A Canadian NBA apparently team ejected a fan for wearing an Israel-themed shirt

Bow before the most violent among us. TD

Israelis after a visit from Hamas.

 Andrea Widburg - American Thinker   "At least since 2020, the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) hasn’t shied away from politics. It was all-in on Black Lives Matter, with everything from courtyard messages to kneeling for the National Anthem. However, when it comes to Jewish lives mattering, at least one NBA team—the Toronto Raptors—allegedly won’t allow that message. Instead, a report claims that the team kicked people out of its stadium because one dared to wear a sweatshirt with the message “Free Our Hostages” and a picture of the Star of David.

"Canada’s National Post reported what happened:

Fans at a Raptors game in Toronto on Thursday night were asked to remove a hooded sweatshirt with the slogan “Free Our Hostages” and featuring a Jewish star.

“A female security guard came up and said, ‘You’re gonna have to stay here until a manager comes to speak to you,'” Leora Shemesh, one of the fans, told National Post.

“I knew then what we were about to deal with.”

Shemesh, a criminal lawyer who was dressed for court proceedings earlier in the day, attended the game at Scotiabank Arena alongside fellow attorney, Gary Grill, who was wearing the sweater when a Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) security guard instructed the two to stay put.

When a supervisor arrived, Shemesh and Grill were notified of an “MLSE policy” prohibiting “any attire that displays a political message,” said Shemesh, who is a Raptors season ticket holder. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘You gotta be kidding.'”

[snip]

Stadium security offered Grill a Raptors jersey to replace the sweatshirt, but he refused to change. The two voluntarily left the game shortly after. “We were given the option. We were told what to do. We left peacefully. It was all very calm and peaceful, but we were flabbergasted,” Shemesh said.

"This tweet shows the sweatshirt that aroused the Raptor’s wrath:" . . .

. . ."Just as Democrats can’t afford to lose the black vote, they also can’t afford to lose the Jewish votes. However, what I’m seeing on a large, pro-Israel Facebook group I follow—a group that was started by and is filled with progressive Jews—is a shift in their awareness. They’re starting to realize that Democrats and American cultural institutions hate them and want them dead. They’re fighting that realization, but it’s happening." . . .

Why a Catholic Bishop Said This MSNBC Segment Was One of the Most Disturbing Things He's Ever Seen

 Matt Vespa (townhall.com)

The Left's agenda items are often televised on MSNBC and CNN. MSNBC is by far the worst of the two, and ex-NBC News reporter Heidi Przybyla, now with Politico, demonstrated that Thursday night with her screed against Christianity. 

Wade Miller

@WadeMiller_USMC

Here @MSNBC helpfully makes it clear their disdain for Christians in America. She says that if you believe that your rights come from God, you aren’t a Christian, you are a Christian nationalist. Somehow they seem to not mention that our own founding documents make this…

Wild clip. This is one of their journos, not a pundit. https://t.co/8lLSfOiZl3

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 23, 2024

. . ."Catholic Bishop Robert Barron saw the clip and took to social media, calling it ‘one of the most disturbing and frankly dangerous things I’ve ever seen in a political conversation.’ He pointed out that Jefferson is the one who penned the concept of our inalienable rights coming from God while adding the obvious: rights that come from the government can be taken away. Hence, why this flawed government theory is fertile ground for totalitarianism. He noted this isn’t a debate about religious nationalism but an outline of “one of the sanest principles of our democratic governance.' ” . . . 

Who Would Have Believed The Singularity Would Be So Stupid?: Politico Reporter on MSNBC Frets That Christian Nationalists Believe Americans’ Rights Come From God, Not the Government

. . .This argument is the intellectual argument. 

The argument against God-Given rights is a Fascist argument masquerading as intellectual argument.

The Morning Briefing: I'll Vote for Anyone Who Promises to Nuke the Dept. of Education –

  PJ Media

"!t should come as no surprise to regular readers here that I think Republican candidates in 2024 should lead with Joe Biden's border nightmare when attacking Democrats. It's both a humanitarian and national security crisis and this country can't survive another four years of open borders madness. 

"While that is the most pressing issue, there's plenty more to throw at the Dems after a few years of the Team Biden wrecking ball. One issue that predates this clown car of an administration is the hot mess that is public education in the United States of America. It's an evergreen issue and one that I think the Republicans haven't been giving enough attention to in recent election cycles. 

"There are a number of ways to attack the failures of the Dept. of Education because it manages to screw up anything it touches. It's the classic example of a bloated bureaucracy that is nothing but a black hole for taxpayer dollars. Kids are getting dumber, and the Democrats can only screech for money.

"Then there's the fact that public schools are leftist indoctrination centers. They have been for a very long time but have taken a disturbing leftward turn of late. They used to be a little sneakier about cranking out hivemind progressives but have been letting their freak flags fly more and more. Academia takes a lot of the blame for indoctrination, and rightfully so. The kids who spend their K-12 years in public schools are prepped to swallow whatever far-left garbage is fed to them in college." . . .

VDH: Hamas and Hezbollah think the U.S. will not help Israel

 Victor Davis Hanson - CarolineGlick.com

"On this week’s episode of “The Caroline Glick Show,” my guest was noted American classicist, military historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson from the Hoover Institute at Stanford. Prof. Hanson and I talked about the state of American politics and culture, and how it will affect the Middle East and Israel. Will the progressive takeover of American educational, political and military institutions continue to erode U.S. support for Israel? Should Israel supporters just wait in the hopes that a pro-Israel president like Donald Trump will win the presidency? How should Israel react to American foreign policy?"

"Enough Is Enough: Why I’m Going To Replace Mitt Romney"

 Enough Is Enough: Why I’m Going To Replace Mitt Romney | RealClearPolitics  

"So Mitt has lots to teach President Trump about character?  Such as — taking the endorsement of the president to get elected, and then turning on him as a no-good rat — and offering him 'character' lessons to fix things?  Good old Mitt, the "turnaround expert" who "fixes things," as he sold himself to voters during his failed 2012 presidential campaign.  Mark Twain couldn't have cooked up a better charlatan." From What's Mitt Romney's problem? by Monica Showalter

The Tunnel Wall: What's Mitt Romney's problem? May 20, 2019

"So-called progressives are driving our country off the cliff. In recent years, Americans have seen their savings wiped out by needlessly high gas prices, record-high inflation, and a cratering stock market. Many are still carrying the psychological and economic scars of the lockdowns.

"Schools have gone from centers of education to woke indoctrination centers for our children. Once-great cities have become crime-ridden fiefdoms, our military’s standing has been diminished, our border is under siege, and our treasury is $32 trillion in debt.

"So-called progressives are driving our country off the cliff. And Mitt Romney has either been asleep at the wheel or helping them steer.

"When Mitt Romney moved to Utah to run for an open Senate seat, he promised he would “fight for us.” He committed to put us on a pathway to a balanced budget, end illegal immigration, stop federal overreach, and appoint conservative judges.

"His promises don’t exactly match his record of the last five years.

"Romney has fought President Trump’s efforts to protect our borders, even voting to support Biden’s incompetent DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Romney has supported trillions in additional spending, and refused to join Sen. Mike Lee’s effort to enact substantial spending and budget reforms in May. When Democrats nominated radical Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Romney was one of just three Republican defectors to vote for her.

"And that’s not all.

"While he was happy to accept Trump’s endorsement in 2018, Romney undercut him at every chance, and even supported the Democrats’ kangaroo court impeachment. He created a fake Twitter account, where he took aim at conservatives. Romney votes with the Democrats nearly 60% of the time, marched with BLM terrorists while they were destroying our cities, and even called us “morons” if we didn’t trust Big Pharma with endless vaccines.

"No surprise that Biden wanted Romney to take our Senate seat!

"Enough is enough." . . .

Victor Davis Hanson: Why Do The People Controlling Biden Want To Keep The Border Open? To Change Demographics

  RealClearPolitics   Video

"On FOX News' 'Hannity,' Victor Davis Hanson gave his opinion on why the Biden Administration has not secured the southern border: "It begs the question. So many down sides. There all down sides: inequality with citizens vs illegal aliens, they don't need IDs or a passport to go back and forth. We can't go in to a hotel and get a room for free. The asymmetry is stunning and then the national security dimensions, we don't know who these people are, why are 25,000 Chinese nationals coming. Nobody knows. The question is why, Sean. Why is Biden, the people controlling Biden doing this? All we come up with is they want to change the demographic. They believe that 2020 was a revolutionary moment in united States history. 60-70% of the people, for the first time in history, did not show up on election day in some of the key swing states. They feel it's hard to authenticate ballots. It's not hard to get somebody voting who is maybe not qualified to vote or does haven't a proper mail in or early ballot. They see opportunity there. Think that's one of the reasons it and they want a constituency for entitlements, redistribution, big government. No sensible explanation why a president is so nihilistic and do such damage to his country except for pure partisan advantage.' "

Benjamin Netanyahu Unveils Plan for Post-Hamas Gaza

 Ward Clark – RedState

This will leave Israel to contend only with Hezbollah, the various Iran-backed Islamist militias, all of the neighbors who want Israel pushed into the sea, with Iran, and even with feckless* American politicians who run hot and cold, with no detectable logic behind the sudden changes. 

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a plan for a post-Hamas Gaza — assuming that every single Hamas fighter can be hunted down and eliminated.

The plan comes as Israel sent a negotiating team, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, to Paris on Friday to pursue talks over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal that may put an end to the four-month long war.

More than 29,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the ministry of health in the enclave. Hamas’ October 7 attack killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli authorities.    

"If there is nothing else that clearly illustrates the clash of civilizations in which the world is embroiled today, it is that October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, the utter savagery of that attack, the war crimes, and the shocking willingness of Hamas fighters to burn, rape, and murder.

"It is belaboring the obvious to note that there cannot be a path forward in Gaza that does not include the terms "post-Hamas," which can only mean every single Hamas fighter has been hunted down and captured or killed.

On the security file, the envisioned plan includes Israel closing off Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, giving Israel complete control of entry and exit from the enclave. At present, Egypt controls access to and from Gaza’s southern border via the Rafah crossing.

Netanyahu’s plan says Israel will cooperate “as much as possible” with Egypt, in coordination with the United States.

It is not clear whether Israel has obtained Egypt’s sign-off on that element of the plan, or any part of it. But an Israeli official told CNN that the plan was “aligned” with the US.

There has been no immediate official US reaction to the proposal.

 See Related: Israel Issues Ultimatum to Hamas: Release Hostages or Suffer the Consequences;  Disgraceful: Biden Throws Israel Under the Bus With Move to Force Ceasefire *

Catherine Herridge Posts Important Update on CBS' Seizure of Her Files

 Nick Arama– RedState

"As we reported, Catherine Herridge was fired from CBS during a bloodbath of them cutting hundreds of employees. 

Her firing got the most attention because of her excellence in reporting and the suggestion that it was more than just a layoff when it came to her being let go, just after she'd been reporting on the Hur Report. That suspicion grew louder when it was learned that CBS had also seized Herridge's files, computers, and records, which included her "privileged sources."

"According to George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley:

The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur reporton Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.

"This concerned many that this could "chill" reporting and sources providing information to reporters. Some like Turley and journalist Brit Hume said they had never heard of anything like this before. 

"Catherine Herridge has now posted an important update from SAG-AFTRA, which covers broadcast journalists as well as actors. They posted a statement ripping CBS' actions and coming to her defense, demanding that CBS return her files and records to her. They indicated there was progress because of outreach from CBS and they hoped to resolve the question soon. " . . .

SAG-AFTRA strongly condemns CBS News' decision to seize Catherine Herridge's reporter notes and research from her office, including confidential source information. This action is deeply concerning to the union because it sets a dangerous precedent for all media professionals and threatens the very foundation of the First Amendment.

It is completely inappropriate for an employer to lay off a reporter and take the very unusual step of retaining and searching the reporter's files, inclusive of confidential source identification and information. From a First Amendment standpoint, a media corporation with a commitment to journalism calling a reporter’s research and confidential source reporting "proprietary information" is both shocking and absurd.

Continue reading...

What CBS News Did With Catherine Herridge's Files Could Have Chilling Effect on Whistleblowers (townhall.com)

Social justice warriors: from oppressed to oppressors

  American Thinker 

Yesterday’s left sought to achieve social justice by elevating the oppressed.  Today’s left increasingly seeks to achieve social control by bringing down the “oppressors.”  If successful, the outcome will be the attainment of a society of mediocrity — one easily controlled by an authoritarian state. J.A. Frascino 

Toon added by TD

  "Leftist activism has come full circle.  In just a few decades, the political left has evolved from “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” to debasing America as an unexceptional, colonialist, xenophobic, racist nation founded in slavery and straddled by a Constitution framed by slave owners.

"In the past, social reformers and activists represented directly the aggrieved or subjugated elements of society.  Women’s suffrage was fought for and won by women.  Worker’s rights were fostered by men such as Samuel Gompers, an immigrant cigar maker who founded the AFL.  Anti-segregation movements were spearheaded by MLK Jr.  Social justice warriors of the past were those who were personally involved in and committed to resolving social injustices.

"Fast forward to the 21st century.  From the truly oppressed personally seeking relief, yesterday’s leftist activists have been replaced by a cadre of surrogate “reformers” — liberal, white, virtue signaling morality preachers fighting fabricated injustices for self-gratification.  They are moved by a desire or need to be perceived by themselves and others as morally superior champions of equality and social responsibility.  They frequently care little or know little about the social issues against which they rail.  Not given to critical thinking, they derive their purpose from media disseminated talking points, espousing the cause du jour to sustain their membership in the ranks of enlightened elitists.  They even reject the outcomes of their own activism.  Illegals on my doorstep?  Wind turbines in my backyard?  Crime and homelessness in my neighborhood?  No thanks!  Yesterday’s social justice warriors were in search of social justice.  Today’s are in search of a halo.

"These virtue signalers constitute the rank and file of the new army of social justice warriors." ... 

ISIS Renews Calls for Terror

 . . ."Solidify your plans and diversify the attacks: detonate explosives, burn them with grenades and fiery agents, shoot them with bullets, cut their throats with sharp knives, and run them over with vehicles… Come at them from every door, kill them by the worst of means, turn their gatherings and celebrations into bloody massacres, do not distinguish between a civilian kaffir, and a military one..."

Raymond Ibrahim   "On Jan. 4, 2024, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) claimed the terror attack on Kerman, Iran, where 100 were killed on Jan. 3. In the same audio recording, titled “And Kill Them Wherever You Find Them [Koran 9:5],” IS unwittingly underscored the rigidity of Islam, and how some of its demands may appear counterintuitive to even “radical” Muslims.

"The statement begins with a predictable encomium to jihad and the importance of al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ (love for Muslims and hate for non-Muslims). It then moves on to “the crimes of murder and ugly massacres perpetrated by the Jews against the Muslims of Gaza.”

"While also predictably denouncing the Jews as “one of the sects who holds the most animosity to Muslims,” the statement urges a more focused jihad, one not based on modern or secular priorities -- such as human, national, or territorial rights -- but rather jihad in keeping with Islam’s worldview:

The battle with the Jews is a religious one and not a national or populist one! It is not a battle for land, soil, or borders! In fact, it is a war that is legitimized by the Book [Koran] and the Sunnah, and not through national rules or jahiliyah [pagan] laws. A Muslim fights the Jews because they have committed kufr [disbelief] against Allah Almighty, they have fought His prophets, and have held animosity toward Muslims.

"Thus, Muslims must fight Jews for no less a reason than that Jews reject Islam. This, of course, is very consistent with Islamic doctrine: Muslims must hate, fight, and subjugate all non-Muslims “until all religion is Allah’s (Koran 8:39).”

"IS especially emphasized that true jihad has nothing to do with either national (Palestinian) identity or territory:

[T]he purpose of battle is to impose tawhid for Allah and upholding His word. This purpose has been absent from the latest battle in Gaza, and was very apparent in the official speeches and declarations made by the [Arab/Muslim] leaders of the various groups. The battle from its beginning to its end is being fought over soil, and a country that they have made into a reason to spill blood for!  . . .

 Presidential Historian Claims Jill Biden is the Real Reason Joe is Running Again: 'She Wants Some Sense of Revenge' (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit |

"A presidential historian said Jill Biden has played a key role in Joe Biden’s decision to run for re-election.

"In contrast to past first ladies like Bess Truman and Lady Bird Johnson who wanted to leave Washington, Jill Biden enjoys her role and wants to stay in power.

“She is the vital part. Dr. Jill Biden is it,” Douglas Brinkley said.

" 'If you cut to ’68, Lyndon Johnson was – quit in March of ’68 and people will say because of Walter Cronkite. No,” he said. “The big thing was his health was bad, he had a bad heart, he was smoking, high blood pressure, tension, and Lady Bird Johnson didn’t want to stay in. And she wanted – let’s go back to Texas and convinced Johnson to step down.”

“ 'That’s not the case with Jill Biden. She likes power. She wants to stay. She wants some sense of revenge,” he added." . . .

UPDATED 2/23: The Cancelled Black Harvard Professor Who Found No Racial Bias in Police Shootings. Irony at the end!

 Kurt Mahlburg - Intellectual Takeout

Economist Roland Fryer talks to @bariweiss at @uaustinorg about his journey from a broken home to one of the youngest black tenured professors in Harvard history, the inconvenient policing data that got him canceled, and what motivates his academic work. https://t.co/PLYp7kMSyd pic.twitter.com/5jJwqn49yS

— The Free Press (@TheFP) February 19, 2024

 "Unless you have lived under a rock for the last four years, you will be very familiar with the claim that black Americans are disproportionately victims of police shootings compared with their white counterparts.

"But a nearly eight-year-old study challenging this narrative is enjoying renewed attention thanks to a recent high-profile interview of the study’s author, African American economist Roland Fryer, by journalist Bari Weiss of The Free Press.

"Professor Fryer published the controversial findings in 2016 while on the faculty of Harvard University. Regarding police shootings of civilians, the study concluded, “We are unable to detect any racial differences in either the raw data or when accounting for controls.”

"While the study did find racial disparities in the use of nonlethal force in police encounters with black Americans, when it came to shootings, Fryer’s results were emphatic. In fact, after controlling for variables, Fryer and his team found that black Americans were slightly less likely to be shot by police than whites, though that difference was not statistically significant.

"The finding flatly contradicts the claims by Black Lives Matter and other activist groups that racism drives police officers to use deadly violence against African Americans at far higher rates.

"Far from being an obscure academic, Fryer, at age 30, became the youngest African American ever awarded tenure at Harvard—and ultimately one of the highest-paid professors at the Ivy League school, with over 50 published papers to his name. In 2008, he was named one of the top eight young economists in the world by The Economist and, in following years, was decorated with several other significant accolades." . . .

https://youtu.be/rHDhj7Bua1Q

Like irony? You'll love this! Harvard Sanctions Economist Roland Fryer | Harvard Magazine

Guess who the Harvard official was that placed Professor Fryer on leave; Plagarist Claudine Gay!

UPDATE: Harvard Professor Told ‘Not to Publish’ Study of Racial Bias (msn.com)   . . .“I said, ‘Let me ask this: If the second part about the police shootings — this is a literal conversation — I said to them, ‘If the second part showed bias, do you think I should publish it then?’ And they said, ‘Yeah. Then it would make sense,’” he said.

“And I said, ‘I guarantee you I’ll publish it. We’ll see what happens.’”

“ 'I lived under police protection for about 30 or 40 days,” Fryer said. “I had a 7-day-old daughter at the time … So I was going to the grocery store to get diapers with an armed guard. It was crazy. It was really, truly crazy.”

"The incident has shed light on the left’s reluctance to accept findings that challenge their beliefs, the influence of academia in promoting certain narratives, and the speculation that public opinion is shaped by various institutions." . . .

I'm sure this highly agitated MSNBC's race lady Joy Reid and launched a major diatribe by her. TD

.@ClayTravis: "Does Joy Reid have any opinions other than everybody's racist but her?" pic.twitter.com/ritiivz66G

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 16, 2024