With tent cities springing up across American campuses‚ filled with antisemitic activists who are openly supporting U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations‚ you could be forgiven for suspecting that this activism was not wholly organic. And you would be right. Fingerprints of Further Funding Take the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University‚ where “students sleep in tents apparently ordered from Amazon and enjoy delivery pizza‚ coffee from Dunkin’‚ free sandwiches worth $12.50 from Pret a Manger‚ organic tortilla chips‚ and $10 rotisserie chickens‚” according to the New York Post. That is not the sort of event a campus student association organizes on its semesterly stipend—certainly not the sort of event a student association could sustain for now more than a week. It’s not just Columbia University. These tent encampments—with an odd near-uniformity to their pup tents—have popped up at dozens of campuses all across the country. Dozens‚ scores‚ and hundreds of students have walked out of classes only weeks before finals‚ and they are glamping on the lawn instead of cramming in the library. Who is behind all this&;#63; Paid Activists The Post discovered that at least some encampments appear to be coordinated by paid activists. A left-wing activist coalition called the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights sponsors a “Youth Organizing Fellowship” that offers college students an unheard-of $24-$28/hour wage to organize supposedly “local campaigns‚” which are really backed by the training‚ mentorship‚ and ongoing support of this extremely well-funded activist network. In 2023‚ USCPR hired eight youth fellows‚ three of which have recently appeared at pro-Hamas encampments at UC Berkeley‚ Yale‚ and UT Austin‚ according to photographs sleuthed out by the Post. Those who visit the USCPR website today will not find any youth fellows listed. The activist group “has just begun a new class of 2024 youth fellows‚” it conveniently claims. Instead‚ it suggests repeatedly‚ “Check back for more information‚” which innocently suggests to viewers it hasn’t time to update its website yet. However‚ according to its advertisement‚ applications for the position closed on April 3‚ just over two weeks before the recent mayhem on university campuses began. On one hand‚ this could be mere coincidence. On the other hand‚ it could be that USCPR youth fellows (nothing said they had to only hire eight this year) have played a major role in organizing these campus encampments‚ at least the more influential ones. If that is the case‚ then USCPR deliberately timed its hiring so that its website would reveal no information about its youth fellows until after their encampment campaign—perhaps even after the semester. Given the presence of former USCPR youth fellows—who‚ presumably‚ are no longer on its payroll—at these protests‚ it seems likely that its current youth fellows would also be involved‚ simply due to running in the same circles of protest culture. The USCPR Network The USCPR coalition includes Students for Justice in Palestine‚ Jewish Voice for Peace‚ CODEPINK‚ National Lawyers Guild‚ and the Westchester Peace Action Committee‚ among many other groups. In 2021‚ USCPR had a total income of $1.5 million and total expenses of $1 million. USCPR’s official name is Education for Just Peace in the Middle East. Under that name‚ USCPR received $355‚000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund between 2018-2023‚ and it received $700‚000 from the Soros family’s Open Society Foundations between 2018-2022 (the most recent years for which data is available). In 2018‚ Tablet Magazine reported that USCPR was “the fiscal sponsor of a group called the Palestinian BDS [Boycott‚ Divestment‚ and Sanctions] National Committee (BNC)‚” which in turn was linked to Palestinian terrorist groups. One of BNC’s members‚ listed on its website‚ is the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine. Five members of PNIF are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations: Hamas‚ Palestinian Islamic Jihad the Palestine Liberation Front‚ the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine‚ and the Popular Front – General Command. For those like me who have never run across the term before‚ fiscal sponsorship is where one nonprofit receives and administers donations intended for another organization that lacks nonprofit status. (The National Council of Nonprofits argues that the practice does have a place in helping new charities get started‚ but to the uninitiated outsider this arrangement also looks like a legal way to launder money.) Remember this term‚ because it will reoccur below. Local chapters of USCPR affiliate SJP organized many of the Gaza encampments‚ including those at Columbia‚ Harvard‚ Yale‚ UC Berkeley‚ Ohio State‚ and Emory. Also involved in the Columbia occupation is Jewish Voice for Peace‚ another USCPR affiliate that co-organized an October 2023 protest in which demonstrators illegally entered a House office building and were arrested. However‚ USCPR is not the only source of funding for organizations within its orbit organizing campus occupations. From 2017-2022‚ Soros’ Open Society contributed $775‚000 directly to Jewish Voice for Peace‚ while the Rockefeller Brothers Fund gave the group $490‚000 from 2019-2023. Financial information on Students for Justice in Palestine is harder to obtain because the organization is not registered as a nonprofit. Another USCPR member‚ the Westchester Peace Action Committee‚ serves as SJP’s fiscal sponsor. It makes sense that SJP‚ which declared Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack to be “a historic win for the Palestinian resistance‚” would wish to conceal its funding streams. It also makes sense that SJP would not wish to register as a nonprofit organization‚ since that designation might be justly removed based on its activities and statements. Hence‚ its secretive funding mechanisms. Headquartered in White Plains‚ New York‚ in Westchester County‚ the Westchester Peace Action Committee seems like a small‚ local nonprofit—at first. Nevertheless‚ WESPAC plays an inconspicuous but important role in supporting the national anti-Israel movement. It does this by allowing itself to be used as a fiscal sponsor to fringe extremist groups that might otherwise lose their tax-exempt status. According to the left-leaning Anti-Defamation League‚ WESPAC has fiscally sponsored 22 organizations since 2000‚ but 15 of those organizations were anti-Israel or pro-Palestine‚ with no more than one organization in any other category Due to the lack of reporting requirements‚ it is unknown how much money WESPAC has funneled to SJP. What is known is that the organization’s revenue nearly quadrupled over four years‚ from $636‚000 in 2021 to nearly $2.4 million in 2023. The sources of most of that revenue are not known. Tip of the Iceberg The organization of pro-Hamas campus encampments suggest they are being bankrolled by someone with deep pockets. The lavish supplies expended on the encampments suggest they are being bankrolled by someone with deep pockets. The high compensation paid activists receive to coordinate these encampments suggest they are being bankrolled by someone with deep pockets. According to open-source data gathering‚ at least two left-wing grant-making organizations with deep pockets—the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations—are known to have made significant past donations to several of the groups involved in these protests. However‚ the activist groups already mentioned are not the only members of the left-wing coalition organizing antisemitic direct action on and off university campuses‚ nor are they the only ones rolling in left-wing donations. Other radical groups have cooperated in staging antisemitic demonstrations: If Not Now received $400‚000 from Open Society in 2019-2021. Adalah Justice Project received $550‚000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (passed through the left-wing Tides Center) in 2020-2023. The Arab American Association of New York received $60‚000 from Open Society in 2018. Desis Rising Up and Moving received $30‚000 from Open Society in 2020. All these groups have participated in anti-Israel‚ pro-Hamas protests. For those keeping track‚ the organizations sponsoring campus encampments and other antisemitic protests have received at least $3.36 million since 2016 from just two left-wing organizations. Meanwhile‚ the funding sources for other groups‚ such as the hyper-active SJP and Within Our Lifetime‚ are not known. This is based upon previously reported data that does not even account for funding these organizations may have received since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack—when the lawlessness began in earnest. Campus protesters like to romanticize their misbehavior by comparing it to the protests of the late-1960s. But today’s protesters have access to more funding than their comrades of another era—perhaps “professors” would be a more efficient word—could have dreamed of. There are likely many deluded campuses today who deeply believe in their confused and perverted vision of the world. Yet the amount of money involved suggests the campus occupation movement may not be as widespread a grassroots uprising as the left-wing media is laboring to make it appear. Millions‚ even hundreds of thousands of dollars‚ can buy significant cooperation from one of the most notoriously penniless segments of society. This is perhaps especially true when the money enables agitators to utter college students’ two favorite words: “free food.” The Left seems to believe rowdy‚ disruptive chanting can drive any policy change—so long as the rioters yell loud enough and long enough—and powerful progressive organizations have pulled out their pocketbooks to put that theory to the most rigorous test. Originally published by The Washington Stand The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. The post Left-Wing Donors Gave More Than $3.3 Million to Pro-Hamas Activities Since 2016 appeared first on The Daily Signal.

There are many reasons why legal experts are questioning the legitimacy of the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump. But the major reason is that the main claim in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case—that Trump’s $130‚000 settlement payment of a potential claim by Stormy Daniels was a campaign-related expense—is totally bogus.  Here’s a quick tutorial on why Bragg doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on—call it “Federal Campaign Finance Law for Dummies 101”—an apropos title‚ given what’s going on. Daniels claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006‚ fully 10 years before the 2016 presidential election‚ which Trump denies. For the payment‚ Daniels agreed to sign a nondisclosure agreement‚ which is a standard provision in many settlement agreements of personal injury cases and other claims. Bragg contends that Trump falsified business records‚ a misdemeanor‚ when this payment was listed as legal expenses instead of a campaign expense. Supposedly‚ according to Bragg‚ that converted the misdemeanors into felonies because Trump was concealing another crime. That other crime‚ according to prosecutors‚ is a violation of Section 17-152 of New York law‚ which make it a misdemeanor to “promote … the election of any person to public office by unlawful means.” Besides the fact that it’s very strange to allege that the commission of a misdemeanor for the purpose of covering up the commission of another misdemeanor is enough to allege a felony‚ the only plausible theory that Bragg is pushing for the alleged “unlawful means” was a violation of federal law by concealing a campaign-related payment.  With me so far&;#63;  But Trump was running for president. The raising and spending of money for campaigns for president and Congress is governed by federal law‚ the Federal Election Campaign Act‚ not state law. Any wrongdoing related to federal campaign financing falls under the enforcement authority of federal officials‚ not a local prosecutor like Bragg.  In fact‚ the Federal Election Commission‚ on which I served as a commissioner‚ has civil enforcement authority and the U.S. Department of Justice has criminal enforcement authority over violations of this law. For the nuisance-value settlement payment to Daniels to fit within Bragg’s rickety legal structure‚ it would have to be a crime under federal law. In other words‚ it would have to be considered a campaign-related expense that was falsely reported under the Federal Election Campaign Act.  If you want an example of such a violation‚ just look at the $113‚000 civil penalty the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee agreed to pay in 2022. They listed the payments for the opposition research that formed the basis for the infamous Steele dossier‚ which fabricated the entire Trump-Russia collusion hoax‚ as legal expenses instead of opposition research. But opposition research on the opposing candidate is obviously a campaign-related expense under applicable federal law‚ so the FEC had authority to investigate and enforce the law against this deception. That’s not the case with the Daniels’ payment. For starters‚ the incident in question that led to the payment is alleged to have happened 10 years before the 2016 campaign. More importantly‚ the payment fails the test the FEC applies to determine whether an expense is campaign-related. Under federal law and corresponding regulations‚ the FEC applies the “irrespective test” to “differentiate legitimate campaign and officeholder expenses from personal expenses.” As the FEC explains on its website‚ under the irrespective test‚ “personal use is any use of funds … to fulfill a commitment‚ obligation‚ or expense of any person that would exist‚ irrespective of the candidates’ campaign.”  In other words‚ if the expense would exist even if the individual were not a candidate‚ then it’s personal and not a campaign expense. The payment to Daniels clearly fails that test. Trump was a celebrity long before he ran for office‚ and celebrities get these kinds of nuisance claims all the time. In fact‚ the prosecution’s first witness in the New York case‚ David Pecker‚ said he had helped settle similar claims to avoid legal costs and embarrassment by suppressing stories for numerous other celebrities‚ including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods.    The easiest way to understand this test is to take the example of a personal injury claim. Candidate A has a car accident several years before he runs for Congress that injures another driver. After the campaign has started‚ the candidate decides to settle the personal injury claim made by the other driver by paying that driver $130‚000 in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement.  Settling and paying the claim may help the candidate in his campaign by avoiding personal embarrassment. But that doesn’t make it a campaign expense. It’s a claim that would exist even if the candidate were not running for office and is thus considered a personal expense under federal law.  Daniels’ claim is also a personal claim that existed long before Trump ran for the presidency and‚ given his celebrity status‚ would have continued to exist even if he never ran for president. That’s no doubt why neither the FEC nor the Justice Department ever filed an enforcement action against the Trump campaign or Trump personally over the payment; specifically‚ because it was not a campaign-related expense.  You know what would have led to enforcement actions&;#63; If Trump had actually claimed this was a campaign-related expense and had used campaign funds to make the payment‚ I have no doubt he would have been prosecuted by the feds for the illegal use of campaign funds to pay a personal expense. That’s what former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.‚ D-Ill.‚ went to prison for after he pleaded guilty in 2013 to spending $750‚000 on personal expenses. Keep in mind that Bragg’s entire manufactured case of 34 counts of falsifying business records depends entirely on the legitimacy of his contention that the settlement payment should have been listed as a campaign-related expense. It shouldn’t because it wasn’t.  And all of the other testimony from the prosecution’s witnesses about this payment and other settlement payments that are obviously intended to blacken the character of the former president and prejudice the jury doesn’t change the fact that none of these payments were campaign-related expenses. Period. End of story—or at least it should be. The post Trump’s NY Prosecution Is a Bogus Case by a Bogus Prosecutor appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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In 2016‚ the sea ice in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea developed an enormous hole twice the size of Wales – the country‚ not a pod of giant mammals. The following year it returned‚ but the reasons remained unknown. Now they have been explained as a result of previously understood factors and a rare form of salt transportation.It’s common for areas of open water to appear within sea ice‚ to the extent the phenomenon has a name: a polynya. However‚ the 2016 Maud Rise Polynya was the largest for 40 years. Global heating was thought to have stopped such events‚ might it now be bringing them back&;#63;In an effort to explain the mystery scientists recruited elephant seals as research assistants‚ strapping scientific equipment to their heads. The initial interpretation of that data led meteorologists to attribute the polynya to a mix of unusual ocean conditions and an epic storm.Years later‚ another team have added some new elements to the explanation.One important question to explain is why such a large polynya has now been seen five times in the same place – three times in the 1970s before these two events – but nothing so big has turned up elsewhere. The more recent polynyas occurred near the peak of the sea ice extent in late winter or early spring‚ so this was not a case of thaw coming a little earlier there.Part of the answer lies in a large circular current known as the Weddell Gyre‚ which was unusually strong from 2015-2018. This brought a deep layer of warm salty water to the surface.“This upwelling helps to explain how the sea ice might melt. But as sea ice melts this leads to a freshening of the surface water‚ which should in turn put a stop to the mixing. So‚ another process must be happening for the polynya to persist. There must be an additional input of salt from somewhere‚” said Professor Fabien Roquet of the University of Gothenburg in a statement. The evidence from the trusty seals‚ in collaboration with autonomous floats‚ is that salt rose in turbulent eddies as the current flowed over the Maud Rise‚ the undersea ridge from which the polynya gets its name. The polynya did not form directly over the peak of the rise‚ however‚ instead being centered on its northern flank. Roquet and co-authors attribute this to Ekman transport‚ where water moves at right angles to the direction of the wind‚ rather than running before it.“Ekman transport was the essential missing ingredient that was necessary to increase the balance of salt and sustain the mixing of salt and heat towards the surface water‚” said co-author Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato of the University of Southampton. It’s not something that has been considered in previous efforts to explain polynya formation.The autonomous floats were important‚ but it was the salinity readings these citizen scientists returned that sealed the deal.Image credit: Dan Costa/University of California‚ Santa CruzClimate change may not have been the cause of the Maud Rise Polynya‚ but that doesn’t mean they are unrelated. Ice is an insulator‚ blocking the transfer of energy between ocean and atmosphere. Its absence increases that exchange‚ and the same goes for carbon dioxide. Deep in the Antarctic winter there is little sunlight for the open sea to absorb‚ but that changes come spring‚ when the polynya can lead to additional warming. In this way the polynya can be a microcosm of the decline of southern sea ice that began in 2016 and accelerated drastically last year. “The imprint of polynyas can remain in the water for multiple years after they’ve formed. They can change how water moves around and how currents carry heat towards the continent. The dense waters that form here can spread across the global ocean‚” said Professor Sarah Gille of the University of California San Diego. In 2018 some‚ but not all‚ of the conditions necessary to form polynyas were still present‚ and no large opening appeared.The study is published open access in Science Advances. N.B. With professors from three institutions‚ the list of authors on the paper is an impressive one‚ but we’re disappointed to see that none of the elephant seals are named as research assistants. Maybe they should unionize.

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Puppies represent not just playful companions but also symbols of fresh starts and devotion. They have a unique ability to inject joy into our lives. This is especially true during the festive season when the gift of a puppy can transform an ordinary Christmas into one filled with more love and happy memories than you... The post Grandma and grandpa lose it when they find out they’re getting a puppy appeared first on Animal Channel.