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June 2022

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Fantasies and Infant Formula The people who can’t deliver on baby formula think they know what gender is right for your child. William Kilpatrick

By on June 20th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/06/fantasies-and-infant-formula-william-kilpatrick/

June is “Pride Month.”  It’s also the month in which many Americans woke up to the fact that the nation was running out of baby formula.  Distressed mothers couldn’t find any on the supermarket shelves or on Amazon’s site.

When you’re looking for a garden tool and all you can find is a sign that says “this product is currently unavailable,” it’s an inconvenience, but if you’re looking for baby formula and your own supply is about to run out, it’s an emergency.

A nationwide shortage of baby formula is a very big deal, yet the Biden administration which had known for months that a shortage was building, did nothing for the longest time.  It is difficult to avoid the impression that the administration didn’t really care that much.

“Pride Month,” on the other hand, is treated as a really big deal.  The Army, the Navy, and the Air Force celebrate it.  So do schools, sports teams, and major corporations.  Meanwhile, the Biden administration has initiated a National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.  Why?  Because as President Biden has informed us, transgender rights are the “civil rights issue of our time.”

But what does Pride Month have to do with a baby formula shortage?  Quite a lot, actually.  During Pride Month we are asked to celebrate the LGBTQ+ movement, but implicitly we are being asked to celebrate the ideology that goes with it.  The LGBTQ+ movement is not simply about protecting certain personal choices, it’s also about promulgating a worldview in which babies and families do not figure prominently—at least, not in comparison to the needs and demands of what cultural historian Quentin Anderson called “the imperial self.”

The LGBT thought-world is part of a larger ideology that is widely shared in Washington.  For people who live in that thought-bubble, the subject of babies is not an interesting one. It’s not that they hate babies, but that they don’t think much at all about babies or their needs.  So, it’s no surprise that a shortage of infant formula should catch them flat-footed.  Compared to the really big issues such as world peace, racism, and climate change, the issue of formula shortage seems mundane to them.  On the other hand, if you could link the shortage to bias against trans youth, you might get a hearing.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Russia’s Escalating Influence in Africa by Judith Bergman

By on June 20th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18487/russia-influence-africa

“Russia relies on a series of asymmetric (and often extralegal) measures for influence—mercenaries, arms-for-resource deals, opaque contracts, election interference, and disinformation.” — Joseph Siegle, Director of Research at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, February 2, 2022.

Although trade between Russia and African countries has reportedly doubled since 2015, to about $20 billion a year, China is still Africa’s largest trade partner, with trade between China and the continent at $254 billion in 2021. But Russia’s ultimate aims in Africa are the same as China’s: To gain influence by making African countries dependent on its services. While in the case of China, investments and infrastructure are offered in exchange for strategic access to vital natural resources and political leverage, in the case of Russia, it is weapons and Russian state-sponsored mercenaries, known as private military companies (PMCs) in return for the same.

“In its African strategy, the Kremlin is motivated foremost by a desire to thwart U.S. policy objectives, almost irrespective of their substance.. Considering Africa ‘one of Russia’s foreign policy priorities,’ Russian President Vladimir Putin also seeks to create African dependencies on Moscow’s military assets …. targeting countries that have fragile governments but are often rich in important raw materials, such as oil, gold, diamonds, uranium, and manganese… They also offer to these governments the ability to conduct counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations unconstrained by human rights responsibilities… In turn, Russia seeks payment in concessions for natural resources, substantial commercial contracts, or access to strategic locations, such as airbases or ports.” — Federica Saini Fasanotti, the Brookings Institution, February 8, 2022.

The largest and most famous of Russia’s PMCs is the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Although ostensibly appearing as a private business, “its management and operations are deeply intertwined with the Russian military and intelligence community” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and should be seen, therefore, as “a proxy organization of the Russian state rather than a private company selling services on the open market.”

“Russia’s Wagner Group has withdrawn about 1,300 of its mercenaries from Libya to Russia through Syria to participate in the Russian military operation in Ukraine, according to military and strategic expert Colonel Adel Abdel Kafi.” — Middle East Monitor, March 26, 2022.

“Our competitors clearly see Africa’s rich potential. Russia and China both seek to convert soft and hard power investments into political influence, strategic access, and military advantage.” — General Stephen Townsend, Commander of United States Africa Command, Senate Armed Services Committee on March 15, 2022.

When the United Nations General Assembly voted on March 2, 2022 on a resolution to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, 17 African countries abstained, eight countries did not vote at all and one country (Eritrea) voted against the resolution. When Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council on April 7, African countries were even less willing to counter Russia: Nine African countries voted against suspending Russia, while 24 countries abstained.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

D’Souza’s Mules Left Tracks By Charlie Johnston

By on June 20th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/06/dsouzas_mules_left_tracks.html

“D’Souza’s documentary is the seminal moment the tide washed away enough mud that, despite their shrieks and howls, the left can no longer hide the ugly truth of what it did.  Massive election fraud in 2020 is a conspiracy, but it is no longer merely a theory.”

Many conservative commentators have noted that Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary, 2000 Mules, offers compelling evidence of large-scale vote fraud.  It offers more than this, though.  It provides compelling evidence of a massive, centrally coordinated conspiracy to commit vote fraud.  Examining several states with different voter laws while focusing on just one form of fraud, the movie found that the method of fraud was executed identically in each of these states.  That is prima facie evidence of central organization and management.

From the moment counting was stopped in the dead of night in five Democrat-run swing states on election night, Democrats and the media have treated anyone who questioned election integrity in 2020 like a mob boss treats anyone who threatens to testify against him: shut up, or we will cancel you.

Democrats and the media routinely smear anyone who questions the election results as a conspiracy theorist.  They routinely pronounce any evidence that emerges as “debunked.”  For the record, “debunked” does not mean “inconvenient to the leftist narrative.”  It means “thoroughly investigated and proven to be false.”  Almost none of the evidence has been debunked; very little has been officially examined.  Leftists treat actual evidence like how a vampire treats a crucifix.  There is no reasoned discourse, just a lot of hissing and snarling.

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The radical left literally targets Amy Coney Barrett By Andrea Widburg

By on June 20th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/06/the_radical_left_literally_targets_amy_coney_barrett.html

The federal code is remarkably clear: A person who “pickets or parades” near a judge’s home “with the intent of influencing any judge…in the discharge of his duties…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.” (18 U.S.C. § 1507.) Simply put, if you appear outside a judge’s home attempting to change a case’s outcome, you’re a criminal. And yet, who thinks that Merrick Garland’s DOJ will act on the fact that protestors gathered outside Supreme Court Justice Amy Comey Barrett’s home—where she lives with her seven children—to intimidate her into changing her position on Roe v. Wade?

The protesters were not subtle; they were obvious and deliberately intimidating:

Pro-choice activists protested outside Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s house over the weekend, donning fake-blood-stained clothes and holding baby dolls.

The protesters marched to the judge’s Falls Church, Va., home Saturday and held signs including one with a coat hanger on it that said, “Not going back.”

The youth activists, part of a group called Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, tied their hands together with tape and held the plastic baby dolls.

“This is what Amy’s America looks like,” one protester Ariana, 15, said in a video the group posted. “Children will be forced to give birth to children. Women will be silenced. Women will be invalidated. Women will be told they are less than.

“And that is not OK. We cannot let that happen. … You can’t let this future happen to us. It’s not fair.” (Emphasis mine.)

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Abigail Shrier: In Defense of Political Escalation How can we get back to normal? Those waiting for the pendulum to swing back will be waiting forever. Abigail Shrier

By on June 20th, 2022

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/abigail-shrier-in-defense-of-political?utm_source=email

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earned uncommon rebuke from conservative pundits last week, when he indicated he might sic Child Protective Services on parents who take their children to drag shows.

“I’m a very big fan of DeSantis and very not a fan of kids at drag shows,” writer Bethany Mandel wrote on Twitter. “But conservatives have to recognize the Pandora’s box we’re opening by involving CPS in judgment call parenting decisions. It’s not abuse.”

Mandel is right: Child Protective Services should not be sent after these families. Parents ought to be free to make all kinds of decisions regarding what ideas to expose their children to, how and when—especially with regard to matters that we typically consider private and deeply personal: Religion is one. Sexuality, another.

But here’s the hitch: as with so many of our institutions, CPS has already become thoroughly politicized and weaponized by the left. Dozens and dozens of loving parents have told me over the last two years that CPS showed up at their homes or threatened their custody or even testified against them in court, all for the sin of failing to “affirm” their minor child’s newly-announced gender identity or vetoing the kid’s immediate medical transition.

In California, matters head from bad to worse: a new bill aspires to transform California into a “sanctuary state” for gender-swapping youth, making it possible for even a non-custodial parent to run to California to transition her child against her ex-spouse’s wishes.

Here, then, is the question: If our ultimate goal is returning to a normalcy in which government agencies and corporations treat all Americans fairly regardless of viewpoint, how are we to achieve this? At a minimum, we must acknowledge that these institutions are already weaponized and their artillery points only in one direction: against the opponents of the left. Acknowledge further that an ever-increasing tyranny is ratcheted upon those who dare criticize the encroachment of gender ideology into all spheres of public life. The playing field is about as level as San Francisco’s Filbert Street.

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ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

France: Dangerous for Jews by Guy Millière

By on June 19th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18625/france-dangerous-for-jews

[T]he attitude of the French judiciary to [Hadjadj’s] murder is similar to how it has regarded all murders of Jews in France, for decades.

First, the authorities always say, as quickly as possible, that the murder of the Jew was not at all motivated by antisemitism. When evidence to the contrary accumulates and becomes impossible to deny, the antisemitic motive may reluctantly be recognized — as with the abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006; the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017; and the murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018.

That the murderers are generally Muslim further encourages the French judiciary not to speak of antisemitism. In fact, it is almost taboo to speak of any Muslim antisemitism in France: Muslim antisemitism is supposed not to exist. All organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism target only the “far-right.”

The French authorities and mainstream media describe crime, but do not explain it — meaning that crime is rising but not being fought.

The French government has declined to document the religion or race of people charged with crimes. Although the refusal may be well-intentioned, it prevents any understanding of what is taking place and consequently any the means of addressing or preventing it.

Lyon, France. May 17, 2022. A district called La Duchère. René Hadjadj, an 89-year-old Jew, was thrown off a 17th floor balcony — an act quickly revealed as a murder. The murderer was Rachid Kheniche, a 51-year-old Muslim Arab, with a Twitter account containing many antisemitic messages. The public prosecutor, who has since partially reconsidered his position, immediately declared that the murder was not an antisemitic crime. The mainstream media never reported the murder; only local Jewish newspapers did. Hadjadj’s family, who live in the same neighborhood, said they preferred to remain silent.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

A War That Could Change the World by Amir Taheri

By on June 19th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18624/war-change-the-world

Shaped over the past seven decades, that is to say after the Second World War, what is known as the international order has been based on three principles which, although not always observed, have helped keep the edifice intact.

The first principle was what is known as international law, built around the United Nations Charter and over 10,000 international treaties and protocols endorsed by a majority of the existing 193 states. The invasion of Ukraine has violated that principle in a dramatic way. Because the aggressor is a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, the issue cannot even be handled even formally by the United Nations.

The second principle was consensus in favor of free trade, subject to bilateral and/or international accords. It took decades of negotiations at various levels for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to morph into the World Trade Organization. With the advent of globalization, support for the free flow of goods and capital, and in some cases labor, cut across ideological divides among the larger nation-states.

That principle, too, has been violated….

Suddenly a global economic system [protecting capital] that worked like a clock is hit with numerous hitches.

As you can see, we have more problems than not trying to humiliate Tsar Vladimir.

Is the war in Ukraine no more than a patch of cloud in an otherwise bright sky? This seems to be the Panglossian opinion of some elites in Western democracies who, like French President Emmanuel Macron, are anxious not to humiliate Russian President Vladimir Putin over a mere peccadillo.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on June 19th, 2022

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

Another week, another incredible compilation of the outsize contribution of Israel to medicine, technology, science, sports, energy, the arts, global economy, and cuisine.  This dazzling list is compiled by Michael Ordman.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Israel’s most advanced cardiology hospital. The new NIS 200 million Eyal Ofer Heart Hospital has just opened on the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa. Besides “normal” cardiology treatments, it will advance research into the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and disorders, benefiting the whole world.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-708300  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btNFNOOf9Ok

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-709383

Coming soon – 3D-printed skin. (TY UWI) Hebrew University Professor Oded Shoseyov is developing Second Skin – a nano-thin 3D-printed film that mimics natural healthy skin. Burn victims or scarred patients can avoid painful skin grafts, simply applying the film like a tattoo.

https://www.israel21c.org/coming-soon-human-skin-you-can-print-at-home/

Better heart imaging. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s DiA Imaging (see here previously) is partnering California’s ScImage to integrate DiA’s LVivo Seamless AI-based automated cardiac ultrasound solution into ScImage’s unique Cloud architecture and improve the efficiency of echocardiography (heart) analysis.

https://www.dia-analysis.com/post/scimage-and-dia-imaging-analysis-team-up-to-infuse-ai-into-echocardiography-labs

The stuttering birth of a special education learning startup. To treat the stutter of their son, Niv, Biomedical Engineers Yair and Shirley believed they could develop a hi-tech solution. The result was Israel’s Amplio (see here previously). Their groundbreaking system now helps hundreds of thousands of special needs children.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sku3g7hf5   https://ampliolearning.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4BZJc3OCrk

The first AI med-tech research institute. Israel’s Technion Institute is establishing the Zimin Institute for AI Solutions in Healthcare. Headed by Professor Shai Shen-Orr, it will research human health and medicine, using big data and computational learning. It aims to benefit hospitals, new treatments, home therapy and wearables.

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2022/06/zimin-institute-to-be-established-at-the-technion-will-focus-on-ai-in-medicine/

Heart ops on International Children’s Day. Four children from different countries were brought to Israel on International Children’s Day to undergo life-saving heart surgeries by Israeli NGO Save a Child’s Heart. They were Florim from Kosovo, Robert from Ghana, Kauthar from Zanzibar and Kidus from Ethiopia.

https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/bkd2kqro5

Land of milk, honey, and magic. In the same hour, volunteer EMTs from Israel’s United Hatzalah used their Epipens to save the lives of two Israelis who suffered anaphylactic shock from severe allergic reactions to dairy products. One paramedic was Aharon, whose main profession is a children’s magician (see here previously).

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/354926

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Domestic Terrorism Ignored Scalise shooter James Hodgkinson overlooked, Reagan shooter John Hinckley goes free.  By Lloyd Billingsley

By on June 19th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/06/18/domestic-terrorism-ignored/

“Today is 6/14, a day that should live in infamy,” wrote Rabbi Jonathan Gross last Tuesday. June 14 marked five years since the attempt at “the largest-scale political assassination in our nation’s history,” when “a Democrat tried to murder dozens of Republican Congressmen as they innocently gathered to play baseball at a field just outside the nation’s capital.” 

The Democrat was James Hodgkinson, 66, a follower of Bernie Sanders. Hodgkinson “succeeded in seriously injuring Rep. Steve Scalise and three others, including two police officers before brave law enforcement officials stopped him and saved the rule of law.” 

According to Gross, who is also a civil rights attorney, this was “an actual domestic terror attack carried out by a Democrat.” That is not the only reason the establishment media and the federal government kept rather quiet on the five-year anniversary. 

Hodgkinson’s social media record bristled with hatred of President Trump and Republicans. He planned the attack for months, casing the Alexandria, Virginia baseball field where the representatives practiced. 

Hodgkinson deployed a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol and an SKS automatic rifle, a precursor to the Soviet AK-47 that uses the same 7.62 cartridge. The SKS rifle had been legally purchased, but altered to accept a detachable magazine and folding stock. Before opening fire, Hodgkinson asked if the players on the field were Democrats or Republicans. 

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Joe Incompetent Adam Smith was trying to be consoling when he said “there’s a deal of ruin in a nation.” Yes, there is. But Joe Biden is testing the limits of that home truth. By Roger Kimball

By on June 19th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/06/18/joe-incompetent/

When it comes to the Biden Administration, my advice is: forget the ideology, concentrate on the incompetence. 

Yes, the Biden Administration has gone all-in on the leisured Left agenda, throwing its hat in with the race-baiters, icky sexual exotics, climate fanatics, and other wardens of wokeness. 

All that is destructive, not to mention deeply unattractive.

But even worse than the preening, self-indulgent theatrics of these unhappy would-be censors and commandants is the mind-boggling ineptitude of this administration. 

Thanks to soon-to-be-former Representative Liz Cheney (RINO-Wyo.), we’ve been hearing a lot about January 6, 2021, lately. But not only was that the day that some of Donald Trump’s supporters traipsed around the Capitol building. It was also, as it turns out, a day that provided a nice contrast between the Trump and the Biden Administrations. I am not thinking about the differences in comportment between the two but energy costs under Donald Trump compared with those costs under Joe Biden. Since Biden seems bent on fulfilling his promise to destroy the coal industry and stop all drilling, it is not surprising that the cost of energy has skyrocketed over the last year. One wag sent around a “Never Forget January 6th” notice listing the prices of fuel on that day in 2021:

Regular gas was $1.99
Premium was $2.14 
Diesel was $2.21 

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