Terrorists need improvement in their material status - Western Belief

 Hi – I'm reading "SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner and wanted to share this quote with you.

"Conventional wisdom holds that the typical terrorist comes from a poor family and is himself poorly educated. This seems sensible. Children who are born into low-income, low-education families are far more likely than average to become criminals, so wouldn’t the same be true for terrorists? To find out, the economist Alan Krueger combed through a Hezbollah newsletter called Al-Ahd (The Oath)""and compiled biographical details on 129 dead shahids (martyrs). He then compared them with men from the same age bracket in the general populace of Lebanon. The terrorists, he found, were less likely to come from a poor family (28 percent versus 33 percent) and more likely to have at least a high-school education (47 percent versus 38 percent). A similar analysis of Palestinian suicide bombers by Claude Berrebi found that only 16 percent came from impoverished families, versus more than 30 percent of""rorist groups to the al Qaeda members who carried out the September 11 attacks in the United States."

"Furthermore, as Krueger points out, crime is primarily driven by personal gain, whereas terrorism is fun""fundamentally a political act. In his analysis, the kind of person most likely to become a terrorist is similar to the kind of person most likely to…vote. Think of terrorism as civic passion on steroids."

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/iniy7ig

Trump Pardons His Family’s Crypto Pal

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-pardons-changpeng-zhao-binance-9981ead2?mod=hp_opin_pos_2

America’s Founders made the presidential pardon power absolute, and they did so as a protection against injustice. But Hamilton and Madison might be having second thoughts as they watch President Trump dole out pardons as a form of political legal tender.

In the latest example, Mr. Trump on Wednesday pardoned crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao, who happens to be a Trump family business partner. “I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people,” Mr. Trump said. “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything.”

Toddler dies of measles in Jerusalem

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416818

A two-year-old girl has died at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem from complications caused by measles, raising the death toll of the ongoing outbreak of the disease to eight, all under the age of two and a half years.

"We know that the illness is being underdiagnosed, and there are a few thousand additional patients with the disease," Sharon Alroy-Preis, Israel's chief epidemiologist, said. So far, 562 patients have been hospitalized, of whom 90% are children, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. "It is clear to us that the morbidity continues and will continue. We hope that we won't see an additional increase in scope, but we need to remember that there are still thousands of unvaccinated children in Jerusalem and other localities."

‘America First’ is becoming ‘Trump First’ as the president eyes global power

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/15/politics/trump-argentina-milei-israel-gaza-ukraine-putin-analysis

Donald Trump has his finger in an awful lot of global pies for a president who was supposed to put America first.

Trump on Tuesday threatened to disarm Hamas if it didn’t give up its weapons in Gaza, raising speculation about a US military role, and crowed about obliterating another speedboat off Venezuela in his legally dubious war against drug cartels.

iddle of a US government shutdown that he claims forced him to fire hundreds of federal workers for lack of funds, he dangled a $20 billion economic bailout for Argentina — but only if voters there shore up his scandal-hit populist pal President Javier Milei.

Trump also publicly tossed around Ukraine’s desire for him to send Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike deep inside Russia. This might risk the direct US clash with Moscow that he spent months warning against on the 2024 campaign trail. But the threat might repair his crumbled prestige after President Vladimir Putin has mocked his peace efforts.

Trump’s new zeal for global entanglements might surprise MAGA voters who thought the president meant to exclusively take care of business at home.

In his second term, as he smashes constitutional and legal restraints at home, he’s added a new dimension to his foreign policy — seeking to secure personal prestige, his legacy, a Nobel Peace Prize and a place among the world’s most powerful strongmen.

Sometimes, it feels like “America First” has become Trump first.

Ben Shapiro says Trump’s $230M DOJ payout push is ‘rife with conflicts of interest’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5573489-shapiro-slams-trump-doj-payment-effort/?tbref=hp

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on Saturday slammed President Trump’s effort to receive a $230 million payment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) as compensation for the various federal probes into his conduct.

“I think that it’s rife with conflicts of interest,” Shapiro told NewsNation’s Batya Ungar-Sargon. 

Who Is Winning New Jersey Election? What Polls Show 10 Days Out

 https://www.newsweek.com/who-is-winning-new-jersey-election-what-polls-show-10-days-out-10926460

Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., previously told Newsweek Sherrill would still likely win. "It's hardly a surprise to see the Ciattarelli PAC publish a poll result in the run-up to early in-person voting showing their candidate gaining in the race," he said.

"But the reality is that New Jersey is a longtime Democrat state and it would be a major shock if Mikie Sherrill didn't prevail.

"Disquiet with the president, the ongoing legislative shutdown and the continuing economic struggle for average New Jerseyites mean they're likely to stick with the Dems at the head of state government."

Destroying White House and Corruption

Aide to Republican candidate for NJ governor says he isn’t ‘taking money from Jews’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/aide-to-republican-candidate-for-nj-governor-says-he-isnt-taking-money-from-jews

Following Nadeem’s remarks, Ciattarelli took to the stage and praised Nadeem, telling the crowd that the adviser “hasn’t let me down one day” since the pair met eight months ago.

He also boasted that he was the “first gubernatorial candidate in history that has a Muslim as part of his inner circle of advisers.”

“Unmitigated Disaster for Jack:” What They’re Saying as Ciattarelli’s Campaign Defends Homophobic, Antisemitic Senior Advisor

 https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/unmitigated-disaster-for-jack-what-theyre-saying-as-ciattarellis-campaign-defends-homophobic-antisemitic-senior-advisor

As a Ciattarelli campaign Executive Director’s comments that they aren’t “taking money from Jews” and want a “ban on same-sex marriage” draw more and more scrutiny, instead of doing what any normal campaign would do – immediately denouncing and firing this individual for his disgusting comments – the Ciattarelli campaign is doubling down, telling reporters it “stands by” him.

Rider University Rebovich Institute Director Micah Rasmussen summed it up simply: This is “an unmitigated disaster for Jack.”

And as Jack refuses mounting pressure to fire this senior advisor, it’s only getting worse.

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy stirs Jews in New York – and beyond

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/25/mamdani-israel-newyork-jews

But it is his stance on Israel — including its right to any kind of Jewish identity — and his positions on Palestinian rights that have proved the most emotional issues of the race. And in the closing days of the New York mayor’s race, sharp debates over antisemitism and Islamophobia, present from the moment of Mamdani’s upset primary win, have reached a crescendo.

“When public figures like New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, they, in the words of New York Board of Rabbis president Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, ‘Delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews,’” the petition said.

“This is something starting to make Jewish people very, very nervous,” he said. “Throughout the country, Jews have a wide range of opinions on any action the state does. Many, many Zionist Jews are highly critical of Israel, just like there are American patriots critical of our government. That doesn’t mean our government shouldn’t exist.”

At the same time, Mamdani has been embraced by Jewish progressives dedicated to the cause of Palestinian rights. Mamdani declined to be interviewed for this piece.

How Trump’s ballroom will dwarf the White House

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/25/trump-white-house-ballroom-east-wing

Trump’s new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom would be almost as large as the rest of the complex.

President Donald Trump’s project to build an expansive new White House ballroom officially broke ground Monday. Crews tore down the East Wing in only four days, despite Trump’s claim that the ballroom wouldn’t interfere with the existing building. There has been little public information released about the layout or design of the addition, which would be the largest ever, with a planned size almost double the footprint of the 55,000-square-foot main section of the White House.

Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan faces growing doubts and diplomatic tensions

 https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/s1c7nw9clg#autoplay

The stream of senior U.S. officials landing in Israel does not signal the arrival of lasting peace promised by President Donald Trump — nor the positive change in the Middle East that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already claimed credit for. Instead, it reflects growing panic in Washington, where the administration is struggling to conclude Phase One of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan. The U.S. lacks even the beginnings of a framework accepted by all parties, let alone a practical roadmap or funding for implementing Phase Two.

The panic stems from concerns that Netanyahu — as he did after the previous hostage deal this past winter — will seize on Hamas' stalling tactics and the broader implementation hurdles as justification to resume the war. Washington is well aware that members of Netanyahu’s government, and likely Netanyahu himself, believe Hamas can only be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized through an all-out military campaign in which the IDF decisively crushes the terror group. They see the current moment — after the release of all living hostages — as a rare opportunity to strike hard from air and land across the entire Gaza Strip, without risking Israeli lives, until Hamas fighters surrender.

Trump’s remedy to the panic has been creative, if somewhat crude: "Bibi-sitting" — a form of diplomatic babysitting involving a constant rotation of senior U.S. officials in Israel, whose physical presence is meant to deter Netanyahu from resuming hostilities or blocking humanitarian aid. Notably, this airlift of American envoys no longer includes Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff, who are abroad seeking regional cooperation and unable to personally keep Netanyahu in check.

RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/25/rfk-jr-saturated-fats

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health and human services secretary, is planning to issue guidance encouraging Americans to eat more saturated fats, contradicting decades of dietary recommendations and alarming experts.

Krauss continued: “The guy is looking at evidence in a very cherrypicking kind of ways. There’s certain things that he says that sort of fit what I would consider responsible recommendations regarding processed foods, etc, but then it’s mixed up with this other thing, which makes it sound like the whole recommendation is evidence based, but it’s just not true.”

How a DNA test solved a medical mystery – and revealed a doctor’s decades of deception

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/25/us/dna-test-fertility-fraud

But Peete is far from the only doctor to have committed this type of deception. In 1992, Cecil Jacobson was convicted of 52 counts of fraud and perjury for inseminating his patients with his own sperm and was sent to prison. And the advent of consumer DNA products has led to numerous claims of fertility fraud over the years.