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January 2019

VICTOR SHARPE: MR. PRESIDENT BUILD THIS WALL!

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/sharpe

On Friday, June 12th, 1987, President Reagan visited West Berlin.

Standing upon a platform, overlooking the wall which the Soviets had built to keep East Germans from escaping to freedom in the West, President Reagan chose to utter words that electrified the world. Addressing Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, he said: Mr. President, “Tear down this Wall.”

Here was a wall which, since 1951, had kept hapless souls from escaping Soviet occupied East Germany. But today there is an urgent need to build up a wall on America’s southern border – not to keep people in but to keep trespassers, drug traffickers, dangerous terrorists and violent gang members from illegally infiltrating into the United States of America.

President Trump has outlined the danger that stalks the southern border and imperils America’s very sovereignty as an independent nation state. He has praised the border agents who hourly face violence from brutal criminals as they repeatedly and illegally cross the unprotected border. But this alarming fact does not phase the likes of Pelosi and Schumer or of the growing extremists within the ranks of the Democrat party. The Democrats simply will not work with President Trump and they are willing to ignore the humanitarian and national security crisis that exists and grows daily.

President Trump has stressed again and again the towering need for a wall on the southern border to prevent a tide of illegal aliens from imperiling U.S. sovereignty and bringing with it misery, violence and death.

SYDNEY WILLIAMS: THE GREAT DISRUPTOR

http://swtotd.blogspot.com/

This essay is about Donald Trump, but it could have been about Martin Luther King whose birthday we celebrate today. Democracies must always be challenged, else they atrophy. The Reverend Doctor King did so in the 1950s and 1960s to great effect. Mr. Trump did so in his campaign and has continued to do so thus far in his Presidency, but to an effect yet unknown.

In Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a small boy calls attention to the fact that the Emperor is naked – that the clothes sold him by an unscrupulous merchant who appealed to his vanity were, in fact, nothing. None of the people who watched the Emperor as he paraded by said anything, as they didn’t want to admit they were too ignorant to see his fine suit of clothes. It took a small boy to call out the truth, that the Emperor was indeed naked. Today, it is Donald J. Trump who has called our attention to the corruption, stagnation and cronyism of political systems populated with elites who think they live beyond the boundaries of criticism. For doing so, he has been vilified.

But disruption is natural to life. It is everywhere, and for that we should be thankful. Joseph Schumpeter popularized the concept of creative destruction – that progress requires destroying old technologies. It has always been so. Cars replaced horse-drawn carriages. The telegraph ended the Pony Express. Trains made obsolete the Erie Canal. Machine guns and tanks changed the way war was conducted on land, as submarines did on the seas. Wireless phones are eliminating the need for land-line phones. Amazon has changed the way we shop, and Netflix the way we are entertained. 401ks have replaced defined benefit retirement plans. Charter schools, facing pressure from unions and the politicians who rely on them, have competed against and made better traditional public schools. Norman Borlaug, in using plant pathology and genetics, dramatically increased crop supplies around the world. Without disruption, we would be poorer.

Catastrophism’s Gold-plated Non-solutions Peter O’Brien

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/01/catastrophisms-gold-plated-non-solutions/

According to the IPCC, all 190-odd Paris signatories will need to at least double their current commitments and then actually achieve them. In other words, stopping global warming is a pipe dream, despite the vast sums that effort consumes and which might be better spent on more realistic environmental goals.

The Paris Climate Change Agreement is an initiative of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body. This is more than just background information. The UN is one of the most corrupt organisations on Earth. It began with good intentions but has been subsumed by a totalitarian Green/Left agenda that is underpinned by a persistent and insistent anti-West, anti-capitalism rhetoric. The Paris Agreement is no exception to this extreme Green/Left agenda.

What follows does not seek to debate on the hypothesis of catastrophic global warming being caused by man’s use of fossil fuels. But, just to set the scene, let me start with a little ‘climate change’ history. You may accept all that you read or hear about imminent climate catastrophe and that it is all the fault of human CO2 emissions. What you don’t often hear is that climate scientists themselves are in disagreement about how much of a problem global warming is. In the era of recorded history we have had three climatic periods which were arguably as warm or warmer than today. These are the Minoan, Roman and Medieval Warming Periods. During the Medieval Warm Period, Vikings were able to colonize, graze cattle and grow crops in Greenland. Human remains dating from that time have been found below today’s permafrost, meaning the ground wasn’t frozen when they were buried. Greenland today is less hospitable than it was then. So what we are now seeing is not unprecedented.

Following the MWP we entered what is known as the Little Ice Age (LIA), when the Thames regularly froze over. At some point in the 1600s we began to emerge from the LIA by virtue of a long, slow warming process which continues to this day. Climate scientists argue that this natural warming has been magnified by our CO2 emissions since about the 1850s. What they don’t know is how much of the observed warming since the 1850s is natural and how much is man-made. I don’t want to debate climate change as such. It is such a complex area. Suffice to note that observed warming this century is less than half of what the average of 100-odd climate scientists’ computer models predicted.

The Anti-Obamacare Doctor By Marc Siegel….see note please

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/mark-kot-anti-obamacare-doctor/

Good for Dr. Kot, but there is nothing new here. At New York City’s Weill Cornell Hospital, finding a private doctor that takes Medicare is impossible, even among those who accept other insurance…..And their waiting rooms are full because enough people are willing to pay for a doctor…..I am among them and my internist looks at me and not a computer…..rsk

Meet the man trying out a new way to deliver health care.

Dr. Mark Kot, an urgent-care specialist and the owner of Southampton Urgent Medical Care in Southampton, N.Y., is the anti-Obamacare doctor. He does not participate in most insurance plans and is not in any Affordable Care Act network. He feels sorry for the patients with this restricted insurance, and when they come to his door with a bad cough or a painful foot and ask to be seen, he does his best to provide them great care for a limited cost. The insurance card they got through Obamacare remains in their pocket, useless.

Kot is not a “concierge” doctor. He does not charge a membership fee, and he does not charge for follow-up visits, where he determines whether the initial treatment was effective.

Kot works with four nurses and staff, performs and interprets his own x-rays, and administers intravenous medications when needed. There is little waiting time, and the visits are efficient — geared to the complexity of care provided. He generally sees over 40 patients per day and performs rapid flu tests; treats ankle sprains, bronchitis, pneumonia, and sinus infections; and during the summer and fall sees several cases of suspected Lyme disease each day. Kot purchases antibiotics from a supplier so he can give his patients samples. He charges a base inclusive fee ($220 per initial visit); office procedures and tests may have additional charges, and some patients with good out-of-network coverage get reimbursed by their insurance. But reimbursement isn’t Kot’s focus, because he provides an affordable product and is paid up front.

Whereas Kot provides instant access to care, Obamacare erects barriers to it, such as high deductibles and narrow networks. Doctors fight for reimbursements and patients encounter bureaucratic obstacles to tests and treatments. While it is true that Obamacare has reduced the number of uninsured in the U.S. from 44 million in 2013 to less than 28 million in 2017, at the same time it has done a poor job of ensuring access to quality doctors.

Could Dems’ 2020 Nominee Be Someone You’ve Never Heard Of? . By Sara Burnett

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/19/could_dems_2020_nominee_be_someone_youve_never_heard_of_139230.html

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — At 36, Pete Buttigieg is just over the minimum age required to be president of the United States. Outside South Bend, Indiana, the Rust Belt community where he’s been mayor since age 29, few people know his name. Those who know it struggle to pronounce it. (It’s BOO’-tah-juhj.)

None of that has deterred Buttigieg — a Democrat, Rhodes scholar and Navy veteran known to most people as “Mayor Pete” — from contemplating a 2020 presidential bid against a crowd of much better-known lawmakers with more experience and more money.

He’s among a number of potential candidates who believe the 2016 and 2018 elections showed that voters are looking for fresh faces and that the old rules of politics, in which lawmakers toil for years in statehouses or in Congress before aspiring to higher office, may no longer apply. They’re benefiting from Democrats’ fears about running another member of the party’s old guard against President Donald Trump in 2020.

The group includes Julian Castro, the 44-year-old former San Antonio mayor, and Tulsi Gabbard, the 37-year-old congresswoman from Hawaii, who’ve already said they’re running. Yet to decide is perhaps the biggest breakout star of the midterm elections, former three-term Rep. Beto O’Rourke, 46, who ran a tougher-than-expected race against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a 38-year-old Iowa native, has also been spending time in the state with the nation’s first caucuses.

March for Life Art Contrasts with Vulgar Signs at Women’s March in 30 Photos By Katie Yoder & Mairead McArdle

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/march-for-life-art-contrasts-with-vulgar-signs-at-womens-march-in-30-photos/

This weekend, Americans traveled from across the country to Washington, D.C., to participate in the March for Life and the Women’s March by walking with their poster art. While the pro-life marchers’ art focused on women and unborn life, the posters of Women’s March attendees, including small children, displayed anti-Trump messages along with vulgar imagery and words.

The Women’s March began Saturday morning at Freedom Plaza. The protest, which features a slew of liberal talking points, began in 2017 in response to the election of the president. While the first march boasted hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., the 2019 march appeared much smaller.

France: I Am Angry, Therefore I Am by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13580/france-angry

The beauty of capitalism is in its ability to make money out of anything. On Saturday, as all cafés in the Champs-Élysées were shut for fear of attack by “Yellow Vests”, mobile kiosks appeared selling espresso and croissants at double the price.

One of the few shops open away from the battlefield offered a designer version of the “Yellow Vest” at 125 euros apiece, compared of just 20 euros for the shabby original. So far, no “Yellow Vest” T-shirts, posters and mugs. But we expect some next Saturday.

We asked a lady at the next table what she would recommend from the day’s menu and she suggested “Aligot sausage with mashed potatoes”. We took her advice and were delighted by our meal. Which shows that “Yellow Vesters” might have good ideas when they know what they are talking about. Trouble is they often don’t.

“We are angry!” This is the sentence that I have repeatedly heard from Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) demonstrators during the past three weeks while taking the political temperature in France. The assertion seems to refute my first diagnostic in a column last month that the movement reflected boredom rather than anger.

Having talked to dozens of rioters and observed some of their shenanigans including burning car tires, overturning parked cars and smashing shop-windows in posh streets, I am prepared to admit that both anger and boredom might be involved.

The Vatican Surrenders to China by Lawrence A. Franklin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13577/vatican-catholics-china

The Vatican may learn the hard way that that the Communist Chinese government does not honor its agreements. Beijing may attempt to extort even more concessions from the Vatican, just as the Chinese regime demands ever more surrender of sovereignty from western companies that do business in China.

It is also highly dubious that the Vatican will purchase peace by this pact: the regime will continue to persecute the Church. If the Communist regime is true to form, thousands more crosses will be taken down from Christian churches, especially in areas that have a high Christian population.

The courageous elders of Chinese Catholicism, who have endured decades of government persecution and regime efforts to divide the Church, may be seen by their flocks as having been bypassed by the Vatican. Many, if not most, Chinese Catholics are likely to view this agreement as a cynical political betrayal by the Vatican rather than a faith-based decision.

“In light of this dismal record, it seems that prudence and caution would seem to be the order of the day in Vatican negotiations with the totalitarians in charge in Beijing, at whose most recent Party Congress religion was once again declared the enemy of Communism.” — George Weigel, Catholic author and political analyst.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Cleaning out the brain. Israel’s Microbot (see here) demonstrated a prototype of its self-cleaning shunt (SCS) at the International Society for Hydrocephalus and Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorders (ISHCFD) meeting in Italy. The SCS prevents obstruction in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) catheters of hydrocephalus patients.
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/17/1701297/0/en/Microbot-Medical-Showcases-a-Working-Prototype-of-its-Self-Cleaning-Shunt.html

White blood cells can “feel” when things are not right. Scientists at Ben Gurion University have discovered that the immune system’s Lymphocytes (white blood cells) physically “grab” sick cells in the body. They then excrete a toxic chemical to kill the damaged cells, which include viruses and tumors.
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/white_cells.aspxhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.201805954

Prescription charges fall. (TY Janglo) Israel’s Health Ministry has reduced the prices of prescription treatments with controlled patents by an average of 6.9%. The discount is due to a change in the pricing model to reduce costs plus favorable exchange rates. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/256967

Medical tourism. Around 30,000 foreign patients travel to Israel each year, eagerly seeking Israel’s top class, innovative medical treatments. This has major benefits for Israel’s economy, medical R&D and international esteem. The government has also stepped in to ensure that it does not delay treatments for Israeli citizens.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-has-israels-medical-industry-been-faring/

Lung cancer test for China. I’ve reported several times (see here) on Israeli life sciences company BioView and its innovative cancer detection technology. BioView has just signed an agreement with Shenzhen China’s Livzon to distribute BioView’s imaging systems in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3753638,00.html

Gluten-free food in Tel Aviv. Here is a helpful guide to being gluten-free in Tel Aviv perfect for any person with celiac disease or following a gluten-free diet.
https://www.touristisrael.com/gluten-free-in-tel-aviv/25100/

Drama at Tel Aviv railway station. One of the new defibrillators delivered to all Israeli railway stations has just saved the life of a woman who suffered a heart attack. Station staff at Tel Aviv Hashalom successfully jumpstarted the woman’s heart, after passengers, including a doctor and a paramedic, had administered CPR.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/257720

Medical staff dance to cheer up patients. Jewish and Arab doctors and nurses at Ziv Hospital in Northern Israel are a further example of co-existence as they dance together to cheer up patients in the dialysis ward.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/only-in-israel-jewish-and-arab-hospital-staff-dance-together/

For 2020, Don’t Bet on Beto By Michael Walsh

https://pjmedia.com/election/for-2020-dont-bet-on-beto/

On the phoniness level, Robert Francis O’Rourke (Columbia University, 1995) easily scores a ten. Passing himself off as “Beto” (a childhood nickname that is also short for “Roberto” in heavily Mexican El Paso), he quickly became a Democrat Party darling during his run against Rafael E. Cruz (“Ted”) for the Senate last year. O’Rourke put a scare into Cruz, an easily beatable candidate anywhere outside of Texas — and perhaps not even in Texas should he decide to run again in 2024. While he lost by less than three points, Cruz’s close shave put Beto on the national map, in large part because the national media decided that, with his bushy hair and chipmunk overbite, he was “Kennedyesque.”

So, he’s sitting pretty heading into the Democrat free-for-all in 2020, right? Not so fast, amigo:

For a moment in August, an event hall in Texas teemed with hope, taquitos and unity. It was a border-town stop for Beto O’Rourke’s Senate campaign, but another Democratic politician commanded particular attention: Gina Ortiz Jones, a history-making congressional candidate — gay, Filipina-American, an Iraq war veteran — hoping to turn a majority-Hispanic district blue. “Really special person,” Mr. O’Rourke said, as Ms. Jones stood and waved.

But soon, a county chairwoman posed an uncomfortable question. Mr. O’Rourke had not endorsed Ms. Jones. In fact, he had elevated her Republican opponent, Representative Will Hurd, with frequent praise and, most memorably, a live-streamed bipartisan road trip that helped jump-start their midterm campaigns. Would Mr. O’Rourke support the Democrat?