It’s Christmas in Beverly Hills. There are a few homes decorated with Merry Lights, but not many. It’s very different from Christmas in the 1950s in Silver Spring, Maryland, when oh, so many homes were gaily decorated with lights. But those were different days indeed. And I can tell you this. I am extremely grateful to live and breathe in America. I was when I was young and I still am. My father was a well-known economist. He had served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. His father had served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines against the Aguinaldo Insurrection. My Grandpa Dave had the extraordinary talent of an ability to ride on a horse or a donkey and fire a Springfield rifle with accuracy at the same time. My parents and I had a Marksman medal he had earned on the mantel piece of our perfect “Fifties Modern” home on Harvey Road, designed by a famous architect of those days. I think his last name was “Palms” or something like that. I don’t remember exactly. I do remember that we lived on Harvey Road in Silver Spring because other neighborhoods that were far more prestigious in Washington, D.C. and its suburbs were “restricted” against Jews — i.e., it was forbidden to sell real estate in those neighborhoods to “Hebrews,” “Negroes,” “Orientals” and probably Hispanics but that ethnicity in that day was microscopically available, if at all. To the east of Harvey Road was “Woodside Park,” which was mostly, if not all, restricted. It plays a huge role in my childhood, as you will see. Far to the east and north of us were large prestige neighborhoods called Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Sumner, and large tracts of Chevy Chase where Jews could not own property. That restriction was on the deeds of all of the homes in the area. On many occasions, my parents drove my sister Rachel, one of the world’s finest beings, and me down to events at the National Theater, where pre-Broadway plays appeared before they opened on Broadway. On our way back to Silver Spring, we passed by leafy neighborhoods with lovely homes. My mother, always interested in real estate, would comment on what great places these homes along Wisconsin and Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenue were. I frequently asked her why we did not buy a house in those neighborhoods, since I knew she was always interested in moving, “Benjy,” she would say with sorrow, “Spring Valley — or Wesley Heights or wherever it was — is ‘restricted.’” That meant it did not allow Jews. That word, “restricted,” has carried an evil meaning for me ever since. And it was far from the only sphere in which it carried such dead weight. On our jaunts around D.C. and the suburbs, we passed by high prestige country clubs such as “The Chevy Chase Club” and “Congressional Country Club.” We Steins had been members of a perfectly good “Jewish” club called “Indian Spring” in Silver Spring. But the club had moved out far to the sticks and my parents did not care to drive out there for a very occasional round of golf. So, I suggested that we join the Chevy Chase Club instead, or maybe Congressional. My parents actually laughed at that idea. “Benjy,” said Mom again, “those clubs are restricted.” (This came back to bite me hard here in Southern California. We live near the Los Angeles Country Club. I inquired about joining. Not only was it “restricted.” But worse came down the pike. We have a home in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs. A woman who had grown up in Oklahoma near my wife’s family had a home there at “El Dorado Country Club.” She invited us to dinner at El Dorado many times and then wanted us to join it. I told her it would not admit Jews as members on a bet. She said she would get any number of members to second her application for us. The manager came up to me at dinner when my wife’s family friend was entertaining us. He said he was looking forward to our being members. I said I was sure it would never happen. He said, “No. That’s not the way it is here anymore.” (But a few short days later, a friend at El Dorado called me and said I had been “blackballed” by several members who were also members of LACC and would never allow a Jew to be a member. This was some years ago and maybe things have changed. Haha.) Then there was Rehoboth Beach, a lovely beach community in Delaware, home state of Joe Biden. For decades, the beach was segregated against blacks. There were five sections — or so — for whites. Then there was one section of the beach for blacks. It was where the town sewer emptied out onto the sand. Delaware was where I first encountered signs on and in restaurants that read, “White Trade Only.” As a dopey kid, I did not know what that meant. I soon learned. My very closest friend, a brilliant, loveable friend who lived just a short walk from our home, a descendant of an ultra–high end family of both northern and southern super-prestige heritage, had been my best friend since second grade. He and I were basically inseparable. But after sixth grade at glorious Parkside Elementary School, his parents — truly saintly people — took him out of the public-school system of Montgomery County and enrolled him at St. Alban’s. That was and is an Episcopalian school attached to the National Cathedral in Northwest Washington, D.C. The friend was one year ahead of me. We often talked about what he was learning at St. Alban’s. I was wildly impressed at what he was doing in Latin and in U.S. History. Plus, I missed him. My parents tried to get me into St. Alban’s. I took the admission test. The teacher who gave me the test told me I had gotten the highest score of any applicant. But, he said, their policy was to take only “one Jew per class” and they already had their Jew, the son of a family that owned a men’s wear store and had been in D.C. since the Civil War. The boy who went to St. Alban’s is still an EXTREMELY dear friend and has done incredibly helpful things for me. He is a saint. His wife is a saint. He came to our son’s funeral, the only fellow from our old neighborhood who did come. He has done magnificent service for Montgomery County over the decades. But that business about St. Alban’s still rankles. I could go on forever. There was a little gang of boys at my hellish Junior High, Montgomery Hills. The leader of that gang was a fellow named Garry Rourke. He tormented me until a Jewish friend named Nolan Rappaport started me on weight lifting and very basic “martial arts.” At that point Garry Rourke stopped torturing me. We became friends at Montgomery Blair class of 1962 reunions. He passed away several years ago. Then there was the incident of the Senior Prom at Blair. A sweet, beautiful girl and I had been dating casually. I invited her to the Prom. She cheerfully accepted. A few days later, she flagged me down in the hall at Blair. She told me she could not go to the Prom with me because her father did not want her going to the Prom with a Jew. That night I drove to her home in Woodside Park. I knew she was at Majorette Practice. I rang the bell and met her father. I told him what his daughter had told me. “I don’t get it, sir,” I said. “I’m as American as you or your daughter. My father served in the War just as you did. I won’t act disrespectfully to your daughter in any way.” That was how innocent I was. The man said his daughter had misunderstood. He would be happy to have me take his daughter to the Prom. But the next day, his daughter flagged me down in the hall again and said he was so angry at her that now he barred her from seeing me in any way. I was deeply offended and still am. Later I figured out that maybe her “ex-boyfriend” had cooked it all up so he could get back with her again. He was a cagey fellow. But it’s all long ago and far away. The young woman and her “ex” are friends of mine. They have been married forever. They both have distinguished careers. And now it’s rare. The first house I ever bought, in 1974, in Wesley Heights, had a clause in the title forbidding its transfer to “Hebrews.” The brokers, W.C. and A.N. Miller, for decades the bastion of “restrictions,” sold it to me and simply ignored “restrictions.” Still, as far as I know, there are still clubs all over Southern California that are “restricted.” The broker from there who sold it to me was Jewish. And I can tell you this. I am extremely grateful to live and breathe in America. I was when I was young and I still am. Restrictions are bad. Concentration camps are incomparably worse. I’ll tell you more about this subject soon. READ MORE from Ben Stein: Reiner and Son MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! We Are Not Depression Proof  

I’m sorry to revisit the New Yorker so soon after eviscerating its Netflix tribute to itself, but David Remick, that magazine’s fatuous editor, has forced me to it. In a superbly silly piece titled “Trump Dishonors the Kennedy Center,” Remnick argues that because JFK was an artsy sophisticate and Trump is an unlettered philistine, the former deserves to have the nation’s official performance center named after him and Trump doesn’t.  [W]hy doesn’t Remnick … try to make a cause célèbre out of reversing the preposterous 2008 rechristening of the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge? Remnick’s opening example of Kennedy’s literary and artistic refinement is that a month before his assassination he delivered a high-minded speech at Amherst honoring the recently deceased Robert Frost and eulogizing poetry generally. Remnick quotes from it approvingly: “When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations.” Just wondering what moment in any of their lives did old Joseph P. Kennedy, or any of his sons, turn to poetry in order to become less arrogant? More from the speech: “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” Really? What’s cleansing about Osip Mandelbaum’s “Ode to Stalin”? Or Guo Moruo’s poems in celebration of Mao? Or Ezra Pound’s antisemitic “Canto XLV” and T.S. Eliot’s antisemitic “Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar”?  Then there’s this: “For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.” What does this even mean? It’s ersatz uplift — a stupid generalization of the sort that cynical politicians serve up on such occasions. Even Remnick acknowledges that the speech wasn’t written by JFK himself — that purported poetry lover — but by one of his courtiers, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. As if it supported his argument for JFK’s sophistication, Remnick lists some of the artists who performed at the White House during his presidency: Pablo Casals, the American Ballet Theater, the Paul Winter Sextet. Yes, and Nixon hosted Duke Ellington and Van Cliburn, Carter hosted Vladimir Horowitz, Leontyne Price, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Reagan hosted Pinchas Zuckerman and Jessye Norman, and George H. W. Bush hosted Mstislav Rostropovic, Itzhak Perlman, and Isaac Stern. So what?  Yes, after the Eisenhowers there was indeed a new emphasis on culture at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But it wasn’t JFK’s doing. It was Jackie’s.  Nor did JFK have anything to do with the idea for the Kennedy Center. Remnick himself admits that it was the Eisenhower administration that came up with the idea of a national performance space; after JFK’s assassination, his name was tacked onto it. As Philip Terzian commented on X the other day, in reply to a rant about the name change by Jack’s niece Maria Shriver: “It should never have been named for your Uncle Jack in the first place. The whole project was President Eisenhower’s; ‘Kennedy’ was imposed in the spasm of name changes after his assassination.”  Indeed: JFK wasn’t from New York, but on December 24, 1963, Idlewild Airport was turned into Kennedy Airport; JFK wasn’t from Florida, but on November 29, 1963, Cape Canaveral became Cape Kennedy. (The cape reverted to its original name in 1973.) As f or the naming of the Kennedy Center, Remnick puts it this way: “LBJ renamed the center as a living memorial to JFK.” Hey, it’s the least you can do when you’ve had a guy killed. (Yes, I tend to buy Roger Stone’s theory about what happened in Dallas.) Before the Kennedy Center clamor began, Remnick and his ilk were kicking up a fuss about Trump’s ballroom, calling it a defilement of the White House. Never mind that a long list of earlier presidents had made major adjustments in the Executive Mansion; it was FDR, notably, who added the East Wing, which the ballroom will replace. Remnick didn’t mention in his paean to JFK that during those brief shining days of Camelot, JFK defiled the White House constantly by sneaking his mistresses into it, among them Mafia boss Sam Giancana’s moll, Judith Campbell Exner. Speaking of defilement: in recent years, left-wing activists have razed statues of Washington, Jefferson, Grant, and other great Americans. Has Remnick, in his passion for the preservation of tributes to American heroes, ever denounced any of this?  Repeatedly in his Kennedy Center article, Remnick takes unfair shots at Trump. He describes the renaming of the Kennedy Center as the product of “the egocentric exertions of the current President and his obedient underlings and friends.” What president hasn’t been egocentric? And who ever had a more obedient army of underlings than JFK — including not only Schlesinger, who wrote that Amherst speech, but also Ted Sorensen, who wrote While England Slept, for which JFK (thanks to his rich, powerful father’s behind-the-scenes exertions) was awarded a Pulitzer? As for having devoted friends, it was JFK’s pal Frank Sinatra who was sent to Chicago to fix the 1960 Illinois vote with the above-mentioned Giancana.  Remnick actually sneers that Trump has had “some heavy-lidded meetings in the White House (Wake up, Mr. President!)” — this about a man who may be the most energetic and productive president ever, and whose famously drowsy immediate predecessor spent four years napping on the beach while autopen-wielding staffers ran the country — a scandal of historic proportions that Remnick’s magazine has never dared touch. Similarly, Remnick gloats about a supposed drop in Trump’s popularity, but neglects to mention that support for the Democratic Party is at a record low. He maintains that Trump “simply cannot tolerate the degree of freedom and independence that art and artists require” — when in fact it was Obama, and then Biden, under whom the canceling of conservative comedians and other creative types reached its zenith.   Remnick’s article ends where it began — namely, with absurd, pretentious overgeneralizations: “art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” Really? Ever heard of Clifford Odets, a master of theatrical agitprop? Or Arthur Miller, ditto? Or Oliver Stone, who has directed documentaries celebrating Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Hugo Chávez? On my bookshelves is a 2003 anthology entitled Poets against the War, containing over 200 highly propagandistic poems condemning George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. (After Obama inherited the war, incidentally, most of these poets became strangely silent.)  “In free society,” writes Remnick, “art is not a weapon, and it does not belong to the sphere of polemics and ideology.” This from an editor whose magazine, under his watch, has devoted itself to polemical articles, to glowing reviews of movies, books, and other artworks that push the progressive narrative, and to putdowns of artworks that go against the leftist grain.  Needless to say, Remnick has been far from alone in condemning the Kennedy Center name change. Along with Maria Shriver, several other members of the Kennedy family also joined in, parroting Remnick’s portrayal of JFK as high-culture maven and of Trump as a bum. It took Richard Grenell, the center’s president, to point out that its infrastructure, finances, and programming were a disaster for years; now Trump has fixed those problems, and the place, thanks to him, is back on track — in fact, it’s better than ever. If all those Kennedys love the center so much, why didn’t they try to address those challenges years ago?  The answer to that one is easy: the Kennedys, like so many Democrats, are too often about the high-flowing rhetoric, not the nuts and bolts — the poetic, you might say, not the practical. When they want to show that JFK was a great man, they don’t point to his record but quote lines from his speeches, notably his inaugural address (also written by Sorensen). For there aren’t really many accomplishments to point to: just as Obama’s perceived weakness made Putin feel he could take Crimea with impunity — ditto Biden in regard to the Donbas — the major event of JFK’s presidency, which occurred because Khrushchev saw him as a feeble customer after eight years of Ike, was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost ended in a nuclear holocaust.  In closing, here’s an idea: instead of getting worked up about Trump renaming the Kennedy Center, why doesn’t Remnick — whose magazine is, after all, supposed to be focused on New York, not Washington, D.C. — try to make a cause célèbre out of reversing the preposterous 2008 rechristening of the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge — as if there weren’t an actual New Yorker who deserved that honor? Not that I really care much about the bridge. It’s just that it would be nice, after all these years, to finally start winding down the Kennedy-worship. Besides, if the Kennedys want a bridge named after a member of their family, there’s one on Chappaquiddick Island that’s the perfect candidate for such an honor.  READ MORE from Bruce Bawer: What Made Rob Reiner Tick? Can Being Charlie Tell Us Anything About the Reiner Murders? The New Yorker Makes a Shrine to Itself

Happy New Year! It’s time to take stock of the past, and go out on a limb with a few predictions about the future. The Year in Review In 2025 MAGA gave the finger to the MSM. The American people placed a convicted felon behind the Resolute Desk, despite the propaganda ministry’s screaming that he was an existential threat to democracy. So far, he’s — gasp — doing what he said he’d do. Last year may be remembered as the year that propaganda lost its juju. As California diligently works to turn itself into a wasteland — and not just via flames — the next governor will come to Congress with xer hand out asking for a federal bailout. The Dems used the year to turn politics into a bloodsport, and I mean literally, not figuratively. They’ve chosen governance via violence rather than consent, and show no interest in returning to the debate stage. Buckle up, this won’t end well. Hunter Biden’s art sales came to a grinding halt, inexplicably. His masterpieces, which commanded tens of thousands of dollars, are now worth precisely zero. Art is worth whatever someone is willing to pay, and suddenly nobody’s willing to pay anything for Hunter’s stuff. It’s almost as if worldwide artistic tastes changed on election night 2023. Either that or the First Son’s sales were never about the art at all. Hmm. In January of 2025, California’s leadership proved the wisdom of the Forest Gump axiom: The presence of moronic thinking can be verified by the asininity of actions taken. Forest simplified it for laymen as “Stupid is as stupid does.” Just as the New Year’s Eve hangovers began, a homeless person in LA County allegedly started a fire, which the seasonal (i.e. predictable) Santa Ana winds fanned into a conflagration. As the spreading flames were being battled, the fire hydrants mysteriously ran dry. Apparently, Governor “Hair Gel” Newsom and Mayor “Large Mouth” Bass hadn’t thought to fill the county’s reservoirs. The media called it an oversight. Mr. Gump would have called it stupid. While nearly 11,000 homes were incinerated, California’s crisis management team had other pressing matters to attend to. Governor “Hair Gel” was hawking his management skill to the voters of other states. His primary argument seems to be his uncanny ability to blame anyone but himself for failures which occurred under his watch. In the case of the Palisades fires, he said it was our fault due to “climate change.” Mayor “Large Mouth” was out of the country partying in Gyana at the time of the fires. Upon her return, she sprang into action, blaming Donald Trump for the devastation. He had been in office for nearly 2 weeks after all. LA Deputy Mayor Brian Williams was barred from city hall during the fire, for allegedly making a bomb threat. Hence, he wasn’t much help managing the fires, assuming he didn’t start them. All those “no shows” left LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley to face the crisis alone. She worked frantically and tirelessly to ensure adequate trans representation on each of her fire engines. As 2025 ended, California reminded me of the immortal words of Yogi Berra: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” The whole country had assumed that even the dimmest of wits would have learned a thing or two from the year’s mistakes. Unfortunately, that was a gross underestimation of the durability of stupidity. The Pacific Palisades remains a pile of ash. Apparently issuing building permits is beyond the expertise of LA government. Homeless encampment residents are setting fires for mischief and survival again. The state’s leadership is far too busy hiding illegals from ICE to deal with the explosion of Hoovervilles throughout the state. The Santa Ana winds are kicking up again. I’m guessing Cali’s leadership couldn’t afford enough carbon offsets to change the weather yet. Maybe they can pass a bond referendum in 2026. Surprise of surprises: the Palisades reservoir is empty again because the state’s leadership still hasn’t figured out that firefighters need water to, you know, fight fires. Stupid is as stupid … well you get the idea. My sister-in-law says the quirkiness (her word) of California politics is the “sunshine tax” — the cost one must bear for a marvelous tan. I’ve decided that perhaps vitamin D is good for the body, but bad for the brain. I acknowledge my conclusion is based on anecdotal evidence, not sound scientific research. Perhaps we can skip the double blind studies and reach consensus on the matter instead? Prognostications President Trump is going to continue delivering results to the American people. He will also continue bragging mercilessly and relentlessly, driving his opponents certifiably insane. The Democrats will lean into their madness, taking the minority position on every 80/20 issue, while chanting “Vive la resistance” as a GOTV battle cry. Their campaign platform for the midterms will be: Democracy must be protected from the will of the people — though they may word it somewhat differently. Saint Greta of Sweden will continue hectoring us that our carbon footprint, rather than her bad life choices, is ruining her future. However, with communism losing its appeal, she’ll propose Sharia Law as an alternative solution for our weather woes. California will burn again, because business as usual will deliver the usual results. I believe Albert Einstein made a similar scientific observation. As California diligently works to turn itself into a wasteland — and not just via flames — the next governor will come to Congress with xer hand out asking for a federal bailout, and xe will likely get it. Unfortunately, spending other people’s money is to Congress as a hammer is to a carpenter — the tool of choice. Federal and state leadership will work hand in hand to prove “Gump’s Axion” again. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my prediction. READ MORE: Coming Initiatives Inspire Fear in Sacramento Finally an Intelligent Human Approach To AI John Green is a political refugee who escaped Minnesota and now writes for The American Free News Network and the Convention of States Action. He can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.  

Well Merry Christmas! Yes, in the midst of all the family chaos, the tree decorating, present wrapping and stocking stuffing — not to mention leaving that midnight snack out for Santa! — if you’re lucky you may find a quiet moment or two to curl up in a quiet space and read a conservative book. As a primer to begin understanding how and why the Middle East is the way it is, starting with Gilbert’s decidedly thorough history is the place to begin. So the question becomes: New books and old treasures, what’s on the list you have for Santa? Hence, in this space Christmas week, replete with Amazon links, are five suggestions in no particular order:   Under Siege: My Family’s Fight to Save Our Nation. By Eric Trump. With a foreword from his Dad the President, author Eric Trump discusses the many family aspects of the family Trump. The ups and downs with “My Father the Fighter” and on to the family business outside of politics. A family business that is indeed considerable. Then Eric goes into the inevitable “Welcome to Washington” stage of the family life, in which, Washington outsiders one and all, the Trump family faces the realities of being at the center of the veritable circus life that is the reality of wielding serious power in the nation’s capital. Pagan Threat: Confronting America’s Godless Uprising with a Foreword by Charlie Kirk By Lucas Miles. Perhaps the most poignant book on the list is this one by Pastor Lucas Miles. Miles has been an ordained minister since 2004, as well as the host of Church & State with Lucas Miles. Notably, Miles, the lead pastor of Nfluence Church in Granger, Indiana, had, by the time of the book’s publication, been named as the Senior Director of Turning Point USA Faith, serving under Charlie Kirk. Charlie himself wrote the foreword of the book, advising readers: Don’t just read Pagan Threat-internalize what it has to say. Then, share its message with your Christian friends, before they are seduced by Paganism themselves. We have a faith and a country to save. A poignant foreword indeed considering the fate that Charlie would face soon after the book’s publication. A decided read for sure. Karl Marx: The Divine Tragedy. By Robert Orlando. Orlando does a deep dive into an exploration of Karl Marx’s life. As noted in the book, Orlando examines Marx’s life as a radical visionary, “unveiling a deeply spiritual and haunting journey through the inferno of Marx’s personal and ideological struggles.” The defeat and dissolution of the Soviet Union not withstanding, Communism has not gone away, much less is it dead and buried. Orlando’s look at Marx is well worth the read to understand the foe behind the enemy that faced off against America in the Cold War — and still has not gone away. The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer. By Daniel J. Flynn. A senior editor right here at The American Spectator, Dan explores the life and mind of Meyer, the man who “devised the blueprint for American conservatism-fusionism-championed by Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and so many to this day.” Dan notes that Meyer was once an ardent Communist, had such staunch support from Marxists that they “could never have predicted that their hero would one day provide the intellectual energy necessary to propel conservatives to political power.” He adds: The Man Who Invented Conservatism unveils one of the 20th century’s great untold stories: a Communist turned conservative, an antiwar activist turned soldier, and a free-love enthusiast turned family man whose big idea captured the American Right. There is more here in Dan’s telling of Meyer’s life, making it a terrific read. Buckley: The Life and The Revolution That Changed America. By Sam Tanenhaus. William F. Buckley Jr. was one of the most fascinating players in the American conservative movement. Tanenhaus writes: In 1951, with the publication of God and Man at Yale, a scathing attack on his alma mater, twenty-five-year -old William F. Buckley Jr., seized the public stage-and commanded it for the next half century as he led a new generation of conservative activists and ideologues to the peak of political power and cultural influence. Interestingly Tanenhaus reveals that 10 years before his death in 2008, Buckley selected Tanenhaus, who had written an acclaimed biography of Whittaker Chambers,  to tell the full, uncensored story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Bill Buckley and the modern conservative revolution.  And tell the Buckley and conservative story Tanenhaus does in deed.  All of the above books join a collection of decided classics that have been around for a long time. That list would include the following but is not limited to: The Conscience of a Conservative. By Senator Barry Goldwater. Published in the early 1960’s Goldwater’s book was a landmark that guided and even foretold the conservative revolution that he himself would lead. Where’s the Rest of Me? The Ronald Reagan Story. By Ronald Reagan. This is the book that reveals Reagan’s turn from bleeding-heart New Deal left-winger to the eventual leader of the conservative movement in the 1960’s, a turn that would eventually lead to turns as a two term Governor of California and, in the 1980’s, as President. And, not so coincidentally, the man who won and ended the Cold War. Witness. By Whittaker Chambers. The riveting tale of early Cold War espionage, described by George Will as “One of the dozen or so indispensable books of the century.” The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Written by 6 scholars, this would be the “go to” book for any young person falling for the myth of Communism as the bright, socialist future so many are led to believe. The authors document the archives of the Soviet bloc to reveal “the actual, practical accomplishments of Communism around the world: terror, torture, famine, mass deportations, and massacres.” All revealed in detail, a decided lesson for any who start life attracted to Communism. Israel: A History – A Riveting Chronicle of Zionism, Persecution, Statehood, and the Pursuit of Peace. An “epic history” correctly says Foreign Affairs of this thorough telling of the land that is so beloved by Jews and millions of Westerners, while despised by many Arabs and Islamists. The author, Sir Martin Gilbert, details the creation of Israel and its history since it began. As a primer to begin understanding how and why the Middle East is the way it is, starting with Gilbert’s decidedly thorough history is the place to begin. Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War. By Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a renowned scholar who, as it happens, is presently serving as a White House aide in the Trump administration, wrote this before his White House tour. It is a decidedly hard look at what Dr. Gorka calls the “global jihadi movement.” It would be hard to note the turn from a focus on the fading threat of Communism to the threat of Islamic extremism. But in the world of reality books addressing that relatively new world are out there. So. Happy reading if you get a few quiet moments with these or, for that matter, any other good books. And don’t forget? Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! READ MORE from Jeffrey Lord: Schumer and Hegseth’s Second Drug Boat Strike Rob Reiner: A Salute Rep. Delia Ramirez and the Anti-Democracy Democrats  

To fill “the vacuum left by the Trump administration’s systematic retreat from science and evidence-based public health,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom is creating the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX) which is “expected to bring together the best science, the best tools, and the best minds to advance public health. By bringing on expert scientific leaders to partner in this launch, we’re strengthening collaboration and laying the groundwork for a modern public health infrastructure that will offer trust and stability in scientific data not just across California, but nationally and globally.” If Californians thought PHNIX will become another CIRM – the California Institute for the Redistribution of Money – it would be hard to blame them. To lead PHNIX, the California governor has tapped Dr. Susan Monarez, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control, along with former CDC chief medical officer Dr. Debra Houry and Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, founder and CEO of Your Local Epidemiologist. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed Monarez and Houry, but as Katy Grimes of the California Globe, explains, there’s more about them that people should know.  It was the fired CDC officials “who created the mandates which forced Americans to take the Covid vaccine, wear face masks indoors and outdoors, socially distance six feet from any other human in a public place.” Gov. Newsom was on board from the start. In April 2020, Newsom spent nearly $1 billion on masks with the Chinese company Build Your Dreams (BYD), a motor vehicle company which at the time did not make protective equipment.  Gov. Newsom issued  draconian rules for gatherings and told people, “don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites.” That same governor partied sans mask at the upscale French Laundry in Napa. As Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed, there is “no scientific evidence” for masking children. The six-foot social distancing rule “sort of just appeared,” and was not based on any data. The vaccines Dr. Fauci recommended failed to prevent infection or transmission of COVID, which the fully boosted Dr. Fauci confirmed by testing positive. Like Fauci, Dr. Monarez was a big supporter of masks, social distancing, and the government-mandated vaccines. In September, Sen. Rand Paul, author of Deception: The Great Covid Cover-up, raised the subject with Dr. Monarez. Paul, a medical doctor, made it clear that it was not about all vaccines, only the ones the CDC mandated for Covid.  “What is the science in favor of giving the vaccine to a 6-month-old, and what are the benefits from that?” Paul asked Monarez, “And then what would the risks of that vaccine be? We have large population studies of the risks of the vaccine in younger people.” Monarez replied, “that assertion is not commensurate with the experience that I had with the individuals who were identified to be fired.”  Paul also wanted to know “what is the medical, scientific reason and proof for giving a newborn a Hepatitis-B vaccine if the mom is Hep-B negative?” When Monarez failed to provide a direct answer, Paul countered that the burden of proof was on her to prove that the vaccines for infants were helpful. The Food and Drug Administration has some doubts.  In early December, the FDA considered a black-box warning on Covid-19 vaccines, the FDA’s strongest safety warning, before opting out of the plan. None of that prevented Gov. Newsom from selecting Monarez and Houry to head PHNIX, which he expects to have national and global reach. Parents, patients, and taxpayers should see the governor’s new bureaucracy as part of the state’s reactionary tradition.  The administration of George W. Bush opposed embryonic stem cell research. In 2004, real estate tycoon Robert Klein responded with Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Research Initiative. The measure promised life-saving cures and therapies for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other diseases through embryonic stem cell research. Actor Michael J. Fox said in an ad: “71 will support research to find cures for diseases that affect millions of people, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.  The $3 billion measure created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), installing Klein as chairman. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, found that almost all CIRM board members were “interested parties with a personal or financial stake in the allocation of CIRM fundings.” As the investigators learned, CIRM was directing a full 91 percent of its research funding to institutions with representatives on its governing board.  Klein proclaimed that the life-saving cures would generate a steady stream of royalties that would make CIRM self-supporting. As it happened CIRM reported no royalties until 2018, and only in the amount of $190,345.87. In 2024 Klein wanted another $5 billion from taxpayers, and CIRM has yet to release any of the life-saving cures and therapies promised in 2004. PHNIX follows the same reactionary pattern. “It’s not a shadow CDC we’re creating,” claims Gov. Newsom, “but it’s a shield to what’s going on.” The project does shape up as part the shadow CDC that Gov. Newsom is already in the process of creating. If Californians thought PHNIX will become another CIRM – the California Institute for the Redistribution of Money – it would be hard to blame them. READ MORE from Lloyd Billingsley: California’s Hitler Youth The Ghosts of Christmas Past 10 Years After San Bernardino Terrorist Attack  

from Stew Peters Network: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Lance D Johnson, Natural News: The American public is being bombarded with a coordinated media narrative designed to create panic and shut down any meaningful conversation about childhood vaccine safety. Just as parents, doctors, and even some within public health agencies are beginning to ask critical questions about the bloated and under-studied U.S. vaccine schedule, the […]

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