The Bernie-Sanders-Republican Tax Bill: “According to the analysis of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the average tax rate goes down for every income cohort in 2019, and the share of federal taxes paid by millionaires will rise slightly to 19.8 from 19.3” [VIDEO]

Posted on December 21, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

POLITICO
Nancy Pelosi’s Tax Apocalypse
by Rich Lowry
December 20, 2017

To listen to the Democrats, the American middle class will be lucky to survive the Republican tax bill. Nancy Pelosi calls the bill “monumental, brazen theft from the American middle class,” and that’s one of her more restrained comments. Per Pelosi, the bill is an affront to the Founding Fathers, veterans, children, and all that is good and true in America life.  She constantly charges that the bill “raises taxes on 86 million middle-class households,” and “hands a breathtaking 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.” This is a rhetorically potent line of attack that the polling suggest has made considerable headway. It just isn’t remotely honest. READ MORE

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“While Trump threatens to cut aid to countries voting against US, Israeli officials reach out to friends new and old in bid to weaken support for General Assembly resolution”

Posted on December 20, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel, US team up to try to block UN vote on Jerusalem
by Josef Federman
December 20, 2017

Israel is intensively lobbying countries around the world to oppose a UN resolution criticizing US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Israeli officials said Wednesday. Thursday’s vote in the UN General Assembly will indicate whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in his efforts to drum up new pockets of support in the developing world, as well as the extent to which Israel and the US are — or are not — alone on the question of Jerusalem…US Ambassador Nikki Haley threatened UN member states with possible retaliation if they support the resolution, saying Trump takes the vote “personally” and the US “will be taking names.” READ MORE

CBS NEWS U.S. warns allies Trump will take Jerusalem vote “personally”

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Trump: Jihad is the problem not Israel [VIDEO]

Posted on December 19, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

FRONT PAGE MAG
New Trump Strategy: Israel Not the Cause of Middle East Problems, Jihad Is
by Daniel Greenfield
December 18,2017

…The bullet points are that it’s an America First strategy that looks at mutual cooperation rather than a free ride. It’s patriotic and realist. But I thought it was worth calling attention to a striking paragraph from the actual document. “For generations the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been understood as the prime irritant preventing peace and prosperity in the region . Today, the threats from jihadist terrorist organizations and the threat from Iran are creating the realization that Israel is not the cause of the region’s problems. States have increasingly found common interests with Israel in confronting common threats.” This topples a pillar of the foreign policy establishment. It takes out the terror denial myth that blames Israel for everything. And it lays the blame at the feet of Islamic violence and terror. READ MORE

OBSERVER On Jerusalem, Trump Compels the Palestinians to Face Reality

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“An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah’s billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the Obama’s desire for Iran nuclear deal”

Posted on December 18, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

THE FEDERALIST
Obama’s Iran Deal Makes Trump’s Russia ‘Collusion Look Like Child’s Play” or What wouldn’t the former president do for Iran?
by David Harsanyi
December 18, 2017

We don’t know how Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration will play out, but if it’s half as bad the Obama administration’s coddling of terror-supporting Iran, it should be a massive national scandal. Empowering terrorist groups. Paying ransom that emboldened our enemies to kidnap Americans. Creating an echo chamber that undermined a free press. Releasing spies, terrorists, and criminals who assisted not only our enemy and her terrorist proxies, but Russia as well. In the Iran deal, we have clear-cut case of the United States handing over extensive concessions to a nation that openly aimed to destabilize our interests, attack our allies, and kill our people — for nothing in return. It’s worse than anything we know about “Russian collusion.” READ MORE

HOT AIR Politico: Obama Let Hezbollah Run Cocaine Into The US For Iran Deal — And More. Perhaps the media will start asking whether the previous administration colluded with Iran to let terrorists and drug dealers go free in order to score one of the worst deals ever in international relations.

POLITICO The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook

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“Every chef, whether Druze, Christian, Palestinian, Arab or Jewish, said, ‘You cannot be my enemy if you are sitting at my table”’ [VIDEO]

Posted on December 18, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
2 Jews, 3 za’atar recipes: reflecting on the diversity and rising popularity of Israeli cuisine
by Eliana Rudee
December 15, 2017

When film director and producer Roger Sherman referred to Israel as one of the “hottest food scenes in the world,” his colleagues laughed. It was at that moment that Sherman knew he had discovered a subject for a successful film. Indeed, he had. Sherman’s documentary, “In Search of Israeli Cuisine,” featuring world-renowned chef and restaurateur Michael Solomonov, has played in 38 theaters across the U.S. and more than 150 around the world on the film festival circuit. The documentary is now available on Netflix. READ MORE

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Nikki Haley vetoes UN resolution: No one will tell the US where it can put its embassy [VIDEO]

Posted on December 18, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
US vetoes UNSC resolution calling on Trump to withdraw J’lem recognition
by Herb Keinon
December 18, 2017

Casting America’s first veto in the UN in six years, US ambassador Nikki Haley voted against a draft resolution on Monday – which garnered the support of all 14 other members of the Security Council – calling on US President Donald Trump to withdraw recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “This is not something that the United States does often,” Haley said of the US veto after the vote. “We do it with no joy, but we do it with no reluctance. The fact that this veto is being done in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council.” READ MORE

GATESTONE Dershowitz: The Conflict over Jerusalem Is ALL Obama’s Fault. The US acted properly in vetoing a misguided UN Security Council resolution designed to undo President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

COMMENTARY Nikki Haley: A Diplomat who Delivers

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Chicago: “The latest addition near the Cubs’ home celebrates Jews and America’s pastime — and helps special needs adults find meaningful work”

Posted on December 17, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Next to Wrigley, Chicago’s newest kosher deli pitches cured meats and good deeds
by Ellen Braunstein
December 17, 2017

Baseball gloves and caricatures of famous ballplayers adorn the walls of Milt’s Extra Innings — no surprise for a deli that’s a short drive from Wrigley Field, the fabled home of the Chicago Cubs. But look closely and the picture becomes a little more unexpected: The memorabilia on the walls celebrate Jewish greats and not-so-greats like Sandy Koufax, Philadelphia Athletics first baseman Lou Limmer and the catcher and sometimes spy Moe Berg. And there among the collection of bobbleheads, right next to former catcher Brad Ausmus, is Moses — that Moses — gripping a set of tablets. The latest addition to the redevelopment of the neighborhoods around Wrigley is a kosher deli that is a celebration of Jews and America’s pastime — as well as a place where Jewish adults with intellectual disabilities can find meaningful work experience. READ MORE

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Islam: Political alliance “poised to catapult Austria to the vanguard of Western Europe’s resistance to mass migration from the Muslim world”

Posted on December 17, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Austria: New Government to Resist “Islamization”
by Soeren Kern
December 17, 2017

…Chancellor-elect Sebastian Kurz, 31, who won Austria’s national election on October 15 after campaigning on a promise to halt illegal immigration, will govern with Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, the Freedom Party leader, who has warned that mass migration is “Islamizing” Austria. Under the agreement, Strache will become the vice-chancellor; the Freedom Party will also take control of the ministries of defense, interior and foreign affairs…”We have a lot in common [with Israel]. I always say, if one defines the Judeo-Christian West, then Israel represents a kind of border. If Israel fails, Europe fails. And if Europe fails, Israel fails.” READ MORE

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“Four Palestinians die in further Jerusalem-declaration violence” one of them wheelchair-bound from ’08 Gaza war

Posted on December 16, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Could death of disabled activist mean new Palestinian icon?
by Seth Frantzman
December 16, 2017

The death of Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, a disabled Palestinian activist, in Gaza on Friday is becoming the latest symbol in Palestinian anger at Israel. It is also fueling international reactions on social media to the wave of protests and riots that began with the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by US President Donald Trump. Abu Thuraya, a 29-year-old Palestinian who lost his legs in 2008 during Operation Cast Lead, was reportedly shot and killed during clashes on Friday on Gaza’s border with Israel…Nasser Atta, a Jerusalem-based journalist, wrote on Twitter that he has spoken with many Palestinians, and they think the death of the Gaza amputee “will be the beginning of the start of a third intifada…” READ MORE

GATESTONE Khaled Abu Toameh on Palestinians: Arab Rulers are Traitors, Cowards

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH Fatah calls for rage “Continue the Intifada”

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The Trump-Jerusalem story again proves “oversaturation of reporters leads to inflation of coverage”

Posted on December 16, 2017 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
The Media’s Mistaken Predictions About Jerusalem Violence After Trump Prove It Is Biased on Israel/Palestine
by Yair Rosenberg
December 13, 2017

…”Much of what the media would later present to viewers and readers abroad from Jerusalem’s post-Trump aftermath was staged for journalists’ benefit. As a result, initial press accounts greatly inflated the actual unrest in the city itself, which barely materialized in the first place and quickly dissipated. Thus, the media both predicted and reported a largely illusory outcry. This is not a new phenomenon. The combination of the massively disproportionate number of journalists in Israel/Palestine with the relative paucity of actual action on the ground inevitably leads to magnification of every solitary spark—even when it is not actually newsworthy, and even when it is largely staged. READ MORE

DR MORDECHAI KEDAR BLOG List of Reasons Why all Foreign Countries Should Follow President Trump on Jerusalem

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