Retiring early due to antisemitism, a professor paints a dire picture of US academia

 The Times of Israel

Barbara J. Risman felt that the atmosphere among University of Illinois faculty after October 7 was too much for her to bear as a Jew. Her colleagues secretly tell her she’s right

"Prof. Barbara J. Risman never expected to retire early from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a place she’s called her “beloved academic home” for the past 17 years.

A College of Arts & Sciences distinguished professor of sociology, Risman was committed to the university’s social justice mission. But after the October 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, both subtle and overt displays of anti-Israel and antisemitic behavior have gripped the campus to the point that Risman finds she no longer recognizes the institution.

"Risman, who spent more than 10 years co-chairing the university-wide committee on faculty equity and once enjoyed a longstanding affiliation with the Department of Women and Gender Studies, recently penned an opinion piece for The Chicago Tribune about her experience.

“UIC is no longer an institution comfortable for me, as a Jew who believes Israel has a right to exist,” Risman said, adding that according to the American Jewish Committee, more than 80 percent of Jews in America share her belief. “When university departments and programs publish statements implying support for the destruction of the state where more than half of all Jews alive today live, they have crossed the line from simple micro-aggressions against Jewish students and faculty to outright institutional antisemitism,” Risman wrote in her op-ed." . . .

"There was no mention of antisemitism, the terrorist killings, or the 252 hostages taken, she said.

“When it comes to Jews, they do not care. Antisemitism is not considered one of those ‘isms’ the university has to be concerned about,” Risman said"

Morehouse revised

 Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

"This past Sunday at Morehouse College President Biden gave a campaign speech in the guise of a commencement address. In substance Biden’s speech was a demagogic disgrace. What would an honest address have sounded like? Speaking in my own voice, I think it would have sounded about like this.

* * * * *

I am grateful for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon. Morehouse is our only historically black private liberal arts college for men. Not all distinctions based on immutable characteristics are invidious. Morehouse has the courage to stand apart. There is a lesson there.

"Today is a day that should fill you with gratitude — to parents, to family, to teachers, to all those who have helped you reach this day. I hope you will thank all those who are still around for you to thank.

"I know you are grateful for your education. It will serve you well in a time of unrivaled and unlimited opportunity. You are on your way to acquiring the skills and the knowledge that you need to succeed in the life and the work that you choose.

"And I hope that you will continue to think frequently about the gratitude you owe to others after today. Along with your education, it is a habit that will serve you well. Try to avoid thinking of yourself as a victim. It is a crippling attitude and debilitating habit.

"As you move on to pursue your further education and to make a living in the world that awaits you, you are likely to find teachers, co-workers, and employers who will want you to succeed and will take pride in your success. Today you leave Morehouse behind, but you will continue to find friends and supporters in seemingly unlikely places. Morehouse has prepared you to hone the skills that will vindicate their best wishes for you.

"There is no door that is closed to you by law or custom. Every door you seek to enter is open to you." . . .

Opinion | Biden’s Demoralizing Speech to Morehouse Grads (msn.com)  . . ."Given that Mr. Biden lacks Mr. Obama’s unique standing among blacks, let’s concede that these comparisons aren’t entirely fair. They do, however, offer insights into what Mr. Biden believes black people want to hear from their president in an election year. Mr. Biden’s speech revealed someone who doesn’t believe that black people can or should be held to the same standards as other groups. He believes they want to be told constantly that racial inequality is entirely the fault of others and the responsibility of others to address. He believes they need lectures from him about racism.

"If the president’s slipping support among black voters is any indication, he’s wrong on all counts. And if Morehouse College can’t do better in choosing a commencement speaker next year, just replay Mr. Obama’s address."

Let's count Biden lies from HBCU commencement speech: Eric Bolling The Balance (msn.com)

“I Gave Up Shame Years Ago”: Clinton Denounces Trump for Doing What She Did in 2016

 Jonathan Turley 

Famous philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal once declared that “the only shame is to have none.” Hillary has finally achieved that ignoble status. She appears now to have lost even the capacity for shame.

I gave up shame years ago.” Those words from actor John Lithgow appear to have been taken to heart by Hillary Clinton who has severed any sense of self-awareness or shame in her public comments. Lithgow, who played Bill Clinton in Broadway production of Hillary and Clinton, appears to have inspired the subject of his play. In a recent interview, Hillary Clinton heralded the prosecution of former president Donald Trump in Manhattan as “election interference” by keeping “relevant information” from voters before an election. For those of us who criticized Clinton for the funding of the infamous Steele dossier, it was a perfectly otherworldly moment.

"In the interview, Clinton went after the Supreme Court for delaying a trial of Trump despite the push by Special Counsel Jack Smith for a verdict before the election. She then left many in disbelief with the following statement:

“And the one going on now currently in New York is really about election interference. It is about trying to prevent the people of our country from having relevant information that may have influenced how they could have voted in 2016 or whether they would have voted.”

 "In the same election, it was Hillary Clinton’s campaign that lied about funding the Steele dossier and then hiding the funding as a legal expense through then Clinton General Counsel Marc Elias.

"The Clinton campaign staff has never been known for transparency. Buried in the detailed account is a  footnote stating that Elias “declined to be voluntarily interviewed by the Office.” Likewise, John Durham noted that “no one at Fusion GPS … would agree to voluntarily speak with the Office” while both the DNC and Clinton campaign invoked privileges to refuse to answer certain questions."

Trump and the Judge

 Justice Merchan's gagged witness goes public with what he would have told the jury and it's a doozy - Monica Showalter     "After Michael Cohen's disastrous testimony, it would seem that the case against President Trump over the bookkeeping entry in a hush-money payment case would be in tatters as it goes to the jury. Many legal eagles have said as much.

"But the politically partisan New York justice in this case, Juan Merchan, doesn't give up that fast and clearly wants to salvage the case. He's instructing the jury to ignore the detail about the 'underlying crime' and treat the case the same way a burglary case is treated." . . .

"The laws against election influence by foreign actors are suddenly being called into service in this case because hiding one's dirty personal laundry while trying to get elected is unthinkable, a felony, as the prosecution argues, as if no pol had ever done such a thing in the past. Right, John Edwards? Right, Bill Clinton? Grover Cleveland was unavailable for comment.

"What Smith demonstrates is just how valuable his testimony would have been to that jury about what the law is and how regulators enforce it, which instead has to take Michael Cohen's word for it that Trump, who didn't even know about the hush money paid according to another witness, somehow broke the law.

"Sound like a fair trial we have here? Only in a banana republic."

Judge Merchan’s tell-tale heart seems to be coming for him - Andrea Widburg

Merchan grows irate, begins EXCORIATING Robert Costello on the stand for making a few off-handed remarks and rolling his eyes during the testimony.

Merchan: Are you staring me down right now?

Costello: I'm not.

Merchan: GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM, NOW! GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM!… 

"Judge Merchan is hearing that tell-tale heart, and it’s no coincidence that it was triggered by catching someone’s eye. Merchan knows that he’s done something terribly wrong, and his long-dormant conscience is catching up with him. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump."

I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, what I saw shocked me: Alan Dershowitz | Fox News   "I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states.

"But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.

"The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot. He seemed automatically to be ruling against the defendant at every turn.

"Many experienced lawyers raised their eyebrows when the judge excluded obviously relevant evidence when offered by the defense, while including irrelevant evidence offered by the prosecution." . . .

Ex-Elections Official Lays Out How Trump Trial Judge Who Restricted His Planned Testimony Gave Alvin Bragg A Leg Up | The Daily Caller   "Former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission Brad Smith said Monday night that the judge overseeing Trump’s trial has shown “very evident” bias in favor of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"Smith, who Trump’s defense team intended to call as a witness, announced that Merchan’s heavy restrictions on his planned testimony caused the defense to decide not to call him to the stand at all. Merchan ruled that Smith could not interpret campaign finance law or testify to whether or not the $130,000 payment Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was a violation.

“ 'While judge wouldn’t let me testify on meaning of law, he allowed Michael Cohen to go on at length about whether and how his activity violated FECA,” Smith said. “So effectively, the jury got its instructions on FECA from Michael Cohen!” . . .

Judge In Alvin Bragg Trial Seems To Have A Not-So Subtle Habit Of Putting His Thumb On The Scale For The Prosecution   

Along with everything else, Merchan imposed a gag order that restricts Trump from speaking about witnesses like Cohen and Daniels, who have publicly attacked him. It also prevented Trump from responding to President Joe Biden’s remarks about the trial, his attorney noted during a hearing last week.

Fed Up With Anti-Israel Demonstrations On College Campuses? 60% Of All Voters Agree

  I&I/TIPP Poll – Issues & Insights

Mindless, chanting, clueless sheep

. . .“ 'Jewish students across the United States have expressed concern for their safety and suggested school faculty, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, are promoting antisemitic viewpoints that ratchet up the political temperature on campus,” according to a Fox News report.

"They’re not alone in believing so.

“DEI, CRT (critical race theory), and other ‘academic acronyms’ typically hinge on this idea of people falling into two categories — either the oppressors or the oppressed,” writes Tom Knighton in his Tilting At Windmills substack column. “This stems from Marxism itself, where Marx wrote of the bourgeoise and the proletariat as essentially the same thing only in terms of class.”

"How serious are the powers that be taking this threat to free speech and academic freedom?

"A number of campuses across the nation have started to dismantle their DEI departments, which many legal scholars believe are little more than tools for discriminating against white, Jewish and Asian students in both college admissions and jobs. Florida Gov. DeSantis has taken the anti-DEI action a step further, banning DEI in all state schools.

"As I&I/TIPP’s poll shows, a backlash has formed against this campus antisemitism that has torn entire learning communities apart, and possibly ruined the future job and career prospects for some of the participants.

"Americans are fed up with it, and overwhelmingly oppose the campus activism supporting it. It doesn’t at all seem unlikely that this is yet another thing that registered voters will have on their minds when they step into the voting booth in November." . . .

WOW: Biden May Already Be Plotting to Back Out of Debating Trump

 Matt Margolis – PJ Media

    If the Biden campaign is truly having second, third, and fourth thoughts about the agreed-upon rules, which his campaign proposed, that tells me the debate challenge was a bluff they never expected Trump to agree to, and now they're fishing for reasons Biden can back out and potentially save face. 

"Last week, after months of uncertainty and conjecture, the Biden campaign finally broke its silence on the issue of participating in presidential debates. However, rather than going through the Presidential Debates Commission, Biden's team proposed direct negotiations with the Trump campaign for two debates: one slated for June and another for September, under terms that were transparently designed to benefit Joe Biden.

"The funniest thing about the debate challenge was that Biden tried to flip the script by accusing Trump of ducking debates and acting all macho about it. 

" 'Now he is acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said. "Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

"Despite the challenge, I was skeptical. Think about it: Why would the Biden campaign, after months of indecision, now push for debates and act like it was their idea in the first place? Biden’s public appearances have been disastrous. Even with a teleprompter, he struggles to deliver a speech without embarrassing himself. When he strays from the script, it’s a spectacle of blunders. His video challenge to Trump was a debacle as well, requiring a jump cut roughly every two seconds for a video that was just 13 seconds long.

"It's certainly possible it was a bluff because the conditions the Biden campaign proposed were ridiculously absurd. Unfortunately for the Biden campaign, Trump called their bluff and agreed to the debates.

"My skepticism appears to have been well founded because, according to Cindy Adams of the New York Post, Joe Biden is already trying to avoid debating Trump. 

" 'I’m filled with messages about a maybe floppola failure," she writes. "Mouths kvetch that the debate won’t debate." . . .

Biden Begins Speech By Thanking Iran President Ebrahim Raisi For Coming (Parody)

Iranian Government Claims People Dancing In Streets Is Part Of The Mourning Process | Babylon Bee  "According to official sources in the Iranian government, the masses of Iranian citizens singing, dancing, and setting off firecrackers in the streets during the five-day public grieving period following the death of former President Ebrahim Raisi are "going through part of the mourning process."

"As you can see, the people of Iran are mourning just as hard as they can," spokesperson Fariborz Tehrani shouted over the deafening tones of fireworks and cymbals. "This is just their way of showing how much they loved our Exalted Leader while he was alive. The numerous helicopter-shaped balloons and confetti are merely a part of the traditional Iranian mourning process and definitely not a sign of joy or exuberance at the death of the so-called Butcher of Tehran." . . .

Iranian President Asks Manager Of Paradise Where All The Virgins Are And If It'd Be Possible To Turn The Heat Down A Tad | Babylon Bee  . . ."I never did a single thing wrong in my life! I mean, I did help orchestrate the slaughter of 1,200 Jews on October 7th but surely that would please Allah! Why is Paradise so hot and where is all the stuff I've been promised? At this point, I'd settle for 71 virgins…"

Biden Begins Speech By Thanking Iran President Ebrahim Raisi For Coming | Babylon Bee   . . ."Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded press questions about the incident. "The president had the former president of Iran on his mind because of the recent news. It's totally normal and not at all suspicious that he would suddenly think he was in the room with him," Jean-Pierre said. "Everything is fine."

" 'Reporters asked her to clarify the matter. "Isn't there a difference between accidentally saying someone's name and actively thinking they're in the room with you?"

" 'This is outrageous and uncalled for," Jean-Pierre argued. "This President is working hard every day for the American people and I'm a black lesbian. Does that mean nothing to you ingrates?". . .

Biden Sparks Outrage After Divisive Commencement Address

  The American Spectator | USA News and Politics  

"President Joe Biden recently delivered the spring commencement address at Morehouse College, a historic black liberal arts college, and the speech did not go as planned.

"While many on the left proclaimed the speech as “powerful,” not all students appreciated the president’s giving the address, believing it to be an attempt by his campaign to pander to black America. “I don’t see myself being there,” a student told WANF-TV prior to the address. “At the end of the day, this is kind of like something that’s on his political agenda to kind of maybe get more young black voters.”

"Others pointed out how several members of the audience actively showed their disapproval of the speech.

"Even with his support among the black community in decline, Morehouse College, an HBCU, was supposed to be safe ground for Biden to give a commencement address, but instead some graduating students turned their backs on him as he spoke,” said one user on X.

Biden’s Divisive Rhetoric

"Biden used the speech as an opportunity to address the political issues of the day, and his rhetoric earned harsh rebukes from some.

“ 'What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street? What is democracy if a trail of broken promises still leave[s] black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot?” Biden said. “Most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure?”

" 'Political commentator Lou Valentino pushed back against Biden’s remarks on Fox News.

“ 'Race baiter! It’s tough to hear that because imagine you’re going to college for four years, ya know ready to hit the world, start a career and this guy’s trying to set you back,” Valentino said. “I don’t know what’s going on with the Democrats, this role that they’re trying to play. Instead of pulling up and saying well, here we go, this is your time, congratulations, let’s kill it, let’s do our best. Nah, you know what, they don’t love you like that.”

Biden Loses Black Voters

"Throughout his presidency, Biden has relied on divisive rhetoric to shore up support and undermine his opposition, particularly when discussing matters of race. Recently, at a dinner hosted by the NAACP in Detroit, Biden suggested that former President Donald Trump would have responded differently to the Jan. 6 riots if the rioters had been black." . . .

Biden Ends the U.S.-Israel Alliance at a Fortuitous Moment

  CarolineGlick.com

By placing a hold on congressionally approved offensive weapons to Israel, Biden is bowing to antisemites who are opposed by the overwhelming majority of college students and the general public. And he is siding with them six months before Election Day. 

Hamas Joe secures another vote for Trump

 "Delegations to the Egyptian-hosted hostage negotiations left Cairo on Thursday night after talks collapsed. A member of the U.S. delegation led by CIA director Willian Burns briefed reporters that the talks failed “due to Israel’s operations in Rafah.”

Under normal circumstances—circumstances that would see the United States siding with Israel in its demands for the release of all hostages, as well as the eradication of Hamas’s forces and its regime of terror—such a statement could easily have been interpreted as supportive of Israel’s operation in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, where terrorist strongholds still function.

Israel made an offer to Hamas that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken praised as “incredibly generous.” Hamas rejected it completely, so Israel renewed its offensive entering Rafah. Nothing weakens Hamas’s negotiating position more than defeat. And now, having rejected the deal, Hamas can only expect a much worse offer from its perspective whenever talks are renewed.

Unfortunately, that isn’t what the U.S. announcement meant at all. It meant that the Hamas and the U.S. positions are in complete alignment. This isn’t new information. The fact that the United States, like Hamas, views the hostages as a means to force Israel to capitulate to Hamas’s demands—including ending the war with Hamas victorious, leaving more than 100 held captive behind in Gaza and thousands of terrorists freed from Israeli prisons—became clear last Saturday." . . .

Democrats would reward "Palestinians" for this:

. . .The blood libels against “settlers” and against the IDF that officials have engaged in with increasing enthusiasm since Oct. 7 will become more expansive and lead to the ostracism of Israel in the international arena.

On the other hand, the United States will recognize “Palestine” and open an embassy to Palestine in Jerusalem, with or without Israeli permission.

All of these policies have already been adopted at low levels, or have been tried and abandoned due to fierce opposition in Israel and the United States.

But in a Biden second term, there will be no guardrails.

The administration’s decision to abandon Jerusalem and side with its enemies is a terrible development. But the fortuitous timing allows Israel and the American people to minimize the damage in the coming months, and, if Biden is denied a second term, over the next four years."

Spontaneous (re)combustion: Fire breaks out at a lithium battery storage facility, firefighters contain the blaze, then it sparks itself again

 Olivia Murray   "As long as lithium ion battery plants spontaneously combust and spew clouds of poisonous chemicals into the air, I don’t ever want to hear a progressive Democrat—voter, pundit, or politician—lecture me on the wildfires and “climate change” crises they swear are caused by my use of modest personal amenities.

"On a tip from Monica Showalter comes this story, from the former paradise of southern California and The San Diego Union-Tribune (SDUT):

Fire flares up again at battery storage facility in Otay Mesa

An unpredictable blaze that sparked at a battery storage facility on Wednesday in Otay Mesa picked up again Thursday night, and firefighters worked to bring the flames back under control, a Cal Fire captain said Friday.

“ 'Unpredictable blaze” my rear end. What a joke. In fact, the blaze was entirely predictable, because this was a warehouse of lithium-ion batteries, and lithium is highly flammable. That’s like saying no one could ever predict that a neighborhood meth lab might explode, or improperly stored ammonium nitrate at a fertilizer plant would also be a combustion hazard—when you’re dealing with extremely volatile compounds, there’s great risk involved, notwithstanding any propaganda that aims to diminish a particular fire hazard because there’s a “clean” energy communistic political agenda at play.

"Now, the fire at the Gateway Energy Storage Facility first broke out around four o’clock in the afternoon this past Wednesday, and as is the case with lithium ion battery fires, they don’t really extinguish—lithium ion batteries are subject to what is called “thermal runaway,” or a chain reaction type of blaze. Fighting a fire like this means cooling down the battery as much as possible until the fire appears to extinguish or is at least under control; then you simply hope it doesn’t reignite, but you can’t actually know because you don’t know how many of the cells inside the battery pack have actually burned. If all the battery cells are burned, then it doesn’t reignite; if cooling the battery during the fire-fighting process halted the chain reaction, then the battery is at a serious risk of reigniting.

"Now, Captain Mike Cornette’s crew cooled the battery storage blaze enough to get the fire to a manageable state, at which point they handed the work off to Gateway’s “mitigation team” to take over the job. However, as is obvious, the battery didn’t burn all the way, and reignited just a short time later. Here’s more, from SDUT: . . ."

Joe Biden was racist and patronizing in his speech to Morehouse grads

Joe Biden was racist and patronizing in speech to Morehouse grads (nypost.com)  . . .“And most of all, what does it mean, as we’ve heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure?,” he said, followed by a lackluster applause.

"I don’t throw statements like this around often because I take them very seriously: Joe Biden is a racist.

"Matter of fact, he’s the worst type of racist because he pretends to be your friend while pulling you back every time you attempt to move forward.

"He’s the friend who only calls you when he wants something and is never there for you when you’re in need.

"Joe Biden only showed up at Morehouse and other meetings featuring black people recently because his polling numbers among black Americans are decreasing and he needs us again to stay in power.

"But every time he shows up and speaks to us, he can’t help himself. He’s the black cloud ready to rain on our parade, or in this case, our graduation." . . .

The Morehouse commencement speech should have featured words of wisdom to prepare these young graduates for what they might encounter and encouragement to push through life’s obstacles.

These young scholars needed inspiration, not condescension.

Instead of using the trope of how we must work in multiples times harder than white people to find the same success, he should have told them to fight for what they want in life despite any obstruction placed in their way.

But this sentiment is impossible to get from Joe Biden — because the Democratic playbook is to reassure our victimhood status, not overcome it.

 Biden goes full racialist - Silvio Canto, Jr.  

So the country needs a uniter and we got a cynical racialist divider.  We got a so-called moderate who is telling young black men and women that the country hates them because of their skin color. Hard to believe that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud of this speech!

Joe Biden's divisive, defeatist HBCU speech proves he has nothing to offer black voters (nypost.com)   "President Biden’s message for fresh-faced African-American college grads: America is racist, and black Americans are set up to fail.

"In his Sunday commencement speech at historically black Morehouse College in Atlanta, the prez vowed “to call out the poison of white supremacy,” and “to root out systemic racism.”

“ 'It’s natural to wonder if democracy . . . actually works for you,” he told the ranks of young black men; and black Americans “have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot.”

"He also threw Israel under the bus again, explicitly calling for “an immediate ceasefire” and assuring the crowd he supports “peaceful, nonviolent protest” (a fine way to describe demonstrations that have included assaults on police and destruction of property).

"The speech was divisive, defeatist and condescending — hardly the “oh, the places you’ll go!” inspiring message college grads deserve as they celebrate their accomplishments and enter adult life.

"But it was also revealing: Joe is now a one-trick pony, and that trick is pandering, hard, to the far left." . . .   

In other words, however well democracy is working, more and more black Americans are doubting that Biden is working for them. And offering them nothing but victimhood won’t turn that around.

Say farewell to the Butcher of Tehran

 

Untimely death for the Butcher of Tehran - Darlene Casella   . . ."Dr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian teaches international relations involving the Middle East at the University of Cambridge. She posited that it is interesting that there were two other helicopters travelling in the convoy and they made it back safely. There will be inevitable questions as to whether there was foul play. For conspiracy theorists and those inclined to believe that Israel was responsible, Israel immediately announced that it was not responsible for the crash.

"Whether the cause of the crash was the hand of God, the weather, or faulty equipment, there could be geopolitical consequences. Mass protests against the Iranian Shiite theocracy have boiled and bubbled for years. Could this be an optimal time for revolution?"

Actually, It Was the U.S. Who Killed Iranian President Raisi (Iran Says)  . . ."At least, that's the implication from Iran, which needed a couple of days to get its story straight and blame "Western sanctions" on the poor quality of its helicopters, which led to Raisi's untimely demise. That talking point is now floating around, thanks to friendly media outlets willing to overlook (if not actually cheer on) Iran being a country run by very bad people.

“One of the culprits behind yesterday’s tragedy is the United States, because of its sanctions that bar Iran from procuring essential aviation parts,” said Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s former foreign minister. “These will be recorded in the list of US crimes against the Iranian people.”

"Raisi's helicopter, a Bell 212, is a decades-old vehicle model that includes analog controls rather than up-to-date digital controls. Some experts have suggested that means the helicopter was unable to communicate with any air traffic control towers or call for help. That, combined with the heavy fog and incoming storm, proved to be fatal. Rather than admit that they shouldn't have been flying in such conditions or that they shouldn't have been terror-supporting rabble-rousers who deserve more sanctions than they have, Iran has instead blamed the U.S." . . .