“Crain’s Chicago Business’ editorial board is endorsing a ‘NO’ vote on Illinois Amendment 1. Two Crain’s columnists did so, also, because of the unchecked power it would grant government unions”

Posted on October 28, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

ILLINOIS POLICY
Crain’s becomes 5th major newspaper to say vote ‘no’ on Amendment 1
Dylan Sharkey
November 2, 2022

Crain’s Chicago Business is the newest editorial board asking Illinoisans to reject Amendment 1. Prior to the editorial board’s endorsement, two of their columnists wrote against the amendment as well as The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald and News-Gazette in Champaign. In addition to editorial boards, a prominent Democrat, former Chicago 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith, endorsed voting “no” on Amendment 1. Crain’s endorses a no vote because of the effect Amendment 1 would have on Illinois’ business climate. Voters will decide its fate Nov. 8. “In fact, it’s the very last thing this state needs. Bestowing special constitutional status on unions would give companies one more reason to avoid Illinois.” READ MORE

OPEN THE BOOKS Why Illinois Is In Trouble – 132,188 Public Employees With $100,000 Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $17 Billion So, just who is making all of this money Meet the Illinois government employee $100,000 Club. It’s comprised of 132,188 public employees and retirees who earned a new ‘minimum wage’ of $100,000 or more. While crime skyrockets in the neighborhoods, test scores plummet in the public schools, and inflation decimates private-sector paychecks, the Illinois public employee class is living the good life. 

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Israel goes to the polls November 1: “From Netanyahu supporters to those trying to block his return to power, plus a TikTok star and a Telegrass activist, what you need to know about the parties running”

Posted on October 26, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Fifth time’s a charm? ToI’s guide to the 39 parties vying for your vote, again
Carrie Keller-Lynn, Haviv Rettig Gur, Tal Schneider, Jacob Magid and Staff
October 26, 2022

On Tuesday, November 1, Israelis will return to the polls for the fifth time in 43 months. The outgoing “change government” crumbled after losing its razor-thin majority and succumbing to exactly the kind of ideological rifts its eight-party, big tent coalition sought to avoid. A right-wing and religious alliance is fighting to regain power after a year and a half in the opposition but, days out from the election, polls continue to show that without inter-bloc movement, the outcome may again be a deadlock. The November 1 vote, much like the four that preceded it since 2019, has shaped up to be a referendum on former and would-be prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud party leader. READ MORE

JPOST Israel Elections: Bibi bloc teeters on edge of 61 seats The right-wing bloc led by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu is close to or will manage to reach the number of seats required to form a majority government, according to the last series of polls published by Israeli media ahead of the November 1 Knesset elections. According to a poll by KAN news on Thursday evening, the Likud will earn 31 seats, Yesh Atid will earn 24 seats, the Religious Zionist party will earn 14 seats and the National Unity party will earn 11 seats.

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“Ukraine was careful in the past not to side too closely with Israel as it balanced its relations in the Middle East. Israel, too, was careful to balance its relations”

Posted on October 26, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Israel not at fault for Russia-Iran axis, drones in Ukraine
Editorial Board
October 27, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Israel this week for the Russia-Iran alliance which has enabled Moscow to import Iranian drones and terrorize Ukraine.  Zelensky’s misleading comments at the Haaretz conference are historically incorrect. Russia has been working with Iran for decades on defense technology, from missiles to air defense. Russia has even helped Iran to expand its nuclear power program through expanding capacity at the Bushehr nuclear plant. Zelensky claimed this week that the Iran-Russia alliance “would not have happened if your politicians had made only one decision at the time, the decision we asked for.” He claimed that Ukraine has been asking Israel for help since 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. READ MORE

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Ben-Gvir: “Our Tanach teaches us that we are from here, we have come back to our land. I am not a racist, I do not hate Arabs, I hate terrorists”

Posted on October 26, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Why Israeli firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir is soaring in polls, and why the left calls him a racist
Alex Traiman
October 25, 2022

The rise of Itamar Ben-Gvir is one of the major storylines of Israel’s fifth election cycle in little more than three years. The political firebrand from the right flank of Israel’s political spectrum is soaring in popularity, with polls showing his Religious Zionist bloc garnering as many as 14 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. That would likely make the Religious Zionist Party the third-largest in the Knesset (behind Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid) and larger than the National Unity Party led by current Defense Minister and former Netanyahu challenger Benny Gantz. READ MORE

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Operation Breakwater has involved “a sustained campaign of nearly nightly raids into the West Bank, and more than 2,000 arrests since the launch of the operation in the spring”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

TOWNHALL
Israel is Fighting to Prevent a Third Intifada
Enia Krivine
October 27, 2022

On Tuesday Israeli forces killed five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank including Wadee al-Houh, leader of a new terror group, the Lion’s Den. The battle was part of Operation Breakwater, the biggest IDF operation in the West Bank since the Second Intifada. The sustained violence and mounting Palestinian casualties have some media outlets to speculating that Israel may be on the verge of a third intifada. Those, like myself, who lived in Israel during the Second Intifada, which lasted from 2000-2005, remember the fear of riding buses and gathering in public places. The most infamous of the Second Intifada terror attacks was a suicide bombing at a Passover dinner in Netanya, which killed 30 and injured 140. READ MORE

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“Jewish teaching on cancellation must be widely disseminated and understood in synagogues, day schools, and Jewish organizations”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

SAPIR
Jews and Cancel Culture
Bret Stephens
Autumn 2022

It may not be obvious why Sapir should devote an issue to the theme of cancellation. Doesn’t the phenomenon already get more than enough attention elsewhere? Isn’t this a problem for liberal democracy in general, rather than for Jews in particular? The essays in this volume aim to convince you otherwise. Cancel culture is a cancer at the heart of liberal society — and Jews, of all people, cannot safely be indifferent to the health of liberalism. Cancel culture also rests on a set of attitudes and practices that, whether from Left or Right, are uniquely anathema to Jewish culture, teachings, and habits of mind. Even statehood: Is it really such an accident that the enemies of free thought are so often the same people who want to cancel the Jewish state. READ MORE

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“The Biden administration has taught both Hezbollah and Iran that Washington stands ready to deliver concessions from America’s allies, including Israel”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

HUDSON INSTITUTE
Seven Myths about the “Historic” Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Agreement
Michael Doran
October 19, 2022

Commentators in the United States and Israel have hailed the agreement on the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon, which the Biden administration recently brokered, as a great success. They liken it to the Abraham Accords and claim that it is a major step toward normalizing relations between the Jewish State and a historic Arab foe. But a close examination of the agreement simply does not support this view…In summary, the United States encouraged Israel to concede to all of Hezbollah’s demands. In return, Lapid claimed that Israel had avoided conflict, acknowledging that under pressure he compromised for a period of quiet that will last until Hezbollah, who is under no obligation to anyone, decides to end it. READ MORE

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“The growing and distinctly western Mediterranean olim are a boon to Israel but a dark omen for the future of France”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Israel’s French New Wave
Matti Friedman
October 26, 2022

The rumblings of Jewish history take many forms, and in this case the form was a disk of lemon filling, the dough brittle, meringue slightly browned. I was at Gagou de Paris. Across the street was the rival patisserie L’Artisan. I was called jeune homme by a manager graciously rounding down, and heard French at three of the four outdoor tables adjacent to mine. But hurrying by us on the sidewalk were the familiar capotes, the e-bikes, the skinny jeans on Arab teens, the religious girls with hair wrapped like African queens—it was Jerusalem. READ MORE

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By embracing anti-Semitism, Kanye has become the author of his own demise.

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

THE ATLANTIC
Kanye West Destroys Himself
Yair Rosenberg
October 27, 2022

“Hatred destroys the hater.” When it comes to anti-Semitism, the questionable cliché is sometimes literally true. That’s because societies that spend their time pursuing and persecuting Jewish bogeymen fail to address the real roots of their concerns, whether they are political, economic, or personal. In practice, this means that those who embrace the conspiratorial currents of anti-Semitism are frequently the authors of their own demise, flailing against phantoms instead of overcoming their challenges. This week, Kanye West became the latest anti-Jewish conspiracy theorist to be undone by his own delusions. What began with a few unhinged social-media posts from the artist, who now goes by Ye, culminated in a week-long whirlwind of anti-Jewish invective. READ MORE

HIPHOPDX Kanye West Explains Why He’s Jealous of Jewish Culture About halfway through the heated exchange, Kanye West said that he wanted to “hug every Jewish person,” and explained that he was jealous of several aspects he associates with Jewish culture.

BILLBOARD Kanye West Loses Billionaire Status After Adidas Cuts Ties Over His Antisemitic Comments Kanye West is no longer a billionaire, according to Forbes. The publication reported Oct. 25 that the rapper lost his spot on its list of billionaires after being dropped by Adidas for his string of antisemitic rhetoric.

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“Two weeks before the 2022 midterms, fear of crime is second only to worries over inflation and recession. Both issues — personal security and economic security — affect voters directly”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
Violent Crime Is Driving a Red Wave
Charles Lipson
October 25, 2022

…Voters get the point — and they don’t like it. They link the rise in crime to Democratic policies, to their unwillingness to make public safety a high priority, to their refusal to enforce the law. Voters are saying they want more public safety, which means more policing, not less. They don’t think their position is racist because they want fair, unbiased treatment of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians. They don’t want to ignore persistent poverty and crime in inner cities. They want effective programs to deal with them. But they do not believe, as progressives do, that these problems are somehow due mainly to “white supremacy.” On the contrary, voters have witnessed a steep, longterm decline in those noxious attitudes. READ MORE

WALL STREET JOURNAL A More Diverse America Turns Against Racial Preferences 74% of Americans oppose the use of race in college admissions. Even more surprising, 68% of Hispanics, 63% of Asians and 59% of blacks also opposed it.” Even California, a state that voted nearly 2 to 1 for Joe Biden affirmed its opposition to racial preferences.

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