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Rabbis Blast Anti-Defamation League CEO Greenblatt for ‘Slanderous’ Attacks

NLPC

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), an organization of 2,500 rabbis, has joined the chorus of complaints about Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Even as antisemitism flares around the globe and Israel faces unprecedented threats, Greenblatt has been trashing American conservatives, using ADL’s good name to promote his domestic partisan goals. “The ADL appears as concerned with a target’s politics as whether he or she is actually hateful—much less antisemitic,” said Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, Chairman of the CJV Rabbinic Circle. Greenblatt’s latest assault was on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), recently held in Washington, D.C. CJV criticized his “slanderous” attacks on what took place at the event, which Greenblatt likened to the rants of Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan. By all accounts, CPAC was a strongly pro-Israel event. As the CJV pointed out, NLPC got a taste of the ADL’s bias in November, despite our long history of fighting antisemitism: In November the ADL issued a statement implying that two policy organizations, the National Center for Public Policy Research and the National Legal and Policy Center, employed “conspiracy theories or conspiratorial language… that could be interpreted as an antisemitic dog whistle.” Both of these organizations are robust fighters for Israel and against antisemitism. This smear of NLPC was in the form of a posting on the ADL website on November 21 titled “Conspiracy Theories, Some With Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 Shareholder Proposals.” ADL cited as evidence that NLPC and our ally, the National Center for Public Policy Research, are critical of “globalism” and “globalist organizations” like the World Economic Forum. The ADL gave a clue that it knew its own attack was groundless when it also included this disclaimer: At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that either organization’s agents espouse overt antisemitism, or that these proposals were filed with antisemitic intentions. Elle Krasne-Cohen in a recent opinion piece distributed by the Jewish News Service, also has come to NLPC’s defense. She wrote: More recently, the ADL smeared two mainstream policy organizations—the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC)—accusing them without evidence of antisemitism. We are grateful that our contributions to fighting antisemitism are being recognized. In case Greenblatt or anyone else is still confused, here is our track record: Ben & Jerry’s- When the Unilever subsidiary Ben and Jerry’s announced in 2021 that it would end ice cream sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” NLPC swung into action, launching the StopBenandJerrys.org website. In September 2021, NLPC filed a Complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Anuradha Mittal, the anti-Israel chair of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. A few weeks later, she was named 2021 “Antisemite of the Year” by the website StopAntisemitism.org. Mittal appeared to have violated laws governing self-dealing by acting as a trustee of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation while approving donations to her personal nonprofit where she is executive director taking a full-time salary. Also, the president of Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation, Jeff Furman, steered more than $100,000 of its funds to his own nonprofit organization. In the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, Flaherty wrote an op-ed titled, “Unilever, Ice Cream and Antisemitism.” Unilever Divestment- NLPC was a proponent of Unilever divestment efforts in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. From the September 16, 2021, New York Times: “We are doing this because somebody has to hold the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s accountable for their anti-Semitic use of their platform and company resources,” said Tom Anderson, a director of the National Legal and Policy Center. NLPC collaborated with activist investor Michael Asher in support of Unilever divestment by New York State and New York City. In Virginia, Flaherty met with State Attorney General Jason Miyares and urged him to seek divestment of state funds from Unilever. In North Carolina, NLPC asked Treasurer Dale Folwell to divest Unilever holdings from public pension funds. Black Lives Matter & Patrisse Cullors- As a result of original NLPC research, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation co-founder Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign from the group in 2021. NLPC’s allegations, detailed in a Complaint to the IRS, related to her purchase of four pieces of real estate, and apparent self-dealing and inurnment. NLPC has also emphasized Cullors’ 2015 call at Harvard Law School for individuals to “step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel.” NLPC was early in reporting about Black Lives Matter’s (BLM) links to anti-Israel groups. In 2016, Carl Horowitz, then a member of the NLPC staff, wrote a website post titled “Black Lives Matter Activists Join Anti-Israel Boycott.” Following October 7, NLPC asked Visa, Inc. to remove its BLM endorsement from its website and condemn Hamas and antisemitism. We had raised the BLM issue earlier in the year at the company’s shareholders’ meeting. NLPC had also raised the issue of Coca-Cola’s support for BLM at the company’s annual meeting. ADL’s Omar Resolution- NLPC has been a persistent critic of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Talib. While we have cited financial irregularities in a Federal Election Commission complaint against Ocasio-Cortez and a House Ethics Committee complaint against Omar, NLPC has also criticized hostility to Jews by these members. In 2019, NLPC endorsed and publicized the ADL-initiated House resolution condemning Omar. See this op-ed titled “Antisemitism and Islamophobia: No Moral Equivalence” by Horowitz. Foreign Funding of U.S. Higher Education- The recent spate of on-campus antisemitic incidents has shed light on the issue of foreign financial support for American colleges and universities, an issue that NLPC has investigated and publicized for several years. See this column by Charles Gasparino that extensively quotes NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar. Al Sharpton- Whereas the present leadership of the ADL has sought to erase Sharpton’s past, NLPC will not forget his incitements in the 1991 Crown Heights riots, in which a Jew was murdered, nor will we forgive his dangerous statements, such as “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” Sharpton was fined $285,000 in 2005 by the Federal Election Commission as a result of an NLPC Complaint for running an “off the books” presidential campaign. For several years, NLPC raised the issue of support for Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) at the shareholders’ meetings of American corporations, including PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive. Unlike the ADL, NLPC has never used the fight against antisemitism as a partisan weapon. In 2010, NLPC objected to the sponsorship of Sharpton’s National Action Network annual meeting by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the participation of then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele. In 2009, NLPC asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end his partnership with Sharpton in a campaign for “education reform.” That same year, NLPC criticized then-President George W. Bush for praising Sharpton. Jesse Jackson- In 2005, the New York Stock Exchange ended its financial support for Jackson’s Citizenship Education Fund, in response to a demand by NLPC that cited Jackson’s 1984 “hymie” and “Hymietown” comments, as well as financial improprieties involving the Fund. And if none of this is good enough for Greenblatt, it should be noted that NLPC has many Jewish supporters, including prominent individuals and former government officials, several of whom serve on the boards of local and national Jewish organizations. From 2001 to the time of his death in 2019, Edward M. Ackerman of Dallas was a key advisor and major donor to NLPC. His legacy is carried on today by NLPC and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The ADL itself has partnered with the Ackerman Center. Founded in 1991, the National Legal and Policy Center promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 drene@nlpc.org Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

March 07, 2024 04:19 PM Eastern Standard Time

Roughly Half of Nations That Invest in AI Develop Their Own Generative Models, Reveals the First Global GenAI Landscape

AIport

AIport, an online community dedicated to covering the latest international ML developments, has crafted the first volume of its Global Generative AI Landscape 2024. This initial edition examines notable GenAI players worldwide across several key categories. This is the first generative AI landscape analysis to emphasize regional attributes and encompass four times more nations than the average GenAI landscape available to the public. The research process involved examining all 62 countries invested in the AI market, as featured in the Global AI Index by Tortoise. In-house model developers were identified, filtered by the team of editors and data scientists, and subsequently cross-referenced with current GenAI landscapes from Sequoia Capital, Antler, Base10, and others, before being segmented into ten GenAI categories. As the final step, the data was divided into continental regions: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. The first volume of the global GenAI landscape from AIport aims to present a balanced view of international companies, encompassing not only Western firms, but also those from other regions. The landscape offers a comprehensive analysis, detailing which players are developing GenAI solutions, their locations, and the specific nature of their contributions. It contains a total of 128 generative models from 107 companies. As Avi Chawla, a data scientist and community manager at AIport, put it: “We noticed that many generative AI landscapes tend to focus either on the Silicon Valley giants or the tech powerhouses of Europe, covering no more than 10 countries on average. While this approach does serve its purpose, it can’t really offer a complete picture. To address this, we decided to dig deeper, and this is what we came up with after weeks of research. We believe Volume 1 of our Global Generative AI Landscape 2024 provides an objectively international outlook. And we’re also planning to delve into other aspects of GenAI more closely in the future.” The landscape and key highlights Of the 62 countries listed in the Global AI Index, only 35 develop their GenAI solutions in-house. Roughly 90% of them focus on one model type. Regional leaders by the number of active GenAI companies are North America – USA; South America – Argentina; Europe – UK and France; Asia – China and Israel; Oceania – Australia and New Zealand; Africa – South Africa. The average number of GenAI models per company is the highest in North America, being the only region to have at least one model from each of the 10 model categories. Approximately 10% of all companies covered in the study have implemented multimodality in their GenAI models, with a majority of these developers located in the US. This indicates that while multimodality represents an emerging trend, its adoption outside North America still remains in the nascent stages. A total of 11 companies worldwide have developed more than one type of GenAI model. Stability AI leads with five distinct GenAI model types (image, video, audio, 3D, and code), followed closely by OpenAI (chatbot, audio, video, and multimodal) and Google (text, image, audio, and multimodal) – both with four model types. Microsoft, Meta, Tencent, Baidu, and Yandex are among those companies that developed between two to three types of distinct GenAI models. 13 companies have developed multiple models within a single GenAI category. AssemblyAI has two speech-to-text models, MosaicML offers two iterations of its MPT for code generation, while IPOXCap has introduced two chatbots designed for business intelligence applications. About AIport AIport is an online community of AI writers, researchers, and data scientists that aims to provide a transnational perspective on AI. Recognizing that most ML-related publications primarily focus on the “big leagues” in the West, AIport seeks to be more inclusive by widening the angle and broadening the narrative. This approach ensures a more diverse and impartial representation, offering a well-rounded take to the global AI community. Contact Details NettResults LLC Nick Leighton +1 949-478-5880 nick.leighton@nettresultsllc.com Company Website https://aiport.substack.com/

March 07, 2024 10:22 AM Pacific Standard Time

Comcast Boosts Speeds for More Than 12 Million Xfinity Internet Customers

Comcast California

Today, millions of Xfinity Internet customers who subscribe to value-focused products – Connect, Connect More, Fast and Prepaid – are waking up to faster speeds at no additional cost. As the need for data increases in ever-connected households, Xfinity is ensuring customers can stream, surf, and share on a network and service they can rely on today and in the future. “For more than 20 years, we have shown our appreciation to our customers with annual speed increases,” said Emily Waldorf, Senior Vice President, Consumer Internet Services, Comcast. “Streaming live sports, gaming, and other data-rich applications are driving Internet consumption to new heights, and with the potential that funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will not be renewed, this year we have really leaned into boosting speeds for our value portfolio so all our customers can take advantage of these new capabilities.” Starting today, new and existing customers can take advantage of the following speed increases: Connect: 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps Connect More: 200 Mbps to 300 Mbps Fast: 400 Mbps to 500 Mbps Xfinity Prepaid: 50 Mbps to 200 Mbps Value Beyond Fast Speeds The speed increases rolling out today are made possible by Comcast’s fiber-based network which has been built to deliver an exceptional Internet experience, ubiquitously, to the more than 60 million homes and businesses across the country. It is a culmination of years of research, technological breakthroughs, and massive investments, more than $20 billion since 2018 alone, in development and infrastructure. Fast speed is an important feature of a comprehensive connectivity experience that also combines this powerful network with sophisticated hardware and software to deliver incredible benefits to consumers: Reliability – Fast Internet speeds won’t matter if you don’t have a reliable broadband connection. Xfinity has greater than 99 percent reliability, and the Xfinity network utilizes artificial intelligence to keep customers connected by fixing issues before they even affect homes. Digital Security – xFi Advanced Security, included for free for customers who lease an Xfinity gateway, protects connected devices from malware and other threats at the gateway before they reach connected household devices. Since launching xFi Advanced Security, Xfinity has stopped more than 10 billion cyber security threats. Next-Level WiFi – Next-generation Xfinity gateways deliver advanced WiFi capacity to power hundreds of devices in homes and more than a billion devices each year across Comcast’s network. Later this year, Comcast will introduce its latest gateway, the XB10, the first to incorporate unified DOCSIS 4.0, WiFi 7, and AI technologies. The XB10 will be capable of delivering symmetrical multi-gig speeds over WiFi and connect up to 300 devices. WiFi Boost Pods work with Xfinity gateways to extend WiFi coverage to hard-to-reach areas of the home. The latest WiFi extender, Storm-Ready WiFi, is Xfinity’s most powerful device to date and helps maintain a strong connection even if the power goes out. Visit an Xfinity store or visit Xfinity.com to learn more about Storm-Ready WiFi. Keeping Customers Connected The federal government recently announced that the Affordable Connectivity Program could end as early as April if it does not receive additional funding. The speed increases rolling out today will help to ensure those who may be affected by the end of ACP will continue to have access to fast, affordable, reliable Internet options. Xfinity Promotional Offers – Xfinity is making its current promotional offers on other tiers of service available for new and existing ACP participants. Customers are encouraged to call 1-800-Xfinity to learn more about what offers may be available in their area. Teams are ready to work with customers to move them to a plan that best fits their budget and connectivity needs if they will no longer be able to afford their current tier of service without the $30 ACP benefit. Internet Essentials – Xfinity customers benefitting from ACP are automatically eligible to enroll in Internet Essentials for as low as $9.95 a month or Internet Essentials Plus, which doubles the speed of traditional Internet Essentials for $29.95 per month. Both services provide fast and reliable home Internet with no credit checks or cancellation fees and come with equipment included. To learn more about Xfinity’s Internet and connectivity solutions for customers, click here. About Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. From the connectivity and platforms we provide, to the content and experiences we create, our businesses reach hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests worldwide. We deliver world-class broadband, wireless, and video through Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky; produce, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through brands including NBC, Telemundo, Universal, Peacock, and Sky; and bring incredible theme parks and attractions to life through Universal Destinations & Experiences. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information. Contact Details Comcast California Adriana Arvizo +1 925-200-1919 Adriana_Arvizo@comcast.com Company Website https://california.comcast.com/

March 07, 2024 09:15 AM Pacific Standard Time

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Rabbis Blast Anti-Defamation League CEO Greenblatt for ‘Slanderous’ Attacks

NLPC

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), an organization of 2,500 rabbis, has joined the chorus of complaints about Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Even as antisemitism flares around the globe and Israel faces unprecedented threats, Greenblatt has been trashing American conservatives, using ADL’s good name to promote his domestic partisan goals. “The ADL appears as concerned with a target’s politics as whether he or she is actually hateful—much less antisemitic,” said Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, Chairman of the CJV Rabbinic Circle. Greenblatt’s latest assault was on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), recently held in Washington, D.C. CJV criticized his “slanderous” attacks on what took place at the event, which Greenblatt likened to the rants of Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan. By all accounts, CPAC was a strongly pro-Israel event. As the CJV pointed out, NLPC got a taste of the ADL’s bias in November, despite our long history of fighting antisemitism: In November the ADL issued a statement implying that two policy organizations, the National Center for Public Policy Research and the National Legal and Policy Center, employed “conspiracy theories or conspiratorial language… that could be interpreted as an antisemitic dog whistle.” Both of these organizations are robust fighters for Israel and against antisemitism. This smear of NLPC was in the form of a posting on the ADL website on November 21 titled “Conspiracy Theories, Some With Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 Shareholder Proposals.” ADL cited as evidence that NLPC and our ally, the National Center for Public Policy Research, are critical of “globalism” and “globalist organizations” like the World Economic Forum. The ADL gave a clue that it knew its own attack was groundless when it also included this disclaimer: At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that either organization’s agents espouse overt antisemitism, or that these proposals were filed with antisemitic intentions. Elle Krasne-Cohen in a recent opinion piece distributed by the Jewish News Service, also has come to NLPC’s defense. She wrote: More recently, the ADL smeared two mainstream policy organizations—the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC)—accusing them without evidence of antisemitism. We are grateful that our contributions to fighting antisemitism are being recognized. In case Greenblatt or anyone else is still confused, here is our track record: Ben & Jerry’s- When the Unilever subsidiary Ben and Jerry’s announced in 2021 that it would end ice cream sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” NLPC swung into action, launching the StopBenandJerrys.org website. In September 2021, NLPC filed a Complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Anuradha Mittal, the anti-Israel chair of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. A few weeks later, she was named 2021 “Antisemite of the Year” by the website StopAntisemitism.org. Mittal appeared to have violated laws governing self-dealing by acting as a trustee of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation while approving donations to her personal nonprofit where she is executive director taking a full-time salary. Also, the president of Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation, Jeff Furman, steered more than $100,000 of its funds to his own nonprofit organization. In the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, Flaherty wrote an op-ed titled, “Unilever, Ice Cream and Antisemitism.” Unilever Divestment- NLPC was a proponent of Unilever divestment efforts in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. From the September 16, 2021, New York Times: “We are doing this because somebody has to hold the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s accountable for their anti-Semitic use of their platform and company resources,” said Tom Anderson, a director of the National Legal and Policy Center. NLPC collaborated with activist investor Michael Asher in support of Unilever divestment by New York State and New York City. In Virginia, Flaherty met with State Attorney General Jason Miyares and urged him to seek divestment of state funds from Unilever. In North Carolina, NLPC asked Treasurer Dale Folwell to divest Unilever holdings from public pension funds. Black Lives Matter & Patrisse Cullors- As a result of original NLPC research, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation co-founder Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign from the group in 2021. NLPC’s allegations, detailed in a Complaint to the IRS, related to her purchase of four pieces of real estate, and apparent self-dealing and inurnment. NLPC has also emphasized Cullors’ 2015 call at Harvard Law School for individuals to “step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel.” NLPC was early in reporting about Black Lives Matter’s (BLM) links to anti-Israel groups. In 2016, Carl Horowitz, then a member of the NLPC staff, wrote a website post titled “Black Lives Matter Activists Join Anti-Israel Boycott.” Following October 7, NLPC asked Visa, Inc. to remove its BLM endorsement from its website and condemn Hamas and antisemitism. We had raised the BLM issue earlier in the year at the company’s shareholders’ meeting. NLPC had also raised the issue of Coca-Cola’s support for BLM at the company’s annual meeting. ADL’s Omar Resolution- NLPC has been a persistent critic of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Talib. While we have cited financial irregularities in a Federal Election Commission complaint against Ocasio-Cortez and a House Ethics Committee complaint against Omar, NLPC has also criticized hostility to Jews by these members. In 2019, NLPC endorsed and publicized the ADL-initiated House resolution condemning Omar. See this op-ed titled “Antisemitism and Islamophobia: No Moral Equivalence” by Horowitz. Foreign Funding of U.S. Higher Education- The recent spate of on-campus antisemitic incidents has shed light on the issue of foreign financial support for American colleges and universities, an issue that NLPC has investigated and publicized for several years. See this column by Charles Gasparino that extensively quotes NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar. Al Sharpton- Whereas the present leadership of the ADL has sought to erase Sharpton’s past, NLPC will not forget his incitements in the 1991 Crown Heights riots, in which a Jew was murdered, nor will we forgive his dangerous statements, such as “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” Sharpton was fined $285,000 in 2005 by the Federal Election Commission as a result of an NLPC Complaint for running an “off the books” presidential campaign. For several years, NLPC raised the issue of support for Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) at the shareholders’ meetings of American corporations, including PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive. Unlike the ADL, NLPC has never used the fight against antisemitism as a partisan weapon. In 2010, NLPC objected to the sponsorship of Sharpton’s National Action Network annual meeting by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the participation of then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele. In 2009, NLPC asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end his partnership with Sharpton in a campaign for “education reform.” That same year, NLPC criticized then-President George W. Bush for praising Sharpton. Jesse Jackson- In 2005, the New York Stock Exchange ended its financial support for Jackson’s Citizenship Education Fund, in response to a demand by NLPC that cited Jackson’s 1984 “hymie” and “Hymietown” comments, as well as financial improprieties involving the Fund. And if none of this is good enough for Greenblatt, it should be noted that NLPC has many Jewish supporters, including prominent individuals and former government officials, several of whom serve on the boards of local and national Jewish organizations. From 2001 to the time of his death in 2019, Edward M. Ackerman of Dallas was a key advisor and major donor to NLPC. His legacy is carried on today by NLPC and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The ADL itself has partnered with the Ackerman Center. Founded in 1991, the National Legal and Policy Center promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 drene@nlpc.org Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

March 07, 2024 09:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

Jewish News Syndicate Commentary: Anti-Defamation League ‘Smeared’ National Legal and Policy Center

NLPC

In an opinion piece distributed by the Jewish News Service titled, “When Will the ADL Start Fighting Antisemitism on the Left?, Elle Krasne-Cohen has come to the defense of National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC). She points to the Anti-Defamation League’s embrace of causes like Black Lives Matter and juxtaposes it with an incident closer to home for NLPC: More recently, the ADL smeared two mainstream policy organizations—the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC)—accusing them without evidence of antisemitism. The ADL claimed that mere criticism of “globalism” or “globalist organizations,” including the antisemitic United Nations, is an “antisemitic dog whistle.” Krasne-Cohen continues: The NCPPR and NLPC are mainstream organizations, neither of which, to my knowledge, has displayed antipathy towards Jews or any other racial or religious minority. The smear was in the form of a posting on the ADL website on November 21 titled “Conspiracy Theories, Some With Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 Shareholder Proposals.” The post appeared only six weeks after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, while antisemitic incidents and demonstrations were exploding worldwide. Why the ADL would devote time and resources to attacking NLPC, which has a long history of fighting antisemitism, was completely baffling to us. Equally baffling, the hit piece was dropped as the Thanksgiving holiday was getting underway. It was almost as if the ADL wanted the story out but didn’t want anyone to report it. The strategy, if it existed, worked because no one else covered it. Even more weirdly, the post itself carried this all-purpose disclaimer that tended to negate the impression that every other word of the post was calculated to create: At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that either organization’s agents espouse overt antisemitism, or that these proposals were filed with antisemitic intentions. So what is going on here? What was behind the attempted smear of NLPC and our ally, the National Center for Public Policy Research? Could it be that the ADL just doesn’t like us filing shareholder proposals, a form of activism dominated for many years by the Left? Krasne-Cohen and a number of other Jewish commentators and activists are making this case that the ADL, under the “leadership” of former Obama White House staffer Jonathan Greenblatt, has devolved into an ideological and partisan tool. ADL’s hit and run on NLPC was actually quite clever. Even if no one paid any attention to it when it was published, whoever wrote it (the piece is unsigned) sought to plant it on the internet for anyone to find for years to come. Any journalist seeking to discredit us can now simply describe NLPC as a “group that, according to the ADL, promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories.” It was a nice try but it is not going to work. NLPC’s track record of fighting antisemitism over many years is just too strong. Indeed, while the ADL has been sanitizing antisemitism by partnering with the likes of Al Sharpton, NLPC has been consistent, resolute and effective. To wit: Ben & Jerry’s - When the Unilever subsidiary Ben and Jerry’s announced in 2021 that it would end ice cream sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” NLPC swung into action, launching the StopBenandJerrys.org website. In September 2021, NLPC filed a Complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Anuradha Mittal, the anti-Israel chair of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. A few weeks later, she was named 2021 “Antisemite of the Year” by the website StopAntisemitism.org. Mittal appeared to have violated laws governing self-dealing by acting as a trustee of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation while approving donations to her personal nonprofit where she is executive director taking a full-time salary. Also, the president of Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation, Jeff Furman, steered more than $100,000 of its funds to his own nonprofit organization. In the wake of October 7 Hamas attack, Flaherty wrote an op-ed titled, “Unilever, Ice Cream and Antisemitism.” Unilever Divestment - NLPC was a proponent of Unilever divestment efforts in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. From the September 16, 2021, New York Times: “We are doing this because somebody has to hold the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s accountable for their anti-Semitic use of their platform and company resources,” said Tom Anderson, a director of the National Legal and Policy Center. NLPC collaborated with activist investor Michael Asher in support of Unilever divestment by New York State and New York City. In Virginia, Flaherty met with State Attorney General Jason Miyares and urged him to seek divestment of state funds from Unilever. In North Carolina, NLPC asked Treasurer Dale Folwell requesting divestiture of Unilever holdings in public pension funds. Black Lives Matter & Patrisse Cullors - As a result of original NLPC research, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation co-founder Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign from the group in 2021. NLPC’s allegations, detailed in a Complaint to the IRS, related to her purchase of four pieces of real estate, and apparent self-dealing and inurnment. NLPC has also emphasized Cullors’ 2015 call at Harvard Law School for individuals to “step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel.” NLPC was early in reporting about Black Lives Matter’s (BLM) links to anti-Israel groups. In 2016, Carl Horowitz, then a member of the NLPC staff, wrote a website post titled “Black Lives Matter Activists Join Anti-Israel Boycott.” Following October 7, NLPC asked Visa, Inc. to remove its BLM endorsement from its website and condemn Hamas and antisemitism. We had raised the BLM issue earlier in the year at the company’s shareholders’ meeting. NLPC had also raised the issue of Coca-Cola’s support for BLM at the company’s annual meeting. ADL’s Omar Resolution - NLPC has been a persistent critic of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Talib. While we have cited financial irregularities in a Federal Election Commission complaint against Ocasio-Cortez and a House Ethics Committee complaint against Omar, NLPC has also criticized hostility to Jews by these members. In 2019, NLPC endorsed and publicized the ADL-initiated House resolution condemning Omar. See this op-ed titled “Antisemitism and Islamophobia: No Moral Equivalence” by Horowitz. Foreign Funding of U.S. Higher Education - The recent spate of on-campus antisemitic incidents has shed light an issue on foreign financial support for American colleges and universities, an issue that NLPC has investigated and publicized for several years. See this column by Charles Gasparino that extensively quotes NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar. Al Sharpton - Whereas the present leadership of the ADL has sought to erase Sharpton’s past, NLPC will not forget his incitements in the 1991 Crown Heights riots, in which a Jew was murdered, nor will we forgive his dangerous statements, such as “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” Sharpton was fined $285,000 in 2005 by the Federal Election Commission as a result of an NLPC Complaint for running an “off the books” presidential campaign. For several years, NLPC raised the issue of support for Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) at the shareholders’ meetings of American corporations, including PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive. Unlike the ADL, NLPC has never used the fight against antisemitism as a partisan weapon. In 2010, NLPC objected to the sponsorship of Sharpton’s National Action Network annual meeting by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the participation of then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele. In 2009, NLPC asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end his partnership with Sharpton in a campaign for “education reform.” That same year, NLPC criticized then-President George W. Bush for praising Sharpton. Jesse Jackson - In 2005, the New York Stock Exchange ended its financial support for Jackson’s Citizenship Education Fund, in response to a demand by NLPC that cited Jackson’s 1984 “hymie” and “Hymietown” comments, as well as financial improprieties involving the Fund. And if none of this is good enough for the ADL, it should be noted that NLPC has many Jewish supporters, including prominent individuals and former government officials, several of whom serve on the boards of local and national Jewish organizations. From 2001 to the time of his death in 2019, Edward M. Ackerman of Dallas was a key advisor and major donor to NLPC. His legacy is carried on today by NLPC and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The ADL itself has partnered with the Ackerman Center. Founded in 1991, the National Legal and Policy Center promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 drene@nlpc.org Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

March 04, 2024 03:02 PM Eastern Standard Time

Jewish News Syndicate Commentary: Anti-Defamation League ‘Smeared’ National Legal and Policy Center

NLPC

In an opinion piece distributed by the Jewish News Service titled, “When Will the ADL Start Fighting Antisemitism on the Left?, Elle Krasne-Cohen has come to the defense of National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC). She points to the Anti-Defamation League’s embrace of causes like Black Lives Matter and juxtaposes it with an incident closer to home for NLPC: More recently, the ADL smeared two mainstream policy organizations—the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC)—accusing them without evidence of antisemitism. The ADL claimed that mere criticism of “globalism” or “globalist organizations,” including the antisemitic United Nations, is an “antisemitic dog whistle.” Krasne-Cohen continues: The NCPPR and NLPC are mainstream organizations, neither of which, to my knowledge, has displayed antipathy towards Jews or any other racial or religious minority. The smear was in the form of a posting on the ADL website on November 21 titled “Conspiracy Theories, Some With Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 Shareholder Proposals.” The post appeared only six weeks after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, while antisemitic incidents and demonstrations were exploding worldwide. Why the ADL would devote time and resources to attacking NLPC, which has a long history of fighting antisemitism, was completely baffling to us. Equally baffling, the hit piece was dropped as the Thanksgiving holiday was getting underway. It was almost as if the ADL wanted the story out but didn’t want anyone to report it. The strategy, if it existed, worked because no one else covered it. Even more weirdly, the post itself carried this all-purpose disclaimer that tended to negate the impression that every other word of the post was calculated to create: At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that either organization’s agents espouse overt antisemitism, or that these proposals were filed with antisemitic intentions. So what is going on here? What was behind the attempted smear of NLPC and our ally, the National Center for Public Policy Research? Could it be that the ADL just doesn’t like us filing shareholder proposals, a form of activism dominated for many years by the Left? Krasne-Cohen and a number of other Jewish commentators and activists are making this case that the ADL, under the “leadership” of former Obama White House staffer Jonathan Greenblatt, has devolved into an ideological and partisan tool. ADL’s hit and run on NLPC was actually quite clever. Even if no one paid any attention to it when it was published, whoever wrote it (the piece is unsigned) sought to plant it on the internet for anyone to find for years to come. Any journalist seeking to discredit us can now simply describe NLPC as a “group that, according to the ADL, promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories.” It was a nice try but it is not going to work. NLPC’s track record of fighting antisemitism over many years is just too strong. Indeed, while the ADL has been sanitizing antisemitism by partnering with the likes of Al Sharpton, NLPC has been consistent, resolute and effective. To wit: Ben & Jerry’s - When the Unilever subsidiary Ben and Jerry’s announced in 2021 that it would end ice cream sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” NLPC swung into action, launching the StopBenandJerrys.org website. In September 2021, NLPC filed a Complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Anuradha Mittal, the anti-Israel chair of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. A few weeks later, she was named 2021 “Antisemite of the Year” by the website StopAntisemitism.org. Mittal appeared to have violated laws governing self-dealing by acting as a trustee of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation while approving donations to her personal nonprofit where she is executive director taking a full-time salary. Also, the president of Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation, Jeff Furman, steered more than $100,000 of its funds to his own nonprofit organization. In the wake of October 7 Hamas attack, Flaherty wrote an op-ed titled, “Unilever, Ice Cream and Antisemitism.” Unilever Divestment - NLPC was a proponent of Unilever divestment efforts in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. From the September 16, 2021, New York Times: “We are doing this because somebody has to hold the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s accountable for their anti-Semitic use of their platform and company resources,” said Tom Anderson, a director of the National Legal and Policy Center. NLPC collaborated with activist investor Michael Asher in support of Unilever divestment by New York State and New York City. In Virginia, Flaherty met with State Attorney General Jason Miyares and urged him to seek divestment of state funds from Unilever. In North Carolina, NLPC asked Treasurer Dale Folwell requesting divestiture of Unilever holdings in public pension funds. Black Lives Matter & Patrisse Cullors - As a result of original NLPC research, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation co-founder Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign from the group in 2021. NLPC’s allegations, detailed in a Complaint to the IRS, related to her purchase of four pieces of real estate, and apparent self-dealing and inurnment. NLPC has also emphasized Cullors’ 2015 call at Harvard Law School for individuals to “step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel.” NLPC was early in reporting about Black Lives Matter’s (BLM) links to anti-Israel groups. In 2016, Carl Horowitz, then a member of the NLPC staff, wrote a website post titled “Black Lives Matter Activists Join Anti-Israel Boycott.” Following October 7, NLPC asked Visa, Inc. to remove its BLM endorsement from its website and condemn Hamas and antisemitism. We had raised the BLM issue earlier in the year at the company’s shareholders’ meeting. NLPC had also raised the issue of Coca-Cola’s support for BLM at the company’s annual meeting. ADL’s Omar Resolution - NLPC has been a persistent critic of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Talib. While we have cited financial irregularities in a Federal Election Commission complaint against Ocasio-Cortez and a House Ethics Committee complaint against Omar, NLPC has also criticized hostility to Jews by these members. In 2019, NLPC endorsed and publicized the ADL-initiated House resolution condemning Omar. See this op-ed titled “Antisemitism and Islamophobia: No Moral Equivalence” by Horowitz. Foreign Funding of U.S. Higher Education - The recent spate of on-campus antisemitic incidents has shed light an issue on foreign financial support for American colleges and universities, an issue that NLPC has investigated and publicized for several years. See this column by Charles Gasparino that extensively quotes NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar. Al Sharpton - Whereas the present leadership of the ADL has sought to erase Sharpton’s past, NLPC will not forget his incitements in the 1991 Crown Heights riots, in which a Jew was murdered, nor will we forgive his dangerous statements, such as “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” Sharpton was fined $285,000 in 2005 by the Federal Election Commission as a result of an NLPC Complaint for running an “off the books” presidential campaign. For several years, NLPC raised the issue of support for Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) at the shareholders’ meetings of American corporations, including PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive. Unlike the ADL, NLPC has never used the fight against antisemitism as a partisan weapon. In 2010, NLPC objected to the sponsorship of Sharpton’s National Action Network annual meeting by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the participation of then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele. In 2009, NLPC asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end his partnership with Sharpton in a campaign for “education reform.” That same year, NLPC criticized then-President George W. Bush for praising Sharpton. Jesse Jackson - In 2005, the New York Stock Exchange ended its financial support for Jackson’s Citizenship Education Fund, in response to a demand by NLPC that cited Jackson’s 1984 “hymie” and “Hymietown” comments, as well as financial improprieties involving the Fund. And if none of this is good enough for the ADL, it should be noted that NLPC has many Jewish supporters, including prominent individuals and former government officials, several of whom serve on the boards of local and national Jewish organizations. From 2001 to the time of his death in 2019, Edward M. Ackerman of Dallas was a key advisor and major donor to NLPC. His legacy is carried on today by NLPC and the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The ADL itself has partnered with the Ackerman Center. Founded in 1991, the National Legal and Policy Center promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 drene@nlpc.org Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

March 04, 2024 11:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

Media and Democracy Project Supports Pennsylvania Senators' Request for Swift Action on WTXF License Renewal

Media and Democracy Project

The Media and Democracy Project (MAD) today renewed its call for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a thorough investigation into FOX Corporation's (FOX) conduct before approving the license renewal of FOX 29 Philadelphia (WTXF-TV). MAD submitted comments in support of U.S. Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey’s recent letter, agreeing that the Commission should “act swiftly” and designate the WTXF application for hearing. In light of serious allegations of rule violations and concerns regarding character, MAD emphasizes the critical need for a thorough investigation into a Murdoch-owned FOX broadcasting affiliate. “FOX Corporation’s (FOX) conduct following the 2020 election was so destructive of the national interest that the Commission must designate the application for hearing,” the filing reads in part. “The documents that are the subject of MAD’s motion can only reinforce what is already in the public record, further demonstrating the egregious behavior of FOX and its leadership.” MAD asserts that it has “raised substantial and material questions of fact concerning FOX’s fitness as a licensee based on its promotion of false election narratives and its failure to maintain current political files.” While there is no set timeline for an FCC decision, MAD is encouraging the Commission to: Prioritize a swift but thorough investigation: The Philadelphia community deserves a licensee that operates in the public interest, and any delay in the FCC's decision only prolongs this uncertainty. Grant MAD's Motion for Production of Documents: Access to additional information is crucial to uncovering the truth and ensuring a fair and complete review. Hold a hearing to examine the evidence: MAD believes the seriousness of FOX's alleged misconduct warrants a full and public airing of the facts. “If properly pursued, the Commission likely would conclude that the station is not serving its community well and the community would better be served by a licensee other than FOX,” the filing continues. “Apparently, despite FOX’s entreaties, the senators were willing to give only a lukewarm endorsement to FOX 29, as they would to any television station in the Philadelphia viewing area.” The filing ends, “granting MAD’s Motion for the Production of Documents will enable MAD to bolster its allegations with relevant information not yet in the public domain or available either to it or the Commission. Airing of these documents is essential to the fair and neutral review that the senators request.” The Petition to Deny and Motion for Production of Documents are pending while FOX faces a number of court challenges, including those put forth by election administration company Smartmatic and a host of pension derivative shareholders. The rush by proponents of FOX to support the station and the various calls for its relicensure is more about avoiding the additional scrutiny FOX management is sure to face in the Smartmatic and shareholder lawsuits. Each of these will show what we know to be true from Dominion—management knowingly pushed false news to protect FOX's profits. All the evidence in each of these lawsuits must be evaluated to ensure the FCC has the information necessary to rule on whether FOX, Rupert, and Lachlan Murdoch have the character to remain trustees of the public airwaves. A copy of MAD’s filing can be found here. The Media and Democracy Project: MAD is a non-partisan, all-volunteer, grassroots organization focused on strengthening a free and independent media in the public interest. MAD aims to improve our national discourse so that American voters can engage in informed decision-making. As part of that goal, MAD has an interest in the responsibility of journalists and media to report fully, accurately, and fairly on the electoral process and the outcome of elections. Additional information is available at www.MediaAndDemocracyProject.Org. To sign up for more information from The Media and Democracy Project, click here. Contact Details Raynor Ave. Aaron Alberico +1 202-744-0786 aalberico@raynoravenue.com Company Website https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/

March 04, 2024 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

The New American Home® 2024

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details News Media Group, Inc. Karl Wayne +1 334-440-6397 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

March 04, 2024 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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HTX DAO and HTX Ventures Attend Blockchain Festival Asia 2024: Advancing the Adoption of Innovative Crypto Technology

HTX DAO

On March 2, HTX DAO attended the Blockchain Festival Asia 2024, sponsoring both the event and the Lanyard session. This marked HTX DAO's debut at a top-tier crypto summit, highlighting its objective to enhance global recognition and attract more renowned industry institutions for its ecosystem development. HTX DAO was officially established on January 18, with the aim of being a leading decentralized autonomous organization in the blockchain ecosystem and focusing on open finance and tokenized economy. Currently, the HTX DAO ecosystem has enlisted the support of 19 major industrial players, including HTX, TRON, Poloniex, BitTorrent, Spark Digital Capital, APENFT, Stratified Capital, JustLend DAO, OIG Group, Double Peak, stUSDT, Zebec, USDD, ANKR, Sun.io, Merkle 3s Capital, WINkLink, TUSD, and Owlit Finance. HTX DAO has expressed its commitment to exploring the possibility of user autonomy within the community, facilitating information sharing across multiple channels. It aims to establish a self-governing ecosystem characterized by reciprocity and mutual benefits among platform and project teams, as well as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and users. By tapping into the community's wisdom and power, HTX DAO is committed to transforming HTX into a truly people-centered exchange. Furthermore, through organizing offline community engagement activities worldwide, HTX DAO endeavors to establish direct and trustworthy connections, thereby encouraging increased participation from practitioners and institutions within the crypto industry towards the development of the HTX DAO ecosystem. During the summit, Amelia Chan, the HTX Strategic Partnerships Lead, was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the topic of "Trading on DEX vs CEX: What’s the Difference and What Are the Risks? KYC Procedures with Technology". The choice between CEX and DEX, according to Amelia, depends on various factors, such as requirements for fund control, attitude towards regulation, user experience, liquidity needs, trading preferences, and the importance placed on anonymity. In comparison, CEX offers convenience and high liquidity, while DEX ensures privacy and allows individuals to have full control over their assets, aligning closely with the decentralized principles of the cryptocurrency industry. Amelia also pointed out that HTX prioritizes user information privacy and asset security. Currently, through the implementation of advanced encryption algorithms and multi-factor authentication mechanisms, the exchange is taking all possible measures to ensure the safety of users' accounts and assets. Moreover, it provides an extensive array of user-friendly trading features and tools, empowering users to perform trades with increased precision, speed, and efficiency. Looking ahead, HTX plans to introduce even more innovative products to cater to the diverse demands of its users. It's noteworthy that HTX Ventures also participated in the summit as an exhibitor. HTX Ventures, the global investment arm of HTX, adopts a strategy of direct investment and fund investment, having invested in over 200 projects in 2023. These projects span various fields, including infrastructure, DeFi, RWA, L1 & L2 public chain ecosystems, SocialFi, NFTs, and education. Seeking to explore emerging business models within the industry, it offers comprehensive support to collaborative projects, including financing, resources, and strategic consulting, to foster the growth of the blockchain ecosystem. In an earlier statement, HTX Ventures mentioned that, in 2024, the Web3 sector is poised for deep integration, improved regulatory adaptability, and a trend towards maturity. This will facilitate the gradual implementation of interoperability between chains and ecosystems, driving the cryptocurrency market towards maturity and mainstream adoption. Moving forward, HTX and HTX Ventures are dedicated to closely monitoring the innovation and development of the Ethereum ecosystem, while continuously advancing investment and project incubation to nurture the next generation of Web3 enterprises. As per reports, the Blockchain Festival Asia 2024 took place in Singapore on March 2. The event brings together experts from various fields including blockchain technology, cryptocurrency exchanges, DeFi, NFTs, cryptocurrency mining, GameFi, and the broader fintech industry, offering a platform to explore cutting-edge industry developments and emerging trends. About HTX DAO As a multi-chain deployed decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), HTX DAO demonstrates an innovative governance approach. Unlike traditional corporate structures, it adopts a decentralized governance structure composed of a diversified group, jointly committed to the success of this organization. This unique ecosystem advocates open values and encourages all DAO participants to propose collaborations and protocol enhancements that can promote the development of HTX DAO. Contact Details HTX DAO media@htxdao.com

March 04, 2024 03:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

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