Explaining Israel: The Jewish State, the
Middle East, and America
Posted By: Mercedes44, 9/23/2025 10:57:15 AM
In 2014, Israel’s future had never seemed brighter. Led by the high-tech sector, the economy was booming. The Israel Defense Forces—with advanced weapons, an outstanding air force, sophisticated intelligence capabilities, and cybersecurity prowess—gave the Jewish state the most powerful military in the Middle East. While not producing warm relations and bustling commerce, treaties with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) brought cold peace and stability along Israel’s two longest land borders. World surveys placed Israelis among the happiest of populations. In a country whose national security interests compelled it to impose mandatory military service on men and women, life expectancy ranked among the longest in the West.
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Mercedes44"
Why Our Systems Collapse
3 replies
America has a lot of built-in safety backups and redundancies.
But every once in a while, when tradition, science, time-tested protocols, and common sense are ignored, a fragile system utterly collapses.
Usually, an iconic event reveals how vulnerable the entire country has become, and predictably occurs when suicidal ideologies and nihilism, in perfect-storm fashion, wreak havoc. The media, academia, the bureaucracy, and higher education can mask the dangers of their political agendas—at least until their sheer incompetence or toxicity can no longer be hidden or excused, and a predictable disaster ensues.
Take the January 4-5, 2025, Pacific Palisades fire that destroyed an entire historic neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Barack Obama ventured down from Olympus last week to criticize President Trump’s reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk and claimed he would never have acted so divisively in the wake of a national tragedy.
What rubbish.
In fact, he was at the center of the two seminal events that led us to our nation’s unstable political state: his election and the defeat of Hillary Clinton. By electing Obama, Democrats viewed themselves as having expiated America’s original sin of racism. For Democrats, Obama’s election was not simply the choice of a Democrat over a Republican. It was a religious act of moral redemption. And Democrats were the agents of this moral redemption.
In 2014, Israel’s future had never seemed brighter. Led by the high-tech sector, the economy was booming. The Israel Defense Forces—with advanced weapons, an outstanding air force, sophisticated intelligence capabilities, and cybersecurity prowess—gave the Jewish state the most powerful military in the Middle East. While not producing warm relations and bustling commerce, treaties with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) brought cold peace and stability along Israel’s two longest land borders. World surveys placed Israelis among the happiest of populations. In a country whose national security interests compelled it to impose mandatory military service on men and women, life expectancy ranked among the longest in the West.
President Donald Trump’s two recent executive orders, one imposing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas and the other launching the “Gold Card” fast-track residency program, represent the most significant immigration reforms in decades.
They flip the incentive structure that has for years favored multinational corporations and global outsourcing firms over American workers, while also tackling long-ignored national security risks.
As a policy, open borders is one area where Democrats and many Republicans agree. Democrats want new voters, while the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street Journal Republicans want cheap labor. President George W. Bush, backed by Senator John McCain, in 2007, pushed for “comprehensive immigration reform,”
Tens of thousands of mourners gathered at the State Farm Arena in Arizona on Sunday to honor the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated less than two weeks ago.
The inspiring nearly five-hour memorial featured speeches from a number of public figures and officials, including President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. Here are the most unforgettable moments from the service. Erika Kirk revealed Sunday that she has forgiven the suspected assassin for taking her husbands’s life.
Kirk, through tears, explained that Charlie visited college campuses to help save young men.
“He wanted to save young men.
Every time I write something about our current entanglement with Venezuela lately, something else explodes just after we publish it. Sometimes literally. On Friday, I gave a little update on, among other things, how many cartel boats out of the South American country that our military has blown up and then walked away from my computer for the day, only for President Donald Trump to announce via social media that we got another one. This time, we killed three narco-terrorists. If you're keeping track at home, that's the fourth cartel boat out of Venezuela that the United States has blown up this month.
Low-rated "comedian" Jimmy Kimmel is headed back on the air after he was briefly suspended for lying about who murdered Charlie Kirk. As RedState reported, the late-night host will return on Tuesday night, marking a victory for the far-left elites who rallied to his defense. So much for all the cries of "fascism," I suppose. Early on in this controversy, I opined that controversial comments from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr were not the reason for Kimmel's suspension. It seems I was right, given this reversal wouldn't have happened if ABC were truly terrified of the federal government taking action.
After years of being gaslighted by some of the most dishonest people in election history, The Gateway Pundit, along with some of the most respected election investigators in the state, are about to blow the lid off the lies about Detroit’s “secure” 2020 election that helped to give Joe Biden an inexplicable victory in the must-win state of Michigan.
On Election Night 2020, President Donald J. Trump appeared to hold commanding leads in key battleground states — approximately 100,000 votes in Wisconsin, 300,000 in Michigan, and 700,000 in Pennsylvania.
Charlie Kirk’s legacy of grace triumphs
over hate — His bravery is what America
needs most 2 replies
over hate — His bravery is what America
needs most 2 replies
Beautiful, gracious, courageous, and good Erika Kirk gave the most powerful, bravest speech we will ever witness at the memorial service to her husband in a packed stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
We see clearly why Charlie Kirk chose her to be his wife.
“My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life.
“On the Cross, our Savior said: ‘Father forgive them for they not know what they do.’ ”
Looking up at a giant image of her husband overhead, through sobs, and swallowed anger, Erika Kirk said: “That young man, I forgive him.”
Cheer Gov. Hochul for starting to reverse
New York’s tragic turn on treating major
mental illness 11 replies
New York’s tragic turn on treating major
mental illness 11 replies
Gov. Kathy Hochul deserves kudos for putting the brakes on New York’s decades-long experiment with deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill: She is adding beds to the state’s psychiatric hospitals.
Bravo for acknowledging reality, Governor.
Community-based treatment, supportive housing and mental health homeless shelter policies have had 70 years to prove they can work.
But the city’s streets, subways and jails remain filled with seriously sick people who desperately need real treatment.
A new report from the Manhattan Institute reveals that closing the big mental hospitals in the 1950s and ’60s and steadily eliminating psychiatric hospital beds in the following decades led to “transinstitutionalization” —
White House says $100K H-1B visa fee won’t
apply to existing holders as Trump move
stirs anxiety 12 replies
apply to existing holders as Trump move
stirs anxiety 12 replies
President Donald Trump’slatest plan to overhaul the American immigration system has left some immigrant workers confused, forcing the White House on Saturday to scramble to clarify that a new $100,000 fee on visas for skilled tech workers only applies to new applicants and not to current visa holders.
The president on Friday, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick by his side, signed a proclamation that will require the new fee for what are known as H-1B visas — meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find hard to fill.
An armed man who was posing as a member of law enforcement was arrested by Secret Service agents at the Arizona stadium where Charlie Kirk’s funeral will be held Sunday, according to reports.
The man was detained by State Farm Stadium, home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, in Glendale on Friday, the Secret Service told Fox News Digital.
“The U.S. Secret Service in coordination with local law enforcement in Glendale, Arizona, is investigating an individual who was observed exhibiting suspicious behavior” at the stadium, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told the outlet Saturday.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Death Penalty for Kirk Assassin? Bad Idea
34 replies
I am not opposed to using the death penalty for specific heinous crimes. Certainly, it was warranted for Timothy McVeigh, and Charlie Kirk’s killing was indeed heinous. However, the alleged assassin is Tyler Robinson and that gives me pause, because there are thousands of Tylers out there ready to make him a martyr.
This hate-filled, deluded, brainwashed community has been groomed deliberately by a Machiavellian academia since the 1960s.
There was a time when public education institutions were staffed with unbiased professors and educated their students with genuine facts and encouraged independent thought. That was back then.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Show to Return to Air: Disney
33 replies
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show is returning to the air this week, Walt Disney Company said on Sept. 22.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” the company said in a statement to news outlets. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
A Disney spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Disney
President Trump signed an executive order Monday designating the shadowy, left-wing group Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” according to the White House.
The order comes after Trump teased slapping a terror label on the radical “anti-fascist” group last week.
“I hereby designate Antifa as a ‘domestic terrorist organization,’” read the president’s order. “All relevant executive departments and agencies shall utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations – especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support,
Swedish professional protester Greta Thunberg has been unceremoniously dumped from a leadership board role in a Gaza-bound, anti-Israel “aid” flotilla as infighting and tensions roil the group.
The Jerusalem Post reports Thunberg, who joined a previous run at the Israeli naval blockade around Gaza in June, appeared on the Global Sumud Flotilla’s website as part of its leadership committee.
At least, that was until last Sunday. Now that posting has been removed.
Before setting sail earlier this month, Thunberg said: “This project is part of a global uprising of people standing up…
Jimmy Kimmel is getting back on the air. The ABC late-night host is returning to broadcast on Tuesday following a brief-but-monumental suspension that sparked a national debate over the Trump Administration’s pressure tactics and the modern limits and consequences of free speech. “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” ABC parent The Walt Disney Company said in a statement Monday.
Sinclair Broadcast Group abruptly cancelled plans to air a Charlie Kirk tribute last week after the company’s local ABC affiliates received multiple violent threats — forcing the firm to move the program to YouTube just minutes before it was scheduled to begin, The Post has learned.
The Baltimore-based local TV giant, which owns more than 40 ABC affiliates, yanked the Charlie Kirk tribute late Friday after it was alerted to “local threats directed at specific local ABC stations resulting from [the] ABC suspension” of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, a source close to the situation told The Post.
AOC Becomes De Facto House Minority Leader
21 replies
Before last Friday’s House vote on a symbolic resolution condemning the assassination of Charlie Kirk and all forms of political violence while honoring his life, the purported leaders of the Democratic Caucus informed its members that they would support the measure. Yet, in a truly vile floor speech prior to the vote, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) called the resolution “reckless” and claimed Kirk’s “rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated, and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans.” In the end, less than half of the Democrats voted for the resolution. The rest stood with AOC.
ABC This Week usually opens with some manner of editorial commentary from its rotating hosts. Today was not the exception. Jon Karl opened the broadcast by rightfully and poignantly condemning the brutal assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk. But there is one singular sentence that is a cause for concern and merits observation. Watch the statement below in its full context, with Karl saying: “The murder of Charlie Kirk was not a political act.” JON KARL: Good morning. Welcome to This Week. Later today family, friends, and supporters of Charlie Kirk will gather in Glendale, Arizona, for his memorial. The 31-year-old activist's murder shocked
Troll Jack Schlossberg planning to run
for Jerry Nadler’s House seat and experts
say he has ‘a shot’ 18 replies
for Jerry Nadler’s House seat and experts
say he has ‘a shot’ 18 replies
The grandson of John F. Kennedy is mulling a run for Congress in Manhattan, and he may have “a shot” at winning the Democratic primary next year, according to political observers.
Jack Schlossberg, 32, is best known for his online trolling of various prominent people and unhinged social media posts.
He has impersonated First Lady Melania Trump and frequently rails against his cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. At one point he imitated RFK Jr.’s spasmodic dysphonia, which sometimes makes it difficult for him to speak.
He is said to be eyeing Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat on the Upper West Side
France and Saudi Arabia hope to use this year’s gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and the increasingly horrific war in the Gaza Strip to inject new urgency into the quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Those efforts include a new road map for eventual Palestinian statehood in territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war, and moves by several Western countries to join a global majority in recognizing such a state before it has been established.
Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining nearly 150 countries that have already done so,
Keith Olbermann appeared to threaten the life of Scott Jennings in an extreme way, telling him he's next to be killed and the FBI is now involved.
In a move that most would call insane following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk less than two weeks ago, Olbermann is ready to do anything but turn down the violent rhetoric, telling the Townhall.com host he's next to die.Olbermann's original post, before he deleted it, appeared to be a direct threat to the CNN contributor and Townhall.com host.
It can be seen below in the screenshot. Warning: it contains profanity.
"You're next, mother ……" Olbermann wrote in a reply to Jennings.
Indian government officials expressed full-blown outrage over a Trump administration proclamation that dramatically hikes the fee for securing H-1B visas.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, slapping a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, making it incredibly difficult for U.S.-based employers to favor foreign nationals over American workers. The Indian government, which benefits from the H-1B visa program more than any other country, quickly denounced the move and called for the Trump administration to address its concerns.
“The executive orders of President of America had come as a shocker to all,” Revanth Reddy, the chief minister of the Indian state of Telangana, said