Displaying the most recent of 91878 posts written by

Ruth King

ISRAEL Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL EVEN DURING WARTIME FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on November 5th, 2024

  www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

Israel’s daring, dazzling, and advanced prowess in defense has impressed Israel’s supporters and humiliated its enemies. Behind the military news, as Michael Ordman reminds us, research and development in every single aspect of humanitarian endeavor flourishes in the laboratories and social institutions of that remarkable nation from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. rsk

 
POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Wounded paramedic returns. United Hatzalah emergency medic Rabbi Chaim Sassi was seriously wounded by a Hamas terrorist in Sderot on Oct 7. He has now returned to active service after receiving a custom-made “ambucycle” designed to accommodate his lingering leg injury. Rabbi Chaim was praised as “an inspiration”.
https://www.jns.org/volunteer-medic-injured-on-oct-7-returns-to-service-with-ambucycle/
 
Mezuzah from devastated kibbutz goes to Paraguay. A mezuzah was all that survived on Oct 7 from a home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. To honor the memory of the owners of the home, the mezuzah was placed on the doorpost of the new Israeli embassy in Paraguay.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/mezuzah-rescued-from-kfar-azza-finds-new-home-in-israeli-embassy-in-paraguay/
 
Boxer is champion defender. US boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has donated $100,000 to purchase 100 bulletproof vests for Israeli medical volunteers on the front lines. He announced the gift during a sold-out United Hatzalah event in Jerusalem to raise funds for 1,000 protective kits for its volunteer EMTs.
https://worldisraelnews.com/ex-boxing-champ-gives-israeli-rescue-group-100-bulletproof-vests/
 
US Christians donate armored ambulances. Samaritan’s Purse, founded by Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, has donated two more armored ambulances to Magen David Adom. They previously donated 14 ambulances and have committed to donate 28 more. They have also donated 1,000 trauma kits.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/us-evangelical-leader-donates-28-armored-ambulances-in-memory-of-murdered-hostages/
 
South African Christians donate MDA response cars. (TY Yanky) The South African branch of the Christian organization Bridges for Peace is spearheading a donation of two $80,000 Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency rapid response vehicles. MDA will use the cars in communities attacked on Oct. 7.
https://www.jns.org/south-african-christians-donate-emergency-vehicles-to-israel/
 
Gaza envelope kibbutz looks to regrow. Kibbutz Holit has begun to rehabilitate after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks. It will grow the potato developed by Israel’s Rumafeed (see here previously) that has eliminated the toxic glycoalkaloids in its foliage. Rumafeed has just been selected for the latest Intel Ignite accelerator group.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/kibbutz-ravaged-on-oct-7-looks-to-renewal-through-gene-edited-vegetable-trials/  https://unitedwithisrael.org/kibbutz-holit-ravaged-on-oct-7-grows-into-hub-for-agricultural-innovation/
 
An AI view of Gaza without Hamas. ChatGPT was asked the question, “What would life, culture, and the economy be like in Gaza if Hamas were not  in control?”  ChatGPT also was also asked to generate a visual image of Gaza without Hamas.  I expect “Lebanon without Hezbollah?” might generate a similar response.
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-chatgpt-shows-what-gaza-could-be-without-terrorism-and-hamas/
 
Anti-drone system recycled. Israel has deployed the Israeli-upgraded M61 Vulcan cannon along its northern border, to combat suicide drones launched by Hezbollah terrorists. An older version of the M61 Vulcan was originally provided to Israel by the U.S. during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and saw action in Lebanon in 1982.
https://worldisraelnews.com/unique-vulcan-anti-drone-cannon-deployed-in-north/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machbet   https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-826246
 
One Day raises $1 million. US Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu performed a concert titled “One Day” in New York City. It was part of a Ben Gurion University event that raised $1 million to help the rebuilding and recovery of Israel’s southern communities. “There’ll be no more wars, and our children will play. One Day!”
https://www.jns.org/one-day-benefit-featuring-matisyahu-raises-1m-for-recovery-education-in-southern-israel/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmBChQjZPs  https://genius.com/Matisyahu-one-day-lyrics
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Protein antibody to treat cancer. Tel Aviv University researchers were checking protein levels after exposure to UV light. They saw that Ly6a levels rose significantly and speculated it might suppress the immune system in cancer patients. Lab tests showed that antibodies against Ly6a reduced tumor size in many cancers.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/398375  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52079-x
 
Recovery from strokes. Israel’s BioXtreme has developed the deXtreme rehabilitation robot device for improving of motor recovery of upper limbs for stroke patients. And doctors in 30 countries use Tigertriever, from Israel’s Rapid Medical (see here previously) to respond in real time during thrombectomy procedures.
https://www.israel21c.org/8-startups-transforming-stroke-prevention-detection-treatment/
https://bio-xtreme.com/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJOPaxTO5gE
https://www.rapid-medical.com/tigertriever
 
Life-saving blood cancer analysis. (TY OurCrowd) Israel’s Scopio Labs (see here previously) has launched its groundbreaking Full-Field Bone Marrow Aspirate™ (FF-BMA) Application for effective, digital imaging and AI analysis of blood cells. It replaces previous slow, manual, expert-only, error-prone, analysis methods.
https://scopiolabs.com/news/scopio-labs-receives-groundbreaking-fda-clearance-for-first-ever-digital-bone-marrow-aspirate-application/  https://www.ourcrowd.com/startup-news/beckman-coulter-and-scopio-labs-add-worlds-first-digital-bone-marrow-imaging-and-analysis-to-long-term-partnership https://scopiolabs.com/ff-bma/
 
Reducing phantom pain. Israel’s 6Degrees (see here previously) is now using its MyMove virtual reality games to enable dozens of new war amputees to have independent physical therapy sessions while decreasing their phantom pain and dependence on pain medications. “Exercising” an amputated limb helps blood flow.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-virtual-reality-game-helps-dozens-of-new-war-amputees-reduce-phantom-pain/
 
500 successful transplants. The partnership between the Gift of Life Marrow Registry and Taglit-Birthright Israel has just celebrated its 500th successful transplant of blood stem cell and bone marrow from Birthright donors to patients. They have saved hundreds of sufferers with leukemia, lymphoma and immune disorders.
https://www.jns.org/wire/gift-of-life-marrow-registry-marks-500th-lifesaving-transplant-from-birthright-donors/
 
Personal park guide for the visually impaired. The audio orientation and guiding system Israel’s RightHear (see here previously) has now been installed at 2,500+ global locations from Angola to the UAE. In August, Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia became the first US state park to offer the digital accessibility solution.
https://www.israel21c.org/the-startup-opening-up-the-world-for-the-visually-impaired/
 
Ariel’s first medical graduates. Israel’s Ariel University celebrated the first class of graduates from its 2019-founded Adelson School of Medicine. 53 students (including 40 women) were awarded their “Doctor of Medicine.” degrees in a ceremony attended by Israeli President Herzog and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson.
https://www.jns.org/ariels-adelson-school-of-medicine-marks-first-graduating-class/

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Thomas Hogan Is the Era of Progressive Prosecutors Ending? Voters in several major American cities have an opportunity to revamp public safety on November 5.

By on November 5th, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/is-the-era-of-progressive-prosecutors-ending

We all know that the presidential election is looming, but for a few big cities, a crucial down-ballot vote—for the office of chief prosecutor—could have a major effect on the day-to-day safety of their citizens.

In Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city, voters will decide whether to oust radical prosecutor George Gascón. Gascón barely made it through his first term, surviving two recall efforts based on technicalities. Soaring crime rates and a general sense of disorder have led even progressive Angelenos to say that enough is enough.

Gascón is opposed by Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who has promised to pursue policies that treat those who commit crimes as criminals. In current polling, Gascón trails Hochman by 24 points. In a last-minute Hail Mary, Gascón has decided to support re-sentencing and clemency for the notorious Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal murders of their parents, despite their claims having been repeatedly rejected by the courts. Election Day will decide whether Los Angeles is ready to start rebuilding.

Meantime, heading north in California, another critical chief prosecutor is on the ballot: Pamela Price in Oakland. Price, along with Oakland’s mayor Sheng Thao, is facing a recall election after just two years in office. Many Oakland voters have expressed the same buyers’ remorse as their neighbors across the bay in San Francisco, who recalled progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin after a few years in office, amid spiraling crime and disorder.

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Deranged Harris Supporters Harass and Threaten the McDonald’s That Hosted Trump So once again: who’s the fascist? by Robert Spencer

By on November 5th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/deranged-harris-supporters-harass-and-threaten-the-mcdonalds-that-hosted-trump/

We’ve been hearing a great deal about fascism in this election, with the left making increasingly unhinged warnings about how Donald Trump will destroy Americans’ freedom to waste their lives watching pornography and force them to have children, while in the process of taking an axe to “our democracy” itself.

This seems, however, to be an increasingly obvious case of leftists resorting to their familiar tactic of accusing their opponents of what they themselves are actually doing. Over and over, we see leftists trying to intimidate people into being afraid to express views that oppose them, or even to allow their foes to have a fair hearing. So once again: who’s the fascist? They’re finding out at the McDonald’s that famously played host to Donald Trump.

What the Daily Caller reported Thursday was drearily predictable: “In the wake of Trump’s widely-publicized campaign stop at the ‘Golden Arches’” franchise in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, “Yelp disabled reviews for the location amid a flood of negative comments, and the franchise’s owner retained private security to ensure the safety of employees and patrons in response to threats made against the eatery.”

Oh, for Pete’s sake. Threats? Remember that when Trump made his celebrated appearance at Mickey D’s, the corporation issued a balanced and generous statement, saying: “As we’ve seen, our brand has been a fixture of conversation in this election cycle. While we’ve not sought this, it’s a testament to how much McDonald’s resonates with so many Americans. McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President.”

McDonald’s said that Harris was as welcome as Trump was, and added: “Though we are not a political brand, we’ve been proud to hear former President Trump’s love for McDonald’s and Vice President Harris’s fond memories working under the Arches,” as fictional as the latter may have been.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Weizmann busts swiped as anti-Israel vandalism sweeps UK By David Isaac

By on November 5th, 2024

https://www.jns.org/weizmann-busts-swiped-as-anti-israel-vandalism-sweeps-uk/

Palestine Action, a United Kingdom-based anti-Israel group, on Saturday carried out coordinated vandalism in several U.K. locations, including Manchester and Cambridge Universities.

Violence included defacing with red paint the Jewish National Fund offices in London and Cambridge University’s Institute of Manufacturing.

Palestine Action said it targeted the Cambridge Institute because it partners with Rolls-Royce, Siemens and BAE Systems, which the group has accused of “perpetrating genocide.”

The vandalism marked the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917, a public statement by the British Government during World War I announcing its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people,” an important step in the political process leading to the creation of modern Israel.

The declaration was due mainly to the efforts of Chaim Weizmann, who led world Jewry following WWI and became Israel’s first president.

Weizmann worked as a chemist at Manchester University during the war, making an important contribution to the war effort.

In perhaps the most brazen act, Palestine Action activists smashed a glass display case at the university’s chemistry building and stole two busts of Weizmann, posting a video of the theft on social media.

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israeli anxiety, America and the ayatollahs: Ruthie Blum

By on November 5th, 2024

https://www.jns.org/israeli-anxiety-america-and-the-ayatollahs/

Tensions are high in Israel as the United States enters the last lap of its presidential election. Given the level of public concern surrounding the race and the amount of space devoted to it by local analysts, an alien observing from Mars might mistakenly assume that the vote is taking place between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, not across the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s already been established, through surveys and punditocracy consensus—including among those more predisposed politically to Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats in general than to former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party—that most Israelis are praying for the latter to emerge victorious.

Polls showing that the candidates are basically tied, with daily fluctuations in swing-state percentages, is causing a lot of nail-biting, and not exclusively in U.S. capitals or Jerusalem. No, it’s safe to say that the entire world is watching and waiting with bated breath for the outcome.

Though Joe Biden will remain at the helm in the White House until the beginning of 2025 regardless of the results at the ballot box, nobody thinks he’s running the show in any respect, nor has he been for at least two years. It’s assumed in Israel, however, that the figures behind him could engage in serious lame-duck sabotage in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of his successor.

After all, during a similar period at the end of 2016, outgoing President Barack Obama and his sidekick, Secretary of State John Kerry, pulled a few stunts that made Israel’s enemies proud. Key among these moves was the abstention on U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted on Dec. 23.

Resolution 2334, which passed by 14-0, condemned Israeli settlements and called for all construction of them to cease. It also called for further labeling of Israeli goods, not only those made in settlements. In addition, it categorized the Western Wall as “occupied Palestinian territory.”

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Why Do We Even Have Elections? Why Don’t We Just Let The Media Choose?

By on November 5th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/11/05/why-do-we-even-have-elections-why-dont-we-just-let-the-media-choose/

We’ve become accustomed to Democratic Party operatives thinly disguised as journalists smearing, slurring, slamming, and lying about Republican candidates. They don’t want voters to know the truth. They’re not objective purveyors of the facts but rather political players who want to have the power to pick the winners of every election.

Some years ago, while at the University of California, Los Angeles, economics professor Timothy Groseclose wrote a book that showed Democratic candidates start their campaigns with significant leads over their GOP candidates due to media preference.

In “Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind,” Groseclose, now at George Mason University, demonstrated how that bias could be measured. “​​He is so numerate,” economist David Henderson wrote in a review, “that he makes clear with the data just how extreme the left-wing bias is.”

It’s possible that the hole Republicans have to start in is even deeper than it was when “Left Turn” was published in 2011.

The media are so invested in Democrats, through their votes and their campaign donations, and through their hard-left ideology, that they don’t want voters to determine the outcomes of elections. They want to be the power brokers who coronate the kings and queens of our executive and legislative bodies.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden-Harris Administration Secretly Signs Up for UN World Governance, Internet Censorship by Robert Williams

By on November 4th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21086/un-world-governance-internet-censorship

On September 22, unnoticed by most Americans, the Biden-Harris administration adopted the United Nations Pact for the Future to transform global governance, which introduces the foundations of a world government. There was no debate, no media coverage, no press releases, and no interviews about the Biden-Harris administration’s surrender of United States sovereignty to the UN.

Americans were apparently not supposed to find out.

These agreements usher in a dystopian future, where the UN — an active supporter of terrorism and arguably the world’s most corrupt international entity… in partnership with the unelected and unaccountable World Economic Forum, led by Klaus Schwab… is given unprecedented power over the peoples of sovereign countries, who have had no say whatsoever on the contents of this pact, because it has been kept hidden from them.

Buried near the end of the Digital Global Compact, in paragraph 30, is the only thing you need to know about it: “We must urgently counter and address… all forms of hate speech and discrimination, misinformation and disinformation….”

The UN, its member states and the Biden-Harris administration evidently want to establish world-wide censorship that will make any future criticism of their power grab impossible.

In 2021-22, the UN entered into a partnership with Google to ensure that the search engine only display information reflecting UN perspectives. Dissenting views would have to be erased. The UN did not even hide their totalitarian move, and issued a press release about it.

Google is clearly doing the UN’s bidding. If you try to google the words “climate change” today, every single dissenting view has been suppressed by the search engine. In the first twenty-plus pages of results that come up on Google, not a single of them deviates from the UN/WEF narrative, with most results only containing links to UN bodies or other institutions that partner with the UN, such as the EU, the World Bank, government websites and a few climate-alarmist articles from the Guardian, the New York Times, AP and Reuters.

This is what UN censorship looks like now. Can you imagine what it will be in a few years, if countries do not immediately move to stop it?

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

LIGHTEN UP AMERICA! SYDNEY WILLIAMS

By on November 4th, 2024

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

While Kamala Harris began her campaign with a promise of joy, it soon deteriorated into character smears against her opponent, with Ms. Harris calling him “fascist” and a “Hitler,” and with President Biden referring to Mr. Trump’s supporters as “garbage.” What makes the “fascist” label ironic is that, as Victor Davis Hanson wrote in last Thursday’s issue of American Greatness, “…he [Trump] has been the target of fascists machinations from her own party and supporters for nearly a decade.”

Mr. Trump has always appeared devoid of humor, except when polls swing his way. Writing in the current UK issue of The Spectator, Kate Andrews noted “…in the past few weeks, something has restored Trump’s humor.” As the audience left a recent rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she quoted a man speaking to his family: “That was better than Netflix.”  Most of us smiled when Mr. Trump, wearing an orange reflector vest (and in response to Mr. Biden’s remark), jumped into a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Nevertheless, Mr. Trump does have a habit of calling his opponents names that would make Gordon Gekko blush. Amidst this war of words, America seems an unhappy place. Last Thursday, The Washington Post editorialized: “…in an increasingly angry nation…incidents of road rage escalate across the country.”  As in 1888 Mudville, there is little joy in the U.S. today.

Continue reading →
FOREIGN POLICY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

America’s Enemies Working Together Is the Biden-Harris Foreign-Policy Legacy By Pat Fallon

By on November 4th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/11/americas-enemies-working-together-is-the-biden-harris-foreign-policy-legacy/

Our adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are working closer together than ever before and appear far more willing to undertake acts of aggression.

In February 2021, after less than a month at the helm in Washington, D.C., the Biden-Harris State Department revoked the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation for Ansrallah, more commonly known as the Houthis, a belligerent, armed militant group operating out of Yemen. The message was clear: Even if your group is defined by targeting innocent people, the Biden-Harris White House will bestow the same legitimacy upon you as any nation-state by granting you a seat at the negotiating table.

Nearly four years later, we have intelligence reporting that indicates that Russia is providing Houthi terrorists with real-time targeting data to strike commercial ships in the Red Sea. A major U.S. adversary is providing known terrorists with intelligence to wreak havoc upon international commerce — what went wrong?

Much has transpired since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, and any objective observer will note that the world is far less safe — with the potential of a great-power conflict at the highest point since 1939. Our adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are working closer together than ever before and appear far more willing to undertake acts of aggression.

Many point to the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 as the catalyst for how the Biden-Harris foreign-policy agenda would play out. The chaotic withdrawal, which culminated in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members, was the result of reckless planning and a refusal to listen to the concerns of the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and the U.S. Central Command commander, who we now know pleaded with Biden and Harris to reverse course. By pursuing their naked political objective of leaving Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Biden-Harris White House stranded American citizens and Afghan allies on the ground. Russia and China, no doubt, took note of the incompetence displayed by U.S. leaders.

Continue reading →
ELECTIONS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Reflections on an American Saga When was the last time that a single name invoked such a wide array of emotions as the name Trump? By Eric Lendrum

By on November 4th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/04/reflections-on-an-american-saga/

Regardless of whatever happens on Tuesday, the end of the 2024 election will have a bittersweet feel to it, for it will be the final chapter of Donald J. Trump’s story. Whether it is the end of the final chapter or just the beginning is up to us to decide.

But perhaps Trump can already claim victory, no matter who is ultimately declared the winner at the end of it all. And his would be a far greater victory than any one election result.

All Good Things

The future of the nation depends on the decision that will be made shortly. But, win or lose, it will not be the end of the United States of America. Not by a long shot. America is resilient, and no one personifies that titanic endurance like Donald Trump.

They hit him with a fake “Russian collusion” investigation, two impeachments, a Chinese virus, race riots, a stolen election, an FBI raid, dozens of bogus charges, a mugshot, a conviction in a kangaroo court, and multiple assassination attempts. But through it all, when there was doubt, he always ate it up and spit it back out. With nerves of steel and a heart of gold, he walked right through the fire every single time, refusing to quit until the race was finally over.

That is exactly why here, in the end, it is rather difficult to come to terms with the idea that President Trump’s political journey is entering its conclusion. He himself has said as much, admitting that he will not run for a fourth time in 2028 if this election is also stolen from him.

And, despite the left’s endless screeching about him being a “dictator in waiting” who may extend his time in office, it is clear to those with an IQ higher than room temperature that he will leave office in 2029, as he should, if he wins this election. In the end, the one and only thing that can bring Trump’s political journey to an end is the one thing he has always loved and respected the most: the will of the American people.

And so, win or lose, this will be the final election with Donald Trump’s name on the ballot.

This fact was not lost on me as I filled out my absentee ballot for the general election in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was the sixth time overall that I had filled in the bubble next to his name, the culmination of his historic three consecutive successful runs for the Republican nomination. I found myself hesitating to fill out the ballot, only because I wanted to savor the act one final time.

Continue reading →