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Who’s bankrolling anti-Israel demos?

Posted: June 18, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christopher Harper

A variety of foundations and high-rollers have been funding the anti-Israel demonstrations.

In a recent editorial, Investor’s Business Daily
outlines some of these links.

–The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has bestowed nearly a half million dollars during the past five years to one of the organizers of the student demos at Columbia University and other campuses, the anti-Zionist  “Jewish Voice for Peace.”

–George Soros’s Tides Foundation finances the Adalah Justice Project, which was involved in the Columbia demonstrations. Tides has assisted the Palestine Legal Defense Litigation Fund, offering representation to the demonstrators. Soros also backs Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity, whose website promotes pro-Palestinian agitation.

In the last several years, California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom raised more than $11 million for the Tides Foundation, almost all of it from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, established by the late Tulsa-based Russian emigre and oil tycoon Charles Schusterman.

In an earlier analysis in City Journal, N.S. Lyons reports on the support the Ford Foundation provides to anti-Israel groups.

For example, prominent activist Linda Sarsour has participated in several high-profile demonstrations that attack Israel and support Hamas. Sarsour, an American of Palestinian heritage, has received $300,000 from the Ford Foundation for MPower Change, which states its work is “to build grassroots Muslim power.”  

“The Ford Foundation’s history of funding radical, even openly violent, racial identitarian groups extends back far earlier than the 2010s. One could even say that the foundation helped invent American identity politics as we know it today,” Lyons writes.

It is a stretch to argue that these foundations and bigwigs have formed a conspiracy to help Hamas. What is clear, however, is that a lot of money is going to agitators with an anti-Israel agenda and pro-Hamas bent.

Baby, you can drive my car

Posted: June 11, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

I bought my last new car the day after the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series.

For those not Philadelphia fans or baseball enthusiasts, that was 16 years ago.

Today, my Saturn Aura is no longer being made. The electronic gauges have mostly failed, and I’ve had to search for competent mechanics to keep the old car running.

A recent Wall Street Journal article confirmed that I was not alone in my lack of desire to buy a new car.

“It’s not just the political class. America’s fleet of cars and trucks is also getting long in the tooth. Last month a study by S&P Global Mobility reported the average age of vehicles in the U.S. was 12.6 years, up more than 14 months since 2014. Singling out passenger cars, the number jumps to a geriatric 14 years,” Dan Neil wrote recently.

“In the past, the average-age statistic was taken as a sign of transportation’s burden on household budgets. Those burdens remain near all-time highs. The average transaction price of a new vehicle is currently hovering around $47,000. While inflation and interest rates are backing away from recent highs, insurance premiums have soared by double digits in the past year,” Neil added.

Moreover, Neil reported that many buyers don’t like designs that include more technology, particularly electric vehicles. “But lately another, stranger element is showing up in the numbers: a motivated belief among consumers that automakers’ latest and greatest offerings—whether powered by gasoline, batteries or a hybrid system—are inferior to the products they are replacing,” Neil wrote. “I cast a wide net on social media last month, posing this question: Name a new car/truck/SUV that is not as desirable as the design it replaces. I got back a long and distinguished list, a roll call of the compromised: Toyota Land Cruiser; Mini Cooper; Ford Mustang; Toyota Crown (née Avalon); Ford F-150; just about every model of BMW you can think of.”

The impact of Trump’s conviction?

Posted: June 4, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

By Christopher Harper

Unlike the media’s ‘experts, ‘ I am in a state of uncertainty, unable to predict how Trump’s conviction in New York will affect the November elections.

The only negative influence on Trump would be if he were sent to prison. That would eliminate his ability to use his effective campaign style to convince voters of his ability to handle the job.

Already, some polls state that conviction will play a limited role in the presidential outcome. But, of course, these are polls months before the actual vote and, therefore, are meaningless.

As one sage told me many years ago: “The only poll that counts is what happens when people go to the ballot box.”

What I do know is that the election will be decided on a variety of issues: the economy, immigration, abortion, and the apparent weakness of the United States in international matters, such as Afghanistan, Israel, and Ukraine.

The issue will fall flat if the Biden campaign focuses on Trump’s conviction.

Moreover, the election’s outcome will be heavily influenced by the usual key states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and a few others. The sway of local issues and the uncertainty surrounding Robert Kennedy’s third-party candidacy could potentially tip the scales in favor of either Biden or Trump.

It’s challenging to gauge Kennedy’s strength other than as a protest vote against the major parties. Only George Wallace and Ross Perot made significant inroads in the presidential election.

The media will continue to focus on Trump’s conviction and the faults they see in his personality. However, the media’s influence in presidential elections has declined significantly in the past decade.

A day in the life of central Pennsylvania

Posted: May 28, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christopher Harper
The chimes at St. James Episcopal Church resonated with a poignant rendition of America the Beautiful, heralding the start of a significant event-the annual Memorial Day parade.

This solemn occasion, marked by a discordant burst from a fire engine in Muncy, Pennsylvania, is a testament to our community’s unwavering respect and remembrance for our fallen veterans.
Marching in unison along Main Street, a diverse group of individuals came together to honor our veterans. Among them were not just veterans, but also volunteers from local businesses, government, civic groups, and churches, demonstrating our community’s collective support and pride.

Just up the road, residents placed flags near the headstones of fallen veterans in the local cemetery.

Not too far away in Pennsdale, some residents are exercising their Constitutional right to protest a large solar power installation without the rancor of recent nationwide demonstrations.

Solar Renewable Energy seeks to install more than 6,000 panels on nearby farmland. The local zoning board has granted a variance to build the solar field.

However, residents have many concerns, including declining property values in the area following the installation, contamination of existing aquifers that supply wells of homes adjacent to the site, stormwater runoff from the disturbance of existing land, glare, and other safety concerns.

The local taxpayers plan to take the matter to court if the variance is not rescinded.

Moreover, my wife and I enjoyed chatting with neighbors about the upcoming election. That’s a far cry from our discussions with our neighbors in Philadelphia, where we lived until three years ago.

Days like this remind me how lucky I am to live in a part of the country that harkens back to the days of graciousness and civility.

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