Displaying posts published in

June 2019

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Students for Justice in Palestine Supporter Plotted Grenade Attack in Times Square

By on June 10th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/273961/students-justice-palestine-supporter-plotted-daniel-greenfield

Times Square has been a popular target for a number of Muslim terrorist plots and attacks.

The latest one was allegedly the work of Ashiqul Alam, a Muslim settler living in Queens.

Sources told CBS2 that Ashiqul Alam was taken into custody by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes both the NYPD and FBI.

The 22-year-old man from Queens allegedly bought guns and wanted to use a suicide vest and grenades to attack Times Square to kill police officers and civilians.

Authorities say Alam bought two guns with their serial numbers removed from undercover agents.

“Mr. Alam discussed guns, suicide vests, hand grenades, and surveilled crowded New York targets such as Times Square”, said Police Commissioner James O’Neill. “Our job is to prevent these terrorist attacks whenever we can before they are carried out. This case is another example of the tightly-knit teamwork of the JTTF and the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau. Mr. Alam is charged with illegally purchasing untraceable firearms from undercover officers. That was a clear indicator of his intent to move his plot forward.”

Authorities say Alam wanted to either attack Times Square or Washington D.C., with an eye toward killing a “senior government official.”

Alam reportedly went to Times Square for reconnaissance and made videos as he was researching potential targets.

Authorities say Alam underwent laser surgery to correct his vision and allegedly linked his decision to get surgery with his plot.

“Let’s say we are in an attack, right, say that my glasses fall off. What if I accidentally shoot you? You know what I mean. Imagine what the news channel would call me the ‘Looney Tunes Terrorist’ or the ‘Blind Terrorist,’” Alam allegedly said.

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HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

ISIS at the Border Terrorist infiltration threat increases the stakes. Joseph Klein

By on June 10th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273971/isis-border-joseph-klein

The staggering numbers alone prove there is an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. In just May of this year, 132,887 people were apprehended between ports of entry on the southwest border with Mexico, the highest monthly figure since March 2006. The number of U.S. Border Patrol southwest border apprehensions for the first 5 months of 2019 is more than 2.6 times greater than the number of apprehensions during the same period last year. “We are bursting at the seams,” Randy Howe, executive director of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations, told reporters last week. “It’s unsustainable and this can’t continue.”

As far as open border Democrats are concerned, however, the only crisis at the U.S. border with Mexico is the plight of the many thousands of migrants themselves as they try to manipulate our loophole-ridden asylum system or otherwise try to enter the country illegally. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives refuses to fix the asylum mess, or to provide monies for effective border security that must include barriers erected in vulnerable locations. Instead, they passed an amnesty bill last week for more than 2 million so-called “dreamers” whose parents brought them to this country illegally as children and individuals who had been designated for “Temporary Protected Status.”

Beyond the sheer number of illegal migrants overrunning the border and straining our resources, the surging flow of migrants traversing Mexico into the United States poses a serious national security risk. Open border Democrats could care less. They say not to worry about terrorists crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since no terrorist attack linked to such migration has happened yet. Beto O’Rourke said during a campaign rally, for example, “[Z]ero, precisely zero, terrorists, terrorist groups, or terror plots have ever been connected with the U.S.-Mexico border to do harm to people within the United States.” Proponents of such a pre-9/11 attitude are either clueless or, in the case of the radical left, are part of the red-green axis. 

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on June 10th, 2019

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Treatment for genetic pancreatic cancer. Researchers at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center have had positive results in trials of Lynparza (olaparib) for treating pancreatic cancer in carriers of BRCA mutations. An international trial of 154 patients showed improved response, time to progression and quality of life.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-researchers-find-potential-hope-for-some-pancreatic-cancer-patients/
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Sheba-medical-team-finds-treatment-for-4th-leading-cause-of-cancer-death-591409  
 
New early test for Parkinson’s. Tel Aviv University scientists have discovered a new method for detecting the aggregation of the protein alpha-synuclein, before Parkinson’s symptoms appear. Doctors can then monitor how treatments affect this aggregation.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/TAU-unveils-new-method-for-detecting-delaying-Parkinsons-591602
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00401-019-02023-x
 
Transmitting neural messages to the next generation. Researchers at Tel Aviv University have identified a nervous system mechanism that can transmit neural messages to future generations. They showed that data on environmental factors are stored in brain cells (neurons) and expressed in germline genes to one’s children.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israeli-study-Nervous-system-can-transmit-messages-to-future-generations-591795   https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-study-says-neurons-not-just-dna-can-affect-progenys-fate/
 
US approval for soft Exo-suit. Last week (see here) ReWalk’s soft exoskeleton received European (CE) approval.  This week, the US FDA approved the Israeli innovation. Things are “looking up” for stroke victims.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-issues-clearance-for-the-restore-exo-suit-the-first-soft-robotic-system-for-stroke-therapy-300861824.html
 
Tracking response to cancer treatment. Israel-based Techsomed develops an image analysis system that helps track tissue response to thermal ablation – the process of destroying tumors using extreme heat or cold. It works with ultrasound to simulate the effects over time and provide surgeons with better control and accuracy.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3763298,00.html
 
Israeli diet is good for the brain. I reported previously (14th Apr) that Israel has the lowest rate of diet-related deaths in the world.  Now, the American Academy of Neurology medical journal has found that the diet can also help preserve memory and thinking abilities.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/new-study-israeli-diet-not-only-healthy-also-preserves-memory/
 
Foolproof Ambulance inventory list. Three students from Jerusalem College of Technology won first prize at the college’s third annual Great Minds hackathon. They devised a system using sensors to eliminate human error when checking crucial inventory on ambulances before they are dispatched from their stations.
https://www.israel21c.org/jlem-hackathoners-hatch-bright-idea-for-ambulance-crews/

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POLITICS Comments turned off

The Democratic race is set to start in earnest By Peter Skurkiss

By on June 10th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/06/the_democrat_race_is_set_to_start_in_earnest.html

Get the popcorn ready. The race for the Democrat Party’s presidential nomination is set to begin in earnest. The first debate is only two weeks away. It’s set for June 26-27. Here is the full debate schedule: 

June 26-27 in Miami hosted by NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo
July 30-31 in Detroit moderated by CNN
September 12-13 with the location to be determined and hosted by ABC News.

After September, there will be one debate every month until April 2020, with the specific locations and dates to be determine.

To participate in the first two debates, a candidate must do one of two things: poll at 1 percent in at least three surveys or receive donations from 65,000 people across various states. The polling requirements must be national in scope or conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada. Also, the polls results must be publicly released between January 1, 2019 and 14 days before the debate.

Candidates need to have received contributions from a minimum of 65,000 unique donors, and those donations must come from at least 20 states with each state having at least 200 unique donors.

After the first two debates, the requirements to participate get tighter. There’s no need to go into detail — suffice to say that the idea is to weed out the weak to narrow down the field.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Germany’s Greens oust Merkel’s Christian Democrats as most popular party see note please

By on June 9th, 2019

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/germanys-greens-oust-merkels-christian-democrats-popular-party/

Germany was once a nation of major scientists who won Nobel prizes 107 times. So what has become of their science establishment when junk science “climate change” and its various permutations are more relevant to German voters than economic portents and bad immigration policies which threaten the nation’s culture and sovereignty? rsk

“The environmentalist party’s success has came as concern about climate change, biodiversity and plastic waste surged to the forefront of political debate over the last year.”

Angela Merkel’s successor as leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) party is under growing pressure after polls showed the Green party has forced it into second place in the polls.

Three polls published in three days this week showed the Greens pulling ahead of the CDU, making them Germany’s most popular party for the first time since they were founded.

The last poll, published on Saturday, put the Greens four points ahead of the CDU on 27 percent, marking a historical low for the traditional governing party of German politics.

Germany’s Greens have been enjoying a surge in popularity recently and overtook the Social Democrats, their main left-wing rivals, earlier this year.

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MY SAY: Comments turned off

MY SAY: WHY DID GREAT BRITAIN ABANDON HONG KONG?

By on June 9th, 2019

The treaty of Nanking in 1842 ceded Hong Kong to the British at the end of the Opium War. It was given to them in perpetuity but in 1898 the British pledged to give Hong Kong back in 1997 signing a 99 year lease.

In 1984 Prime Minister Thatcher’s reluctance to return Hong Kong- a bustling, successful mercantile nation with an extremely popular British governor named Christ Patten- was overcome by Deng Xiaoping’s promises of retaining Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Was it naivete or duplicity?  Only a few years later in 1989 the massacre of Tiananmen occurred but did not temper the zeal to appease China by ceding Hong Kong.

When the withdrawal was implemented on June 30th, 1997 Great Britain further betrayed its former colony, by refusing entry permits to citizens of Hong Kong, rendering them prisoners to mainland China’s tyranny. The citizens of Hong Kong were rightly outraged.

And as soon as Patten left, he was vilified by Beijing as a “Whore of a thousand years.”

The rest as we see now is the legacy of western appeasement of Communist China.

Taiwan beware! rsk

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Hundreds of thousands of protesters march through Hong Kong against China extradition bill Elizabeth Beattie, Hong Kong

By on June 9th, 2019

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/hundreds-thousands-protesters-march-hong-kong-against-china/

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong to demonstrate against a controversial extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China.

Protesters carrying banners denouncing the law and demanding the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s defied thirty degree heat to march two miles to the city’s Legislative Council on Sunday.

Organisers estimated more than a million people attended the march, which flooded the city’s public transport network and led to widespread congestion. Police said the crowd reached 240,000 at its peak.

The proposed law would enable the Beijing government to extradite fugitives in Hong Kong to mainland China. Hong Kong currently limits extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before 1997.

China was excluded because of concerns over its record on legal independence and human rights. Ms Lam is billing the law as closing legal ‘“loopholes’’, visible in a recent murder case when a Hong Kong man murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan before fleeing back to his home country.

Her government plans to bring the contentious bill to the full legislature this week, bypassing the committee process in a bid to win approval by the end of the month.  

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China Is A Paper Tiger by Chet Nagle

By on June 9th, 2019

https://creativedestructionmedia.com/news/asia/2019/06/08/china-is-a-paper-tiger/ 

Last month China declared war on the United States. Strangely, the White House did not respond, the Pentagon did not raise readiness to Defcon 1, and global media did not take much notice. Did the world simply ignore China’s proclamation or were all eyes elsewhere?

A few eyes, however, did notice the production aired on May 25thby the Communist Chinese Party’s video outlet, Watermelon Video. The video quoted articles and editorials in the Global Times, a Chinese government news service, calling for a “people’s war” that targets the U.S. with “precision,” that China must not make any concessions, and adding, “Fortune favors the bold, all imperialists are paper tigers!”

And all the eyes in Hollywood wept when they saw China television ban the broadcasting of every Hollywood production as well as any Chinese-made films containing scenes shot in the United States. As Martha Bayles wrote in The American Interest, “Like most private-sector industries in the West, America’s film studios have long dealt with China in a way that places economic self-interest above all other considerations, from domestic prosperity to human rights to national security.” That slavish devotion to Chinese money now has Hollywood’s accountants burning the midnight oil, mourning the lost profits in the huge Chinese film market.

But Wall Street eyes don’t watch China’s movies. Instead they monitor their lucrative investments in Chinese companies on their stock tracking screens. First they saw Baoshang Bank in Mongolia fail, necessitating a $62 billion cash injection by Beijing. Then they read the MarketWatchreport on Hikvision, China’s giant closed circuit camera manufacturer. With a market cap of $33 billion, the company is a darling of investors like Aberdeen Standard Investmentsand Comgest.

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BOOKS, EDUCATION Comments turned off

How Diversity Narrows the Mind Graham Cunningham

By on June 9th, 2019

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/06/how-diversity-narrows-the-

Heather Mac Donald’s The Diversity Delusion is an invaluable resource of myth-busting fact and a reality check on the siren calls of identity-based “social justice” now so insistent in Western society. Detailed, rigorous and copious, it is a devastating expose of “how race and gender pandering corrupt the university and undermine our culture”. To be a believer in personal responsibility in the contemporary West is to be continually assailed by invocations to feel guilty about the—largely baseless—alleged grievances of an ever-growing list of “victims of society”. This competitive victimhood narrative originated in academia but now oozes daily from the liberal media and has been absorbed as orthodoxy in our institutions, all the way from schools to armed forces. It is so relentless, in “news”, entertainment, in officialdom and institutions of all kinds, that individual examples, though legion, are quickly consigned to the memory’s ashcan. This is why an evidence-rich book like The Diversity Delusion is so necessary, if only as a historical record of the madness.

The book is divided into three parts: “Race”, “Gender” and “The Bureaucracy”. The context is American but Australian readers will have no trouble relating it to their experience. Mac Donald recounts stories of self-engrossed, spoilt-brat, student hysteria and the craven appeasement of such behaviour by university administrations. Many of her case studies are jaw-dropping in their absurdity. After a violent attack at Middlebury College in 2017 by students protesting against a lecture invitation to the political scientist Charles Murray, “177 professors from across the country signed an open letter protesting that the assailants had been disciplined, however minimally. The professors blamed the administration for the violence, since its decision to allow Murray to lecture constituted a ‘threat’ to students.”

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POLITICS Comments turned off

The Stacey Abrams Myth Becomes the Democratic Catechism By Jonathan S. Tobin

By on June 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/stacey-abrams-stolen-election-myth-endures-democratic-party/Democratic presidential candidates continue to swear her race was stolen.

Stacey Abrams’s refusal to lose the Georgia gubernatorial election graciously was one of the low points of the 2018 midterms. But her insistence that Brian Kemp and the Republicans stole the election from her has now become an article of faith among Democrats.

Democratic presidential contenders who traveled to Atlanta this week to speak to the African-American Leadership Council repeated the claim, which Abrams has made more than a dozen times since she lost to Kemp by 54,723 votes last November. In rote fashion, they repeated Abrams’s charges that the outcome was determined by “voter suppression” conducted by Kemp, who during the race was Georgia’s secretary of state.

South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg termed the alleged suppression “racially motivated” in his remarks to the group. He said that Abrams “ought to be governor.” Throwing complaints about gerrymandering and a desire for more-restrictive campaign-finance laws (neither of which had anything to do with the outcome in Georgia) into the argument, he claimed that the conditions that led to her loss meant that “we cannot truly say we live in a democracy.”

Not be outdone by his supposed competition for moderate Democratic-primary voters, former vice president Joe Biden raised the ante when he addressed the same group on Friday. Biden claimed that voter-integrity laws — which Kemp was legally bound to enforce — were direct descendants of Jim Crow regulations aimed at preventing African Americans from voting. Describing the GOP’s policies as a “methodical assault” on voting rights, Biden said, “voter suppression is the reason why Stacey Abrams isn’t governor right now.”

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