From the right: ADL Sides Against Israel
The Anti-Defamation League, a century-old Jewish civil-rights organization, has essentially become another J Street — an arm of the Democratic Party’s stable of pressure groups. So charges Jonathan Tobin at Commentary, flagging new ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt’s response after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Palestinians’ desire for a Jew-free state “ethnic cleansing.” Greenblatt — a former Obama administration staffer — attacked Netanyahu and sided with the Palestinians, even though, as Tobin notes, the Palestinian Authority plainly doesn’t want Jews on its territory. Says Tobin: “for Greenblatt to re-position ADL from its former centrist position as a mainstream address for pro-Israel activism to one that is now in open opposition to the democratically elected government of Israel is a sea change of enormous importance . . . This is a betrayal of ADL’s long and honorable legacy as a group that sought to speak for the interests of the Jewish community as a whole and respected the right of Israel’s people and their leaders to make their own decisions about security.”
Court docs: Clinton Ally’s Coverup?
“Media Matters chief David Brock paid a former domestic partner $850,000 after being threatened with damaging information involving the organization’s donors and the IRS — a deal that Brock later characterized as a blackmail payment, according to legal documents,” reports NAME at FoxNews.com. The Clinton ally’s former beau accused him of taking $170,000 worth of possessions the couple kept at a DC townhouse. “Next step is I contact all your donors and the IRS,” Grey wrote in a 2010 e-mail. “This is going to stink for you if you do not resolve this now.” Brock is countersuing and alleging this amounts to blackmail.
Liberal wonk: Trump’s Electoral College Path
Could Trump-Clinton be a repeat of Bush-Gore? It’s possible, says Dave Wasserman at FiveThirtyEight.com, that Trump could lose the popular vote and still win the election. “Several of Trump’s worst demographic groups happen to be concentrated in states, such as California, New York, Texas and Utah, that are either not competitive or that aren’t on Trump’s must-win list,” he notes. “Conversely, whites without a college degree — one of Trump’s strongest groups — represent a huge bloc in three blue states he would need to turn red to have the best chance of winning 270 electoral votes: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.” It’s still a longshot, Wasserman says, but if non-college-educated whites rally to Trump in large enough numbers, he could “win the Electoral College with 280 votes by holding all 24 Romney states and flipping Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Maine’s 2nd Congressional District from blue to red.”
Uncle Sam: That Chicken Is Not Your Friend
Stop kissing chickens. The CDC warns — again — that smooching your fine feathered friends could spread salmonella. Rebecca Shapiro at the Huffington Post reports: “The CDC reported in a study released Wednesday that the increased popularity of backyard poultry flocks has coincided with an uptick in salmonella outbreaks associated with live poultry.” The CDC looked at salmonella cases between 1990 and 2014 “and found that some people affected were engaging in risky behaviors — including cuddling, kissing and, in some cases, letting their chickens roam in their bedrooms and bathrooms.” According to the CDC, “Poultry are acquiring a new position in many households. Instead of being treated as production animals, they are increasingly being considered household pets.” Don’t let them in the house, cautions Shapiro. Don’t cuddle them — and for Pete’s sake please stop kissing them.
Former congressman: China’s Censorship Bid
In The Washington Post, Frank Wolf, a Republican who retired from Congress in 2014, sounds the alarm about Chinese investments in US companies: “Over the past five years, Chinese investment here has grown from $2 billion per year to an estimated $20 billion this year. This growth is significant given that Chinese companies are effectively controlled — whether through state ownership or strict direction — by Beijing.” And what are they often investing in? Media companies. “One Chinese company, Dalian Wanda, has purchased the Hollywood movie studio Legendary Entertainment for$3.5 billion and is now seeking a 49 percent stake in Paramount Pictures, as well as purchases of America’s two largest movie theater chains: AMC and Carmike Cinemas. Wanda’s goal is to control 20 percent of the global box office by 2020 — and it may reach that threshold sooner.” All this, Wolf warns, could allow China to censor Hollywood messages it doesn’t like.