James L. Paris's Blog, page 116

Kim Jong-un Bans Christmas, Demands North Koreans Celebrate Birth of His Grandmother

This might be more than just a little humorous if it was not the reality North Korean subjects are actually forced to live.

Kim Jong-un is a well-documented Christmas-hater. As a matter of fact, he is such a hater of Christmas that when he learned back in 2014 of South Korea���s plans to put up a Christmas tree along the border that year, he demanded that they not proceed with their plans unless they were prepared to go to war. South Korea backed down.

Well, Kim has apparently found a new way to express his deep loathing of the holiday season. According to a variety of news outlets, including the New York Post, the dictator has declared that anyone who is inclined to celebrate the birth of Jesus should refrain from doing so, and should instead celebrate the birth of his grandmother.

Huh?

As it happens, Kim Jong-un���s grandmother, Kim Jong-suk, was herself born on Christmas Eve back in 1919. She was the wife of the first North Korean dictator, Kim Il-sung, and the mother of Kim Jong-il, father to the present state leader.

And she is now, by order of her grandson, to be the object of worship by those in North Korea who planned to make Jesus the focus of their celebrations this season.

As noted at the top of this piece, while there is a mildly humorous aspect to the news, it is enjoyable only by those not burdened with having the misfortune to be born in the communist country; according to various human rights groups, as many as 70,000 Christians are presently imprisoned in North Korean concentration camps simply for being Christians.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Public Nativity Scene Displays Experience Wave of Vandalism and Thefts

Sadly, modern American culture is awfully hard on the baby Jesus at Christmastime.

There was a time���and it was not terribly long ago���when practically no one would have considered vandalizing a publicly-displayed nativity scene.

Now, such destruction is becoming increasingly common.

A piece over at The American Mirror highlights the growing wave of cr��che vandalizations across the country. In just the most recent examples of such incidents, figurines were destroyed at a nativity scene at The Church of the Holy Apostles in Saint Clair, Penn., while scenes in Knoxville, Tenn. and Salem, N.H. had their baby Jesus figurines stolen.

The Church of the Holy Apostles secretary Rolland Price, Jr. says that it appears that when someone trying to gain access to the church itself failed to do so, they instead used the opportunity to destroy the cr��che in the front yard. The figurine of Joseph was smashed to pieces, angel wings were broken off, and a lamb figurine had a hole kicked through it.

In response to the acts of vandalism, some are making plans to be more strategic about how their nativity scenes will be displayed next year. Price and church warden Bonnie Baker said that the baby Jesus will not be added to the nativity scene at The Church of the Holy Apostles until Christmas Eve, while an official at the Salem, N.H. public works department said that, going forward, the figurines featured annually on the town common will be securely fastened to prevent theft.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

California Says It Will Continue to BE California, Will Fight Trump Every Step of the Way

California has no intention of being anything BUT California in the era of Trump.

According to The Hill, the political elite of the state expect to dig in for a long fight with the new president and his administration on a variety of issues, most notably immigration. Hispanics make up roughly 40 percent of California���s population, which means that Trump���s anticipated efforts to curb illegal immigration may well see California a regular topic of discussion nationally over the course of the next four years.

Hillary Clinton captured nearly 62 percent of the vote in California, which translated to well over four million votes more than the number received by the President-elect. Additionally, a large number of California���s most prominent politicians are renowned liberals, including Gov. Jerry Brown, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, as well as Senator-elect Kamala Harris, who is leaving her position as Attorney General to go to Washington.

In speaking with The Hill, Xavier Becerra, who will succeed Harris as the state���s new AG, said, ���My sense is we���re not going to stop being California. We���ve got a very progressive group of leaders from Governor Brown, to our state legislative leaders [State Assembly Speaker] Anthony Rendon, to [State Senate President] Kevin de Leon.���

California has no shortage of mayors who���ve gone on the record to say they will fight any attempts by the new administration to crack down on undocumented immigrants, and that their municipalities will remain sanctuary cities. This includes Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who unveiled a ���legal aid fund��� this past Monday that would be used to fight deportations.

Immigration is but one issue over which the incoming administration and California���s leaders will be at odds. As The Hill points out, the state and the federal government will likely disagree on just about every meaningful political topic, which means that the two biggest bureaucracies in the country will remain faced-off against one another for the duration of Trump���s term.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Feds Say New York State Pension Manager Took Bribes to Direct Fund Assets to Brokers

As reported by a variety of news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, a former portfolio manager for the state pension fund of New York was hit with a variety of charges on Wednesday by the federal government in connection with his alleged acceptance of bribes from brokers who wanted a hand in investing fund assets.

Navnoor Kang, a former portfolio manager at the New York State Common Retirement Fund, was arrested at his apartment in Portland, Ore. Securities fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice are just a few of the charges he is facing.

The selection of the firms charged with the responsibility of investing or trading the assets of public pension funds is serious business, and those responsible for managing that process, like Mr. Kang, are supposed to be making the decisions based entirely on the performance of said firms.

The Journal points out that this kind of corruption has remained a problem for pension funds due to the large number of money management firms engaged in fierce competition for the opportunity to invest a portion of the massive asset bases.

According to the charges, Kang received a variety of gifts in exchange for directing pension fund assets to two firms, Sterne Agee and FTN Financial. The bribes took a variety of forms, including expensive vacations, tickets to major sporting events and Broadway shows, visits to strip clubs, cocaine, and even cash for prostitutes.

For their part in the bribery of Kang, two brokers, one from each of the firms, have been arrested. Gregg Schonhorn, a former vice president at FTN Financial, has been cooperating with authorities since pleading guilty on Dec. 15, while Deborah Kelley, a former managing director at Sterne Agee, surrendered to authorities in San Francisco.

 By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Artists Demand that Ivanka Trump Remove Their Art from Her Walls

Ivanka Trump has found herself the target of a most curious protest effort energized by social media.

It seems that the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump has, historically, posted various pictures of herself standing next to pieces of art she has collected. Seems innocuous enough, right?

Not so fast.

Now that her dad is going to be the next occupant of the White House, some of the artists responsible for creating the pieces in her possession are demanding that she remove their work from her walls.

Yup���it���s true.

According to a variety of news outlets, including the Daily Mail Online, Ivanka has become the focus of a collective called the Halt Action Group, put together by some elites in the New York art scene who clearly have no affection for the next President of the United States. A visit to the group���s website finds the following message on the home page:

Dear Ivanka,

Racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and homophobia are not acceptable anywhere���least of all in the White House.

Steve Bannon has no place in the White House. Jeff Sessions has no place in the White House. Talk of a Muslim registry has no place in the White House.

Hate has no place in the White House.

We refuse to "wait and see". We look to you as the voice of reason.

Yours,

Halt Action Group

In one instance, Ivanka had posted a picture to social media of her standing next to a piece by Philadelphia artist Alex Da Corte. Here was his response on Instagram to the visual:

���Dear @Ivankatrump please get my work off of your walls. I am embarrassed to be seen with you.���

And the bar of political tolerance sinks ever lower.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Prince Charles: Anti-Immigrant Populism Hearkens Back to Nazi Germany

According to NBC News, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, was a guest contributor on the BBC Radio 4���s Today morning show on Thursday, where he delivered an impassioned monologue about the refugee crisis. Relatedly, the prince also voiced his concerns about a worldwide rise of populism that he sees as being reminiscent of the days when the Nazis persecuted Jews in the years leading up to World War II.

Referring to his parents��� generation, Charles said that they ���fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe.���

���That nearly 70 years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution is to me beyond all belief,��� he continued. ���We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past.���

The prince made explicit mention of the refugee crisis throughout Europe, and said that ���we are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive to those who adhere to a minority faith. All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s.���

To help underline his points, Prince Charles went on to draw a comparison between the flight of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to escape the persecution of Herod, and the Hegira, the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina:

���I wonder if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds with the fleeing of the holy family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that when the prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so because he too was seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

The Growing Wave of Hate Crime Hoaxes in Wake of Trump Election Victory

When Donald Trump hit the campaign trail, there was a lot of talk about the possibility of a marked increase in hate crimes if he prevailed in his bid to win the White House. The reasoning that served as the basis of such fears was that his harder-line policy positions on how best to deal with radical Islamist terror, as well as the problem of illegal immigration through the southern border of the United States, would embolden some of his supporters to commit such acts were he to become president.

Well, Donald Trump is now the President-elect, and, sure enough, there has been a wave of apparent hate crimes against Muslims and members of ethnic minority groups since his victory���but, as it turns out in this case, things are often not what they seem. It appears that a large number of these supposed hate crimes have been hate crime hoaxes, committed, presumably, with the purpose of demonizing the new president and his agenda and turning the body of the electorate against him.

While it is not reasonable to suggest that all of the hate crimes perpetrated in the ���name��� of Trump since his election win are false flag events, a startling number of the higher-profile crimes have been shown to be just that. A recent report over at FoxNews.com highlights just a tiny handful of examples, including the case of Yasmin Seweid, a Muslim teenager from Long Island who was supposedly harassed by a group of men on a subway train. Allegedly, the men tried to rip away her hijab while yelling ���Donald Trump!��� Eventually, however, it was learned that the young lady made up the story to cover the fact that she had broken her family-imposed curfew.

In another incident, Elon University in North Carolina was supposedly the site of a hate incident when a white board at the school was found with the message ���Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista.��� In this case, it was later revealed that a Latino student at Elon���who was upset about the results of the election���actually wrote the message.

And the trend seems to be continuing. Just Wednesday, Andrew McClinton, an African-American member of a predominantly black church in Greenville, Miss., was arrested for setting fire to that church, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, back on Nov. 1. As a part of the arson attack, the words ���Vote Trump��� were painted on the side of the burnt-out structure. It is now believed that McClinton set fire to the church and painted the ���Vote Trump��� graffiti in an effort to contrive a hate crime where one did not actually exist.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Application of the Death Penalty by States Is at All-Time Lows

It appears that the application of the death penalty in America may soon become a thing of the past.

According to The Hill, 2016 has been a year that has seen the fewest number of convicted criminals sentenced to die since the Supreme Court���s famous 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision reinstating capital punishment. The clear trend away from imposing the death penalty throughout the country signals, in the minds of many observers, a broad shift in how it is now viewed by a predominant number of Americans.

In his comments about the declining use of the death penalty in America, Robert Dunham of the anti-capital punishment Death Penalty Information Center declared, ���America is in the midst of a major climate change concerning capital punishment.���

���Whether it's concerns about innocence, costs and discrimination, availability of life without parole as a safe alternative, or the questionable way in which states are attempting to carry out executions, the public grows increasingly uncomfortable with the death penalty each year,��� Dunham said.

30 people were sentenced to death this year in the United States. That���s nearly 40 percent less than the number sentenced to the same fate in 2015, and that year���s figure represented a record low, to that point, since the Supreme Court���s reaffirmation of capital punishment.

As for executions actually carried out in 2016, there were just 20, which is the lowest figure since 1991.

Presently, 19 states, along with the District of Columbia, have abolished the death penalty, while governors in several more states have effectively issued moratoriums on its administration.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Renowned Tenor Andrea Bocelli Caves to Pressure, Won���t Perform at Trump Inauguration

The Christian Science Monitor, along with other sources, is reporting that the famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has decided to cancel the performance he was scheduled to give at the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, because of the outcry from fans dead-set against the singer���s appearance on behalf of the incoming President of the United States.

Trump is hardly the darling of the celebrity entertainment crowd. However, Bocelli and Trump have been friends for many years now, and Bocelli did perform previously at Trump���s palatial Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fl. According to the Monitor, Trump reached out to Bocelli just last week, following a performance at New York���s Madison Square Garden, to ask if he would again perform on his behalf, this time at the inauguration. A source reportedly disclosed to the celebrity news and gossip website Page Six that ���Trump has a long-standing relationship with Bocelli, and wants to ask him in person to perform. The plan is to have acts at the inauguration that are meaningful for Trump, and he���s a huge fan of Bocelli.���

It was not, however, to be. When word began to spread that Bocelli would be performing at the inauguration, social media became the flashpoint of another boycott campaign���this time of Bocelli; #BoycottBocelli became an unfortunately-popular hashtag in recent days.

Another unnamed source has said that when the pushback against Bocelli by fans became evident, Trump himself asked that the singer not appear at the inauguration, concerned about the backlash that had quickly engulfed his friend.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

The Newest Gun Buyers in America: Liberals

Guess who���s buying guns now?

Liberals.

That���s right, liberals. An article over at BBC.com brings attention to the recent ��� and curious ��� trend of ideological leftists purchasing firearms.

So, what���s going on?

Interestingly, some of the gun lobby���s newest supporters claim it is precisely the election of the gun-friendly Donald Trump that has prompted them to take up arms. While individual reasons for doing so may differ among them, the basic story they tell is that in an America that (they say) has embraced right-wing national leadership, citizens of the left���and particularly those who are members of gay, lesbian, and transgender populations���are likelier targets of random violence inspired by the new brand of leadership.

For example, a transgender woman identified in the BBC article as Clara indeed believes that trouble is coming, ���and me not engaging or being prepared to defend my friends by force... isn't going to stop people from being attacked or harassed.���

Lara Smith, national spokesperson for a non-profit organization called the Liberal Gun Club, says that many of their members are convinced ���that a Trump administration will dismantle key constitutional rights, leading to a ���more fascist rule than the US has ever had.������

This surge in interest for guns on the part of a growing number of liberals can���t be good news for those members of the left who see themselves as ardent gun-grabbers. After all, if more people of the liberal persuasion make their peace with the Second Amendment, then enthusiasm for so-called gun control will continue to wane significantly in the coming years.

Perhaps, after all of these years, some on the left are finally coming to a common-sense conclusion about guns, and self-defense, more generally: That whatever one���s reasons are for feeling the need to be well-protected, firearms represent the single best way yet devised for the average person to stay safe from the bad intentions of others. In the end, regardless of one���s political inclinations, the instinct for self-preservation is perhaps the strongest of all, and one that, if you���ll pardon the pun, ���trumps��� everything else.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large