VIDEO: Farrakhan says, ‘Trump killed my brother Qassem Soleimani,’ claims to be messenger promised in Qur’an

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“Mr. Trump killed my brother Qassem Soleimani. Mrs. Clinton killed my other brother Muammar Qaddafi.”

“Let me tell you something brothers, the Quran asks a question – Do you wonder that a man born from among you has been selected by God, to be a messenger of His to the people, and a warner to the world and the nations? Yeah, that’s who I am. You may know me as Louis Farrakhan.”

Remember, this traitor has the ear of some of the most prominent people on the Left.

“Nation Of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan: ‘Mr. Trump Killed My Brother Soleimani, Mrs. Clinton Killed My Brother Qaddafi’; America ‘The Habitation Of Devils’ Will Be Destroyed By The Mahdi,” MEMRI, February 25, 2020:

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivered a three-and-a-half-hour keynote speech at the Saviors’ Day conference in Detroit, Michigan on February 23, 2020. In his speech, Farrakhan spoke about the killing of IRGC Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani by U.S. forces. Farrakhan said that he thinks he had met him during his visit to Iran. Farrakhan said that President Donald Trump killed his “brother Soleimani,” whom he called a “bad man” for killing Americans. Farrakhan questioned the U.S. presence in the Middle East, suggesting this was in order to protect its “little flunky nations” against Iran. He added that Soleimani was no terrorist, he was a “brother from Iran,” who was helping the people of Iraq rid themselves of an occupying army. Farrakhan added that former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also killed his “brother,” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, and this is the reason he did not support her or vote for her. Farrakhan recounted that he told Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that he represents the Mahdi, who said that “America is number one on his list to be destroyed” and that it can be destroyed within 12 hours. In a “message for the Jewish people” he said that he is “not a hater” and that he has never given an order to “hurt a Jewish person” but he is going to “put a little truth on you, today.”

Farrakhan continued to say that America is falling because it has become “the habitation of devils, the hole for every foul person, a cage for every hateful bird.” He asked: “Have you become a nation of devils?” Farrakhan shouted at President Trump, quoting from the Ten Commandments: “You shall not commit murder,” referring to the killing of Soleimani. He added, “Murder is your modus operandi […] you want me dead and after today you might want to speed it up […].”

Several mayors of Michigan towns attended the event as well as the Chief of Staff of Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, who read a message of support to the Nation of Islam on stage. Nation of Islam’s new mosque is a former Jewish synagogue that was called Congregation Beth Moses.[1] Farrakhan said in a June 23, 2019 speech[2] that the property was purchased by a supporter of Nation of Islam who “loved the teachings so much that he put up $300,000 of his money so that we could purchase this former Jewish synagogue.” For clips from the 2019 Nation of Islam Saviors’ Day convention see MEMRI TV clips #7025, #7024, and #7023.

To view the clip of Louis Farrakhan on MEMRI TV, click here or below.

“Qassem Soleimani, I Think We Met Him When We Were In Iran… Mr. Trump Killed My Brother Qassem Soleimani; Mrs. Clinton Killed My Other Brother Muammar Qaddafi”

Louis Farrakhan: “You know America is going to go to war. They killed Qassem Soleimani, and America is so powerful she has the right to define others. This Qassem Soleimani, I think we met him when we were in Iran.

[…]

“Mr. Trump killed my brother Qassem Soleimani. Mrs. Clinton killed my other brother Muammar Qaddafi. That’s why I couldn’t support Mrs. Clinton. And some of my little black friends [were] angry with me because I wasn’t going to vote for Mrs. Clinton.”

[…]

“Mr. Trump… You Said That My Brother [Qassem Soleimani] Is A Terrorist… You May Call Me A Terrorist Tomorrow To Justify What The Government Is Planning To Do To Me And The Nation Of Islam”

“See Mr. Trump, I respect you because you’re the president of the United States of America. And you said that my brother is a terrorist. And you got the power to define people. Well you may not like me, so you may call me a terrorist tomorrow to justify what the government is planning to do to me and the Nation of Islam. But I’m just inviting you, I’m inviting you to sit down and talk because I have a message for you from God. In fact, I’ll give it to you today. Let me tell you something brothers, the Quran asks a question – Do you wonder that a man born from among you has been selected by God, to be a messenger of His to the people, and a warner to the world and the nations? Yeah, that’s who I am. You may know me as Louis Farrakhan. I didn’t know what I was going to become as a student of Elijah Mohammed. But I’d like to tell you what my assignment is.

“See, Qassem, President Trump said, killed a lot of Americans – he’s a bad man, so I killed him, he’s bad – where was a man that he killed? Did he kill him in New York? Did he kill him in Philly? Did he kill him in Colorado, or California, or Florida? Where did he kill them!? He killed them in Iraq! What the hell were you doing in Iraq!?

[…]

“That man was no terrorist. He was killing members of an occupying army on the territory of Iraq. And he as the brother of them from Iran was trying to rid them of an occupying army. Now I’m naming you, and I got weight with God. An occupying army. What are you doing in the middle east? Soldiers everywhere, who sent for them? Protecting your little flunky nations? So now if I speak like I speak, and you know I’m telling the truth, this is not hyperbole, truthful hyperbole, this is the real actual fact. You went there, not to save the Iraqi people. You went there and spent [a] trillion dollars to make Iraq a bulwark against Iran.”

[…]

“When I Spoke To The Supreme Leader… I Told Him What The Mahdi Told Elijah – America Is Number One On His List, To Be Destroyed”

“So, when I spoke to the supreme leader, I said: ‘You’re looking for the mahdi.’ This whole nation of 90 million people is born, and are willing to die, serving the mahdi. I said: ‘You are looking for the mahdi, but the mahdi came to us. And I am here representing him.’ Did you hear what I said? I told him what the mahdi told Elijah – America is number one on his list, to be destroyed.

[…]

“He can take America out in 12 hours.”

[…]

“America Has Become A Habitation Of Devils, And A Hole For Every Unclean Spirit In A Cage, For Every Hateful Bird”

“I have a message for the Jewish people. I’m not a hater. You can’t find one word in the millions of words that I’ve spoken that I’ve ordered somebody to hurt a Jewish person. No, that’s not me. But to tell the truth, I’m going to put a little truth on you today, and then I’m going to close it out – you’ve been such a beautiful attentive audience. Now, look at the scripture: ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen…’ [Revelation 14:8]. Substitute America for Babylon. She [America] is unraveling. America is falling, is falling. Why are you falling America? Because you have become the habitation of devils. A hole, for every foul person. A cage for every hateful bird. Have you become a nation of devils?

[…]

“Mr. Trump, this nation has become a habitation of devils. Everybody rebelling against God.

[…]

“Oh Mr. Trump, you shall not commit murder. You took credit – ah yeah, I had the boys kill Qassem… Sent the drone after him – how many have you killed? How many are you planning to kill? See, murder is your modus operandi. See here I am now. You want me dead. And after today you might want to speed it up. I don’t know. But Mr. Trump, America has become a habitation of devils, and a hole for every unclean spirit in a cage, for every hateful bird. Hateful birds mean those that are in foreign countries. You’re in Wuhan province, I didn’t know you were there. Now you have a little something that you want to bring home to America. You’re everywhere.”

[1] Detroit Free Press, February 23, 2020.

[2] Finalcall.com, July 9, 2019.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Pence: ‘Socialism Has Failed … Freedom Works’ [Video]

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Vice President Mike Pence warned a gathering of conservative activists Thursday about the perils of socialism and its historical record of failure.

“Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried, in every era in every continent. Freedom works,” Pence told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC. “It was freedom and not socialism that ended slavery, ended two world wars, [and] has made America a beacon of hope.”

The vice president, tasked with leading the government’s response to the coronavirus, also said Americans “expect us to work together” to keep the public safe.

Pence repeated President Donald Trump’s vow that “America will never be a socialist country” as he noted that the ideology has gained in popularity among lawmakers on the left in Congress as well as on college campuses.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

Socialism is being sold as a promise of better health care and a cleaner environment, Pence said.

“The reality of socialism is different,” the vice president said. “The truth is, citizens in the most free countries in the world earn seven times more than citizens in the least free countries.”

Pence noted Venezuela’s grave problems and shortages as the country is in the midst of a struggle for freedom against what the Trump administration considers dictator Nicolas Maduro’s illegitimate government.

“Venezuela was once the second-wealthiest country in our hemisphere,” Pence said. “Then we wake up after a decade of a socialist dictatorship. Almost 5 million people in that country have fled to neighboring lands.”

Pence spoke about a woman from Venezuela who said her grandchildren had to rise at 4 a.m. to get a ticket to stand in line to buy a piece of bread in the afternoon.

“This president and this administration will continue to stand with the people of Venezuela,” Pence said.

The vice president also said the Democratic Party has embraced socialism.

“Whether it’s called ‘Medicare for All’ or a ‘Green New Deal,’ Democrats have embraced socialism,” he said. “History tells us it has literally impoverished millions of people and robbed the liberty of generations.”

Pence began by speaking about the coronavirus one day after Trump put the vice president in charge of the federal government’s response. The vice president said:

We’re all in this together. This is not the time for partisanship. The American people expect us to work together. … I promise you this administration will work with leaders in both parties, on the state and local level. This president will always put the health and safety of America first.

Pence said the White House’s coronavirus task force has met daily and that as of Thursday, 15 known cases of the disease have been detected in the United States.

“The risk to the American public remains low,” Pence said. “We are ready for anything.”

CPAC, the largest annual national gathering of conservative activists, runs Thursday through Saturday at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington.

COLUMN BY

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Right Side of History” podcast. Lucas is also the author of “Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

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A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Paterson, NJ: First Muslim Police Chief in US is Sworn in on the Qur’an

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Whenever this kind of thing comes up, there is no discussion of what the Qur’an actually says. It calls for warfare against and the subjugation of unbelievers, second-class status for women, hatred of Jews, and more. So a case can be made that this was not the best course of action for Paterson officials to take. At very least, a public discussion should take place. The idea that one cannot even raise questions about the wisdom of oath-taking on the Qur’an is in line with the Left’s sinister and increasingly open authoritarianism, but it is not in line with the American principle of free inquiry.

“First Muslim Police Chief in US City Sworn in with Hand on Quran,” by Safaa Kasraoui, Morocco World News, February 16, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Rabat – US has appointed a Muslim police chief for the city of Paterson, New Jersey, earlier this month.

Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora is the city of Paterson’s first Turkish-American and Muslim police chief, Anadolu Agency reported.

A video shows the security personnel putting his left hand on Quran to swear in during a ceremony at city hall has gone viral.

The 60-year old chief has been serving at Paterson’s police department for over three decades.

Proud of the promotion, Baycora said he considers Paterson as his home “for the better part of a half a century.”

“Paterson has been in my blood my whole life, and now to be its police chief after a 32-year career — what an honor!”

He said he does not think that his religio [sic] will make a difference….

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Study Shows the Result of Left-Wing Conformity on College Campuses

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Are our institutions of higher education little more than left-wing indoctrination centers?

A recently released study found that, whether that’s generally true or not, the perception that they are indoctrinating students is fairly universal at one of the nation’s large, public universities.

A team of professors at the University of North Carolina conducted research on the attitudes of students at the school to gauge the campus culture. Their findings revealed that the culture was generally hostile to right-leaning viewpoints and to conservative people in general.

The researchers wrote that they found professors to be fairly accommodating to students with both liberal and conservative views. However, it was clear that conservative students in particular fear lower grades as a result of expressing their views and other forms of chastisement, more so from fellow students rather than school faculty.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

The study found that nearly 68% of conservative students self-censored, compared with only 24% of liberals. Political attitudes were found to have a huge impact on personal relationships, too. The study found that 92% of conservative students would be friends with liberals, but only 63% of liberals would be friends with conservatives.

Perhaps most worrisome of all, the study found that more than 25% of respondents said that “they would endorse blocking or interrupting events featuring speakers with whom they disagree.”

According to the researchers, there was particular opposition among liberals to opposing viewpoints.

Some of the more in-depth responses showed where the attitude that it was acceptable to shut down speech came from.

“[W]hen asked about a potential ‘Free-Speech Week’ that would include speakers from the political right, students in the liberal focus group expressed skepticism,” the researchers wrote. “Specifically, one student worried such an effort would ‘put the left and right on equal footing,’ which would be improper because ‘I don’t think much of the right is using logical arguments’ and ‘it would basically just promote far right-wing ideologies.’”

That last comment was perhaps the most revealing part of the study, which was limited to UNC, but it’s difficult not to see it as part of a general trend in American higher education.

The problem of ideological conformity extends beyond the bias of professors, who, according to another recent study, donate to 95 Democrats for every one Republican.

While many of those professors undoubtedly attempt to be evenhanded, the general left-wing culture on a typical college campus is inescapable.

Left-wing views are regarded as a given; conservative-leaning views are at best tolerated, but assumed to be wrong. Since those on the left are simply correct in their own minds, what’s the point in engaging with those who have a different point of view or set of principles? Why not just purge the heretics and be done with them?

The result of this dynamic is that the most aggressive left-wing students feel emboldened to use their power on campus to shut down the speech of those they disagree with, while conservative students must continually weigh whether expressing their own real viewpoint is worthwhile.

Unfortunately, many campuses have fed into this through their inability or even unwillingness to ensure that the First Amendment rights of their students are protected.

That’s hardly conducive to creating a haven of free inquiry that many presume colleges and universities to be, but it does explain why so many members of America’s elite cultural and political institutions are so dogmatically left-wing.

They are simply products of that college campus environment that taught them that their views are inherently correct and that conservative viewpoints are nuisances to be stamped out, rather than a serious challenge to their worldview.

“We don’t fully know how this environment has shaped a generation of graduates,” wrote  Emily Jashinsky, culture editor for The Federalist, adding:

Judging by reporting on major companies and media outlets, some young employees seem to want their workplaces to replicate the ideological culture of their campuses—progressive by default, openly intolerant of dissent.

None of this will make our political discourse any healthier.

That our colleges skew left has been obvious for generations. What this study shows, however, is that there is an implacable resistance to any ideas that would intrude on the left-wing haven that students see the schools to be. Again, it’s hard to see a difference between the University of North Carolina and countless other universities across the country.

No wonder there is now such a deep cultural divide in America, and such little ability to bridge it. The institutions that should be at the forefront of helping our putative elites understand those differences now exist in an environment that treats one side as inherently illegitimate.

Add to this the reality that student debt is reaching a tipping point and college costs are escalating. Many now question the value of a college degree, which isn’t the pathway to economic success that it once was.

All things considered, It’s easy to see why trust in these institutions is waning fast.

COMMENTARY BY

Jarrett Stepman

Jarrett Stepman is a contributor to The Daily Signal and co-host of The Right Side of History podcast. Send an email to Jarrett. He is also the author of the new book, “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past.” Twitter: .

A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

PODCAST: When Everyone You Love Disappears

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They are the vanishing. Brothers, husbands, grandparents, who never come home. For Rozinisa Memet Tohti, the day came when her family just suddenly stopped returning her calls. Miles away from China in Istanbul, she’d heard the rumors of round-ups, the nightmarish stories hidden deep in Xinjiang’s camps. Three years went by without a single word. Until one day, recently, when she got her hands on a set of leaked documents, listing the targeted Uyghurs. There, on the spreadsheet’s row 358, she saw her sister’s name. “Re-education camp #4, March 7, 2018.”Tears streaming down her face, she told reporters, this was the news she’d dreaded most. But Rozinisa was wrong. The worst part, she was about to learn, is that her move to Turkey may be what put her there. The Chinese, it turns out, have been surgical and calculating in their crackdown. With a chilling level of detail, they describe the shockingly routine “crimes” that put people behind bars: growing a beard, applying for a passport, clicking on a foreign website, celebrating a holiday, plans to travel, going to a funeral, relatives abroad — any number of minor things most people around the world do without thinking.

The Uyghurs on this spreadsheet had been so closely monitored that government officials even knew when they prayed. There was information on the victims’ neighbors, their extended family, disturbing notes about children and whether they showed signs of “wayward thinking.” Anyone who wasn’t in a camp was catalogued, down to their daily movements. “This document,” Adrian Zenz says, “is by far the most detailed that we have.” Zenz, who was one of the first analysts to confirm the existence of these camps a few years ago, thinks it’s an important clue in understanding the “witch-hunt mindset of the government” and how China “criminalizes everything.”

The personal entries are frighteningly specific. “Entry No. 114, describing a 37-year-old man, reads: ‘Five family members applied for a passport; had expectations to travel.’ It also says the man ‘bears a grudge over his older brother’s paralysis and wants to take revenge on society. Strong religious atmosphere in the family.’ …Recommend further training.'” Another entry noted that a man “wore a beard from March 2011 to July 2014.” People were marked as “trustworthy” or “not trustworthy,” their attitudes “ordinary” or “good.”

Although this spreadsheet — all 137 pages of it — was focused on a small region called Karakax County, there’s plenty of reason to believe that a sinister government like China’s is this exhaustive with everyone. With at least a million minorities in exile, and more disappearing by the minute, Elise Anderson of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, says this information is crucial. “What China says is, ‘Oh, we are rooting out religious extremism, and we’re stopping people from being terrorists — and whatever else they want to say [that draws on] Islamophobic sentiment. But what this document actually tells us is that very few of the reasons that people have been sent away to internment have anything to do with religion whatsoever. The thing really that everyone shares in common is that [on this list] is that they’re Uyghur.”

Tuesday, on “Washington Watch,” she explained how intently people are being watched. And the blast zone, Elise explains, for a single Uyghur is mammoth. “They record details about three generations of family, and then they talk about people’s friends and neighbors. Who are they? What is their ID number? Where do they live? Is that person in good standing? Is that person [okay] behaviorally?” At one point, it was so disturbing that guest host Sarah Perry said the hair was standing up on her arms. “It is really an unbelievable form of totalitarianism that is striking to someone who has always lived in the United States, who has no experience with this kind of ethnic cleansing.”

And it’s not just the Uyghurs who are being abducted, tortured, and locked away. It’s other minority Muslims and Christians. They’ve been persecuted and sent to camps too. It’s a massive crisis for the entire world. But what can we do about it?

Elise says one thing that would have a huge impact is to contact your senators and ask them to support the bipartisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S. 178). “The House version of that bill passed 406 votes [to] one. It has now gone to the Senate for reconsideration. We feel very confident that it’s going to pass. This is one of the truly bipartisan issues in Washington right now — but we need it actually to go back up for consideration in the Senate. So get in touch with your senators. That’s one great way to effect change… Use our report at UHRP.org called ‘What You Can Do.’ Learn what you can. And then, maybe you can turn around and host an event of some sort or simply share those reports with other people.”

There are companies you can contact, places you can donate, testimonies you can send to people in your church. Above all, pray. Pray for the oppression to end, for the hurting people in these camps to find God, for leaders in the United States and other places of influence to act. “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” — Hebrews 13:3

Tony Perkins’s Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

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EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

VIDEO: The Democrat Debate Debacle in Charleston

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The presidential candidates were hosted by CBS for the 10th debate. Some have said the debate “went off the rails.” The candidates appeared angry, desperate and unhinged. During the 9th debate Bloomberg was the target. The 10th debate found Bernie Sander at the center of the firestorm.

The issue was how Bernie has gone full Communist, Marxist, Socialist and pro-Castor candidate.

Check out these tweets highlighting the key statements during the debate:

These debates have shown how out of touch the candidates and by definition the party has gone full Communist.

Watch the full 4 hour debate:

© All rights reserved.

Bernie Sanders Went to ISNA Convention with Supporters of Killing Gays, Won’t Go To AIPAC by Daniel Greenfield

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VIDEO: Bernie Sanders Addresses Islamic Society of North America Convention

Obviously.

You don’t go to AIPAC when your campaign manager, surrogates and volunteers violently hate Israel. But Bernie did initially say he might go, and then the people actually running his campaign, pulled him into a closet, and explained to him why he can’t go.

Then they gave him his pills.

And here’s Bernie!

“The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people. I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason I will not attend their conference,” he wrote.

Basic Palestinian rights being the right to kill Jews.

But Bernie did go to ISNA where there are plenty of supporters of killing Jews, Americans, and other people Bernie hates.

 Muzammil Siddiqi, ISNA’s former president who chairs its Fiqh Council, which dispenses Islamic sharia law, has assented to the death penalty for homosexuality.

At the 2019 ISNA convention, Siddiqi spoke on “Strengthening Our Connection with Allah.”

Imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing, was there at an Imam Round Table. Wahhaj has repeatedly endorsed violence against non-Muslims. That wouldn’t bother Democrats, but Wahhaj has also declared that “masculine women” are “cursed”, claimed that the “feminist movement” is headed by “lesbians” and then offered a reminder of Islam’s LGBT position.

“And you know, brothers and sisters, you know what the punishment is, if a man is found with another man? The Prophet Mohammad said the one who does it and the one to whom it is done to, kill them both,” Imam Wahhaj said.

The ISNA presidential forum was moderated by Salam Al-Marayati, the head of MPAC, who had defended Hamas and Hezbollah, and justified Hezbollah’s mass murder of Marines in Lebanon.

“I believe in the concept of solidarity,” Senator Bernie Sanders began his speech to an unindicted co-conspirator in funding the murder of Jews. He vowed that he would “forcefully combat this virulent ideology of racism and hatred” at a convention with speakers who had endorsed the murder of gays.

This is what Bernie is okay with.

Jews defending themselves against Hamas? Those are “basic Palestinian rights”. And Bernie’s not okay with that.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Trump Administration Accomplishments on Life, Family and Religious Freedom

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To date, the administration of President Donald Trump has taken significant action on issues of concern to social conservatives — life, family, and religious liberty:

2017

  • On January 23, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, renaming it the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy (PLGHA), which blocks funding for international organizations that participate in abortion.
  • On February 22, the Department of Education rescinded President Barack Obama’s guidance that had required public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and showers of their choice.
  • On April 7, President Trump’s nominee Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Justice Gorsuch has already developed a reputation as an originalist who will rule the right way on religious liberty issues. Gorsuch is representative of President Trump’s judicial nominees overall.
  • On May 4, President Trump signed Executive Order 13798, emphasizing the need to protect religious liberty and requiring the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue new guidance on religious liberty.
  • On August 25, President Trump announced changes to the Obama administration’s Department of Defense (DOD) policy which had allowed military personnel to openly serve even if they self-identified as transgender (a DOD study found the Obama administration policy to be detrimental to military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion).
  • On September 7, the Trump administration’s DOJ filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending the religious freedom rights of baker Jack Phillips in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This action is reflective of other actions defending religious freedom taking place throughout the Trump administration DOJ.
  • On October 6, the Trump administration DOJ issued guidance (as instructed by the May 4 Executive Order) to all federal agencies explaining religious freedom law and how religious liberty must be protected. This guidance laid out a broad defense of religious liberty based on multiple statutes and provided guidelines for each federal agency on how to protect religious liberty.
  • Also on October 6, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed two regulations to deal with the Obamacare “HHS contraceptive mandate.” These new regulations exempt organizations with moral or religious objections from purchasing insurance that includes coverage of contraceptives and abortifacient-type drugs and devices.

2018

  • On January 19, HHS issued a new proposed regulation on conscience protections related to abortion. Specifically, the regulation proposed to implement 25 laws that protect-life healthcare entities against discrimination by federal agencies – or state or local governments receiving federal funds – due to their objections to participating in abortion.
  • On January 24, Sam Brownback was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. In choosing Brownback for this role, President Trump demonstrated the administration’s commitment to religious freedom by choosing someone with gravitas and experience on the issue.
  • On March 23, 2018, the White House and DOD issued a new policy allowing existing personnel to remain in the military while preventing those who have been diagnosed with“gender dysphoria” or had undergone gender transition surgery from joining the military. Those who are transgender and stable for 36 months could join so long as they serve in accordance with their biological sex.
  • On April 26, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as Secretary of State. In choosing Pompeo for this position, President Trump chose someone who deeply cares about religious liberty and would make it a priority to see the issue advanced through this administration.
  • On April 30, during a press conference with Nigeria’s president, President Trump raised the issue of religious freedom and the killing of Christians in that country. This resulted in security forces being committed to deal with the problem.
  • On May 22, HHS issued a new proposed regulation reversing the Title X family planning regulations implemented by President Bill Clinton. The new regulation would restore the separation of abortion services from the federal Title X family planning program, which President Ronald Reagan first implemented. The new regulation would also ensure parents are more involved in the decisions of minors to obtain services from Title X clinics. It reverses the discriminatory abortion referral requirement the Clinton regulations implemented and is poised to put a dent into Planned Parenthood’s roughly $60 million annual revenues from this federal program.
  • On July 24-26, the State Department held the first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Political and civil society leaders from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. for a three-day summit to discuss religious freedom issues and solutions. The Potomac Declaration was issued at the Ministerial. It made a strong statement about the state of religious freedom around the globe and provided a plan of action for promoting global religious freedom. The U.S. also announced the International Religious Freedom Fund(to provide emergency assistance to victims of religiously motivated discrimination and abuse around the world), and the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response initiative(which has provided nearly $373 million to help persecuted ethnic and religious minorities in northern Iraq restore their communities). The U.S. was among 25 countries who signed a statement condemning terrorism and the abuse of religious believers by non-state actors.
  • On July 30, the Trump administration DOJ announced a Religious Liberty Task Force to fully implement religious liberty guidance and policy across all components in the DOJ.
  • On August 1, the Trump administration relied on Executive Order 13818 (which builds on global Magnitsky Act authority) to sanction two Turkish officials over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson due to his Christian faith. This Executive Order ultimately resulted in Pastor Brunson’s release.
  • On September 24, HHS terminated a $15,900 contract with Advanced Bioscience Resources to procure fetal tissue from aborted babies for research. The termination of this contract led HHS to announce an audit of all acquisitions and research involving human fetal tissue to ensure consistency with statutes and regulations.
  • On October 6, President Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, marking the second constitutional originalist the president saw confirmed to the court.
  • On November 7, HHS issued two final regulations to deal with the Obamacare “HHS contraceptive mandate.” These two regulations exempt organizations with either a moral or religious objection from purchasing insurance with coverage of contraceptives and abortifacient-type drugs and devices. The regulations took effect on January 14, 2019.
  • Also on November 7, HHS released a new funding opportunity for the Title X Family Planning Services Grant that will fund organizations beginning April 1, 2019. This new funding opportunity clarified the intended purpose of the Title X Family Planning program and made successful grant applications available so that pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations could be competitive in the selection process.
  • On November 9, HHS proposed a new regulation to address an abortion surcharge hidden in many plans purchased on the Obamacare exchange. This proposed regulation would enforce the requirement that abortion surcharges are to be collected separately from other insurance premiums. This requirement was not closely followed under the Obama administration, leading HHS to now more strictly enforce the separation of payments.
  • On December 26, the Trump administration DOJ filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending a cross-shaped veteran’s memorial that had been challenged as a violation of the Establishment Clause. This position is representative of the Trump administration’s originalist approach to the Constitution concerning First Amendment rights and other issues. This approach results in legal analysis that interprets the law rather than injecting policy preferences into it.

2019

  • On March 4, HHS finalized rule changes governing the Title X family planning program. Consistent with federal law, these rule changes ensured that Title X clinics would be financially and physically separate from abortion facilities and would not refer patients for abortions. Since the implementation of the rule, Planned Parenthood and several pro-abortion states voluntarily decided to withdraw from the program rather than quit performing abortions or referring patients for abortions.
  • On March 8, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback gave a speech in Hong Kong during which he criticized China’s poor religious freedom record.
  • On April 12, the Trump administration policy regarding military service by those with gender dysphoria went into effect.
  • On May 21, HHS finalized a rule to expand the structure in which federal conscience laws are enforced. In 2011, President Obama issued a rule to enforce only three federal conscience provisions. This new regulation expands this number to cover 25 existing statutes. These statutes will be enforced under the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, part of the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The effective date of this regulation is November 22, 2019. Even though this new regulation enforcing conscience protections is not yet in effect, it has not stopped the administration from protecting conscience under the old regulations. On August 28, HHS announced that they sent a violation notice to the University of Vermont Medical Center for forcing a nurse to participate in an abortion despite her conscience objection. This marks the third time that the Religious Freedom Division under President Trump has investigated a conscience complaint related to participating in or promoting abortion.
  • On May 24, HHS proposed a new regulation that clarifies that discrimination on the basis of sex in section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act was to be interpreted under the plain meaning of the word, and therefore does not include “gender identity” or “termination of pregnancy” as set forth by a 2016 Obama administration regulation. Under President Trump, the HHS regulation will continue to enforce existing civil rights protections; however, it makes clear that the federal government will not use discrimination on the basis of sex to force physicians to participate in gender reassignment surgeries or abortions.
  • On June 5, after an extensive audit into fetal tissue research, the Trump administration announced a major change in the enforcement of research contracts. HHS would no longer conduct intramural (internal) research using tissue from aborted babies and would greatly increase the ethics rules and safeguards that govern extramural (external) fetal tissue research contracts. All new external contracts will be subject to a congressionally authorized ethics advisory board, making it much more difficult for fetal tissue or research contracts to be awarded by the National Institute of Health.
  • On July 16-18, the State Department held the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a new global initiative, the International Religious Freedom Alliance, meant to provide a way for like-minded countries to work together to advance religious freedom. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai gave a compelling speech condemning the use of technology to track and control the lives of religious minorities, and the United States was among 14 signatory countries on a statement of concern about technology and religious freedom. The United States was also one of the 34 countries that signed a statement of concern on counterterrorism as a pretext for the repression of religious freedom; one of 27 countries that signed a statement condemning blasphemy, apostasy, or other laws that restrict religious freedom; and was one of 46 countries that signed a statement that called government officials to condemn attacks on places of worship and to work with religious communities to protect these places. The State Department and USAID also announced new religious freedom training programs for foreign service officers.
  • On July 16, the State Department placed targeted sanctions on Burmese military officials for their human rights and religious freedom violations committed against the Rohingya Muslim population.
  • On July 18, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a joint letter to the international community. It defended the ability of nations to formulate pro-life policies and invited other nations to join the U.S. in this effort.
  • Also on July 18, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and HHS Secretary Alex Azar issued a joint letter on International Partnerships that called states to join a coalition of countries that seek to advocate against pro-abortion policies at the World Health Organization and theUnited Nations.
  • On August 15, the DOL proposed a new regulation that would clarify the scope and application of religious exemptions for federal contractors. Under the Obama administration, the scope of religious exemption at the DOL was severely narrowed. The current DOL relied on the history of our nation’s preservation of religious liberty, the First Amendment, and Supreme Court decisions to re-invigorate the exemption to its historical and constitutional parameters.
  • On September 10, the State Department placed targeted sanctions on Russian officials for their religious freedom violations and torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
  • On September 11, President Trump saw his 150th federal judge confirmed – a number which includes 105 district court judges, 43 appeals court judges, and 2 Supreme Court justices. An overwhelming number of President Trump’s judicial nominees have been constitutional originalists, who will interpret the law as written, rather than interpret it according to their personal policy preferences. As judges, these nominees will rule correctly on religious liberty and pro-life issues.
  • On September 23, President Trump hosted a meeting during the U.N. General Assembly and gave a speech solely on the topic of religious freedom. During the speech, he announced a U.S. policy initiative to protect places of worship, pledging an additional $25 million in funding to protect religious sites and relics. President Trump also announced the U.S. would form a coalition within the business community to protect religious freedom. This is the first time a U.S. president has hosted a meeting focused solely on religious freedom at the U.N.
  • On September 24, President Trump discussed the need to protect religious freedom during his U.N. General Assembly speech, in which he also discussed China and Iran – two major violators of religious freedom.
  • On September 25, HHS Secretary Alex Azar delivered a statement at the U.N. General Assembly stating that there is no international right to an abortion, and that the U.S. does not support ambiguous terms like sexual and reproductive health in U.N. documents.
  • On November 27, President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law, which affirms Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status and protects against Chinese government encroachment, which is a threat to Hong Kong’s religious freedom.
  • On December 19, HHS issued a rule removing burdensome requirements that all grantees, including those that are faith-based, must accept as valid same-sex marriages and professed gender identity in order to be eligible to participate in grant programs. This included the adoption and foster care space where these requirements had been used to shut down faith-based providers of foster care and adoption.
  • On December 27, HHS finalized regulations that require Obamacare health providers to collect two separate premium payments, one for abortion coverage and one for all other health care coverage. This final rule brings federal regulations into alignment with section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act ensuring that consumers know their health care plan covers abortion, and funding for abortion is kept separate from all other covered services.

2020

  • On January 16, HHS Secretary Alex Azar hosted 34 countries for a meeting on how to promote women’s health in a way that does not include abortion. This meeting followed an invitation sent by Secretary Azar and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to 70 different countries inviting them to join a coalition to oppose international efforts to enshrine abortion as a human right.
  • On January 16, the Departments of Education and Justice issued guidance on constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public elementary and secondary schools. This guidance ensures that prayer in schools is properly protected and not unconstitutionally prohibited or curtailed.
  • On January 16, The White House Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies to provide guidance on applying Executive Order (EO) 13798 “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.” This memo required the agencies to review the EO and publish policies on how they will comply, in order to protect the ability of religious organizations to operate in the public square.
  • On January 17, nine federal agencies proposed rules leveling the playing field for faith-based organizations wishing to participate in grant programs or become a contractor. The rules eliminated two requirements placed on faith-based organizations that were not placed on secular organizations.
  • On January 22, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at HHS approved a family planning waiver for Texas to implement a state-run Medicaid program that excludes abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. This makes Texas the first state to receive Medicaid funding for a family planning program that does not include abortion providers.
  • On January 24, President Trump became the first sitting president to give remarks in person at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. In his address, he stated the eternal truth that every child is a sacred gift from God and reiterated his effort to defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life.
  • On January 24, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced live at FRC’s ProLifeCon event that the Trump administration issued a notice of violation to California for violating the federal Weldon Amendment by mandating all health insurers provide coverage for abortion. California’s abortion coverage mandate has deprived over 28,000 residents of plans that do not cover abortion. This marks the second time that HHS has issued a notice of violation to California for violating federal conscience laws, and is the fourth enforcement action taken by the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division of the Office of Civil Rights at HHS.
  • On February 4, during his State of the Union address, President Trump called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban late-term abortions. To highlight the need for this legislation, he invited special guest Ellie Schneider, who was born at just 21 weeks gestation.
  • On February 5, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched the International Religious Freedom Alliance. The Alliance will unite government leaders from like-minded nations to strategize on ways in which they can promote religious freedom and protect religious minorities around the world.
  • As of February 12, 2020, the Trump administration has overseen the confirmation of 192 federal judges, including 2 Supreme Court justices and 51 federal appeals court judges.

EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO: President Trump in India!

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https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1232005756054069248

President Trump addressed a loud, cheering crowd of more than 100,000 earlier today at India’s Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium. He praised India’s growing prosperity and its “ironclad resolve” in joining the global fight against radical Islamic terrorism.

“The First Lady and I have just traveled 8,000 miles around the globe to deliver a message to every citizen across this nation: America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people,” he said.

Five months ago, President Trump welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Houston, Texas, where they were greeted by a lively crowd at the “Howdy Modi” rally.

The sequel took place this morning in Ahmedabad, India, at a rally fittingly called “Namaste Trump.” Speaking in the largest cricket stadium on Earth, President Trump thanked the Indian people “for the contributions your culture and traditions have made to my beloved country.”

A powerful friendship grew between America and India after President Trump’s election, particularly as trading partners. Since Inauguration Day 2017, commerce between the two countries has shot up more than 40 percent. That’s made India into a major market for U.S. exports, and it cemented America as India’s largest export market.

President Trump: America is booming, and that’s good news for India!

The U.S.–India bond under President Trump and Prime Minister Modi is also making American safer and more secure. The two are cooperating closely to defeat global terrorism and combat drug trafficking. Together, they are also calling on other countries in the region—including Pakistan and Iran—to fight terrorism in their own backyards.

Shared values make this alliance possible. “In America and in India, we know that we are all born for a higher purpose: to reach toward our fullest potential, to work toward excellence and perfection, and to give all glory to God,” President Trump said.

President Trump: India will be getting the best military equipment on the planet!

Behind the scenes: See photos from President Trump’s visit to India!

© All rights reserved.

Book Release: American Ingrate by Ben Weingarten

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There couldn’t be a more appropriately titled or timely book than this one about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.

American Ingrate: Ilhan Omar and the Progressive-Islamist Takeover of the Democratic Party.

I couldn’t decide which of my blogs is the more appropriate place to post this exciting news, but settled on ‘Frauds and Crooks’ although Omar is one of the more than 100,000 Somalis admitted to the US by past administrations including not just Democrat Obama, but by the Republican George W. Bush administration which admitted them by the tens of thousand as well.

Here is what author Ben Weingarten said about his book in an announcement yesterday (I’ve order my copy!):

…. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank everyone who has helped make this book a reality, including my loving family, friends, the team at Bombardier/Post Hill Press, Andy McCarthy who kindly wrote the Foreword, Victor Davis Hanson, Dennis Prager, Newt Gingrich, Scott Johnson, Lee Smith, and Caroline Glick who kindly wrote blurbs for it, and many of you who played roles large and small in helping bring it to fruition.

American Ingrate is as serious and substantive as it is provocative and politically potent.

It has been made ever more relevant in the run-up to release as its thesis is being borne out in real time in Bernie Sanders’ rise to the top of the Democratic presidential field–with Sanders having recently named Rep. Omar his campaign co-chair in the pivotal 2020 state of Minnesota–and mounting evidence of Omar’s alleged marriage fraud and associated raft of crimes.

Among other things, this heavily researched work:

~Makes the definitive case that as President Trump has argued, Rep. Omar is the face of the Democratic Party, while delving deeply into her unexplored background, unchallenged beliefs, and under-appreciated effort in leading her party to advance a fundamentally subversive, intersectional- and identity politics-based agenda geared towards destroying our core institutions under the guise of “social justice;”

~Sets forth the argument that she not only personifies but leads the unholy progressive-Islamist alliance–held together by the glue of Jew-hatred as a proxy for hatred of Judeo-Christian Western civilization–that truly has triumphed over the Democratic establishment; and

~Builds the as yet ignored case for her collusion with corrupt and anti-American actors and regimes foreign and domestic–on top of credible allegations of criminality and corruption, including previously unreported details pointing to her fraudulence.

Can’t wait for my copy to arrive!  Order at Amazon.

See my Rep. Ilhan Omar archives here at ‘Frauds and Crooks’ and at Refugee Resettlement Watch don’t miss this post from 2016.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ohio Somalis Charged in $10 Million Food Stamp Fraud Bust

EDITORS NOTE: This Frauds, Crooks and Criminals column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

With China Reeling, A Strategic Opportunity With North Korea

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So much has been happening recently in the world that North Korea has all but disappeared from the front pages. The elimination of Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, the impeachment inquiry farce, the Iowa circus, the COVID-19 threat of a pandemic, have monopolized public attention for weeks.

However, North Korea is not going away and President Trump has certainly not forgotten the issue, especially since China, of late, has never been weaker. Hong Kong’s yearlong demonstrations, triggered by an ill-conceived extradition bill, hit China’s “one country, two systems” principle at its heart and the result was immediately reflected by the elections in Taiwan where the incumbent pro-independence candidate Tsai Ing-Wen won in a landslide. The news of the coronavirus epidemic, long denied and badly suppressed, could yet become a dangerous “Chernobyl” moment for the regime who is now struggling not only to contain the virus, but also to save its international reputation and perhaps fighting for its very survival.

Some people have criticized recent U.S. North Korea policy, others have praised it. Both parties assume that America’s policy is to get Kim Jong Un to abandon its nuclear program. Both are wrong.

One of the many fallouts of having waged war in Libya to depose Muammar Qaddafi to score cheap political points was that it sent a warning to all wannabe dictators: “Renounce your nuclear program and it will be the end of you.” And so it was for Qaddafi: a few years after abandoning terrorism and giving up its nuclear weapons, he was hunted down and killed like a dog (destabilizing Europe and creating an immigration crisis, among other things).

Kim Jong Un is smart, ruthless, and knows very well his own weaknesses and strengths. He will never renounce his nuclear program which is his only deterrent against the West and of course, China.

All Trump can do after decades of U.S. presidents kicking the can down the road, is try to bring North Korea into the fold of U.S. litigious but loyal allies in the Pacific, such as South Korea and Japan (wouldn’t the video of a North Korea booming with tourism and resorts and investments which Trump showed Kim during their first meeting then make perfect sense?).

North Korea, and Kim Jong Un in particular, seems squeezed between China and its own Army. What better moment then this for the West and in particular for the Pacific nations to apply pressure on the regime while China is struggling with problems of its own, its economy declining, Xi Jinping is under siege by his own party and an angry population that is finally losing its fear of the regime? Surely it will be less inclined to interfere directly into its neighbor’s affairs.

Despite Kim’s protestations of self-reliance to appease critics of the regime’s past and present mistakes, he must realize that no country can survive and prosper without external help and support. Furthermore, its isolation is inevitably crumbling and getting more and more difficult to enforce in an increasingly technological world. America and its Pacific allies should therefore increase communications with North Korea’s population by any means available so that more and more people (including low and medium level Army officers) are informed and aware of the alternative world out there. Aid should be delivered directly to people as much as possible to deprive the regime of claiming phony successes, while at the same time letting it be known that prosperity, thanks to an industrious and disciplined population, would be easily achievable. Obviously, most of the above would weigh on South Korea’s shoulders who the U.S. should support in full.

Is this the path to a One Korea? Too early to say, although there have been various tentative approaches to the unification process between North and South, often disrupted by incidents, provocations or unacceptable pre-conditions. However, recent developments and more proactive attitudes from all stakeholders as indicated above might in the medium-term lead to overcoming the bottlenecks hindering a reconciliation.

While North Korea could bring to the table its nuclear armament as deterrent in a dangerous neighborhood, South Korea would contribute with its technology and an economy fifty times that of the North. Both would benefit greatly.

Denuclearize North Korea? Too late for that. But there is an opportunity right now.

COLUMN BY

THOMAS HUDSON

Thomas Hudson has worked as Manager and Head of Corporate Support Services for private and international organizations, including the UN, in many countries. (Thomas Hudson is a pseudonym.)

EDITORS NOTE: This Revolutionary Act column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Cuban Americans Tell What Life Under Castro Was Really Like

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When Sebastian Arcos and family members tried to travel from Cuba to the United States, authorities stopped them in what turned out to be a sting operation to arrest one of his uncles, who had advocated and fought for Fidel Castro’s revolution more than 20 years earlier.

That was Dec. 31, 1981, and for trying to leave the island nation, Arcos was jailed for a year.

His uncle spent seven years in jail. His father, also a political supporter of the communist revolution and like many other citizens soured on the broken promises of democracy, was imprisoned for six years.

“For the sake of argument, let’s say both the [Cuban] health care system and education system are perfect, which they are not. There have been thousands of political executions, tens of thousands of political prisoners, and 3 million Cuban exiles,” said Arcos, 58, today associate director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

“So, the question to ask when we are told to consider the good things is: What is the price for the good?” Arcos told The Daily Signal.

Arcos said that he is “surprised when talking heads in the United States will give Fidel Castro the benefit of the doubt.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a professed democratic socialist, has defended comments he made in the 1980s, when he said of Castro: “He educated their kids, gave them health care, totally transformed the society.”

In defending those remarks during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Sanders said:

We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office [in 1959], you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”

Castro handed control of the government to his brother, Raúl Castro, before his death at age 90 in November 2016.

Miguel Díaz-Canel was named president when the younger Castro stepped down at age 87 in February 2018, but is largely considered a figurehead. Raúl Castro, head of Cuba’s Communist Party, is said to make major government decisions.

Sanders noted that President Donald Trump has had kind things to say about authoritarian rulers such as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Arcos joined the Cuban Committee for Human Rights in 1987, providing reports to the United Nations Human Rights Commission before coming to the United States in 1992.

He said people should know better than to concede gross human rights abuses in Cuba, and then point to health care and literacy.

“That’s been the regime’s argument for decades,” Arcos said. “Whoever makes that argument is just repeating their lines.”

Cuba’s military dictatorship controls 80% of the economy. Political prisoners are common, and courts face political interference.

The Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Cuba at 178th among the world’s nations based on how free its economy is.

Cuba did adopt some free market policies about a decade ago, but the government hasn’t been a strong effort to implement the reforms. Private property is allowed, but is strictly regulated by the government.

According to Heritage’s index, low state-dictated wages increase poverty in Cuba. The state runs the means of production, property seizures without due process are common, and the top income tax rate is 50%.

Repression in Cuba is on the rise, said Janisset Rivero, 50, a human rights activist who lived in Cuba until age 14. Her family was wrongly accused of engaging in seditious speech against the Cuban government because they received a letter from family abroad.

“Health care and education are not as good as the propaganda claims,” Rivero said. “It’s indoctrination more than education. The Cuban system doesn’t tolerate critical thinking.”

The two former Cuban citizens interviewed for this story gave similar accounts of health care in Cuba

They said the health care system has two tiers: One is for tourists, elites, and the military, which is top rate and what people see. The other is for the general population. When Cubans go to those hospitals, they have to bring their own food, water, bed sheets, and pillows.

Of support inside the United States for Cuba’s communist system, Rivero said, “It’s ignorance. Some people are ignorant.”

However, she suspects that in some cases, it’s worse.

“Some people simply support socialism and communism with a big state that can take control of people’s lives,” Rivero said. “Some supporters know exactly what is going on in Cuba and believe it would be OK here because they believe they know best.”

Frank Calzon, who retired last year as executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, was born in 1944. His parents sent him to the United States after the Castro-led revolution. He became active in human rights causes and led the center for 22 years.

“A lot of claims the Cuban government makes should be suspect,” Calzon said. “Cuban students are not really more educated now. In 1951, the country had 75-80% of students [who] knew how to read and write.”

A strong spirit exists in Cuba for freedom, he said, pointing to the group Ladies in White as one example.

“The Ladies in White is a group of mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of political prisoners,” Calzon said. “They try to march to Mass on Sundays, but Cuban police intercept them and take them to prisons. They release them that evening, but they take them several miles out of their city.”

COLUMN BY

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Right Side of History” podcast. Lucas is also the author of “Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

RELATED ARTICLES:

My Visit to Cuba — An American in Havana

No, Fidel Castro Didn’t Improve Health Care or Education in Cuba

The Left’s Appalling Whitewashing of Castro’s Legacy

A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Why I Believe That My Friend Phillip B. Haney Was Assassinated

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My thoughts and prayers are with the family of my great and good friend Phillip B. Haney. 

In Remembrance of My Friend

I write this column knowing that my friend Phillip is with God in Heaven. This column is a tribute to a man who stood against evil. This column is in remembrance of a man who never ever gave up. This column is dedicated to a true American patriot. This column pays homage to a fellow warrior in the fight against those who would destroy America from within.

Let me begin by explaining how Phillip and I first met. My contacts with Phillip were all via phone. We spoke frequently, sometimes 2-3 times a week, over a period of 8 years during the most difficult times in his life. While I never had the honor of meeting him in person, we spoke frequently about life, his career, his family, his work and his passion for telling the truth no matter what the consequences.

Phillip became a contributor of ours writing fourteen columns. Phillip’s last column was dated December 3rd, 2019 titled Four Years Ago Today: A Tribute to the Victims of the San Bernardino Jihad Attack. Phillip concluded his last column writing:

As a sworn Federal Law Enforcement Officer who has also been deeply affected by this case, it is my intention, in the weeks, months and years ahead, to help make sure that their stories are not forgotten, and that on one fine day, we will all know more about what really happened on that December day in San Bernardino.

Phillip felt personally responsible for the deaths in San Bernadino because he knew that the Obama administration had shut down his investigation into several Islamist groups, two of which we now know were tied to the San Bernardino attack. Watch:

Upon his retirement after 13 years as a Customs & Border Protection Officer in the Department of Homeland Security, he relished his new role as a whistleblower explaining how political correctness was making us all less safe.

Phillip B. Haney was Assassinated

I believe my friend did not commit suicide. I believe Phillip was not murdered. I believe Phillip was assassinated.

I waited to write this column as the first shock of his death hit me. I kept asking myself why?

I was so distraught that I just couldn’t write about Phillip until I knew more about the circumstances of his death. I read column after column seeking answers to the who, what, where, when and how. As of the writing of this column the investigation into his death is on going. What we do know is that, according to the Washington Examiner:

[Phillip] was found dead with a bullet wound on Friday morning [February 21st]  about 40 miles east of Sacramento, California, in a park-and-ride open area immediately adjacent to state Highway 16 and near state Highway 124, according to law enforcement authorities.

“Highway 16 is a busy state highway and used as a main travel route to and from Sacramento. The location is less than three miles from where [Haney] was living,” the sheriff’s office statement explained.

Here are the reasons why I firmly believe that Phillip was assassinated:

  1. He was a man on a mission to tell his story to anyone who would listen.
  2. He was a man of character.
  3. He was a seasoned federal officer who dedicated his life to serving the nation.
  4. He was a target of various Islamic terrorist groups and individuals because of the work he did at the Department of Homeland Security.
  5. He never gave up even when he was under investigation by his own department’s IG, the U.S. Department of State and then Attorney General Eric Holder.
  6. He was never depressed during hundreds of the conversations we had while he was in DHS, after he retired from DHS and while he was a contributor to our publication.
  7. He was a strong Christian who knew that it was God who put him on this path to tell the truth.

Nick Givas from Fox News reported:

Haney was recently in contact with DHS officials about a possible return to the agency, the Washington Examiner reported, adding that he was also engaged to be married.

Phillip and I often spoke about his desire to return the the Department of Homeland Security. Phillip wanted to first write his book and then return as an agent to continue his work to root out terrorists and their enablers domestically and globally.

Phillip never gave up on this dream.

Conclusion

QUESTION: Why was Phillip B. Haney assassinated?

ANSWER: He was causing Fitna in the Muslim world.

In a February 18, 2015 article titled Fitna Is Worse Than Slaughter Phillip wrote:

I have come to believe that Fitnah is the most essential motivational component of Islamic theology, i.e., it is the cornerstone of an adversarial, confrontational worldview that inevitably leads to a state of perpetual conflict with the non-Islamic world.

Philip concluded:

The word ‘Phobia’ has two meanings – either to hate something intensely, or to fear something intensely. Using these two meanings, it could be said that Muslims and non-Muslims both have ‘Fitnaphobia’ – Muslims because they hate Fitnah, and non-Muslims because they fear it.

However, in the case of the non-Muslim world, it appears that we are much more concerned about causing Fitnah (by Opposing the Strategy & Tactics of the Global Islamic Movement), than we are about protecting our western civilization from the increasingly aggressive promoters of Shariah Law.

Phillip was assassinated because he was causing Fitna. You see the slaughter of Phillip was justified in order to stop the Fitna, his pushing back against Islamic terrorism.

Phillip did not hate Muslims nor did he fear the terrorists. He was fearless!

© All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEOS:

Louie Gohmert on the life and death of Phillip Haney

Philip Haney on his book See Something Say Nothing.

‘Sex Change’ Isn’t Surgically Possible, My Surgeon Testified in Court

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Many people wonder why I’m so outspoken about the madness of prescribing cross-sex hormones and genital mutilation surgery for patients who suffer from the desire to be the opposite sex, known clinically as gender dysphoria.

I speak out because I consulted the “gender experts” when I had gender confusion, and they told me sex change was the only way to get relief.

But they were wrong. I didn’t need sex change—I needed effective psychotherapy to resolve childhood issues.

“Sex change” is pure balderdash. No one can change his or her sex. I have the document saying so.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

Here’s how it came about.

After eight years of living as a woman, I finally admitted that truth to myself and sought to reclaim my male identity. In an effort to restore my birth certificate to “male,” I formally asked two acclaimed experts in 1990 to testify to my being male in California Superior Court.

They were Dr. Stanley Biber, the world-renowned sex-change surgeon who performed my operation and over 4,000 others in his career, and psychologist/sexologist Paul Walker, my gender therapist and the esteemed author of the original Standards of Care for transgender health.

These two men, both dead now, were the leading experts in the nascent field of “gender” medicine. In the document they co-authored, signed, and submitted to California Superior Court, they admitted that sex changes do not occur medically.

No Change of Sex Occurs

The court document from July 25, 1990, states that I meet the medical criteria for the male sex, even after a full-blown sex change. Men do not become women through surgery or hormones.

Paragraph 5 of the document reads:

This Patient, by the criteria established by John Money, Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is indeed now considered a male. We plead that the court will reestablish this man’s legal identity as male. The patient’s medical sex is evaluated as follows:

Genetic Sex ………………………………………………………..Male

Hormonal Sex……………………………………………………..Neuter

Internal Morphology…………………………………………..Male

External Morphology………………………………………….Mixed

Gonadal Sex……………………………………………………….Neuter

Social Sex (gender role)……………………………………..Male

“Genetic Sex [is] Male.” According to the testimony of both doctors, sex-change surgery fails to change a person’s genetic sex.

“Internal Morphology [is] Male.” That is, the internal form and structure of the body remains male even after years of hormone use and sex-changing surgical procedures.

In retrospect, it’s a game-changing bombshell. The renowned gender experts testified that even when a person undergoes sex-change surgery and takes cross-gender hormones for many years, genetic sex and internal morphology do not change.

Transgender identity doesn’t exist except in one’s imagination.

So What Does Change?

What does change, then, according to the sex-change surgeon and the gender expert?

  • “Gonadal Sex [is] Neuter.” The male reproductive organs are refashioned surgically into a pseudo-vagina and the ability to provide sperm is destroyed.
  • “Hormonal Sex [is] Neuter.” The ability to produce testosterone is destroyed.
  • “External Morphology [is] Mixed.” Outward appearance of the male body is a mix of male and female. Cosmetic procedures and hormones have a feminizing effect on appearance, but many male traits remain, such as hand size, foot size, and physical strength.

The court document attests that only social sex (gender role) and external morphology (outward appearance) can change.

Therefore, people can skip the hormones and ditch the radical genital surgery because they are not medically necessary. By providing them, the medical professionals commit medical malpractice.

Sex change at its heart is only a social sex change, staged by gender-confused people themselves through a change of clothes and name.

Transgender Women in Sports

Men who claim to be women and then intrude in women’s sports competitions because men’s sports are too difficult for them are only socially pretending to be women.

Their muscle mass, physical strength, and internal bone structure remain even if their testosterone levels later drop—all determined at puberty by the flood of testosterone.

It’s folly to place men on the cover of magazines and celebrate their courage to “come out” as a transgender female when, according to this court document, they are still genetic men.

I think that transgender women (men who are impersonating women) have pulled off one of the biggest misogynistic scams against women in history. Transgender women are saying, in effect, that the beautiful, distinct female sex—womanhood itself—is nothing more than wardrobe choices and some cosmetic surgery.

Pure balderdash.

This Explains the Unhappiness

This court document also helps explain the explosion of reported unhappiness, regret, and detransition stories emerging from the U.K., Canada, and the U.S.

Some of the regretters after changing gender tell me they feel like they are in “gender hell” or that “it was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“I realized I could never become a real woman,” one said. “Now I want my life back; can you help me?”

I detransitioned 30 years ago, in 1990, and have written many articles and books to shine a light on the harm this grand experiment has caused for so many people: suicides and attempted suicides, fractured marriages, deserted children.

Two renowned gender experts, sexologist Paul Walker and surgeon Stanley Biber, exposed the reckless and false ideology in the 1990 court document. Inadvertently, I’m sure, considering they continued to guide hurting people along the same destructive path.

This document filed by experts with the Superior Court of California plainly says that sex-changing surgery does not change men into women, or vice versa. So let’s stop pretending it does.

COMMENTARY BY

Walt Heyer

Walt Heyer is a public speaker and author of the book, “Trans Life Survivors.” Through his website, SexChangeRegret.com, and his blog, WaltHeyer.com, Heyer raises public awareness about those who regret gender change and the tragic consequences suffered as a result.

RELATED ARTICLE: End California’s Illegal Discrimination Against Pro-Lifers

A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

Ivanka Trump’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative Empowers Women

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Implementing free-market policies that advance economic freedom is the key to empowering women.

Elaborating on that critical linkage, the president’s Council of Economic Advisers recently published a report, “The W-GDP Index: Empowering Women’s Economic Activity Through Addressing Legal Barriers.”

The W-GDP Index quantifies prior legal reforms in the five crucial areas that affect women’s “full and free” economic participation in developing countries and can be used to track progress of the Trump administration’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in removing barriers to equal economic opportunity for women.

Advancing women’s economic activity by dismantling regulatory barriers hindering them and providing them with the same legal protections as men can result in large increases in economic output and promote overall economic development.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

According to the Council of Economic Advisers’ report, “fully removing the legal barriers to women’s economic activity could increase annual global gross domestic product by $7.7 trillion, or 8.3 percent.” Ensuring women’s full and free participation in the economy, the report says, is “smart economic policy.”

The administration’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, which was spearheaded by first daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump and launched in February 2019, involves the National Security Council, the State Department, and eight other relevant agencies.

Equally notable is that Congress has been paying keen attention to the initiative, too. Two lawmakers—Sens. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.—are leading a bipartisan legislative effort to have the initiative written into law.

This, Ivanka Trump said, “would permanently authorize W-GDP and establish women’s economic empowerment as a core facet of the United States foreign policy, in line with the president’s own national security strategy.”

The initiative aims to advance women’s empowerment and reach 50 million women in developing countries by 2025 by helping them start small businesses, attend vocational schools, and access loans, particularly through amending “laws in dozens of countries that restrict the ability of women to own property or work in the same jobs as men do,” The Washington Post reported.

As specified in the presidential memorandum on promoting women’s global development and prosperity:

It is the policy of the United States to enhance the opportunity for women to meaningfully participate in, contribute to, and benefit from economic opportunities as individuals, workers, consumers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors, so that they enjoy the same access, rights, and opportunities as men to participate in, contribute to, control, and benefit from economic activity.

Indeed, the administration has hit on one pragmatic tool; namely, empowering key segments of the society to lead transformation through free-market initiatives and structural reforms that respect human liberties. Advancing economic freedom is essentially about ensuring human empowerment.

Strengthening and expanding economic freedom guarantees an individual’s natural right to achieve her or his goals and then own the value of what they create.

Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate economist who has made considerable contributions to development economics, once noted: “Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity for exercising their reasoned legacy.”

According to The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom, liberalized economies not only have higher levels of entrepreneurial dynamism, higher standards of living, lower rates of poverty, and safer environmental standards, but also greater democratic governance, more social progress, and more gender equality.

Not surprisingly, as shown in the following chart, improving economic freedom and empowering women (measured by the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Index) go hand in hand.

Reaching a greater global audience since its inception, the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative has become a unique tool for using U.S. aid more effectively to encourage entrepreneurship, push private enterprise, and increase innovation while focusing on comparative advantage.

Promoting economic freedom in developing or repressed countries is a crucial pillar of America’s strategic foreign policy engagement that not only will advance U.S. interests, but also cement foundations of free-market principles and defend democratic values.

By using U.S. economic diplomacy in this unique way, America has practical opportunities to help women become agents of real and measurable changes in their home countries.

COMMENTARY BY

Anthony B. Kim

Anthony B. Kim researches international economic issues at The Heritage Foundation, with a strong focus on economic freedom. Kim is the research manager of the Index of Economic Freedom, the flagship product of the Heritage Foundation in partnership with The Wall Street Journal. Read his research. Twitter: .

A Note for our Readers:

This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.

The Heritage Foundation has compiled input from more than 100 constitutional scholars and legal experts into the country’s most thorough and compelling review of the freedoms promised to us within the United States Constitution into a free digital guide called Heritage’s Guide to the Constitution.

They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!

GET ACCESS NOW! >>

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

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