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POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on August 25th, 2024

 www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

Another week of Israel with one hand fighting a war against those who love death, and with the other hand working to create a better future for those who love life. Michael Ordman

 

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Oct 7 hero rehabilitates IDF soldiers. On Oct 7, Lt Yehonatan Skariszewski fought Hamas terrorists and guided over 100 Nova festival survivors to safety. He now works for NGO “For the Home, For Tomorrow,” training ex-combat soldiers in manual skills as therapy to counter anxieties following their active service.
https://www.jns.org/oct-7-hero-saved-dozens-at-nova-festival-now-rehabilitates-combat-soldiers/ 
 
Inspiration from Israelis returning home. (TY Ruth Kaplan) On Oct 7, residents of Kibbutz Magen fought off dozens of invading Hamas terrorists (video link below). They were then evacuated to the Dead Sea, from where 90% have since returned to their Kibbutz. Their stories of resilience give strength to Jews everywhere.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/kibbutz-magen-first-border-community-to-return-home-inspires-boston/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_nBmWIVPDU 
 
Resilience in the North. While Israeli citizens in the South are returning to their homes, many in the North have never left. The residents of this region – Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze alike – have become the guardians of their homeland, refusing to abandon the land they love, even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/07/23/the-unbreakable-bonds-stories-of-resilience-from-israels-embattled-north/ 
 
Far-seeing enhancement. (TY UWI) While regular IDF soldiers have modern weapons, reservists lacked precision scopes for their Negev guns. So, several Israeli civilians voluntarily developed the Tomer Adapter, named after Tomer Nagar – a “Negevist” who fell while bravely defending the Kissufim military post on Oct 7.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/idf/its-saving-our-lives-israeli-hack-gives-precision-to-first-generation-machine-gun/2024/07/30/ 
 
Donations for Northern hospitals. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) is donating $1 million to the Tzafon Medical Center (Poriya) to bolster its Trauma Unit. It is also funding $620,000 worth of new equipment and medical supplies at the Italian Hospital in Nazareth.
https://israfan.com/p/ifcj-boosts-northern-israels-medical-infrastructure-162m-donation 
 
Thousands of American volunteers. (TY Stefan) Another article publicizing the work of volunteers from America. They include some 3,500 who came on missions organized by JNF-USA since Oct 7, helping repair, rehabilitate, and rebuild Gaza border communities and giving vital motivational support.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-810564 
 
Helping rebuild Israeli communities. Russell Robinson, CEO of JNF USA, describes how his organization is building a community center 2km from Gaza. Self-funded volunteers on JNF-USA trips are cleaning up schools so that children can resume their studies. In the north, JNF-USA is building culinary and medical centers.
https://video.i24news.tv/video/brightcove/6360820023112/6360820023112_hls 
 
Reduced university tuition fees for reservists. Some 500 Tel Aviv University 1st-year students beginning their studies in the coming academic year who have served at least 30 days in the reserves since the beginning of 2024 will be entitled to a tuition discount of NIS 2,500, covering about 25% of total tuition fees.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-811913 
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Rejuvenating cancer-killing cells. Researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have discovered why natural killer (NK) cells in the immune system lose their ability to fight cancer. They introduced nanoparticles that silenced the enzyme DGK alpha and the transcription factor Egr2, returning the NK cells to normal function.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/394893  https://www.biu.ac.il/en/article/581709 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDjFPY3zcmk 
 
Cancer pain treatment now used in US. (TY Nevet) The US is now recommending the innovative pain relief treatment for pancreatic cancer patients developed at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center (see here previously). 125 international patients received radiation treatment to the celiac plexus nerve. 53% reported significant benefit.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-811486 
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(24)00223-7/abstract 
 
Wearable can predict epileptic attacks. Israel’s Blink Energy has developed a tiny device, fitted to one eyelid, that monitors and analyzes blink patterns to detect or diagnose health conditions. E.g., to warn of an imminent epileptic seizure; or if about to fall asleep at the wheel; or to diagnose Parkinson’s disease or sleep disorders.
https://www.israel21c.org/eyelid-wearable-can-predict-and-alert-to-epileptic-seizure/ 
https://www.blinkenrg.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTfrhaxO7ig 
 
Fighting superbugs. Latest article about Israel’s NanoSynex (see here previously) and its antibiotic diagnosis test. The $11 million funding from investors, the IAA and Europe has helped it develop the product to test up to 20 patients at once and determine the correct antibiotic to use against bacteriological infections.
https://nocamels.com/2024/07/startup-fights-superbugs-antibiotic-resistance-with-rapid-testing/ 
 
The secrets of nutrient absorption. Scientists from Israel’s Weizmann Institute and Sheba Medical Center have compiled the first detailed map of the various activity areas in the human small intestine, revealing what makes it so effective at absorbing nutrients and protecting the body from infection.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/394262  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07793-3 
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/navigating-digestive-tract 
 
Can you shed light on this? (TY Ron M) I don’t know why an 8-year-old child swallowed a flashlight part – but he didn’t die. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital removed the object, which had created an electrical circuit in the child’s esophagus. In another hour, it could have caused irreversible damage.
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/s1z5jfb000 
 
Antibiotics from pepper. Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have created a derivative of the long pepper plant that disrupts the chemical communication between bacteria. The PL-18 derivative of Piperlongumine reducies bacterial virulence by disrupting the biofilm that surrounds bacteria.
https://nocamels.com/2024/07/bgu-study-finds-antibiotic-properties-in-pepper-plant/ 
 
Detecting COPD with a smartwatch. Israel’s RespirAI uses artificial intelligence and smartwatch sensors to monitor chronic patients e.g., with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). RespirAI compares oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) and EKG data with the wearer’s physical movement to predict imminent deterioration.
https://www.israel21c.org/copd-flareups-could-be-predicted-via-smartwatch/  https://www.respirai.com/ 
 
Diagnosing high-risk fat. All fat is not created equal. Scientists at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have devised a non-surgical miRNA biomarker biopsy test for visceral adipose tissue (VAT) inflammation, which is derived from a specific type of body fat that poses a high cardio-metabolic risk in obese individuals.
https://www.israel21c.org/if-your-fat-is-vat-fat-you-could-be-at-higher-risk/
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/109/3/858/7274810 

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The Big Difference Between The U.S. And Venezuela Is Economic Policy Francis Menton

By on August 25th, 2024

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2024-8-23-the-big-difference-between-the-us-and-venezuela-is-economic-policy

Here in the U.S., we are accustomed to economic growth almost every year. Look at a chart of U.S. GDP over the course of the last century, and the impression is of near-continuous and extremely robust growth. Here is such a chart from USA Facts, based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (Commerce Department).

The so-called “Great Recession” of 2008-09 registers as barely a blip. Same for the Covid-related dip of 2020. (Note in the graph that backing out inflation flattens the slope of the curves to some degree, but does not change the basic form of robust and continuous growth.)

This pattern of continual growth is unfortunately not true for all countries. For an extreme case of the opposite situation, consider Venezuela. Venezuela elected the socialist Hugo Chavez in 1998, and he and his ideologically-aligned successor Nicolas Maduro have ruled ever since. It is not easy to get useful economic data from Venezuela. The best I can find for its GDP since the Chavez election and to the present is from Statista. Here is their chart:

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Don’t cry for Gaza, Madam Vice President.

By on August 25th, 2024

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/aug/23/war-is-hell-especially-for-those-who-bring-it-on-t/
Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, notorious for his devastating march through Georgia, said war is hell. Yes, and especially for those who bring it on themselves.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris took the time to criticize Israel for its conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, based on her vast military experience.

After Israel’s airstrike against a school building that was harboring terrorists, the Democratic nominee for president declared that “far too many civilians have been killed yet again.” She did not specify how many civilian deaths would be acceptable.

Ms. Harris also said the Israeli military has “an important responsibility” to avoid killing noncombatants. Perhaps she thinks Israeli soldiers can shoot weapons out of the hands of terrorists, like the Lone Ranger.

Hamas intentionally places its fighters in schools and hospitals, courting civilian deaths for propaganda.

All of the casualty figures from Gaza come from its Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

After Israel’s Aug. 10 strike with precision missiles, the Hamas Health Ministry changed the number of civilians killed from 50 to 70 to 80 and finally settled on 93.

What Hamas reported as an earlier Israeli airstrike against the Al-Ahli School turned out to be a missile launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad that misfired and landed in Gaza.

A war without civilian casualties is impossible, even for those who try hard to avoid them. The United Nations says the average civilian-to-combatant ratio of deaths in all of the wars fought since 1945 is 9-to-1. For Israel’s war in Gaza, it’s 4-to-1.

During World War II, between 350,000 and 635,000 Germans died in Allied strategic bombing. Germany’s cities were reduced to rubble.

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Liz Peek: Sudden shift in jobs data shows workers are struggling to survive Biden-Harris inflation

By on August 25th, 2024

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4842492-job-additions-overstated-biden-harris/

The government recently reported that job gains between March 2023 and March 2024 had been overstated by 818,000, a breath-taking “goof” by the official bean counters. All those reports that were cheered by the Biden-Harris administration? They were as phony as a three-dollar bill. 

Has the Biden-Harris White House been cooking the books, as some have claimed? Maybe, but there is another possible explanation for the significant downward revision in the jobs number — equally unflattering to the administration and its happy-talk about the economy. 

Simply put, many middle-class workers have taken on multiple jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. Those extra shifts are included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data as multiple jobs; they are, in reality, just overworked Americans trying to navigate the Biden-Harris inflation tsunami.

While it is normal for the BLS to issue modest annual revisions to the monthly jobs figures, this year’s restatement is the largest revision in 15 years, since the time when reporting was being muddled by the turmoil of the Great Recession.  

Given the importance that policy-makers attach to the BLS tallies, the revision is quite alarming — and also inexcusable.  

Economists have been warning that something is not right about the monthly employment reports. In June, when the government reported against all odds that 272,000 jobs had been created in May, even Fed Chairman Jay Powell expressed skepticism, saying there was the possibility the reports “may be a bit overstated.”  

Last year, job numbers were revised downward (never upward) for 10 months — not a stellar record. In June 2023, for instance, instead of adding 209,000 jobs, as originally reported, it turns out the economy added only 105,000. That kind of repeated error makes people suspicious.  

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Harris, Walz, and a Peculiar Definition of ‘Freedom’ Enjoy your freedom, but only to do as you’re told. It’s for your own good, after all. By Stephen Soukup

By on August 25th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/08/24/harris-walz-and-a-peculiar-definition-of-freedom/

To hear the mainstream media tell the story, the just-finished Democratic National Convention was not just about “reintroducing” Kamala Harris to the American people, but about reintroducing the Democratic Party as well. While Americans might have been convinced by nefarious MAGAs and other nogoodniks that the Democrats want to control their lives and tell them what to think, what to drive, what to eat, and how to behave in countless other facets of their lives, the truth is that the Democrats are the party of “freedom.” They—and they alone—stand between the nation and the totalitarianism of the Right.

NBC News, for example, noted in response to Minnesota governor (and vice presidential nominee) Tim Walz’s convention speech that he “capped off the third day of his party’s convention, touting his vision of ‘freedom’ and excoriating the GOP.” The Washington Post, for its part, suggested that the entire theme of the convention was to modify “Democrats’ message from ‘democracy’ to ‘freedom.’” Harris, the paper wrote, “has shifted the focus, speaking far less about democracy and far more about freedom.” The independent journalist Matt Taibbi, himself, at least nominally a man of the left, lamented the Democrats’ “sinister rebrand of ‘Freedom’” and argued that “freedom” was “was right up there with ‘joy’ and ‘unity’ as key themes” of the convention, which he concluded “was not funny.”

The Democrats’ effort to reintroduce themselves as the true and rightful protectors of “freedom” is inarguably as complicated as it is cynical. And as Taibbi suggests a great deal of the logic underlying the Democrats’ pretense is derived from the differences between “negative rights” and “positive rights,” which have been at least a peripheral theme in American politics since Barack Obama’s rise to power more than a decade and a half ago.

Nevertheless, to understand what is going on here and why the Democrats think they can make the case that they are the party of freedom, it is important to recognize that none of this is technically a “rebrand.” None of this is, in any way, new. Indeed, it is foundational to the ideology of the left. For nearly three centuries now, that which we know today as leftism has portrayed itself in precisely the sense that the Democrats portrayed themselves this week: the true and exclusive guarantors of freedom.

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Has the time come for Canada to leave the British Commonwealth? Diane Bederman

By on August 25th, 2024

https://dianebederman.com/has-the-time-come-for-canada-to-leave-the-british-commonwealth/

Has the time come for Canada to leave the British Commonwealth?

This is a rather lengthy article. I suggest you have not seen or heard about these events via Main Stream Media. Please take the time to read and open the links!

Something has gone awry in Great Britain. White indigenous people are now evil. They are racist. In Northern Ireland Minister for Justice Naomi Long said the violence and racist attacks in recent days were “not reflective” of the people of Northern Ireland.

“We need to call it for what it is. It is racism, it is Islamophobia, it is xenophobia. “If we’re going to deal with it, we need to name it for what it is, and we need to challenge it.″

Seems that British people of no colour are called out as racists when they march proudly with the British flag. Patriotism to ones’ heritage is now called out as racism. It isn’t about racism or religion. It is about CULTURE and acculturation.

I suggest that extreme tolerance, inclusion and accommodation is leading to the negation of Western Culture.

This is Britain, today.

If you join a protest holding up the Union Jack you are called a far right racist. These actions should look familiar to many Americans.

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‘Strategic Vagueness’ is the Democrats’ New ‘Switcheroo’ “Strategic vagueness” is merely the latest entry in the left’s lexicon to gloss an ancient political tactic to make it appear novel and, for some reason, more digestible. By Thaddeus G. McCotter

By on August 25th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/08/24/strategic-vagueness-is-the-democrats-new-switcheroo/

Obviously, the Democrats’ first “switcheroo” occurred when their party’s powerbrokers unceremoniously removed President Joe Biden as their presidential nominee with all the finesse of a posh D.C. restaurant owner prying a ravenous rat off their back-alley dumpster; and replaced him with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Now, the Democrat elite confronted an equally daunting task: transforming their anointed candidate into presidential timber in the eyes of the general public. Given the effort the Democrat establishment put into prepping the first “switcheroo,” making V.P. Harris palatable to Democrat voters was a foregone conclusion. Indeed, every percentage point the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, raced ahead of Mr. Biden in the rematch was another nail in the latter’s political grave.

It was the old political adage writ large: offer someone death (Mr. Biden) and they will accept torture (Ms. Harris). Propelled by the threat of Trump redux, Democrat voters not only refused to complain about being disregarded by their party’s power brokers for the third time in three presidential elections, they welcomed President Biden’s jettisoning and embraced the V.P. Harris selection.

In so doing, the Democrat establishment had succeeded in turning their party’s presidential primaries into non-binding referendums: a process whereby Democrat voters provide an advisory role that their ruling power brokers may or may not take into consideration when they determine who will be “our democracy’s” nominee and their running mate. Of course, the Democrat establishment’s ultimate aim of turning general election voters into a rubber stamp of their party’s handpicked candidate was yet to be a fait accompli. Thus, the crux: how to transform, by any means fair or foul, V.P. Harris from a less-than-winning radical hack into the glorious savior of our nation that only an American ingrate and/or insurrectionist would oppose?

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Confronting the Threat of Iran’s Regime by Majid Rafizadeh

By on August 25th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20886/confronting-iran-threat

The exorbitantly lenient approach of the Biden-Harris administration has allowed Iran to reach unprecedented levels of power, influence and bellicosity.

Iran and Qatar have for decades been the source of all the instability in the region and much of it beyond.

Qatar has been poisoning American education with at least $6 billion in unreported “gifts and agreements,” and Iran, while building forward bases in Cuba and Venezuela, is busy cyber-hacking the U.S. and trying to assassinate U.S. officials on American soil.

It is clearly time for America to go back to the policy of peace and prosperity in the Middle East and a pro-freedom agenda in American universities – as opposed to financing terrorists, their sponsors and especially Iran’s virulently anti-Western and anti-American nuclear weapons program.

The policies of the Biden-Harris administration, including turning a blind eye to Iran’s nuclear advancements, its destabilizing actions in the Middle East and the release of billions of dollars to the Iranian terror empire, have undoubtedly empowered Iran’s regime, granting it the freedom to pursue its Islamist fundamentalist ambitions, including its ultimate goals of annihilating Israel and disabling the United States.

The exorbitantly lenient approach of the Biden-Harris administration has allowed Iran to reach unprecedented levels of power, influence and bellicosity. Iran is now openly providing military support to Russia in its ongoing war to conquer Ukraine. Iran’s regime has also activated its proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis — to launch attacks on Israel. Even more alarming is Iran’s direct aggression towards Israel and the acceleration of its nuclear weapons program, scenarios that would have been unimaginable during previous administrations.

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The Only Award Qatar Deserves: Supporting Islamist Terrorism by Bassam Tawil

By on August 23rd, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20891/qatar-award-supporting-terrorism

It is grotesque that Qatar should be recognized for its contributions to “maintaining national and regional security” in the Middle East given that it has long been openly supporting Islamist terrorist organizations and serving as a home and haven for the Hamas leadership.

“[H]istory will not forget that the Qatari Al-Jazeera was and still is a platform for leaders of terrorism…. Al-Jazeera is now playing the same tole in spreading speeches of the leader of the Al-Houthi terrorist militia.” — General Secretariat of the Council of Senior [Islamic] Scholars in Saudi Arabia, March 27, 2018.

Not much has changed in Qatar since then…. Al-Jazeera, meanwhile, continues to serve as a mouthpiece of terrorist organizations, especially Hamas, whose leaders are frequently given a platform to promote terrorism. Saudi social media pundit Mesha’al Al-Khalid wrote: “The Al-Jazeera channel burnishes [the image] of the militias and terrorist organizations that have waded in Arab blood, describing them as ‘Islamic resistance.’ We seem to be facing a planned and organized project to burnish the image of Iran’s agents and use the Palestinian issue as an excuse to direct accusations of heresy at anyone who exposes the proxies and agents loyal [to Iran].”

The only award Qatar is due is for encouraging Islamist terrorism and jeopardizing security and stability in the Middle East.

In 2017, Qatar and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on combatting the financing of terrorism. The MoU ensures increased collaboration between US and Qatari military and intelligence forces, and even provides the ability for the U.S. Treasury Department to work closely with the Qatari Government to help monitor suspected terror-financing activities. Evidently, this agreement did not apply to Qatar’s ties with Hamas. Nor did it prevent the October 7 massacres.

Based on the data compiled from multiple English, Arabic and French sources within the Middle East, Europe and the US, a team of American and Israeli investigators concluded in April that Qatar “operates not as an independent mediator as it claims, but benefits directly from the bloodshed and geopolitical fallout and unrest that result from its policies.”

The “Doha-Gaza Alliance at all levels — financial, political, and military — has resulted in the current regional upheaval, the impact of which is being felt worldwide,” the same investigators said in a confidential report, adding that Qatari funding and policies led directly to October 7. They noted that although the US has known about Qatar’s malign activities for years, it has failed to strategically act on them. This has allowed Qatar to advance policies that are harmful to the interests of the US and its allies in the Middle East and beyond.

Instead of showering yet more money and awards on countries that seem to be plotting to bring America down, the US love-fest with Qatar and Iran should immediately be ended.

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Reade Ben, Jordan McGillis Greener on the Other Side? Despite its flaws, America remains the land of opportunity.

By on August 23rd, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/comparing-the-u-s-with-europe

European vacation season isn’t over yet, and this year more Americans than ever have been flying across the Atlantic. By August’s end, they’ll be returning by the 787-full, jetlagged but jubilant, ready to regale friends with tales of their travels—and often enough, the view that the Europeans really have this quality-of-life thing figured out.

Europe’s cities, towns, and countrysides surely are pleasant places to visit. But does their appeal go further? Are they superior to America as places to live? For an evidence-based answer, the natural starting points are big-figure economic numbers such as GDP per capita and disposable incomes. On that score, America clearly comes out ahead of Europe (we’ll focus on EU countries for our purposes here). According to the World Bank, 2023 per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power in the United States is more than one-third higher than that of the EU, at $81,695 vs. $60,350. Disposable incomes favor the U.S. as well.

Of course, while it is widely accepted that Americans are on average more productive and richer than Europeans, both America and Europe are sufficiently diverse and vast that generalizing isn’t that useful. Given that newcomers to the EU are still climbing out of the hole dug by Communism, a comparison with the richer corners of Europe is more apt. Moreover, Americans tend to work more for the money they earn. If we’re trying to puzzle out who has it better, it makes sense to adjust for the more plentiful leisure time afforded Europeans.

Last year, The Economist performed an exercise of this kind, stacking European countries up against the United States on the basis of per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power and hours worked. The analysis found that EU countries Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Sweden (along with non-EU Norway and Switzerland) eclipse the U.S. in per-capita GDP when adjusting for those considerations. These countries, in a manner of speaking, have higher individual productivity than America. But if we isolate Norway’s 6 million people, Belgium’s 12 million, and the like, why not do the same for American states? That comparison tells another story.

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