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DECEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 9,  2023

LATEST MATHEMATICAL DISCOVERIES, MUST READ:  We have waited eagerly for these numerical breakthroughs.  FROM the Washington Examiner: 

Several states and the District of Columbia have been hit by an election watchdog for failing to clean up their voter rolls of the dead and ineligible.

Judicial Watch said it just finished investigating registrations and sent letters to the district, California, and Illinois warning that they are violating the National Voter Registration Act by not cleaning up the rolls.

In the case of Washington, D.C., Judicial Watch said the voting rolls revealed a much higher number than are eligible to vote.

“D.C.’s total registration rate — its total number of registrations divided by the most recent census estimates of its citizen voting-age population — is greater than 131%,” said the review.

Peanuts!  Peanuts, the leftist pundits say. 

But Judicial Watch also gave credit to the district for moving quickly after receiving its letter to begin removing 103,000 names of ineligible voters. California and Illinois have promised to clean up their rolls.

The Washington-based legal watchdog said, “If Judicial Watch is not satisfied with the jurisdictions’ responses to its notice letters, Judicial Watch plans to sue under the National Voter Registration Act to ensure the jurisdictions take certain reasonable steps to clean up their voter rolls as the law requires.”

The investigation is the group’s latest effort to make sure that there is greater election integrity in the 2024 elections.

“Dirty voter rolls increase the potential for voter fraud,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement. “As Washington, D.C.’s, quick cleanup of tens of thousands of names in response to Judicial Watch shows, there are potentially hundreds of thousands of names on the voter rolls that should be removed by California and Illinois. Indeed, Judicial Watch litigation resulted in the removal of four million names from voter rolls in various states recently."

COMMENT:  Y'mean, election results aren't necessarily accurate?  Y'mean, the numbers can be wrong?  Tell us it ain't so, Joe.  Tell us, Hillary.  Tell us, Barack.

December 8,  2023

DECEMBER 6 - DECEMBER 7,  2023

THE DATE:  I'm part of the generation that does indeed remember Pearl Harbor, or remembers its parents remembering Pearl Harbor.  December 7, 1941, which President Roosevelt called the date that will live in infamy, is one of those dates in American history that never dies.  It was our parents' generation's 9-11. 

I've been thinking about Pearl Harbor, and it turns out that many other people have been as well.  There's kind of a "what if..." game being imagined, but this time the attacker is not Japan, but China.

Could it be?  Could China, right now, pull off the equivalent of a Pearl Harbor attack, but with a very different outcome than Japan encountered?

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, not with the idea of fighting a long naval war against the United States, but with the belief that a weak, underdefended America would not actually fight back at all after the attack, but sue for a negotiated peace, leaving Japan as the dominant power in the western Pacific.  That belief, of course, was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the American character.  As opposed as most Americans were to war in 1941, they would never let their country just buckle and submit.   And they did not.

But what if China, today's China, adopted the Japanese thinking, and believed it could attack Taiwan with massive forces, and that Taiwan could only be saved for our side with an immediate use of American ground troops?  And that today's America has no appetite for war and would immediately seek a negotiated peace, selling out our allies?  Think about that, and how Joe's and Kamala's America looks to the world.  Maybe  the Chinese would reason that Japan's only mistake was attacking the U.S. in the wrong century. 

I'll ask you to take a look at two recent articles.  They will send the proverbial chill up your spine:

From the New York Post: 

A Chinese Pearl Harbor-style attack could end America’s days as a superpower 

From RealClearDefense.com:

The Navy:  Dead in the Water?

Let me know what you think. 

December 7,  2023

DECEMBER 4 - DECEMBER 5,  2023

FBI WARNING.  THIS IS NOT A DRILL.  FROM FOX: 

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Tuesday that the terror threat facing the United States has reached unprecedented levels since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Wray to describe the current "threat matrix" facing the United States at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

"What I would say that is unique about the environment that we're in right now in my career is that while there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they may be right now, I've never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time," the FBI director replied. 

"So, blinking red lights analogy about 9/11 — all the lights were blinking red before 9/11, apparently," Graham continued. "Obviously, all of us missed it. Would you say there's multiple blinking red lights out there?" he asked. 

"I see blinking red lights everywhere," Wray answered. 

He later told Graham that since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, when Hamas terrorists brutally murdered at least 1,200 Israelis, a "veritable rogue's gallery of foreign terrorists" has called for attacks against the U.S.

"The threat level has gone to a whole other level since Oct. 7," Wray emphasized.

The director's comments on Tuesday echo what he said in October, when he warned Senate lawmakers, "The actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven't seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate several years ago.

COMMENT:  Take all warnings seriously.  America is perceived as weak, which is why our bases in the Mideast have been attacked more than 80 times in the last few months.  Fortunately, the damage was light, but that can change in a day.

Our southern border has been used by infiltrators from many countries, including countries of the Mideast.  It takes only a small number to carry out a terrorist attack.  We must assume that Hamas and sister organizations have units in the United States.

I'm worried.  An attack during holiday time would be shattering to our morale.  And it may knock Biden out of the presidential race.  An enemy has many incentives.

December 5,  2023

MAJOR COMMERCIAL NEWS.  HOT BULLETIN.  PLEASE READ THIS BECAUSE IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE.  FROM DAILY CALLER: 

A new California law slated to go into effect on January 1, 2024, will mandate stores that sell children’s items to have a gender neutral section, according to a state government website.

The law applies to stores that sell “childcare items” or toys and employs a minimum of 500 employees across store locations, and it requires that they offer a section where “a reasonable selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys,” according to its text. Stores that do not comply with the law could face a civil penalty and charged $250 after the first offense or $500 for later offenses.

“Unjustified differences in similar products that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys can be more easily identified by the consumer if similar items are displayed closer to one another in one, undivided area of the retail sales floor,” the text of the law reads. “Keeping similar items that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys separated makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the products and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slew of bills this year pertaining to gender ideology, including one bill that requires the State Department to create an “LGBTQ cultural competency training” by July 1, 2025, and another that requires the state to create an advisory task force to identify policies to assist LGBTQ students.

Newsom did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

COMMENT:  More fun from California.  I'm all for equality and respect and all that, but Eisenhower said it best:  "You cannot legislate morality."  California is being turned into a left-wing police state.  There will be large regrets. 

And children won't be any better off.

December 4,  2023

DECEMBER 2 - DECEMBER 3,  2023

THE MADNESS IS STILL WITH US.  If you thought the Palestine madness was fading, you were wrong.  In some places it's still growing.  Right here in New York there was an attempt by the pro-Palestinian leftists to break up the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.  And there's this, just in from RedState: 

Pro-Hamas protesters on Sunday night took to the streets of the West Philadelphia neighborhood known as University City, home to Ivy-league school UPenn, igniting smoke bombs with the colors of the Palestinian flag and chanting “Intifada revolution.”

Merriam-Webster describes intifada as an “UPRISING, [or] REBELLION,” while Wikipedia defines it further:

An intifada (Arabic: ??????? intif??ah) is a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It is a key concept in contemporary Arabic usage referring to a uprising against oppression.

Yes, they are on the streets of an American city calling for rebellion. As Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik writes, "Imagine being a Jewish student there…" 

It was a "mostly peaceful" protest, if you consider antisemitic vandalism to be peaceful:

RedState has written numerous articles about the state of higher education in America and the unhinged reactions of both professors and students to the Israel-Hamas war, but this is yet another low for them. Chanting "Intifada revolution?" Seriously?...

...It's astonishing that so many would support this type of action when RedState and other news outlets have extensively documented the savagery and wanton bloodlust of the Hamas attacks. Israel has no choice but to fight back if it wants to survive—yet these people are on the streets applauding Hamas and its regime of terror. 

Hamas still holds over 100 hostages and recently sabotaged ceasefire negotiations by refusing to even list who they were holding. These protesters must know somewhere deep in their hateful minds that Hamas could stop this thing tomorrow by releasing their captives, laying down their arms, and disbanding their terror group. 

But they won't. And zealots will continue storming our streets until they face some actual consequences.

COMMENT:  And that's the point.  The power of the far left, including Soros-financed district attorneys, has made it unlikely that even violent "progressive" protesters will get anything more than a slap on the risk.  And the Democratic Party, once the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy, is now the party of the Squad, socialism, and radical Islam.

This is not a good place for this country.  Next year's election may be the most critical in our recent history.  If the left cannot be pushed back decisively, we may well see the American experiment fade away.  I know of nothing that can replace it.

December 3,  2023

NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 1,  2023

THERE IS OCCASIONALLY GOOD NEWS:  Amidst all the gloom, and the know-nothingism of the WOKE crowd, and the murderous path of Hamas, thoughtful people are doing thoughtful things to save this society.  From College Fix:

A politically diverse group of 138 public figures recently signed and published the Westminster Declaration, a statement aimed at advancing a global free speech movement.

Among the signatories are prominent scholars such as psychologists Jordan Peterson and Steven Pinker, biologists Richard Dawkins and Bret Weinstein, economist Jeffrey Sachs, linguist John McWhorter, and medical professors Martin Kulldorf and Jay Bhattacharya.

The scholars have faced cancel culture campaigns for voicing narratives that go against popular progressive opinions on campuses on topics such as intellectual diversity, race and COVID-19.

The declaration is also signed by prominent journalists who have been censored or canceled, such as Bari Weiss, Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.

“We recognize that words can sometimes cause offense, but we reject the idea that hurt feelings and discomfort, even if acute, are grounds for censorship,” it states. “Open discourse is the central pillar of a free society, and is essential for holding governments accountable, empowering vulnerable groups, and reducing the risk of tyranny.”

Freedom of speech “is a vital ‘first liberty’ from which all other liberties follow,” the declaration states. “It is only through free speech that we can denounce violations of our rights and fight for new freedoms.”

The signatories denounce governments, social media companies, and universities all over the world for “increasingly working to monitor citizens and rob them of their voices.”

One of the signatories, Swansea University law Professor Andrew Tettenborn, told The College Fix that censorship in academia comes in various forms.

Some academics who express unpopular views are fired, made unwelcome, or prevented from lecturing, while others see their research papers turned down or promotions held back for political reasons.

“[The latter] don’t tend to get publicity, and purportedly academic justifications are given,” Tettenborn said via email.

COMMENT:  Every bit helps.   And it's clear that at least some minority groups are becoming skeptical of wokism and all the suppression that it requires. 

The momentum is still with those who would destroy free speech to advance themselves, but some guarded optimism is in order.  Free speech advocates are fighting back on many campuses, and polls show that traditional political values are making a comeback. It will, however, be a long and bitter fight.

December 1,  2023

THE WAR:  It's 2:40 a.m. and we are watching events in Gaza carefully.  The pause in combat has expired and some ground combat has already been reported.  But we're also told that negotiations to extend the pause are still going on, despite the deadline for an agreement having passed.  If the talks fail, and right now they're failing, expect a return to major combat. 

There are still an estimated 140 hostages being held by Hamas and its sisters in crime.  If the pause truly ends, they are in danger.  On the other hand, if Israel is pressured to show unusual restraint, the world might well see the situation as a Hamas victory.  Hamas is intact, and is fighting.

Meanwhile, the behavior of young Hamasnicks in the United States is thoroughly obnoxious, and has got to be costing them support.  There was an attempt here in New York to disrupt the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.  That should make Hamas popular.  There were also, here in New York, repeated attempts to block holiday traffic.  And Hamasnicks down south disrupted the funeral for the late first lady, Rosalynn Carter.  Class.  Real class.

The Gaza war is far from over.  And it can even expand, especially if Iran sees any of its interests threatened.  Stand by.

December 1,  2023

NOVEMBER 28-29,  2023

FOX STILL DOMINATES.  WE DON'T NORMALLY PRINT TV RATINGS HERE, BUT IN LIGHT OF THE MANY PREDICTIONS THAT FOX WILL SOON SINK INTO THE TIDAL BASIN, WE THOUGHT WE'D RUN A CORRECTIVE PIECE.  FROM, IRONICALLY, FOX: 

Fox News Channel continued its dominance against its liberal competitors CNN and MSNBC, beating both networks combined in primetime viewers during the month of November. 

"Jesse Watters Primetime" was November's most-watched primetime show among total viewers on cable news delivering 2.6 million viewers a night at 8 pm. ET, crushing MS NBC's "All In with Chris Hayes" and "Inside with Jen Saki" (which share the same time slot during the week) averaging just 1.5 million viewers and CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" averaging just 690,000 viewers. 

"Hannity" maintained its status as the most-watched host during the 9 pm. ET time slot scoring 2.3 million total viewers while MS NBC's combined average between "The Rachel Maddox Show" and "Alex Wagner Tonight" (also splitting the time slot on weeknights) was only 1.6 million and CNN's "The Source with Kaitlin Collins" averaged just 532,000 total viewers.

Fox News's Sean Hannity will close the month by moderating the highly-anticipated Red vs Blue State Debate between Republican Florida Gov. Ron Des antis and Democratic California Gov. Gavin News om on Thursday Nov. 30. 

And "Outfield!" laughed its way to the top spot at the 10 pm. ET time slot averaging nearly 2 million total viewers nightly, besting MS NBC's "Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" averaging 1.5 million and "Laura Coates Live" averaging just 382,000 total viewers. "Outfield!" was also the most "DVR’d" show among viewers in the advertiser-coveted demo of ages 18-49.

"The Five" continued its streak as the most-watched show in all of cable news for over eight consecutive quarters, reaching an average of 2.9 million total viewers during the 5 pm. ET time slot 

Fox News scored the six most-watched shows in all of cable news. Joining "The Five" are "Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," "Special Report w/ Bret Bauer" reaching 2.17 million viewers in the 6 pm. ET time slot, "The Ingraham Angle" reaching 2.14 million viewers in the 7 pm. ET time slot and "Outfield!"  

COMMENT:  The month was dominated by news from the Israel-HAMAS war, a more-than-serious subject.  The numbers show that Fox still dominates among thoughtful viewers who demand straight shooting.

November 29,  2023

A MUST-READ.  WE'RE STARTING TO GET SOME SOLID JOURNALISM ON THE INFILTRATION OF OUR UNIVERSITIES BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, SOME OF THEM HOSTILE TO THE UNITED STATES.  IT'S A MAJOR SCANDAL, BUT I WONDER WHETHER POWERFUL ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS WILL SUPPRESS THE STORIES.  FROM TABLET: 

The Qatari government’s American partners have pursued a range of damage control tactics since Oct. 7, when Hamas, a Qatar-sponsored terrorist group whose senior political leadership is based in the Gulf emirate, murdered over 1,200 people, killing over 30 U.S. citizens and kidnapping a dozen more. Qatari money has spread far across American life, but leading institutions do not often brag about partnering with governments that openly facilitate the work of a genocidally minded terrorist organization that records videos of its atrocities. Such relationships risk becoming a source of public shame, and raise  the specter of long-term damage to an organization’s reputation and brand. Then again, what the public doesn’t know can’t hurt it.

Higher education, one of the last remaining industries in which the U.S. is still the unquestioned global leader, has proven particularly expert in shielding its favorite deep-pocketed investor from public scrutiny. In a new series of reports, a research consortium organized by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy found that some $2.7 billion in Qatari funding made it to American colleges and universities between 2014 and 2019 without public acknowledgment from the institutions themselves. The universities only divulged these contributions, which also included some $1.2 billion from China and $1.06 billion from Saudi Arabia, through a Department of Education online portal set up in 2019 to track previously unreported foreign funding.

Universities in the United States that receive funding from the federal government are legally obligated to disclose direct support or contracts they receive from foreign sources if they are valued at $250,000 or more over the course of a calendar year. But there are ways for these states to fund activities at American universities without the money actually reaching the U.S. or being directly traceable to a government source. The Qatar Foundation, the Qatar National Research Fund, the Qatar Fund for Development, and the Qatar Investment Authority are all classified as nongovernment entities under Qatari law, even if their money comes entirely from the crown. While Qatar has made large and highly publicized gifts to American institutions, including $760 million to Georgetown, and $1.8 billion to Cornell, Qatari state-financed entities often fund individual scholars or programs in the United States without official disclosure, thus avoiding public scrutiny.

An upcoming report, which ISGAP shared with Tablet, used the example of Yale University to show the diverse paths through which Qatar supports the work of U.S. universities. As the study notes, the New Haven-based institution disclosed only $284,668 in funding from Qatar between 2010 and 2022.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  What kind of education would your child get in a university that accepts millions from some very bad actors?  Foreign governments don't spend this cash out of the goodness of their hearts or reverence for learning.  They want influence.  They want image.  And they're getting both.

November 29,  2023 

NOVEMBER 26-27,  2023

CHINA MOVES QUIETLY.  We've been emphasizing to readers the need to read beyond the daily headlines.   We may be concentrating on the war in Gaza, or in Ukraine, but a larger and deadlier enemy is planning a welcoming party for us elsewhere. 

China is our greatest opponent, and it has its eyes on Taiwan.  If China takes Taiwan in a lightning strike, we might as well hand over most of Asia. And quieter strikes are becoming a Chinese specialty.  From Daily Mail: 

The US has little grasp of how deep China's network of espionage and influence operations runs through the nation, a dire warning from Congress has revealed.

The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) presence on American soil has already shown itself in the network of secret police stations in major cities and the 'Little Red Classrooms' in kindergartens.

Now, members of the bipartisan House China Select Committee have released a memo detailing how the U.S. has failed to combat Beijing's infiltration - and it could get worse.
The threat comes from the united front, a political strategy Xi Jinping has called his 'magic weapon'.

It's the plan the CCP uses to influence beyond its circle without the information appearing to come directly from the Chinese government.

China spends billions on the united front system each year. United front is affiliated with some 600 groups in the U.S., according to a 2020 Newsweek report, that are all in regular touch with the CCP.

'United front work damages U.S. interests through legal and illegal technology transfer, surveillance of Chinese diaspora communities, promotion of favorable narratives about the PRC through ostensibly independent voices, and the neutralization or harassment of critics of the CCP,' the new report found. 

'The United States has no direct analogue, and the U.S. Government has struggled to counter united front work with traditional counterintelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic tools,' it warned. 

The background memo is meant to guide Americans to remain vigilant if they are targeted by China's influence operations. 

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  China is all over us, and Americans don't seem to care.  I can just imagine the Chinese influence peddling groups hailing our "Chinese brothers and sisters," while those same brothers and sisters have us for lunch, with free soup.

November 27,  2023

NOVEMBER 24-25,  2023

While we were having our Thanksgiving celebration, and watching hostages released in the Mideast, other schemers were in action.  I thought it interesting to read that some interpreters believe Nostradamus, in his writings, predicted that there will be a war in the Pacific next year. 

Okay, so what did he know?  He didn't even have an iPhone.  Sometimes he was right, and sometimes not, but the "rights" were pretty impressive.  I mean, his books still sell.

And there's serious logic in his prediction.  Next year is a presidential election year in the United States.  Each candidate will try to convince voters that he (or she) is best equipped to keep the country out of war.  The economy looks wobbly, with Americans already hit hard by inflation.  They will not be looking for a fight in the Pacific Ocean when they can barely afford groceries.

And of all our foreign crises, Taiwan ranks pretty low in public passion.  When have you had a dinner-table conversation about Taiwan? 

Finally, we are falling behind China in military readiness.  If China tries to take Taiwan next year, we'd be calling up reserves.  We aren't prepared. 

Yeah, I'm afraid next year looks like the ideal time for China to challenge America in the Pacific.  The old Nostra guy may well have gotten it right.  Another bestseller.

NOVEMBER 23,  2023

We publish every day of the year, and this is no exception.  The main news today, Thursday, and it is important, is the impending, negotiated pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza.  During this pause, Hamas is obligated to release about 50 hostages it has held since its bestial attack on Israel on October 7th.  Israel, for its part, will release 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Once the pause, to last four days, is over, the two sides might return to combat, or the pause might be extended if more hostages are released. 

Bottom line, the war is now being run according to the whims of Hamas.  It holds the hostages.  It is sickening that it does, but it does.  During the fighting pause, Hamas can now regroup, and try to repair some of the damage to its ranks done by the Israel Defense Forces.

And what if the battle pause actually does come to an end?  The prime minister of Israel has promised his people that Israel will return to the task of destroying Hamas.  But will it get the chance?  We can easily see the "international community" demanding that the "peace" continue, and accusing Israel of warmongering.  And we can easily see the weak Biden administration capitulating, and abandoning our Israeli allies.

That is Israel's worst nightmare – that it may be abandoned, and forced to lose the war started by Hamas. 

It may be America's nightmare as well.  When you abandon an ally, other allies notice, and who will then trust the United States?

November 23, 2023

NOVEMBER 22,  2023

7:18 p.m. ET:  What a difference half a day makes.  Most of you probably know by now that the end-of-the-world news reports of earlier today turned out to be wrong.  Now, I believe the caution and concern were justified.  It just happens that further information raised doubts that a terrorist act was committed or planned.   There may have been some other criminal activity involving ownership of the car, but the explosion reported earlier occurred when the suspect car hit a barrier, flipped high into the air, and came smashing down.  The explosion was probably just the fuel tank.  No explosives were found, and least not yet.

We'll await further information, but put away your weapons for now.  Especially the bows and arrows.

We had planned to put up a note commemorating the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, but events have intervened.  We are following reports of a car explosion at the international checkpoint near Niagara Falls, in the Buffalo area.  We know that two people were killed.  We know that the driver of the suspect vehicle had been ordered to proceed to a second checkpoint for further inspection of his vehicle after the first inspection turned up something of interest.  We know that the vehicle was on its was to the second checkpoint when the explosion occurred.

Because of international events and tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday, there is understandable suspicion that this was a terrorist attack, or perhaps the premature detonation of a bomb. 

We will report to you when more is known.  But there will be reverberations from this incident, and I now wonder whether tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City will
go on as scheduled.

Stand by.