"Black man, 37, pleads not guilty to 'stabbing five people at a Hanukkah party with a machete while completely silent then dousing himself in bleach' in an 'act of domestic terrorism' "

Heavy

. . . "News cameras captured the suspect being walked out of the NYPD’s 32nd Precinct in Harlem after his arrest. He was taken back to Rockland County. Monsey is a hamlet of Ramapo, New York, and authorities there are leading the investigation. Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic wanted the judge to hold Thomas without bail, but the judge said she couldn’t do so because of the state’s “new prison reform laws,” Lohud reports, adding that one victim has a fractured skull." . . .

President Donald Trump tweeted, “The anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York, on the 7th night of Hanukkah last night is horrific. We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism. Melania and I wish the victims a quick and full recovery.” The Rockland County Executive also condemned the attack.

Much more coverage at the UK Daily Mail

Truth Bomb: Former Democratic Politician Says Anti-Semitism in NY Comes From the Left . . . In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, New York City Mayor Mike de Blasio blamed Donald Trump for creating an "atmosphere of hate" that has somehow fueled antisemitic attacks in New York. 

"It was too much for Dov Hikind, a former New York State Assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism. Hikind, a Democrat, told Fox News that antisemitism is coming from the left and said that he is tired of both Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and Democratic Mayor Mike de Blasio doing absolutely nothing to protect Jews living in New York. " . . .

" 'When you have the Farrakhans of the world," Hikind began, "when you have members of the United States Congress -- Tlaib, Omar, AOC -- when you have them indulging in hate speech themselves and to get away with it. You know, there's a new standard, one is for antisemitism and one is for other types of hate. Unfortunately, people within my party -- I'm a Democrat -- within the Democratic Party there's a double standard. The hate, the antisemitism that emanates from within the left, you don't hear anything. You hear very little. Anything that comes from the other side, it's all -- I mean, even the mayor of the city of New York, has continued to call the hate, 'coming from the right.' All the hate in New York is coming from the left."

Gunman kills one and critically injures another inside a packed Texas church during a livestreamed communion before he's shot dead by an armed congregation member

UK Daily Mail

Video here

. . . "The shooting was reported Sunday morning during the 10am service at the church. The service was being live-streamed at the time of the shooting.

"Authorities have not released any details about what led to the shooting.

"An elder at the church told the New York Times that one of those killed was a security guard who responded to the shooter, calling him a dear friend.

. . . 

"According to one member of the church, the gunman had spoken to one of the deacons in the back of the church before he opened fire. 

''The member wrote on Facebook that another deacon 'who is a concealed carry instruction, and retired law enforcement officer, shot the guy before he could fire a third time!'

"That deacon has not been identified but according to CBS 11, he is actually a former FBI agent and part of the church's security.

"While the shots were being fired, people ducked under church pews and at least five others rushed towards the shooter with handguns. 

"A church leader then tries to calm people down, while members of the congregation scream, cry and run towards the exits. 

"In a statement, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said: 'Our hearts go out to the victims and families of those killed in the evil act of violence that occurred at the West Freeway Church of Christ.

"'Places of worship are meant to be sacred and I am grateful for the church member who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life.' 

"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was 'shocked and saddened' to hear about the shooting." . . .

Who, exactly on that church, would "Beto" take guns away from? . . . "News of the shooting prompted reaction on social media, including the issue over guns. Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who ran for the Senate and later the presidency before ending his campaign in November, wrote that he was "saddened" by the shooting and implied that it indicated the U.S. needs gun reform.

"Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working," O'Rourke wrote.". . . 

What about that shotgun, Joe?

FLASHBACK: Biden Called Texas Governor 'Irrational' For Allowing Guns in Places of Worship  "Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized the Governor of Texas for signing a bill that allows law-abiding Texans to defend themselves with firearms in places of worship. On Sunday, an armed man stopped a gunman in Texas after the gunman opened fire during church services. 

"The shooting happened as parishioners took part in communion at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. It's been reported that one person was pronounced dead at the scene, another died en route to the hospital and another remains in critical condition. 

. . . "Joe Biden recently told reporters that it was "irrational" to allow law-abiding worshipers to defend themselves in church. 

" 'With all due respect to the governor of Texas," Biden began, "it is irrational what they're doing. On the very day you see a mass shooting ... and we're talking about loosening access to have guns, to be able to take them into places of worship ... I mean it's just absolutely irrational. It's totally irrational.' "

I suppose it was good that the Hasidic Jews in New York were able to defend themselves with furniture.  Video of the church shooting.

Attacks on Jews; come quickly, Lord

New York machete stabbings at Hanukkah event in rabbi's home result in 5 wounded: reports  . . . "The assault in Monsey, N.Y. -- by a machete-wielding suspect who drove away but whom authorities believe was the man they apprehended later -- continued a string of incidents in recent weeks that have included beatings of Jewish people on the streets of New York City and a massacre at a kosher grocery store in nearby Jersey City, N.J." . . .
"I've spoken to longtime friends who, for the first time in their lives, are fearful to show outward signs of their Jewish faith," [de Blasio] added."

We know the machete-wielding mass stabber of five Jews is black, but is he Muslim, as well?

Rottenberg was leading a candle lighting ceremony for the seventh night of Hanukkah when the assailant barged into the house around 10pm and began stabbing people.The attack appeared to be the latest in a string targeting Jews in the region, including a massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month.

“The rise of anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem, and certainly not just the State of Israel’s problem,” he said in a statement. “We must work together to confront this evil, which is raising its head again and is a genuine threat around the world.”

Allahu Akbar is Why Muslims Kill 

"Muslims kill non-Muslims to prove that, “Allahu Akbar”: that Allah is greater [than] the religions of their victims."

 "Allahu Akbar. You hear it everywhere these days.
"Special agent Scott Wickland said that he heard cries of "Allahu Akbar" before the Benghazi attack. And then the guards ran for their guns.
"In Nice, France, the Islamic terrorist who killed 86 people and wounded over 400 by running them over with a truck, shouted, “Allahu Akbar”. In New York, the Islamic terrorist who was trying to imitate him, also shouted, “Allahu Akbar.” The 9/11 hijackers had the same message, “Allahu Akbar”.
“ 'Allahu Akbar” has been present at virtually every major recent Islamic terror attack in the West.
"But according to the New York Times, “Allahu Akbar” is an “innocent” and “innocuous” expression. According to one of the Times’ sources, “You see a reallу beautiful woman” and “уou go, ‘Allahu Akbar.’”
"If all those shouts of “Allahu Akbar” in Paris, London and New York are caused by Muslim terrorists encountering attractive women, their reaction of choice to an attractive woman is a killing spree.
“ 'Allahu Akbar” is not “innocent” or “innocuous.” It’s at the core of what makes Islam violent." . . .

Abolish the Police? A dangerous new idea is inspiring some criminal-justice activists.

Contrary to the utopian vision of Rousseau and his intellectual descendants, chaos is not freedom; order is not slavery. In the modern world, civilization cannot be rolled back without dire consequences.

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research  "The latest call to action from some criminal-justice activists: “Abolish the police.” From the streets of Chicago to the city council of Seattle, and in the pages of academic journals ranging from the Cardozo Law Review to the Harvard Law Review and of mainstream publications from the Boston Review to Rolling Stone, advocates and activists are building a case not just to reform policing—viewed as an oppressive, violent, and racist institution—but to do away with it altogether. When I first heard this slogan, I assumed that it was a figure of speech, used to legitimize more expansive criminal-justice reform. But after reading the academic and activist literature, I realized that “abolish the police” is a concrete policy goal. The abolitionists want to dismantle municipal police departments and see “police officers disappearing from the streets.”
"One might dismiss such proclamations as part of a fringe movement, but advocates of these radical views are gaining political momentum in numerous cities. In Seattle, socialist city council candidate Shaun Scott, who ran on a “police abolition” platform, came within 1,386 votes of winning elected office. During his campaign, he argued that the city must “[disinvest] from the police state” and “build towards a world where nobody is criminalized for being poor.” At a debate hosted by the Seattle Police Officers Guild, Scott blasted “so-called officers” for their “deep and entrenched institutional ties to racism” that produced an “apparatus of overaggressive and racist policing that has emerged to steer many black and brown bodies back into, in essence, a form of slavery.” Another Seattle police abolitionist, Kirsten Harris-Talley, served briefly in as an appointed city councilwoman. Both Scott and Harris-Talley enjoy broad support from the city’s progressive establishment.
"What would abolishing police mean as a practical policy matter? Nothing very practical. In The Nation, Mychal Denzel Smith argues that police should be replaced by “full social, economic, and political equality.” Harris-Talley, meantime, has traced policing’s origins back to slavery. “How do you reform an institution that from its inception was made to control, maim, condemn, and kill people?” she asks. “Reform it back to what?” If cities can eliminate poverty through affordable housing and “investing in community,” she believes, the police will become unnecessary. Others argue that cities must simply “help people resolve conflicts through peace circles and restorative justice programs.' ” . . .


No police? Well, there will always be the National Guard.  Or will there?

Isn’t Bernie a socialist? Why, yes, he is and that’s bad. Updated, and that's good!

Update: Hat tip to Levi England

Bookworm Room

Contrary to the promise in a pro-Bernie website that socialism is great, it’s not: It destroys economies and makes people prisoners of their own government.

"The website I Like Bernie, But…, which was created in 2016 and has been updated for 2019, takes it upon itself to answer concerned readers who ask “Isn’t Bernie a socialist?” It assures these people that Bernie isn’t a socialist socialist. Instead, he’s a democratic socialist, which the website promises is something entirely different:

"The above conclusions are just wrong, and they’re so very wrong that they need to be corrected and explained in a lot of paragraphs.  Here goes:" 

"To begin with, you need to understand what it really means to be a socialist.  Only then can you understand that putting the word “democratic” in front of “socialist” doesn’t change anything.

"So, what is a “socialist” system?  Think of the realm of available politics as a line moving from left to right.  On the far left side are totalitarian regimes, which means government has all the control and the people have none.  At the far right side is anarchy, which means there is no government at all, although the resulting chaos usually means that people have no control either.  (Ironically, anarchy usually ends when a strong man takes over and creates a totalitarian regime.)"

Full article here.

Why Bureaucracy, Not Your Doctor, Is Making All Your Medical Decisions

The Federalist

With the current third-party payment structure, you doctor does not practice as much medicine on you as insurance executives and federal bureaucrats do.

"Americans, who practices medicine on you? The answer may seem self-evident, but it is not. In our current health-care system, millions of nameless, faceless government or private insurance bureaucrats practice medicine on you without a license for medicine.
"You may think your life is in your doctor’s hands, but it is not. The bureaucrats, not you or your doctor, make your medical and financial decisions. Consider these health-care decisions:

• Diagnosis
• Treatment: what, when, where, by whom
• Medications
• Paying for care

"Your doctor does not express your diagnosis in words such as arthritis, asthma, or heart failure. If a physician or hospital wants to be paid, they must use a letter-number diagnosis listed in the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) code book, which turns 1,400 human ailments into more than 68,000 codes. Examples of these “diagnoses” include: W55.21 (bitten by a cow); W61.33 (pecked by a chicken); V00.01 (pedestrian on foot injured in collision with roller blader); Z63.1 (problem with in-laws); and my personal favorite, Y92.146 (injured at a swimming pool within a prison).

"Once a diagnostic code is established, you expect the doctor to recommend the correct treatment by the most experienced operator in the best facility at the optimal time given your medical condition. In reality, you will receive whatever the insurance carrier allows, whenever the carrier allows it, at a contracted facility, by a specialist on the insurance carrier’s panel. All those medical choices are made by nameless, faceless bureaucrats, not your personal medical caregiver.

"Doctors Don’t Get to Make the Decisions  

"Clinical advisories and guidelines written by federal administrators have become medical mandates. These treatment plans generally work well for large populations but do not allow for the specific idiosyncrasies, variations, or allergies of individual patients that only their personal physicians know. Although wanting the best care for you, if the doctor deviates from the approved treatment plan, he or she risks reprimand, financial penalty, and even loss of clinical privileges." . . .

US Air Force deploys new weapon to deal with Iran, North Korea

“We hit every target we wanted to,” Boeing’s CHAMP Program Manager Keith Colman said in a company press release. “Today we made science fiction into science fact.”

Graphic shows the Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) missle taking out a target.

"(by Ronald Kessler for UK Daily Mail) – The U.S. Air Force has deployed at least 20 missiles that could zap the military electronics of North Korea or Iran with high-power microwaves, rendering their military capabilities virtually useless without causing any fatalities….

"Known as the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP), the missiles were built by Boeing’s Phantom Works for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and tested successfully in 2012. They have not been operational until now.

"The microwave weapons are fitted into an air-launched cruise missile and delivered from B-52 bombers. With a range of 700 miles, they can fly into enemy airspace at low altitude and emit sharp pulses of high power microwave (HPM) energy that fry computer chips, disabling any electronic devices targeted by the missiles without causing any collateral damage.

"Mary Lou Robinson, the chief of the High Power Microwave Division of the Air Force Research Lab at Kirtland Air Force Base, confirmed that the missiles are now operational and ready to take out any target."

Murkowski is 'Disturbed,' All Right; "Impartiality"? Come now!

Interestingly, Murkowski’s became “disturbed” after #NeverTrumper Bill Kristol of the now-defunct Weekly Standard and his group, Republicans for the Rule of Law, targeted Murkowski with a million-dollar ad buy to persuade her and other wavering GOP Senators to turn on Trump:

Daniel John Sobieski   "Today the character of Jeff Flake, the former resident Hamlet of the Senate, is being played by GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who originally inherited her Senate seat from her daddy, Frank Murkowski. Murkowski the daughter says she is “disturbed” by Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statements that he will be working closely with and taking his cues from President Trump in any impeachment trial in the Senate.

"Imagine that -- the leader of her party in the Senate defending the President from her party from a political coup involving one sham investigation after another with no real crime, not even a poll-tested crime. There is no real evidence, except for fake evidence paid for by the DNC and Hillary Clinton and/or manufactured and manipulated by Obama’s corrupted FBI, DoJ, and intelligence community complete with forged documents and hidden exculpatory evidence. This does not disturb Murkowski, but McConnell objecting to and refusing to participate in this charade does disturb her: . . .

. . . 

Full and fair process?  Murkowski was silent when. Rep. Adam Schiff was conducting his star-chamber depositions of hearsay witnesses in the House catacombs, when Team Trump was being denied due process, the presumption of innocence, and the right to confront one’s accuser. McConnell called it what it is – a charade. . . .

. . . 

Murkowski is hardly a profile in courage. During the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh she invoked her own purity test in opposition: . . .

. . . 
Chuck Schumer blasts Mitch McConnell for declared partiality on impeachment but said the same thing himself in 1999

. . . "Actually, what I'm most amazed about is that CNN[!] of all places spotted the hypocrisy and double standard." . . .

WSJ's Jason Riley: Murkowski Using "Democratic Talking Points" On Trump Impeachment Trial  "We know how it played out in the House. They were not able to peel off Republicans, even Republicans that were retiring like James Sensenbrenner and Will Hurd. They had nothing to lose. The Democrats were unable to peel them off.

"Murkowski is not up for election. She is quirky. She does have an independent streak. We saw that in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, we saw it in the Obamacare repeal vote. I do wish she would stop using Democratic talking points to make the argument that she is making. I mean, the fact of the matter here is that the House's job is done and this idea that they should have any say in how the Senate conducts this trial just is not supported by what is written in black-and-white in the Constitution.

"The idea that Mitch McConnell isn't going to be bipartisan enough or objective enough, that is not his job. I expect him to be as bipartisan as Nancy Pelosi was and as Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler were. The job of being objective lies with Chief Justice Roberts, who will be overseeing the Senate trial. Mitch McConnell is a Republican leader in the Senate and I expect him to act like it." . . .

Democrats seeking votes around the country

Photosnark by The Earl of Taint

Conservative watchdog sues for alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella's communications

Washington Examiner  "A conservative watchdog is suing the CIA and the Justice Department for the communications of a CIA analyst who is alleged to be the Ukraine whistleblower.
"Judicial Watch said Thursday it had filed Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the agency and the department for the communications of Eric Ciaramella.
"The watchdog filed FOIA requests in November to the Justice Department seeking communications between Ciaramella and former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and special counsel

Robert Mueller’s office. It also filed a request with the CIA for Ciaramella’s emails between June 1, 2016, and Nov. 12, 2019.
"Attorneys for the whistleblower, whose complaint prompted the impeachment investigation into President Trump, have neither confirmed nor denied whether Ciaramella is their client.

The whistleblower continues to work on issues relating to Russia and Ukraine and is driven to work by armed security officers when threats against him increase, according to the Washington Post. "Ciaramella, 33, was Ukraine director on the National Security Council at the end of the Obama administration and was the acting senior director for European and Russian affairs in the early months of the Trump administration. He is now a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council.
"He worked closely with Vice President Joe Biden and attended a State Department banquet at Biden’s invitation in 2016.
"Ciaramella was also cited in Mueller’s report in connection to a meeting between Trump and Russian officials in the Oval Office in May 2017, the day after James Comey was fired as FBI director.
"Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said there is “significant public interest” in Ciaramella’s actions.
“ 'CIA operative Ciaramella is documented to be involved in the Russia collusion investigation, and was a key CIA operative on Ukraine in both the Obama and Trump White Houses. Our lawsuits are designed to break through the unprecedented cover-up of his activities,” Fitton said in a statement.

[Read more: 'Bro-like': Schiff aide was White House friend of alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella]

Schiff Names Eric Ciaramella As Whistleblower  "Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee revealed the whistleblower listed on transcripts in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, as Eric Ciaramella.
"RealClear Investigations first published their suspicions about Ciaramella, who is a CIA analyst. He worked at The White House on October 30.
"Ciaramella was at the center of the impeachment probe. He was there in the White House through the Mueller Investigation, and according to multiple news sources worked in the Obama administration under Vice President Biden." . . .
"Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took the stage on at the Trump Rally on November 4 said:

“We now also know the name of the whistleblower. The whistleblower needs to come before Congress as a material witness because he worked for Joe Biden at the time Hunter Biden was getting money from corrupt alagarks. I say tonight to the media, do your job, and print his name, and I say this to my fellow colleagues in Congress and every Republican in Washington, step up and subpoena Hunter Biden and subpoena the whistleblower.” . . .

WaPo Media Critic: Maddow Has A Lot To Answer For With Steele Dossier Obsession

Hot Air

"Plenty of people need to answer for their embrace of the Steele dossier — the FBI, James Comey, Adam Schiff, Christopher Steele himself. A number of media outlets need to provide accountability, especially Buzzfeed for its inexplicable decision to publish what turned out to be a salacious package mostly consisting of rumor as misinformation. But when it comes to the worst offender, Erik Wemple* declared yesterday, no one surpasses MSNBC’s biggest prime-time host.

“Name a host on cable news who has dug more deeply into Trump-Russia than MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow,” Wemple writes. And no one got it more wrong, either — and no one ran as fast from it when it fell apart. “She was there for the bunkings, absent for the debunkings,” Wemple concludes, “a pattern of misleading and dishonest asymmetry.”

"It began with the Buzzfeed publication of the dossier, fueled by the absence-of-evidence fallacy:

Sorting through the silence from the FBI and the unverified claims in the dossier, Maddow riffed on her Jan. 13, 2017, program: “I mean, had the FBI looked into what was in that dossier and found that it was all patently false, they could tell us that now, right?” said Maddow. “I mean, the dossier has now been publicly released. If the FBI looked into it and they found it was all trash, there’s no reason they can’t tell us that now. They’re not telling us that now. They’re not saying that. They’re not saying anything.”

That line of analysis has gained some important context via the Horowitz report. The FBI did, in fact, find “potentially serious problems” with Steele’s reporting as early as January 2017. A source review in March 2017 “did not make any findings that would have altered that judgment.”

"So why didn’t the FBI admit that publicly, as Maddow apparently expected?" . . . 

*So, who's Eric Wemple, you ask?

Stopping Lisa Murkowski From Playing Lady Macbeth

Issues & Insights  . . . "It can be a murky business dealing with Lady Murkowski, who in the past has been willing to magnify her one vote in the U.S. Senate, acting as a kind of RINO empress. When Barack Obama was president, she used her Senate floor votes to support his position over 70% of the time.
"This year she refused to sign a Senate resolution opposing House Democrats’ Trump impeachment inquiry. And most notably, last year Murkowski was the only Republican senator to vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, despite being recorded as voting “present” thanks to a technical maneuver on the floor. Alaska’s state GOP opposed her opposition to Kavanaugh.
"Would Murkowski play Lady Macbeth and help and encourage Democrats in their campaign to remove Donald Trump? She certainly is letting Republicans know they would be unwise to relax and expect her to fall in line and support a Republican president, and almost all of her fellow Republican senators.
"The Republican leadership would do well to take a page out of the strategy manual of Lyndon Johnson, who as Senate majority leader, and later as president, knew how to keep senators in line, using threats, flattery, a talent for reading his fellow man, and plain hard work.
“ 'I do understand power, whatever else may be said about me. I know where to look for it, and how to use it,” LBJ once reflected.
"Early this year, a Democrat explained how his party doesn’t tolerate Murkowski-style dissidence. “We are a team,” northern California Rep. John Garamendi, a Pelosi ally, said of the speaker’s willingness to punish House Democrats who opposed her too strongly or too publicly, like New York’s Kathleen Rice and Anthony Brindisi. “If 99 of us are going in one direction and the other person is going in the other direction, we’ve lost 1/100th of our potential,” he told The Hill." . . .