, which, due to the fundamental law of supply and demand, should lower the prices of fuel both in the home and at the pump. Lower energy prices lead to lower prices on all goods and services, most notably food. According to AAA the national average of a gallon of regular gas at the pump is $2.999.  Of course, this will vary from state to state depending on state and local taxes and other factors. By comparison, according to the US Energy Information Administration the cost in 2022 and 2023, the last two years of the Biden Administration, was $3.52 and $3.95, respectively. In my view, Biden’s woke, green energy policies drove prices up, whereas Trump’s “drill baby drill” policy is driving them down. Therefore, it is unfair to blame the current cost of energy on Trump.  According to the more recent data available (“blue woke”) California has the highest average gas price at around $4.65 per gallon for regular, while (“red”) Oklahoma has the lowest at approximately $2.53 per gallon.  Make of that what you will.
  2. For most social security recipients one of the provisions of the “Big Beautiful Bill” will enable them to offset their federal income tax liability with a special federal income tax deduction.
  3. The BBB also authorizes the creation of the so-called “Trump Accounts,” which essentially are a tax-deferred investment account for qualifying newborns into which the Treasury Department of the federal government will deposit $1,000. The account will grow tax-deferred until the newborn turns 18. Then, the account will function as a traditional IRA. Briefly, to qualify babies must have been born to American citizens from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028 and have a valid social security number. In addition, the Dell family has pledged to utilize the “Trump Accounts” infrastructure to give $250 to each qualified child under 11. These initiatives are designed to encourage American citizen families to have babies by easing the financial burden of raising a family and helping to provide for them as they grow into adulthood. (For various reasons many families are postponing having children or deciding not to at all.)
  4. The BBB extended the 2017 “Trump Tax Cuts,” which will provide massive federal tax cuts for most taxpayers.
  5.  The so-called “Trump Tariffs” have been very controversial. The question is are they currently and will they prospectively have a positive or negative effect on the economy? Recent studies indicate that generally the impact of tariffs is to raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for US businesses and consumers in the short run. According to the Tax Foundation the Trump tariffs will equate to an average tax increase of $1,100 per US household in 2025. On the other hand, the Trump tariffs, both threatened and imposed, have forced other countries who had been taking advantage of us in international trade for many years to lower their own tariffs substantially. Furthermore, the tariffs have been raising tens of billions, some claim trillions, of dollars for the federal government. Perhaps, more significantly, many foreign companies have invested or pledged to invest trillions of dollars to build or expand their businesses and/or build new factories in the US in order to avoid these tariffs. This will translate into good, high-paying permanent jobs and reduce the unemployment rate, which is currently slightly up at 4.4%. In summary, are these tariffs good or bad? In my opinion, it is still too early to tell. It may take years to determine. At the of risk oversimplifying matters I believe the answer is probably predicated on whether one is pro-Trump or anti-Trump.

Conclusion

As I said above, Trump is cognizant of the voters’ concerns regarding the economy. Accordingly, he has and will continue to develop policies to improve it. Many, if not most, of the problems with respect to the economy are holdovers from the Biden Administration and his woke/green policies. Data shows the economy is improving. Inflation is down. Gas is down. The positive impact of the BBB should be effective starting in 2026. The question is will the voters give Trump’s policies time to work or not.

The cost of healthcare remains a thorny, complicated and highly politicized problem that Trump and the Congress will have to address together. One can only hope that they resolve it expeditiously.

White House: Trump




by Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

MURDEROUS ATTACK ON NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL

The following is based on a compendium of media reports and my own opinion where indicated.

It was inevitable. It was only a matter of time. It was just a question of who, where, when and how many. Of course, I’m referring to an unprovoked, premeditated, murderous terror attack by an improperly vetted alien on two US National Guard personnel while they were in legal performance of their assigned duties. One, Sarah Beckstrom, subsequently died from her injuries; as I write this, the other one, Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.

As most of you know, the National Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s federal takeover of the city and crime crackdown in August. All indications are that this initiative was working as crime has declined dramatically. Even Muriel Bowser, the Dem mayor of DC, had praised the program. According to the most recent update, there were 2,188 National Guard personnel assigned to D.C.

According to multiple media accounts the perpetrator, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, allegedly drove from Washington State to Washington, DC specifically to target Guard members. Film footage from the crime scene revealed that he “barreled around the corner” and just commenced firing on the victims with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. Washington DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro reported that he attacked “without provocation, ambush style,” struck one of the victims, leaned over and shot the individual again, before firing at the other National Guard member “several times.” The shooting took place around 2:15 p.m. last Wednesday near the Farragut West Metro station. As I write this there is no known motive. Due to the heinous nature of this crime Attorney General Pam Bondi and Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro have both vowed to seek the death penalty. I concur.

According to various law enforcement sources Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 under the Biden Administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome Program.” FBI Director Kash Patel noted that the FBI received confirmation from the Department of Defense and CIA “that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” which enabled him to enter the United States in 2021 under that program.

CIA Director John Radcliffe asserted that nevertheless Lavanthal “should never been allowed to come here.” Kristi Noem opined that at some point he became radicalized, and some media outlets have speculated he may have become afflicted with PTSD, which fueled his rage.

He applied for asylum and was granted it in April 2024 under the Trump Administration. According to multiple reports “he was vetted, and the vetting came back clean.” He has a wife, five children and a brother in the U.S. Apparently, he has been unable to find employment because he had an expired work permit. Moreover, he had become more isolated the past few months, could not pay rent or afford food, was relying on others for help and was growing desperate.

For years many of us have been warning that Biden’s lax open border policy had enabled millions of illegal and/or improperly vetted aliens into the country. We don’t know how many, but some people put the number as high as 18 million. In many cases we don’t know who they are, where they are, and their intent. As I have denoted in previous blogs this policy exhibited absolutely no regard for the safety and security of American citizens. It was part of a broader policy that favored illegal immigrants over American citizens. Furthermore, it has had and will continue to have far-reaching negative ramifications on Americans politically, militarily, economically and socially.

Beckstrom was a native of a small town in WVA. According to friends she enlisted in the NG because she wanted to serve her country, help people, and gain experience to enable her to attain her long-term goal of joining the FBI. By all accounts she was a good person who in the words of her ex-boyfriend would “do anything for anyone who needed it.” Her mother described her as having “a heart of gold.” Attorney General Pam Bondi, commented that she could have gone home for the TG holiday, but she volunteered to remain in DC “so others could be home with their families.”

In the wake of this heinous crime the US is re-examining the entire aliens’ vetting process. In my opinion this is long overdue. It is apparent that the vetting of aliens has been incomplete and unreliable. More on this later.

The NY Post reported that of the thousands of aliens who were allowed to enter into the US under the expedited processing required by the Program, DHS investigations have now discovered “potential derogatory information” relating to national security, “public safety,” “fraud” and inclusion on “watch lists” with respect to 6,800 or more of them. This is unacceptable and calls into question the veracity of the entire vetting process. According to the NY Post former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker asserted that “you have to have an analyst, or an agent look at every doggone one of them and do it critically and set some objective criteria for disqualification.” It should be noted that Trump opined it was “virtually impossible” to deport people who arrived under the aforementioned Program.

US Senator Chuck Grassley has long been a critic of this process and has denoted various “red flags.” He received no cooperation from Biden Administration officials, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been providing Grassley with the information requested.

Part of the problem is the difficulty of obtaining complete and accurate information. This is often exacerbated by the huge influx of applicants as happened with the sudden collapse of Afghanistan. You may recall that the US withdrawal was totally botched.

Additionally, asylum seekers have not been subjected to any periodic updates. Applicants who seem to be all right initially can become radicalized after they enter the US. That seems to have been the case with Lavanthal.

Conclusion

One should not ignore or downplay the effect that the irresponsible rhetoric emanating from the left (in particular the “Seditious Six”) and their allies in the media has had in fomenting violence. As we have seen with the assassination attempts on Trump, the murder of Charlie Kirk, and several other instances unstable persons like Lavanthal are particularly susceptible to being influenced.

Trump has initiated prompt and decisive action. (1) He has “stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols” any immigration requests “relating to Afghan nationals.” (2) He has ordered a review of all asylum vettings approved by the Biden Administration. (3) He has authorized a “sweeping review” of the millions of green card holders from 19 countries, which have been deemed security risks. US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow announced that his department “has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.”

These actions will affect the lives of millions of asylum applicants and green card holders the majority of which are not problematic. It will likely engender complaints and even accusations of bias and racism, but I maintain they are long overdue. It is a shame that a good person had to die beforehand.

by Tags: , , Leave a comment