Friday PM ~ TheFrontPageCover

The Front Page Cover
 The Events of the Week -- Featuring: 
Iran Nuclear Deal — Alive or Dead?
by Patrick Buchanan
 
AGHnzvDgAIc_dkrUO59jF21LrUmiQ79dA3RIshU-YlAdfSFPOhc54BmJs1OTRtvnrEX-cCbeiMVXdurlydL03p7YzXsWg_6cAavWTIOYU1PogQU4ftAjtXM=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
.
 Draining the Swamp to Help American Education 
James Shott: Among the many hot topics since Donald Trump won the election is America's education system. Once at the top of the nations of the world in educating its young, America has lost serious ground, and it's time to rectify that.
          Jon Guttman, Research Director of the World History Group, wrote in 2012, "As recently as 20 years ago, the United States was ranked No.1 in high school and college education." Furthermore, "In 2009, the United States was ranked 18th out of 36 industrialized nations." He attributes that decline to "complacency and inefficiency, reflective of lower priorities in education, and inconsistencies among the various school systems."
          This despite because of the unifying mandates of No Child Left Behind, Common Core, Race to the Top and whatever other repackaged program statists impose upon our education system. Not to mention trillions of dollars poured into the system.
          In 2010 at a Paris meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Barack liar-nObama's first secretary of education, Arne Duncan, who served from 2009 through 2015, said this:

"Before the 1960s, almost all policymaking and education funding was a state and local responsibility. In the mid-1960s, the federal role expanded to include enforcing civil rights laws to ensure that poor, minority and disabled students, as well as English language learners, had access to a high-quality education.

"As the federal role in education grew," Duncan continued, "so did the bureaucracy." In fact, he added, the U.S. Department of Education often "operated more like a compliance machine, instead of an engine of innovation," and that it concerned itself with the details of formula funding, and not with educational outcomes or equity. The latter terms are leftist double-speak.
          Duncan went on to say that the United States needed to challenge the status quo, and to close the achievement and opportunity gaps. Five years later, the U.S. still lagged behind many other countries.
          The findings in the 2015 Program International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international benchmark for education systems, finds the U.S. education system improved since the last assessment in 2012 in the areas of science, math and reading.
          However, that alleged improvement still leaves American students ranked behind the students of 24 other countries, among the 72 participating nations. Teens in Singapore, Japan and Estonia led the more than half a million 15-year-olds in the 2015 assessment, the primary focus of which was science, with math as the primary focus in 2012.
          Jimmy Carter signed the federal Department of Education into law in 1979, and since it became active the following year, American education has steadily worsened, as measured by these international assessments. President-Elect Donald Trump, like Ronald Reagan before him, has called for abolishing the Department of Education, citing the need to cut spending.
          The Founders established only four cabinet level activities: foreign relations through the State Department; national defense through the Department of War (now Defense); taxation and spending through the Department of the Treasury; and enforcement of federal law through the Attorney General (now the Department of Justice).
          The increase of federal agencies has arguably produced some benefits, but does their performance justify the costs incurred? They have produced tremendous growth in government control of our lives, and enormous expense, both direct and indirect. Today there are nearly four times as many cabinet level agencies as the Founders thought necessary.
          The federal education effort has many sins on its list, but the primary one is the shifting of control of schools to Washington by dangling federal dollars in front of state school officials — dollars they can earn only in return for relinquishing control over their schools. Federal influences also contribute to the infestation of standardized testing, which in moderation can provide benefits, but when a typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade, that is over the edge. Eighth-graders, it is estimated, spend an average of 25.3 hours on standardized testing.
          It's in this context that Trump named Betsy DeVos to become education secretary. Her bio explains that in education she "has been a pioneer in fighting to remove barriers, to enact change and to create environments where people have the opportunity to thrive," and that her political efforts are focused on advancing educational choices. She currently chairs the American Federation for Children.
          Like all of Trump's cabinet selections so far, the Left portrays DeVos as unqualified and criticizes her lack of experience. One particularly unflattering New York Times tome lamented that she has pushed to "give families taxpayer money in the form of vouchers to attend private and parochial schools, pressed to expand publicly funded but privately run charter schools, and [tried] to strip teacher unions of their influence."
          Perhaps the contrary is true, however. Given the lackluster performance of the Department of Education when run by supposedly qualified people, someone with other strengths just might be able to turn the department into a positive influence — or at least minimize the damage — on what is broadly considered a mediocre education system.
          Schools are best operated by those closest to the students, so returning control to states and localities will be a good first step.

~The Patriot Post
.
G3awWDhq0cgsx1oLFdnSVnRhXyexuF4d4rUDu3lfkpM9CEhh9A5FQE1OH4TFrExvY2Q4ahoGJYapHkZh9qWTNzup1a-HaWzeK4jRKG9BkzXE=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
.
liar-nObama’s Exit Strategy
and Trump’s Biggest Foreign Threats
by Sharyl Attkisson
QvWpxVBfHh0UL9_stZRVG7xov1yAxBF7VoODbNkjCVg3tGILwiua4QRe9TXqbfDXmszkHYjLXBQ9CODcq568eUqrQHHnkp2-E6EO7znD7rvY-qLFYsaF5Nj_FNO3dffNgMUq8ulC=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
{sharylattkisson.com} ~ Sunday on Full Measure, we’ll take a look at President liar-nObama’s exit strategy. Is he intentionally dumping international problems on Trump’s plate? His administration has also continued with a transition tradition:... rolling out hundreds of federal rules and regulations since election day prior to the President-elect being sworn in. One member of Congress is working to make it easier to roll them back. Also, two liar-nObama-era intel officials tell us that North Korea is one of the biggest foreign threats Donald Trump will have to face as president. Why? Among other reasons, they say the dictatorship is close to having a missile that can reach California. What are the other threats? Also, liar-nObama’s former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency says America is less safe now than it was eight years ago, prior to President liar-nObama taking office. Find out why....
.
liar-nObama's Betrayal of Israel
by Guy Millière
ETxEdi9BWa1-eT2eeH6crpYRcQnH1Mbud8bOlK0cbyOnPXwoSJoMlb1Dc4CWyuwaeJAliDKHe-mLqexJrGthw_bgTn3YQw=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
Is Barack liar-nObama planning another
betrayal of Israel at next week's Paris "peace conference
{gatestoneinstitute.org} ~ The Middle East is in chaos. More than half a million people have been killed in the Syrian war and the number is rising. Bashar al-Assad's army used chemical weapons and barrel bombs against civilians; Russia has bombed schools and hospitals... Syrians, Christians, Yazidis, Libyans, Yemenis and Egyptians all face lethal treats. Iranian leaders still shout "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" while buying nuclear equipment with money from lifted sanctions. Turkey is sliding toward an Islamist dictatorship, and unable to stem attacks against it. The only democratic and stable country in the region is Israel, and that is the country U.S. President Barack liar-nObama, in the final weeks of his term, chooses to incriminate. His decision not to use the US veto in the UN Security Council, to let pass Resolution 2334, effectively sets the boundaries of a future Palestinian state. The resolution also declares all of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem, home to the Old City, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount -- the most sacred place in Judaism -- "occupied Palestinian territory," and is a declaration of war against Israel...
.
A Last, Desperate Plea to Excuse Hamas Support
9t9GKmLEKzsI5tFGo2VS7k2xpRfu7o0nYYZo4A9xK4RrqV75eFvEoSmQbAinXztm6HmdO05RNSRlSJCiQ64SWr5nw3uowQyz41NRAY8=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
{investigativeproject.org} ~ As President liar-nObama's tenure reaches its final days, Islamists in the United States are waging a furious lobbying campaign aimed at securing the freedom of five men convicted of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas... An open campaign urges the president to pardon five former officials from the defunct, Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), casting them as victims of "anti-Muslim hysteria" triggered by the 9/11 attacks. In 2008, a jury convicted the five – Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mohammed El-Mezain, Abdulrahman Odeh and Mufid Abdulqader – of using a network of Palestinian charities controlled by Hamas to funneling money to the terrorist group. It is not clear whether the requests to pardon the five, or to commute their sentences and release them from prison, is being considered seriously. liar-nObama's pardons thus far involved somewhat less serious crimes including fraud, embezzlement and non-violent drug offenses...  http://www.investigativeproject.org/5748/a-last-desperate
 
.
Palestinians: A Strategy of Lies and Deception
by Bassam Tawil
AfMqreNCQJJZ4_9NlnII0YDZsFceQ6XMAJHjhAr1ADR_LoJm9BuJ7QyAlviq5qnTwmIO25bE2ChdSk0vw-ALqpVhMv0CvHug2H9gpg=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
{gatestoneinstitute.org} ~ The Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, still believe that they can fool all of the people all of the time. This has always been the Palestinian strategy: nothing new here... Yet one likes to think that world leaders and decision-makers in the West will eventually - perhaps today? – wake up to the fact that the Palestinians are playing them for fools. Last week's terror attack in Jerusalem, where a Palestinian tourist rammed his truck into a group of soldiers, killing four and wounding scores of others, rips the mask off of Abbas and his PA leadership in Ramallah. By either failing or consciously refusing to condemn the terror attack, they expose their cowardice, but, equally importantly, that terrorism directed against Jews is just fine by them. How differently Abbas plays his cards when the blood spilled is not Jewish: seldom has he missed an opportunity to condemn terrorist attacks around the world...
.
Glenn Greenwald Discusses
“The Deep State” With Tucker Carlson…
I5OoPyQoLTI3gkaOOWS-J4_Hx18GbhGakuJJcFRrTEpxDp5HtPeftR40T0TDysILPxvNUBzwcqngOXsjUy3eq4x6vrQY7EPyJGqDDZv03qNzHFYa0HJ1lLpCYavZqi0SlzVgmuN7PQSaycbkmp4Q2RIkXgXr=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
{theconservativetreehouse.com} ~ While it might be disconcerting for some, and Glenn Greenwald is not a political ally, we hold no reservations about exposing the UniParty’s connections to Deep State constructs whenever it surfaces... Fox host Tucker Carlson invites The Intercept’s Glen Greenwald to discuss why the intelligence agencies appear to be in conflict with President Elect Donald Trump. Glenn Greenwald breaks down how the recently leaked 35-page-dossier could have only been injected into the media narrative from one of the intel agencies at odds with, and at risk from, President Trump. Mounting evidence supports the ongoing thesis the Department of Defense has actually seceded from the political elites; and with the election of President Donald Trump, they are poised on the horizon to reconstruct a nationalist-minded defense, intelligence and security apparatus...  https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/01/12/glenn-greenwald-discusses-the-deep-state-with-tucker-carlson/
.
G3awWDhq0cgsx1oLFdnSVnRhXyexuF4d4rUDu3lfkpM9CEhh9A5FQE1OH4TFrExvY2Q4ahoGJYapHkZh9qWTNzup1a-HaWzeK4jRKG9BkzXE=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
.
Iran Nuclear Deal — Alive or Dead?
by Patrick Buchanan
OsKh7VaGTpvdJVc68Ssy9WxM-64D9vbowsU1sjDuZePoiVTdhr1RBBukSFfdxdH2hECAi7HZQnpuPR1X4A93dbM_xjm5imxHHj_ytLAkgpoaWPWMBEUzmlTuhe3LTUR4tw=s0-d-e1-ft#%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href=
{freedomsback.com} ~ Though every Republican in Congress voted against the Iran nuclear deal, “Tearing it up … is not going to happen,” says Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Hopefully, the chairman speaks for the president-elect.

During the campaign, Donald Trump indicated as much, saying that, though the U.S. got jobbed in the negotiations — “We have a horrible contract, but we do have a contract” — he might not walk away.

To Trump, a deal’s a deal, even a bad one. And we did get taken.

In 2007 and 2011, all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies assured us, “with high confidence,” that Iran did not have an atomic bomb program.

Yet our folks forked over $50 billion for an Iranian show and tell to prove they were not doing what our 17 intelligence agencies told us, again and again, they were not doing.

Why did we disbelieve our own intelligence, and buy into the “Chicken Little” chatter about Iran being “only months away from a bomb”?

Corker also administered a cold shower to those who darkly warn of a secret Iranian program to produce a bomb: “In spite of all the flaws in the agreement, nothing bad is going to happen relative to nuclear development in Iran in the next few years. It’s just not.”

Under the deal, Iran has put two-thirds of the 19,000 centrifuges at Natanz in storage, ceased enriching uranium to 20 percent at Fordow, poured concrete into the core of its heavy water reactor at Arak, and shipped 97 percent of its enriched uranium out of the country. Cameras and United Nations inspectors are all over the place.

Even should Iran decide on a crash program to create enough fissile material for a single A-bomb test, this would take a year, and we would know about it.

But why would they? After all, there are sound reasons of state why Iran decided over a decade ago to forego nuclear weapons.

Discovery of a bomb program could bring the same U.S. shock and awe as was visited on Iraq for its nonexistent WMD. Discovery would risk a pre-emptive strike by an Israel with scores of nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia and Turkey would have a powerful inducement to build their own bombs.

Acquiring a nuclear weapon would almost surely make Iran, a Persian nation on the edge of a sea of Arabs, less secure.

If, however, in the absence of a violation of the treaty by Iran, we tore up the deal, we could find ourselves isolated. For Britain, France and Germany also signed, and they believe the agreement is a good one.

Do we really want to force these NATO allies to choose between the deal they agreed to and a break with the United States?

If the War Party is confident Iran is going to cheat, why not wait until they do. Then make our case with evidence, so our allies can go with us on principle, and not from pressure.

Also at issue is the deal signed by Boeing to sell Iran 80 jetliners. Airbus has contracted to sell Iran 100 planes, and begun delivery. List price for the two deals: $34.5 billion. Tens of thousands of U.S. jobs are at stake.

Is a Republican Congress prepared to blow up the Boeing deal and force the Europeans to cancel the Airbus deal?

Why? Some contend the planes can be used to transport the Iranian Republican Guard. But are the Iranians, who are looking to tourism, trade and investment to rescue their economy, so stupid as to spend $35 billion for troop transports they could buy from Vladimir Putin?

The Ayatollah’s regime may define itself by its hatred of the Great Satan. Still, in 2009, even our War Party was urging President liar-nObama to publicly back the Green Movement uprising against the disputed victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In 2013, moderates voted Hassan Rouhani into the presidency, where he began secret negotiations with the USA.

New elections will be held this year. And while the death of ex-President Rafsanjani this weekend has removed the powerful patron of Rouhani and strengthened the hard-liners, Ayatollah Khamenei is suffering from cancer, and the nation’s future remains undetermined.

Iran’s young seek to engage with the West. But if they are spurned, by the cancellation of the Boeing deal and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, they will be disillusioned and discredited, and the mullahs will own the future.

How would that serve U.S. interests?

We still have sanctions on Iran for its missile tests in violation of Security Council resolutions, for its human rights violations, and for its support of groups like Hezbollah. But we also have in common with Iran an enmity for the Sunni terrorists of al-Qaida and ISIS.

We are today fighting in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, as the War Party works to confront Beijing in the South China Sea, Russia in Ukraine and North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests.

Could we perhaps put the confrontation with Iran on hold?

http://www.freedomsback.com/pat-buchanan/iran-nuclear-deal-alive-or-dead/

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of Command Center to add comments!

Join Command Center