By Andrea Widburg, AM THINKER

“Grandpa, can I be with you when you’re injected?” Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of 25 short stories, many reflecting Vonnegut’s 1960s belief that the earth was becoming dangerously overpopulated. The eponymous short story anchoring the book imagines America as a place in which old people are encouraged to commit suicide, helped along by beautiful, virginal women. I couldn’t help thinking of that story when I read about the guidebook the Canadian Virtual Hospice has prepared for children aged 6-12. Ostensibly to help children understand a loved one’s death, the book seems to encourage euthanasia as a great “life” option.
Read more…

by Amir Taheri, GATESTONE  •  July 31, 2022

• There is no way that you or anyone else could help the Iranian people return to normalcy as long as the present regime is in place in Tehran. A people that finds itself in the hands of a brutal authoritarian regime that claims a divine mandate and is ready to do whatever it takes to remain in power, no holds barred, is beyond help by any outsider with the best of intentions.
• If you help the Islamic Republic improve its economy, the bulk of the proceeds will go to strengthening the apparatus of repression, with the people receiving mere crumbs to keep their mouths shut.

Read more…

by J.B. Shurk. GATESTONE  •  July 31, 2022

• When presidents and prime ministers make and enforce their own laws under the pretext of “emergency powers,” then citizens should not be surprised when their leaders discover an endless supply of “emergencies” requiring urgent action.
• The opposite of tyranny is not democracy, but rather liberty and individual rights. Is it not startling, then, that Western leaders extol democracy, yet pay such little homage to personal freedoms?

Read more…

Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris

In a leaked copy of his new book, Jared Kushner claims that Netanyahu “responded with less-than-expected enthusiasm” and Trump defined him as “the problem”.

By Yoni Kempinski, INN    Jul 30, 2022,

Kushner speaks at the official opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in JerusaleYonatan Sindel/Flash90

According to former President Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, Trump almost took back the decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem following a phone call with former Prime Minister Netanyahu, back in 2017.

The call was reported by The Forward, based on a leaked copy of Kushner’s upcoming book, which was posted online earlier this week by a foreign ministry official from Saudi Arabia.

Read more…

Followers of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr vow to occupy building as they persist in their efforts to prevent formation of coalition supported by Tehran

By AGENCIES

Protesters try to remove concrete barriers and cross the bridge towards the Green Zone area in Baghdad, Iraq, July 30, 2022. (AP/Ali Abdul Hassan)

Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr penetrated Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Saturday, occupying parliament with no immediate plan to leave.

In a deepening political crisis, it was the second time in days that Sadr supporters have forced their way into the legislative chamber, months after elections that failed to lead to the formation of a government.

Read more…

By Francis P. Sempa, AM THINKER

Robert D. Kaplan is one of America’s most important foreign policy thinkers.  He currently holds the Robert Strausz-Hupe Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.  His recent essay in The National Interest, titled “Realism is More Than Restraint,” defines realism in broader terms than have previous writers.  Citing Henry Kissinger and George Kennan, Kaplan writes that realism reconciles “what is considered just with what is considered possible,” while embodying a “particularism” that “comprehends the sheer variety of the world.”  And he argues that international restraint is a component of realism, but, given the world’s interconnectedness, it must be coupled with particularized “international engagement.”

Read more…

As the Jewish Agency crisis unfolds, Israel should take a leaf out of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s method of dealing with the Russian bear.

By  Ariel Bulshtein, ISRAEL HAYOM    07-28-2022

This week, as Israel was busy with the disturbing downward spiral in ties with Russia, and responses from all directions ran the gamut between “we’ll show them” and “everything is lost,” I did what people here don’t like to do – I looked at others and tried to learn from their experience.

In Israel, others’ experience is often dismissed, and for some reason, people are certain that every question and challenge in this world is unique to us. Of course, the truth is different. We aren’t alone, and many of the problems that concern us are also facing other countries. Moreover, sometimes they even find solutions that work fairly well.

Read more…

By Victor Davis Hanson, TOWNHALL

Source: AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

Five months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war is now reduced to one of attrition. The current dirty, grinding slog is fought mostly with artillery and rockets. Everything from Ukraine’s shopping centers to apartment buildings — and the civilians in them — are Russian targets.

Most outsiders have already forgotten the heroic Ukrainian winter repulse of the botched Russian shock-and-awe effort to sweep into Kyiv, decapitate the government, and declare the eastern half of the country a Russian protectorate within mere days.
Read more…

DONALD TRUMP SPEAKS AT AMERICA FIRST AGENDA SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON

By Majid Rafizadeh, GATESTONE•  July 30, 2022

• In 2015, the European powers — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — changed their Iran policy from imposing pressure to adopting diplomacy. The diplomatic route included lifting oil and gas sanctions on Iran as well as removing some Iranian individuals and entities from the list of countries to be sanctioned.
• According to the preface of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action: “The JCPOA will produce the comprehensive lifting of all UN Security Council sanctions as well as multilateral and national sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme, including steps on access in areas of trade, technology, finance, and energy.”

Read more…

T. Belman. This is a terrific analysis. Bibi won’t attack the Zionist Spirit (ZS). He will make sure they cross the threshold. The people who voted for the 15 potential seats Nadav mentioned will know this and will want the ZS to be as big as possible.

Building a broad coalition is important because being in the hands of Ra’am on one end and in the hands of Smotrich and the Haredim on the other, is not good.

By  Nadav Haetzni, ISRAEL HAYOM     07-29-2022

Derech Eretz chief Yoaz Hendel and Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked launched their new joint bid for the Knesset in Ramat Gan on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 | Photo: Gideon Markowicz

The relaunch of the newest iteration of the Yamina party will either end in glory or disaster. If it fails, we can expect to continue on the same insane loop we’re on. But if it succeeds and even just exceeds the electoral threshold, it will become a kingmaker. It will determine who the next prime minister will be, which coalition will arise, and where we all are headed in the coming years. All of the players in the political arena, from right to left, understand this and aren’t exactly happy about it. Therefore they will make every effort to diminish, degrade, and undermine the “Zionist Spirit” party’s chances of reaching the Knesset and deciding their fates.

Read more…

However, a defense official warned that “all Hamas does is prepare for war,” adding that this can undermine any Israeli efforts to boost civilians living in the Gaza Strip.

BY YAAKOV LAPPIN

(July 29, 2022 / JNS) A key goal of Israel’s defense establishment is to delay frequent war to the extent possible in order to give Israeli civilians extended periods of calm and to allow Israel’s economy to continue to develop.

As part of that goal of conflict delay, the Israel Defense Force’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Unit has been taking increasingly bold steps in the Gaza Strip in the past year to improve the economic situation of Gaza’s estimated 2.2 million civilians, thereby contributing to the stability of the region to a degree.
Read more…

Iraqi protesters taking over the Iran-controlled parliament, chanting “IRAN OUT! IRAN OUT! BAGHDAD WILL BE FREED!” pic.twitter.com/N2pyLz077Q

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) July 27, 2022

Today has marked the launch of the Iraqi revolution against the Iranian occupation. PEACEFUL protesters have taken over the Green Zone, besieged the residence of ex-PM, terrorist Nouri Malki, and taken to the streets of Najaf.
This is won't stop in Iraq. #Jordan SOON.
Stay tuned.

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) July 27, 2022

Why UAE, Saudi and other Arab states have announced they won't be joining an Arab NATO?
Simply because they CAN'T join a collation with Jordan's king; a man who's openly allied with Iran, Qatar and Muslim Brotherhood.
NO Arab NATO before kinglet is gone.https://t.co/BKVAiPsV38

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) July 25, 2022

Abdullah, Iran's lab dog, says "Iran's behavior should change as Jordan faces danger from its militias"
This liar is Iran's ally, he's signed a mega deal with its puppets in Iraq, opened Jordan to the IRG under"religious tourism", he's No.1 arms supplier to Iran militias in Syria

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) July 24, 2022