Random News and Notes 2 August
I seem to be on an Israel kick of late. Nearly every RNN for the last week or so contains at least one item relating to Israel or the ongoing war with the terrorists of Hamas and PIJ. Today is no different.
Israeli authorities have opened up the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron to Jewish worship. The site, where Islamic invaders built a mosque to erase the Jewish presence, has been restricted to Muslims since 1967 according to the sources I’ve seen.
Of course the Muslims are all up in arms about it.
It is important to note that the Cave has been a major part of the Jewish faith for millennia while the Ibrahimi mosque wasn’t built – on the site of a major Jewish religious site – until the late 700’s as a way to enforce Islamic control over the newly conquered Jewish lands.
The Cave of the Patriarchs is not the only religious site Islamists have built on top of or outright appropriated. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem miraculously became an Islamic holy site after they conquered the city. Hagia Sophia – the cathedral in Constantinople – became a mosque after the Islamic conquest of that city. Prior to 1453, the site was exclusively Christian, being built by Justinian I in 537.
I’m beginning to wonder about the stroke John Fetterman had. Well, not beginning, this has been a long time coming. Anyway, recently Fetterman had some nice things to say about Trump’s economic policies.
Fetterman is starting to look like an old school Dem. The kind that while on the other side of the aisle still wanted what is best for the country.
This one probably won’t affect most of you, but it is welcome news none the less. Back in 1981, just before the useless peanut Farmer left office, he had his OPM (Office of Personnel Management) enter into a consent decree. That decree – called Luevano after the lead plaintiff – banned all testing for federal hiring. No more merit based hiring, no more testing to see if you can actually do the job.
Well, that consent decree has just been vacated. It will probably take a bit of time before the new testing and hiring procedures are in place. This is a Good Thing when it comes to the federal workforce. An acquaintance is a LMER (Labor Management and Employee Relations) specialist with the federal gov. He has long complained about the difficulty of hiring quality people and firing those who cannot do the job. Hopefully this makes the former easier.
A man in California was arrested for sending money to daesh. Mark Lorenzo Villanueva is a Phillipine national living in the US legally. He is accused of providing material support to terrorist organizations.
During a search of his home, a bomb was found.
. . . During the search, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force recovered a bomb from Villanueva’s home. Supporting terrorism – either foreign or domestic – is not only morally reprehensible and dangerous, but also carries severe penalties. In this case, if convicted, Villanueva could face up to 20 years in federal prison. We will aggressively hunt down and prosecute anyone who provides aid to terrorists.
20 years doesn’t seem like enough.
Remember Jack Smith? He of the politically motivated prosecution of President Trump? Yeah, him. Well, seems like Jack is in a bit of trouble. The Office of Special Council is taking a good hard look at Jack.
Will this go anywhere? I dunno, but I expect not. The OSC doesn’t have prosecutorial ability. Any charges would have to be referred to the DOJ. I would keep in mind that quite often the process is the punishment. Smith will have to shell out thousands of dollars to defend himself. And that is just from the OSC investigation. If it gets referred, he’s looking at hundreds of thousands before it gets to trial.
