The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
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Featuring:
U.S. is driving Mideast allies to Putin
Josh Rogin & Eli Lake
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"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
~~~lll~~~
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GOP CAMPAIGNS COME TO TERMS ON DEBATES
Fox News: “Republican presidential campaigns agreed Sunday to side-step party leaders and try to negotiate directly with television networks over the ground rules for the remaining debates following controversy over last week’s CNBC event…Representatives from more than a dozen campaigns met behind closed doors for nearly two hours Sunday night in suburban Washington, a meeting that was not expected to yield many results given the competing interests of several candidates. Yet they emerged having agreed to several changes to be outlined in a letter to debate hosts in the coming days.” -Fox News
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nOBAMACARE STUMBLES BODE ILL FOR HILLY A steady drumbeat of bad nObamaCare news is a sharp reminder that President nObama’s five-year old entitlement program is hitting the wall just as 2016 campaign is heating up. Next year’s enrollment period opened Sunday with the administration’s tepid goal to sign up less than half the originally projected 21 million enrollees. Premiums are spiking, mandated penalties for not enrolling are doubling and nearly half of nObamaCare insurance co-ops, set up at a cost of billions, have gone under.
Hardly a victory lap for the president, Hilly Clinton’s all in and more support for nObamaCare is popular with the base, but leaves her wide-open with the general electorate. Clinton he has offered to eradicate a few politically expedient bugs, but with most Republican 2016ers calling for a radical fumigation or complete extermination of the troubled program the contrast could hardly be clearer.
-Fox News
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Email advised Hilly to stop blaming Benghazi attack on video - The Hill: “Hilly Clinton and other State Department officials were warned against saying that an anti-Muslim video contributed to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, a new email released on Friday reveals. The warning came from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya, on Sept. 14, 2012, three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in which four Americans were killed.” -Fox News
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CONE HEADS Evening Standard: “Police were called out to deal with a group of men dressed as traffic cones holding up cars in a Halloween prank. Officers in Kingston [England] revealed on social media they received the call out to the five men dressed in orange cones blocking oncoming traffic. The force tweeted: ‘A very interesting #Halloween style call out for our emergency response team!’ Since it was uploaded, the post has been shared on Facebook more than a thousand times and has been retweeted by over 200 users. Witness Dan Theochari spotted the men in Clarence Street, Kingston at 4.40am. He said: ‘They were just standing in front of the taxi and the bus not letting them get past and taking pictures of themselves.’” -Fox News
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Israel's unheralded Syrian humanitarian project
{Paul Alster} ~ While the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrians by the Assad regime and a raft of regional Islamic terror organizations shows no sign of ending... an unheralded Israeli humanitarian mission recently marked the treatment of 2,000 Syrian patients. Although the two countries remain sworn enemies, advocates of Israel's program caring for badly wounded Syrians highlight the Jewish imperative to save life whenever possible. Despite endangering the lives of Israeli soldiers and medical personnel, it has enabled critically injured Syrians, with no one else to turn to for lifesaving treatment, to cross the border to an Israeli field hospital close to Har (Mount) Bental..
Glenn Beck Just Offered to Host GOP Debate
{Brian Lilley} ~ Radio personality and media entrepreneur Glenn Beck is asking the Republican National Committee to let his Blaze media properties host the February debate that had been scheduled to air on NBC... RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote to NBC last week to tell them that due to the disastrous CNBC debate, the parent broadcaster would no longer be part of the February 26th debate. In an open letter to Priebus, Beck said the debates so far have insulted Republican candidates and voters. Beck is offering to host the debate via his online television property at TheBlaze.com, currently available via cable in more than 12 million homes. The proposed format would see Beck host but invite what he calls "the greatest new conservative thinkers and media voices in America" to ask questions that go beyond the surface:.
U.N. Ruling is Turning Point for Overlapping South China Sea Claims
{Armando J. Heredia} ~ The United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration handed out a decision on Thursday that the Republic of the Philippines’ case against the People’s Republic of China regarding Law of the Seas violations can be heard... This long-awaited decision marks a turning point in the complex landscape of international legality as more maritime nations seek to establish boundaries on their oceanic and littoral territories. The court now moves to hear the merits of the case, with a decision expected sometime in 2016. A decision favorable to the Philippines could set the stage for that country’s legal standing on existing claims in the contested Spratly Islands, and further isolate China as the emerging maritime power seeks to consolidate its hold upon valuable resources in the South China Sea..
What Do Palestinians Want?
{DANIEL POLISAR} ~ The most recent wave of Palestinian terror attacks, now entering its second month, has been mainly the work of “lone wolf” operators running over Israeli civilians, soldiers, and policemen with cars or stabbing them with knives... The perpetrators, many in or just beyond their teenage years, are not, for the most part, activists in the leading militant organizations. They have been setting forth to find targets with the expectation, generally fulfilled, that after scoring a casualty or two they will be killed or badly wounded. What drives these young Palestinians, experts say, is a viral social-media campaign centered on claims that the Jews are endangering the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and that Israel is executing Palestinian children. Absent almost entirely from this discussion has been any attempt to understand the perspective of everyday Palestinians. Yet it is precisely the climate of public opinion that shapes and in turn is shaped by the declarations of Palestinian leaders, and that creates the atmosphere in which young people choose whether to wake up in the morning, pull a knife from the family kitchen, and go out in search of martyrdom. Whether commentators are ignoring the views of mainstream Palestinians out of a mistaken belief that public opinion does not matter in dictatorships, or out of a dismissive sense that they are powerless pawns whose fate is decided by their leaders, Israel, or regional and world powers, the omission is both patronizing and likely to lead to significant misunderstandings of what is happening. In this essay I aim to fill the lacuna by addressing what Palestinians think both about violence against Israelis and about the core issues that supply its context and justification..
The White House is preparing for catastrophic solar flares
{Michael Harthorne} ~ If a giant solar flare hit the Earth, it could knock out the entire power grid, meaning no more new Justin Bieber singles, no more televised presidential debates, and no more Facebook photos of babies... But it wouldn't be all good news. The Washington Post reports the electromagnetic pulse—or EMP—created by such an event could wipe out electricity for months on end, creating a global catastrophe. That's why the White House released its National Space Weather Strategy on Thursday. According to the Houston Chronicle, the multiagency plan details how the US will prepare for—and deal with—a massive EMP from space weather..
DESTROYING YOUR VOTE
{Walter Williams} ~ Voter ID laws have been challenged because liberal Democrats deem them racist... I guess that's because they see blacks as being incapable of acquiring some kind of government-issued identification. Interesting enough is the fact that I've never heard of a challenge to other ID requirements as racist, such as those: to board a plane, open a charge account, have lab work done or cash a welfare check. Since liberal Democrats only challenge legal procedures to promote ballot-box integrity, the conclusion one reaches is that they are for vote fraud prevalent in many Democrat-controlled cities. There is another area where the attack on ballot-box integrity goes completely unappreciated. We can examine this attack by looking at the laws governing census taking. As required by law, the U.S. Census Bureau is supposed to count all persons in the U.S. Those to be counted include citizens, legal immigrants and non-citizen long-term visitors. The law also requires that illegal immigrants be a part of the decennial census. The estimated number of illegal immigrants ranges widely from 12 million to 30 million. Official estimates put the actual number closer to 12 million. Both citizens and non-citizens are included in the census and thus affect apportionment counts. Counting illegals in the census undermines one of the fundamental principles of representative democracy — namely, that every citizen-voter has an equal voice. Through the decennial census-based process of apportionment, states with large numbers of illegal immigrants, such as California and Texas, unconstitutionally gain additional members in the U.S. House of Representatives thereby robbing the citizen-voters in other states of their rightful representation..
Harry’s Heroine Hikes 1,000 Miles For Wounded Troops…
{Terresa Monroe-Hamilton} ~ Meet Kirstie Ennis, one of the bravest Americans out there. Her story moved me to tears and I wanted to share it with you... Kirstie is a 24 year-old Marine Corps veteran who toured in Afghanistan. Her life changed dramatically on June 23rd, 2012 when the massive Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that she was riding on as the door gunner crashed. She survived, but woke up to a living nightmare that she almost didn’t make it through. The butt of her gun went through her jaw and ripped it off. She was missing half her face and she was swallowing her teeth. All that happened when her 50-caliber machine gun smashed through the left side of the chopper when it crashed. Her legs and arms were crushed. Kirstie had brain and spinal damage. She thought she was going to die and that it was over for her. They don’t know why the helicopter crashed, but it was fast. When you fall at 150 ft. per second, there’s no time to wonder why. That was the day her career as a Marine ended. It was all she had wanted to do her whole life and now all she wanted to do was survive..
Debating Against BDS - and Winning
{Alan M. Dershowitz} ~ When I was invited to debate in favor of the motion "Is BDS Wrong?" at the Oxford Union, I fully expected to lose the vote of the 250 or so students and faculty who are members of the oldest debate society in the world... "Israel always loses at Oxford," I was warned by colleagues who had debated other Israel-related issues. Nonetheless, I decided to participate, hoping to change some minds. I proposed as my opponent Omar Barghouti, the Qatari-born, Israeli-educated, co-founder and spokesperson of the BDS movement, but he refused to debate me. The Union then selected Noura Erekat, a Palestinian-American human rights attorney, who has been a vocal supporter of BDS. When she backed out at the last minute, I began to get suspicious: was the BDS movement boycotting me? After all, BDS advocates have called for "common sense" academic boycotts against individuals who they feel are too vocal in their support for Israel, in addition to a blanket boycott of all Israeli academic institutions. After speaking with the organizers of the debate at Oxford, I continue to believe that I was in fact being boycotted..
Netanyahu Schools hanoi-Kerry on His Lies About Terror Attacks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference to set the record straight about the recent wave of terror attacks that Israel has been experiencing... The Prime Minister took issue with Secretary of State hanoi-John Kerry’s recent comments that the violence was as a result of building going on in Israeli communities. hanoi-Kerry told a crowd at Harvard University that, “There’s been a massive increase in settlement over the course of the last years and there’s an increase in the violence because there’s this frustration that’s growing.” Netanyahu challenged hanoi-Kerry by saying that, “They’re attacking us not because they want peace or don’t want peace. It’s because they don’t want us here in Israel. If they’re frustrated, I assure you that frustration will continue because we’re going to continue to be here. As far as settlements are concerned, this is not a result of a ‘massive’ wave of settlements because there’s not been a massive wave of settlements..
Media ‘Full of Antisemitism, Hatred for Israel’
{Shiryn Ghermezian} ~ A prominent Palestinian human rights activist lamented on Monday night what he called the media’s unfair treatment of the Jewish state... At a pro-Israel gathering hosted by advocacy group StandWithUs in New York City, Bassem Eid, a Jerusalemite, said the press, which is “full of antisemitism” and “hatred,” is “much more interested in fighting against Israel” than discovering the truth. So, he added, “Let us Palestinians tell the world what we are really suffering from.” Eid, a former director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), said Palestinians are “fed up and hopeless,” and have lost trust in the Palestinian Authority (PA). Meanwhile, he asserted, Israel is “the safest place” for Palestinians in the Middle East. http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/03/palestinian-human-rights-activist-media-full-of-antisemitism-hatred-for-israel/.
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U.S. is driving Mideast allies to Putin
Josh Rogin & Eli Lake
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Some in Washington see the new ties as a threat to U.S. interests, especially because the U.S. has worked since the 1970s to keep Russian influence out of the Middle East. But the nObama administration sees an opportunity. The State Department is now quietly encouraging U.S. allies to engage with Moscow, as part of Secretary hanoi-John Kerry's quest to win Russian support for a political process in Syria.
Some in Washington see the new ties as a threat to U.S. interests, especially because the U.S. has worked since the 1970s to keep Russian influence out of the Middle East. But the nObama administration sees an opportunity. The State Department is now quietly encouraging U.S. allies to engage with Moscow, as part of Secretary hanoi-John Kerry's quest to win Russian support for a political process in Syria.
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hanoi-Kerry is the main U.S. official still arguing for cooperation with Russia to start peace talks that could resolve the Syrian civil war. But the Russian response has been consistently to rebuke hanoi-Kerry's offers. Since hanoi-Kerry began his latest diplomacy push in the spring, the Russians have sent tanks, bombers and soldiers to Syria. The Russian air force has focused its bombing on the U.S.-backed opposition instead of the Islamic State, the terrorists whom hanoi-Kerry believes present a common enemy for Russia and the U.S.
hanoi-Kerry is the main U.S. official still arguing for cooperation with Russia to start peace talks that could resolve the Syrian civil war. But the Russian response has been consistently to rebuke hanoi-Kerry's offers. Since hanoi-Kerry began his latest diplomacy push in the spring, the Russians have sent tanks, bombers and soldiers to Syria. The Russian air force has focused its bombing on the U.S.-backed opposition instead of the Islamic State, the terrorists whom hanoi-Kerry believes present a common enemy for Russia and the U.S.
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Nevertheless, hanoi-Kerry has been pushing forward with his plan to convince Russia to be a partner in stabilizing the Middle East. He convened a meeting in Vienna last Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and expressed optimism the four countries could work together on Syria.
Nevertheless, hanoi-Kerry has been pushing forward with his plan to convince Russia to be a partner in stabilizing the Middle East. He convened a meeting in Vienna last Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and expressed optimism the four countries could work together on Syria.
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"While we can agree to disagree on what and when might occur with respect to the resolution of the Assad problem, we clearly can agree on a process that helps to bring about a resolution of that question. And that is a very important starting place," hanoi-Kerry said.
"While we can agree to disagree on what and when might occur with respect to the resolution of the Assad problem, we clearly can agree on a process that helps to bring about a resolution of that question. And that is a very important starting place," hanoi-Kerry said.
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After the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his remarks to the press briefly focused on common objectives Russia shared with the U.S. But Lavrov used the opportunity mainly to launch into a broad criticism of U.S. policy in the region. He complained about the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Libya and said that Russia would never support a plan that included regime change in Damascus.
After the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his remarks to the press briefly focused on common objectives Russia shared with the U.S. But Lavrov used the opportunity mainly to launch into a broad criticism of U.S. policy in the region. He complained about the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Libya and said that Russia would never support a plan that included regime change in Damascus.
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"I have already heard rumors that deals are being or will be made here that in a certain time period President Assad will go," he said. "All this is not so."
"I have already heard rumors that deals are being or will be made here that in a certain time period President Assad will go," he said. "All this is not so."
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A senior administration official told us last week that this time around hanoi-Kerry is trying to start a political process despite the disagreement over Bashar al-Assad. hanoi-Kerry has said recently that the U.S. could accept Assad remaining in power for a transition period, but the official said the Russians won't concede to that.
A senior administration official told us last week that this time around hanoi-Kerry is trying to start a political process despite the disagreement over Bashar al-Assad. hanoi-Kerry has said recently that the U.S. could accept Assad remaining in power for a transition period, but the official said the Russians won't concede to that.
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"If we can get into a political process, sometimes these things have a way of resolving themselves," hanoi-Kerry said Friday.
"If we can get into a political process, sometimes these things have a way of resolving themselves," hanoi-Kerry said Friday.
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But while hanoi-Kerry focused on convincing Russia to join with the West, Putin has been working to convince America's Middle East allies that Moscow is the new power in the region.
But while hanoi-Kerry focused on convincing Russia to join with the West, Putin has been working to convince America's Middle East allies that Moscow is the new power in the region.
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Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to Washington and former intelligence chief, said as much Friday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. There he gave President Vladimir Putin credit for outmaneuvering the U.S. and said Russia was now in a position to demand attention and respect.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to Washington and former intelligence chief, said as much Friday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. There he gave President Vladimir Putin credit for outmaneuvering the U.S. and said Russia was now in a position to demand attention and respect.
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"Putin is a man who has done so much harm to innocent people throughout the area in Syria. But I must also consider that he is the head of a state, and that state is a big state, and he feels that state should have a decision-making role in the world," he said. "And we have to deal with him. And it's not that you ignore him or cast him off as a megalomaniac. He has a vision of the world and a strategy to put that vision in place."
"Putin is a man who has done so much harm to innocent people throughout the area in Syria. But I must also consider that he is the head of a state, and that state is a big state, and he feels that state should have a decision-making role in the world," he said. "And we have to deal with him. And it's not that you ignore him or cast him off as a megalomaniac. He has a vision of the world and a strategy to put that vision in place."
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By hosting Assad in Moscow, Turki said, Putin sent a message to the region that anyone who wishes to oust Assad must go through him. Putin may not be sincere when he says he wants to fight the Islamic State, but the U.S.-led coalition has not committed the resources necessary for the mission either, he said.
By hosting Assad in Moscow, Turki said, Putin sent a message to the region that anyone who wishes to oust Assad must go through him. Putin may not be sincere when he says he wants to fight the Islamic State, but the U.S.-led coalition has not committed the resources necessary for the mission either, he said.
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While Russia participates in the new U.S.-led discussions over Syria, it is simultaneously striking side deals with U.S. allies to further its military presence there, which the U.S. government has called counterproductive.
While Russia participates in the new U.S.-led discussions over Syria, it is simultaneously striking side deals with U.S. allies to further its military presence there, which the U.S. government has called counterproductive.
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On the same day as the Vienna meeting, Russia signed an agreement with Jordan to coordinate militarily against the Islamic State. The next day, hanoi-Kerry traveled to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria with leaders there. (Putin didn't have to go to Saudi Arabia; the Saudi defense minister had visited Moscow earlier this month.) And while hanoi-Kerry was in the region, the government of Iraq announced it had given Russia the green light to begin airstrikes there too, over U.S. objections.
On the same day as the Vienna meeting, Russia signed an agreement with Jordan to coordinate militarily against the Islamic State. The next day, hanoi-Kerry traveled to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria with leaders there. (Putin didn't have to go to Saudi Arabia; the Saudi defense minister had visited Moscow earlier this month.) And while hanoi-Kerry was in the region, the government of Iraq announced it had given Russia the green light to begin airstrikes there too, over U.S. objections.
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Other gulf states have sent senior diplomats to Moscow in the last two weeks to discuss Russia's recent moves into Syria. One senior Arab diplomat told us that these discussions were mainly to gauge Russia's long-term intentions in Syria and to try to persuade Moscow to bomb Islamic State targets rather than more moderate rebels.
Other gulf states have sent senior diplomats to Moscow in the last two weeks to discuss Russia's recent moves into Syria. One senior Arab diplomat told us that these discussions were mainly to gauge Russia's long-term intentions in Syria and to try to persuade Moscow to bomb Islamic State targets rather than more moderate rebels.
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American allies who are not active in multilateral diplomacy over Syria have been establishing closer ties to Moscow as well. This month, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to see Putin, Israel established a hotline with Russia's military to avoid an accidental confrontation between their forces. After Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi visited Putin in August, he pledged Egypt would work with Moscow against the Islamic State.
American allies who are not active in multilateral diplomacy over Syria have been establishing closer ties to Moscow as well. This month, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to see Putin, Israel established a hotline with Russia's military to avoid an accidental confrontation between their forces. After Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi visited Putin in August, he pledged Egypt would work with Moscow against the Islamic State.
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Retired Gen. Jack Keane testified last week that Moscow is betting on U.S. inaction.
Retired Gen. Jack Keane testified last week that Moscow is betting on U.S. inaction.
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"Putin is counting on the United States' fear of escalation and fear of confrontation to scare off any U.S. retaliation," Keane said. "We need to continue to push for Assad to go, but lets be realistic. Russia, as Assad's protector, will now play the decisive role."
"Putin is counting on the United States' fear of escalation and fear of confrontation to scare off any U.S. retaliation," Keane said. "We need to continue to push for Assad to go, but lets be realistic. Russia, as Assad's protector, will now play the decisive role."
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Some within the nObama administration tell us that Putin and Lavrov are leading hanoi-Kerry on and that the only way Russia would become a constructive partner in Syria would be through coercion, such as sanctions against Putin or more military aid to the rebels Putin is attacking. But the White House is unwilling to escalate pressures against Russia because the guiding principle is to avoid a new crisis with Moscow.
Some within the nObama administration tell us that Putin and Lavrov are leading hanoi-Kerry on and that the only way Russia would become a constructive partner in Syria would be through coercion, such as sanctions against Putin or more military aid to the rebels Putin is attacking. But the White House is unwilling to escalate pressures against Russia because the guiding principle is to avoid a new crisis with Moscow.
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The immediate problem with hanoi-Kerry's approach is that it forces America's friends in the region to hedge their bets and move closer to Russia. Over the long term, there is a contradiction in hanoi-Kerry's plan. Putin is either the key to a peaceful resolution in Syria or the main obstacle.
The immediate problem with hanoi-Kerry's approach is that it forces America's friends in the region to hedge their bets and move closer to Russia. Over the long term, there is a contradiction in hanoi-Kerry's plan. Putin is either the key to a peaceful resolution in Syria or the main obstacle.
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