The forests and lakes around Olympia, Washington is one of the most idyllic places in America.  Since 1954, there’s been a wonderful summer camp for Jewish kids – Camp Solomon Schechter – where they can hike, swim, canoe, fish, climb trees and rappel down them, and have an abundance of just plain fun.

Generations of young Jews have grown up with fondest memories of their time here.  That’s why it’s so sad that people are now calling it Camp Stupid.

Last week, the camp hosted a group of children from an Israeli organization Kids4Peace, some of whom are Moslem.  “For a teachable moment,” the camp directors declared, a Palestinian flag would be flown over the camp next to the flags of America and Israel, “as a sign of friendship and acceptance.”

Condemnation was swift, such as the FoxNews headline (7/31), Jewish Summer Camp Hit for Flying The Palestinian Flag in ‘Teachable Moment’.

The “teachable moment” for Jews is that it symbolizes two points:

1. Our desperate need to be loved.

2. It happened at the time when an Islamic preacher in California got caught sermonizing death to all Jews.

Venezuela’s oil industry is at risk of sudden collapse as funding dries up and the US tightens sanctions, threatening to shatter the beguiling calm in global crude markets.

West Texas crude briefly spiked above $50 a barrel for the first time since late May after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro pressed ahead with a rigged election on Sunday (7/30) in defiance of the US, the EU, and the leading Latin American powers.

President Donald Trump threatened “strong and swift economic sanctions” before the weekend vote. On Monday (7/31), Washington followed through and imposed personal sanctions on Mr. Maduro but this is essentially gesture politics.

Mr. Trump's own credibility is now on the line as the 'Chavista' revolution throws down the gauntlet.    

Edwin Morse and Tina Fordham from Citigroup say a political showdown with Washington is now almost unavoidable. A core feature of the emerging ‘Trump Doctrine’ is “the sanctity of red lines”. This White House vows to deliver on its threats, insisting that it will not waver as Barack Obama did over Syria.

Chinese scholar and author Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”  He was in prison at the time and not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo.  It was his fourth incarceration by the Communists. 

It was his last.  He would stay in prison until he died three weeks ago.

As he lay on his deathbed late June, a mysterious video surfaced on YouTube, showing him undergoing medical treatment while in custody and telling medical staff he “greatly appreciated” the care he was given.

While news of his terminal liver cancer was met with shock and disbelief around the globe, China’s state propaganda machine swiftly moved into high gear to make sure its version of the story was dominating public discourse.

The government’s attempt to monopolize the storyline related to Liu’s illness and death is part of a radical change in the way the Chinese government uses the media. Instead of hushing up issues it found embarrassing like in the past, it is now aggressively manipulating the public discourse with Fake News.

The Republican congressional leadership’s failure to repeal Obamacare has led to suggestions that, perhaps, they should have approached their task through “Regular Order.”

Since Congress has not operated under “Regular Order” at all since 2006, and with decreasing frequency in the decades before that, many may be excused for not knowing what these procedures are. Far from being arcane ephemera, they are the indispensable catalyst that makes American government responsible to the people.

Casting aside “Regular Order” was essential to the rise of the unaccountable administrative state and the near-sovereignty of party leaders, lobbyists, and bureaucrats.

Herewith, a summary of what “Regular Order” means, what purpose it once served, why and how it was shunned, and of what has ensued.  In short, if you want to end Republican-Democrat Uniparty collusion to frustrate what voters want, restore Regular Order.

Between 2008 and 2016, the media were unapologetic about their adoration of President Barack Obama. Now, they are energized by their thorough loathing of President Donald Trump.

In tragic fashion, the Hubris of deifying Obama has now come full circle to the Nemesis of demonizing Trump. The common denominator of the two extremes is the abandonment of disinterested reporting.

When Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, the media relinquished all pretenses of objectivity. Instead, journalists quickly started worshipping candidate Obama in a manner never quite seen before, not even in the days of the iconic liberal presidents like Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

By the time of the 2016 presidential race, the media had fully lost their credibility as disinterested guardians of objective truth. The John Podesta Wikileaks trove revealed that a number of marquee reporters were openly colluding with Clinton to defeat Trump.

Once the media crossed the Rubicon of partisanship, there was no turning back. The unchecked ebullience that they had showed for Obama has now been replaced by an undisguised hatred for Donald Trump. Just as journalists saw no negative repercussions in their adoration of Obama, they are now able to denigrate the conservative populist Trump without consequences.

What caused the media's Trump meltdown? There are a variety reasons.

A raft of top European companies will be forced to pull out of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project with Russia or face crippling sanctions under draconian legislation racing through the US Congress.

Berlin and Brussels have threatened retaliation if Washington presses ahead with penalties on anything like the suggested terms, marking a dramatic escalation in the simmering trans-Atlantic showdown over America’s extra-territorial police powers.

A consortium of Shell, Engie, Wintershall, Uniper, and Austria’s OMV is providing half the $11 billion funding for the 760-mile pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany. “This is a spectacular interference in internal European affairs,” says Isabelle Kocher, the director-general of Engie in France.

There are many voices in Europe, however, who see Nord Stream 2 as spectacular collusion between Berlin/Brussels and the Kremlin.  Here’s how it’s easy to see why.