The AP is reporting that Israeli law enforcement has caught the person who has been calling bomb threats into Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, and Jewish American civic organizations throughout the US.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and other institutions in the U.S., marking a potential breakthrough in the case.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear. Israeli media identified him as an American-Israeli dual citizen and said he had been found unfit for compulsory service in the Israeli military.
“He’s the guy who was behind the JCC threats,” Rosenfeld said, referring to the dozens of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centers in the U.S. over the past two months.
The FBI, which had taken part in the investigation, confirmed the arrest but had no other comment.
Israeli police described the local man as the primary suspect in the wave of threats.
Israeli police said the suspect made dozens of calls claiming to have placed bombs in public places and private companies, causing panic and “significant economic damage,” and disrupting public order, including by the hurried evacuations of a number of public venues around the world. The man is suspected of placing threatening phone calls to Australia, New Zealand and also within Israel.
Rosenfeld said the man, from the south of Israel, used advanced technologies to mask the origin of his calls and communications to synagogues, community buildings and public venues. He said police searched his house Thursday morning and discovered antennas and satellite equipment.
“He didn’t use regular phone lines. He used different computer systems so he couldn’t be backtracked,” Rosenfeld said.
While it is unclear what the motive is at this time, “found unfit for compulsory service in the Israeli military” does not exactly inspire confidence in the suspects mental health. Back in February I wrote:
We’ve got some knucklehead who gets his gratification calling these in and seeing the news coverage. He may or may not be a hard core anti-Semite, but he’s basically in it for ego gratification. And based on decades of criminological research into deviance, delinquency, and offending, it is highly likely it is a he. So step up your game ladies! He may or may not even be in the US, given VOIP technology. And he may never intend to do anything but make these calls.
I think this is what we have with this suspect. Whether it is untreated mental health issues or some other driver, he pretty much fits. And the untreated mental health issues would explain a Jewish Israeli-American calling in threats to Jewish American organizations. The problem, however, comes in now that this genius has let the cat out of the bag. As I also wrote in that same post back in February:
Or, also even worse, he never intends to escalate beyond calling in the threats, but someone else who does want to do real, physical damage to property and harm to people does. This individual or individuals waits until the coverage begins to drop off because the calls are every week or every other week like clockwork and the local news decides it needs to cover something more important. And then this person that wants to cause real harm and actually hurt people decides its time to strike because complacency has set in and some synagogue or JCC isn’t going to take the threat as seriously.
And I fully expect that this pattern will at some point be fully extended to mosques and Hispanic and Asian churches, as well as Sikh temples. I know that the Hispanic and Asian churches in my area have seen an increase in both vandalism and threats, just as the synagogues and mosques have, because they are viewed as immigrant places (of worship) and therefore acceptable targets despite being churches.
The perpetrator of the calls has been caught, but it remains to be seen what he has ultimately wrought.
Stay frosty!
Adam L Silverman
Gonna be a busy day. I may, by tonight get to the failed North Korean missile test and yesterdays attacks in London and NY and the failed attack in Antwerp. Maybe…
hovercraft
So a democrat?
Seriously, he has to be mentally ill, I know people love to accuse Jews who vote democratic of being “self hating Jews” but as you say this knucklehead seems to have enjoyed his “power”. I guess we shall see.
Barbara
The perpetrators of cemetery vandalism have not been caught. Those appear to have been more isolated, but have greater shock value.
hovercraft
@Adam L Silverman:
I think you should just go to the gym. That’s an awful lot of awful to write about, and we may be in despair depending what happens with Trumpcare today. If we prevail then write away.
Another Scott
Thanks for your reporting on these issues.
Anyone who would call in threats like this is obviously not right in the head, but doing it from Israel is a special kind of messed up…
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Barbara
@hovercraft: There are more than a few reasons why a Jewish person might do this. The most basic is that he is more familiar with these organizations, how to identify them, how they operate. Second level, something happened to him at such an organization that made him angry. Third level, he wanted to make other people believe that anti-semitism is a real thing (like the woman in Washington State who pretended to be the victim of a hate crime, although it turned out she was also only pretending to be ethnically African-American).
trollhattan
Well now, a virtual “false flag” that will perhaps displease false flag aficionados. Can I guess this guy is a settlements booster, or is that a stretch too far?
scav
@Adam L Silverman: Expression of general awe and gratitude. Undoubted general.
Mike in DC
Kinda wondering two things.
1. Is this guy Russian-American-Israeli?
2. Did he frequent alt-right sites?
Just my paranoia at work, I hope.
TenguPhule
Another Pandora’s box opened. A new exploit for terror to be spread with minimal effort.
If it is confirmed to be him and he’s convicted, Flay the SOB alive. Mentally unstable is no excuse.
rikyrah
Ivanka Trump’s West Wing job isn’t just unethical. It’s also dangerous.
Laws against conflicts of interest protect national security.
By Helen Klein Murillo and Susan Hennessey
March 23 at 6:00 AM
The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is set to join his administration in an unspecified, but reportedly influential policy role. She claims she will not be a government employee despite having an office in the White House, holding a high-level security clearance and performing government work.
In a statement, Ivanka Trump concedes that there is “no modern precedent for an adult child of the president” but pledges to “voluntarily” comply with ethics rules. What the first daughter fails to acknowledge is that the very nature of her proposed role breaches ethical standards to which previous administrations have adhered for generations. That ethical breach does more than “shake up Washington” by breaking with norms and decorum — it threatens our national security.
At their core, ethics rules are national security rules. They are designed to guard against conflicts to reassure the public that individuals trusted with matters of immense national importance are guided only by the best interests of the country. But from the earliest days, President Trump and his children have violated these standards. The president’s questionable conflicts-mitigation strategy put his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., at the helm of his business without removing his financial interest in the companies. One need only look at photos of the two seated in the front row at the White House announcement of Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court to grasp how insufficiently that separates the president from his business interests.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
That’s my thought about this as well (though IANA mental health professional). In my experience, Americans who move to Israel tend to be a little, um, on the wacky side to begin with.
Matt McIrvin
That the guy is Jewish is really, really bad–every Nazi in the world has been insisting that Jews were making these calls themselves to smear white supremacists. They’re posting cartoons showing big-nosed rabbis spray-painting their own synagogues, etc. Now they have an excuse to claim vindication.
rikyrah
Ivanka Trump reminds me of a plantation mistress. Her essential function is to make the horrorific reality into something more “genteel”— Bree Newsome (@BreeNewsome) March 23, 2017
Kryptik
Welp,
Who’s excited for the inevitable deluge of douches crying “false flag” and summarily dismissing the very existence of anti-semitism in Trump’s Great America? Because you know it’s inevitable.
And what the fuck was this asshole thinking? That’s not rhetorical, I really want to know this fucker’s motives.
Gravenstone
@TenguPhule: Can you rein in your fucking bloodthirst for 30 godsdamned seconds?
Brachiator
Sad. Just sad.
Barbara
@Gravenstone: Seriously, to flay someone is a pretty horrific kind of punishment.
OGLiberal
Donald Trump proved fucking right yet again!
/snark
Spanky
While it’s impossible to prove a negative, i.e. there’s no way to say he was the sole one, these sorts of things tend to inspire copycats.
Adam L Silverman
@Barbara: I’m pretty sure they’re not located in Southern Israel…
Brachiator
Meanwhile the suspected London terrorist is Khalid Masood, 52,who “was born in Kent and detectives believe he was most recently living in the West Midlands,” according to a Guardian story. The age of 52 seems a bit old to become radicalized and go out to hurt people. He doesn’t seem to have had a deep criminal or radical background.
RepubAnon
@trollhattan: No, I’d guess this will be used by the alt-right fascist trolls as proof that all such attacks are faked, and that there’s no anti-semitism (except for anti-settlement folks and Palestinians).
Patricia Kayden
@Brachiator: 19 years old and already messed up. Awful.
rikyrah
Where things stand with the Republican health care bill
03/23/17 12:47 PM
By Steve Benen
It’s hard not to feel some trepidation about writing a piece on where things stand with the Republican health care bill, because the existing dynamic is subject to dramatic changes at a moment’s notice. But fortune favors the bold, so let’s dig in.
Is the American Health Care Act going to pass today?
That’s largely dependent on which version of the American Health Care Act we’re talking about. The original bill is dead. The revised bill, written in secret in the middle of the night earlier this week, doesn’t have the votes.
So we’re just waiting for the bill’s inevitable failure?
Not so fast. Overnight, there was talk of a new effort that would move the bill sharply to the right in order to make members of the House Freedom Caucus happy.
What kind of changes are House GOP leaders prepared to offer?
As of noon (ET), there is no new bill, but multiple reports suggest the Republican leadership is prepared to start scrapping essential health benefits – provisions in the Affordable Care Act that require insurers to cover things like prescription drugs and maternity care – in order to woo right-wing members.
You’re making it sound as if some House Republicans believe the existing bill isn’t cruel enough.
Yep.
If the new, more far-right version becomes the official bill, will it pick up enough Freedom Caucus votes to pass?
There is no headcount on this – the bill doesn’t yet exist, and may never exist – so no one knows for sure. For some Freedom Caucus members, scrapping essential health benefits is nice, but it’s not enough. Complicating matters, the House GOP’s center-right members are already running away from the bill, and their opposition will stiffen if the legislation becomes even more regressive.
rikyrah
Reports: Koch Groups Promise Money In Exchange For Vote Against GOP Bill
By MATT SHUHAM
Published MARCH 23, 2017, 10:54 AM EDT
Groups funded by the Koch brothers will financially support Republicans who vote against the House GOP’s American Health Care Act, several outlets reported Wednesday.
According to CNN, groups affiliated with Charles and David Koch – the conservative billionaire industrialists with an extensive network of political advocacy organizations – have unveiled a “new pool of money” to fund things like advertisements and mailings in defense of congresspeople who vote against the American Health Care Act.
CNN did not describe its source for the story, but printed a statement from Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-funded group, who said: “We want to make certain that lawmakers understand the policy consequences of voting for a law that keeps Obamacare intact.”
“We have a history of following up and holding politicians accountable, but we will also be there to support and thank the champions who stand strong and keep their promise,” he continued.
Politico also reported on the fund, described as a “seven-figure” reserve fund.
rikyrah
And I’m supposed to care because?
Health & Science
New research identifies a ‘sea of despair’ among white, working-class Americans
By Joel Achenbach and Dan Keating March 23 at 12:01 AM
Sickness and early death in the white working class could be rooted in poor job prospects for less-educated young people as they first enter the labor market, a situation that compounds over time through family dysfunction, social isolation, addiction, obesity and other pathologies, according to a study published Thursday by two prominent economists.
Anne Case and Angus Deaton garnered national headlines in 2015 when they reported that the death rate of midlife non-Hispanic white Americans had risen steadily since 1999 in contrast with the death rates of blacks, Hispanics and Europeans. Their new study extends the data by two years and shows that whatever is driving the mortality spike is not easing up.
Offering what they call a tentative but “plausible” explanation, they write that less-educated white Americans who struggle in the job market in early adulthood are likely to experience a “cumulative disadvantage” over time, with health and personal problems that often lead to drug overdoses, alcohol-related liver disease and suicide.
“Ultimately, we see our story as about the collapse of the white, high-school-educated working class after its heyday in the early 1970s, and the pathologies that accompany that decline,” they conclude.
The study comes as Congress debates how to dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act. Case and Deaton report that poor health is becoming more common for each new generation of middle-aged, less-educated white Americans. And they are going downhill faster.
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: Heading over around 2:30 PM.
Major Major Major Major
@Gravenstone:
No. SATSQ
Thru the Looking Glass...
Speaking of stochastic violence, would this sort of behavior not qualify?
Conservative news outlets*, including one with links to a top White House official, are singling out individual career government employees for criticism, suggesting in articles that certain staffers will not be sufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump by virtue of their work under former President Barack Obama.
The articles — which have appeared in Breitbart News, the Conservative Review and other outlets — have alarmed veteran officials in both parties as well as current executive branch staffers. They say the stories are adding to tensions between career staffers and political appointees as they begin to implement Trump’s agenda, and they worry that the stories could inspire Trump to try purging federal agencies of perceived enemies.
*links to Politico…
So, if the involved parties keep this up, how long will it be before a self-proclaimed patriot decides he’s got a 2nd Amendment solution to the problem and someone dies?
Bess
@rikyrah:
Thanks you for bringing the meat rather than posting naked links that require us to go fishing.
The Moar You Know
@rikyrah: Because when whites get it bad, or even think they’re getting it bad, it’s guaranteed that soon everyone else gets it worse. Trickle-down, how it works in real life.
Was working for a national company a while back. CEO’s kid got busted for pot. Next week, the call went out – every employee gets drug tested. Since my branch was in the Bay Area, back when the Bay Area was cool (late 80s/early 90s) I lost half my employees. They then threatened me for insufficiently staffing my location. So I left as well.
dmsilev
@rikyrah: There are some reports starting to percolate out that Ryan et al. have delayed the vote until tomorrow. And if they delay once, that’s a bit of an indication that additional delays are possible, and of course the more chum they throw to the Freedom To Die Caucus, the less the rest of the country likes this.
Hey, look, a “death spiral”!
TenguPhule
@Barbara: Pioneering new achievements in terrorism meets my bar for horrific death. Presuming a fair trial and conviction first. I’m not a complete monster, after all.
TenguPhule
@The Moar You Know:
Ah, the famous “Beatings will continue until morale improves”.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Part of this is to avoid giving the CBO something to evaluate. And at this point, the Republicans are close to voting for a single sheet of paper with “Trust Us” scribbled on it.
Timurid
@Brachiator: That’s more an MO for white/Christian nationalists. The Lafayette and Colorado Springs terrorists were middle aged, and a number of recent failed/exposed plots were led or supported by older suspects.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: I think she’s a mistress (and only one of many) in every sense of the word. Trump hasn’t been sleeping with his wife for months and can anyone say with a straight face that Pussygrabber would decide celibacy was an option for him?
Miss Bianca
oops! should have known you’d get to this!
TenguPhule
@Brachiator: LGM summarized it best.
More Money for Us (Republicans)
Fck you. (Everyone else)
Major Major Major Major
CNN alert says “the GOP health care legislation is in limbo this afternoon after multiple meetings at the White House and capitol have failed to produce a deal”
dmsilev
@Brachiator:
Obviously better than the 533,232,000 pages of Obamacare.
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: And by “in limbo”, I assume we’re going to find out how low they can go.
Major Major Major Major
@The Moar You Know:
FTFY
Immanentize
The world war with Russia has begun. FDR is not president, Aldridge Ames is.
hovercraft
Relax America, Twitler will keep us safe, he’s got this!
President Trump was reportedly ‘obsessed’ with translator’s breasts during Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s visit
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: And now we see what Adam (or someone here) has been talking about: how the Citizens United decision has rendered the RNC and the Republican “establishment” moot. What do Republican politicians have to fear from their party establishment, when dark money means so much to so many of them now? They could thumb their noses at Boehner, now they can thumb their noses at Ryan – indeed, they may think they have to. And the most amazing thing is, they wanted this, they rooted for it – and now it’s going to bite them in the colective ass. Wonder if any of the GOP officials are smart enough to see the truth in St Teresa’s dictum, “more tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones”?
Well, Boehner got it. And got the hell out. I bet he’s cackling over a Scotch and soda right now…
Mnemosyne
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
As I keep saying, conservatives now freely admit that “drain the swamp” meant “get rid of anyone who’s not hand-picked by Trump.” They’re trying to pressure people to quit.
And since this is led by Bannon’s own news network, I don’t think “stochastic terrorism” fits. This is straight up state-sponsored terrorism.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Fear and Trembling and the Sickness Unto Death.
This is bad for everyone. This also reminds me of a very recent study that focused on black workers in Los Angeles:
The economy is starting to unravel for many people, and no group is immune.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: If a healthcare bill doesn’t cover prescription drugs, what good is it? That’s quite shocking.
JMG
A bit off topic, but I think worthy of mention. The Arkansas legislature has passed a law that would expand the right to carry firearms into various public places in 2018, including the University of Arkansas football stadium! What could go wrong? Imagine the mixed feelings of coach Bert Bielema. On the one hand, his team will probably get just about every borderline call from the officials and the hell with the replay showed. On the other, well, it might not be good to be down 17 points at the end of the third quarter.
randy khan
I just saw a report that the Freedom Caucus is demanding a guarantee that premiums will go down next year. I bet they also want a pony.
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: well, at the very least, regardless if they pull this steaming pile together, the GOP was denied the most important thing they cared about — passing repeal on the day that Obama signed the ACA into law.
And that, my friends, is a big fuckin deal.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
LGM has had access to the actual Trumpdon’tcare language for a while now.
rikyrah
Trump’s ability to separate fact from fiction is evaporating
03/23/17 10:49 AM—UPDATED 03/23/17 01:43 PM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump told reporters yesterday he felt “somewhat” vindicated about his wiretap conspiracy theory following the bizarre press conferences yesterday from House Intelligence Committee Chairman David Nunes (R-Calif.). The president then turned to Twitter to promote messages saying how right he was.
This was an odd reaction. There’s more to this story than the specific details in the president’s tweets, but the fact remains that when he was making the case for his conspiracy theory, Trump said he was personally targeted, and Nunes said the opposite. He said the surveillance was illegal, and Nunes said the opposite. He said Obama was personally involved, and Nunes said the opposite. He said the surveillance was before the election, and Nunes said the opposite. He said this was all part of a campaign-related scheme, and Nunes said the opposite.
In other words, Trump was “vindicated” to the extent that the president got literally every detail wrong.
I mention all of this because it’s emblematic of a leader who continues to struggle, in alarming ways, to separate fact from fiction. If you haven’t read Trump’s newly published interview with Time magazine’s Michael Scherer, it’s well worth your time. The questions about the president’s awareness of reality and appreciation of objective truths are only going to grow louder as a result of some of his more ridiculous comments.
TenguPhule
There is no matter too small for Rick Perry to stick his nose in.
It should be a crime to be a Republican.
hovercraft
@dmsilev:
Yup.
GOP lawmakers say ObamaCare repeal vote may be delayed
By Jessie Hellmann and Scott Wong – 03/23/17 01:42 PM EDT
The House may delay its vote on the GOP’s ObamaCare replacement plan until Friday or next week, several lawmakers said.
“It didn’t look like today was going to be when we’re going to vote,” said Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) after leaving a meeting with committee chairs and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who controls the House floor schedule.
Roe said a vote may come Friday.
trollhattan
@JMG:
I read that. Add bars and colleges to the list. Guns and crowded drinking establishments…great state or greatest state?
Thru the Looking Glass...
@JMG: yeah, but it’ll give all new meaning to ‘playing out of the shotgun formation’…
hovercraft
And right on cue, Nancy Smash.
Pelosi blasts Trump’s ‘rookie error’ on ObamaCare repeal
By Mike Lillis – 03/23/17 01:54 PM EDT
President Trump may be a master dealmaker, but he made a “rookie error” in racing to repeal ObamaCare without first winning GOP support, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday.
“Rookie’s error, Donald Trump,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol. “You may be a great negotiator; [but it’s a] rookie’s error for bringing this up on a day you clearly are not ready.”
The date is significant, as Thursday marks seven years since Obama signed the bill into law, though it appears the House may delay until Friday or next week, several lawmakers said.
“It didn’t look like today was going to be when we’re going to vote,” said Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), after leaving a meeting with committee chairmen and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who controls the floor schedule.
Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) are struggling to secure the roughly 215 votes they need to pass the measure through the lower chamber, with opposition is coming from two sides.
gvg
@Another Scott: Hmm for some reason I have been remembering a string of church burnings here in Florida and nearby states in the early 90’s. It turned out to be someone who claimed to have been abused by his stepfather a minister…he transferred the hate to churches. Later details I read seemed to show early mental issues. No idea if the alleged abuse actually happened. It was a personal hate though.
False Flag implies deliberate misdirection and a plan. I expect this story will not actually make much sense to anyone else.
The next question is do the calls slow or stop? The arsonist I remember had copycats. Also sometimes police are wrong in an arrest tho that will become apparent with a little more time.
TenguPhule
@randy khan:
The Free Market is sacred, until it isn’t.
Major Major Major Major
@Immanentize: The day is young and there is no bottom to the depths of Republican venality.
sdhays
@Brachiator:
I’ve been wondering about that. The CBO score is critical for the invocation of the Byrd Rule, right? So if these changes blow up the deficit (which it sounds like they very well might), is the idea that the Senate will fix things before passing through reconciliation or just fraudulently use the original score to get around the rule? And if it’s the latter, then the Byrd Rule is essentially meaningless, no?
trollhattan
@hovercraft: Somewhere in heartland America, John Boehner is chuckling as he checks the oil and adjusts the gimbaled drink holder on his riding mower.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Mnemosyne:
Well, they’re not directly asking for someone to rid them of ‘this meddlesome bureaucrat’… yet… the question this begs is, when someone does finally die, is there any chance people at Breitbart, right up to Bannon, can be charged in some way?
And someone will die if they keep this up…
Before you say, no chance, don’t forget… Tom Metzger lost in a case like this…
Spanky
The expected is becoming imminent. Bad news for the local economy:
(WaPo) “Overshadowed executive order sets stage for threatened federal programs, workforce. Layoffs loom.”
Coupla nuggets:
Gonna be some prime real estate in the region going for cheap in the not-too-distant future.
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: I know. But for so many Rs it seems that symbolic actions based on elaborate mythologies matter far more than actual policy or governance. Denying them the anniversary denies them a reason to act quickly.
But as you say, the day is young!
The Moar You Know
@randy khan: That would require Big Government tell Big Business to hand over a shitload of money to their customers, and frankly forego being profitable for a few years.
Don’t think Big Business is going to like that very much.
trollhattan
Duncan Hunter is very happy for the jam-packed news day.
hovercraft
@trollhattan:
Nah, he’s down in Floridah, it’s too cold in Ohio right now.
But yes he’s totally cackling and whistling yippidy doo dah.
Immanentize
@The Moar You Know: no, it means health “insurance” will look like dental “insurance”. You get two check ups a year and one set of X-rays. And some discount, maybe 30%, on approved procedures. The rest you pay for. But the premiums will be low.
Major Major Major Major
@Immanentize:
Why, it’s almost as if their ideology consists entirely of magical thinking!
Thru the Looking Glass...
@trollhattan: My money sez Duncan tries to lay the blame for this on the Deep State…
Brachiator
@sdhays:
The Republicans are pretty much saying that when it comes to passing their agenda, rules don’t matter.
trollhattan
@hovercraft:
I could see that. When’s meltoff season in Ohio? That lawn is gonna need tending to.
randy khan
@Spanky:
Most of those agencies exist because of requirements in laws passed by Congress. So I’m not holding my breath that we’re going to get any action on the plan (if it ever materializes) any time soon.
randy khan
@The Moar You Know:
Like I said, they also want a pony. And the pony is more likely.
Tehanu
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
Jesus F. H. Christ. They’re not supposed to be “loyal” to President* Dump. They’re supposed to be loyal to the Constitution and the American people. I wish the fkg Republican Party would just go ahead and change its name to Authoritarian Assholes of America. They’ve been that since approximately 10 minutes after Lincoln died anyway.