Wednesday Potpourri

First, over at the New York Times, the newspaper that produced a ruckus and lost a senior editor for running an op-ed written by a United States senator and that notably chased editor Bari Weiss from the building for the crime of being Jewish, has run an op-ed by the Hamas-appointed mayor of Gaza City.

Mayor Yahya Serraj offered the Hamas propaganda about the number of victims of Israeli military operations.  

Do we really need to hear the Hamas point of view on these matters? Didn’t we hear it on October 7? 

Second, Richard Kemp has argued that Hamas has outdone even the Nazis in stoking anti-Semitism in the West. From the New York Post:

Hamas is by far the most successful antisemitic entity in the world today.

Beyond all competition, it has mobilized Jew-hatred around the world, using the State of Israel both as its target and its primary weapon. By waging war against Israel over many years, Hamas has inspired and energized international organizations such as the UN and the EU; governments and parliaments; the Western media; university authorities, professors, and students; human rights groups; businesses; and large sectors of the general population.

All dance to its pernicious tune: some out of malevolence, some out of ignorance, and others blindly jumping on the virtue-signaling woke bandwagon.

Consequently, the global scope and scale of Hamas’s antisemitic influence dramatically exceeds even the Nazis from whom it takes much of its own inspiration.

It’s worth keeping this in mind.

Third, hard at work making friends and influencing people, Hamas supporters decided to do some serious damage to their public reputations, by trying to cancel Christmas.

The Daily Mail has the story:

Pro-Palestine protestors clashed with NYPD officers in ugly scenes in New York City as Christmas Day was marred by demonstrations against Israel in several US cities. 

The NYPD confirmed to DailyMail.com it has moved to 'Level Three' police mobilization to combat the protests. A number of arrests are believed to have been made, however the number could not be confirmed as the situation is 'ongoing.' 

Level three mobilization is the second highest alert level in the NYPD, meaning all special units are called into action and squad cars are sent out from every command center in the city. 

What exactly is the Palestinian cause? Does it involve destroying all Western religions, and not just Judaism? We had long suspected as much. Now we know that it is true.

Fourth, dare one mention the obvious. The outpouring of anti-Semitism by American Muslims is not going to improve the reputation of American Muslims. 

Bill Ackman started it all when he asked to see the names of those Harvard students who belonged to organizations that believed Israel to be responsible for October 7. 

Evidently, Harvard did not comply. That implies that employers who are looking to hire from Harvard will most likely consider that any Muslim student sympathized with Hamas. Would you hire such a person for your company?

Losing your reputation, even if you imagine that you now look strong and empowered, will damage you.

Fifth, on the good news front, New York City public schools are losing children. More and more New York parents are withdrawing from the manifestly incompetent public school system and are sending their children to charter schools.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

This has been the year for school choice—from vouchers, to homeschooling, to pod schools with parents who use education savings accounts. The winners include charter schools, as union-run K-12 schools lost hundreds of thousands of students during Covid-19 who haven’t returned.

Charter enrollment is up 9% since 2019, while the number of students in district schools is down 3.5%, according to a new study from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Families have discovered choice,” the report says, “and they like it.”

Sixth, these parents seem to be onto something. According to the New York Post, children who attend charter schools outperform children who attend public schools.

New York City charter school students outscored their public school peers on the state’s standardized reading and math exams for grades 3-8 last academic year, a new analysis reveals.

The gap was particularly glaring among black and Hispanic students, with those at charters scoring leaps beyond their counterparts in public schools, according to the study.

“These are startlingly large gaps that demand further investigation,” the non-profit New York City Charter School Center said in its analysis.

Overall, charter school students scored 7 percentage points higher on the English Language Arts (ELA) exam, with 59% passing versus 52% at schools run by the city Department of Education.

On the math exam, charter kids overall scored 13 percentage points higher — a 63% pass rate compared to 50% at public schools.

Black charter school students outperformed their district counterparts by 19 percentage points — 59% vs. 40% — on the ELA and by 27 percentage points on the math exam, 61% vs. 34%.

Hispanic charter school kids outperformed their public school peers by 16 percentage points (55% vs. 39%) in English and by 25 percentage points (61% vs. 36%) in math.

Seventh, by all appearances these gains have taken place in the absence of racial integration. As you know, some people have insisted that minority children will never excel unless they attend racially integrated schools. It looks like they were wrong.

The New York Post reports:

The city now has 274 charter schools — privately managed and publicly funded– serving 142,500 students, or about 15% of those enrolled in public schools.

Many have a longer school day and school year, set their own curriculum and operate outside the powerful teachers’ union contract.

Ninety percent of students enrolled in city charter schools are black and Hispanic, 80% come from low-income families and nearly 20% have special needs.

“For 25 years, New York City families have trusted charter schools with preparing their children for success in and out of the classroom, and it’s no surprise as to why: charter school students — many of whom come from historically underserved communities — consistently close proficiency gaps, outperform their peers, and excel year after year,” said James Merriman, CEO of the NYC Charter School Center.

Eighth, yesterday was the first day of Kwanzaa. Vice President Kamala Harris marked the occasion, because, what else does she have to do?

Daniel Greenfield recalls the man who invented this holiday, one Ron Karenga:

Kwanzaa was invented by Ron Karenga in 1966. In 1971, he was convicted of stripping, waterboarding and beating a woman in a drug-crazed frenzy Happy Kwanzaa!

Ninth, speaking of genocide, Douglas Murray reminds us that Muslims have been massacring Christians in Africa. 

Over Christmas there was yet another massacre of Christians in northern Nigeria. Six years ago I reported from there on the massacres of Christians carried out by Muslim, Fulani militia. I still cannot understand why the world does not care. 

Tenth, among the day’s bottom stories, this one regarding Fidel Castro’s bastard son. That is, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

Tampons and sanitary napkins are now available in men’s bathrooms at the Canadian Parliament under a new policy from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that requires all federally regulated employers — including airports and military bases — to offer free menstrual products in all washrooms, regardless of gender noted on the door.

The world is on fire. War rages in places it did not rage a mere three years ago. But Justin has continued his woke frivolity.

Eleventh, the robot lost its mind. No kidding. A Tesla robot attacked an engineer at a factory near Austin.

From the Daily Mail:

A Tesla engineer was attacked by a robot during a brutal and bloody malfunction at the company's Giga Texas factory near Austin.

Two witnesses watched in horror as their fellow employee was attacked by the machine designed to grab and move freshly cast aluminum car parts. 

The robot had pinned the man, who was then programming software for two disabled Tesla robots nearby, before sinking its metal claws into the worker's back and arm, leaving a 'trail of blood' along the factory surface.

For the record, the attack occurred in 2021. We do not know whether the robot was indicted.

Twelfth, I have some free consultation hours in my coaching practice. If you are interested, email me at StuartSchneiderman@gmail.com.