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Ruth King

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Freezing bladder tumors. Israeli startup Vessi Medical has developed unique bladder-specific cryotherapy technology for treating surface cancer on the inside lining of the bladder. Existing therapies are invasive and have a high recurrence rate. Vessi has conducted clinical trials and hopes to begin human trials shortly.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-startup-seeks-to-freeze-bladder-tumors-after-seeing-success-in-pigs/

A computer in your heart. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported 3 years ago (see here) when Israel’s Vectorious Medical raised funds to trial its V-LAPTM microcomputer that monitors for imminent heart failure. The device has just been successfully implanted in the first human trials in a six-minute procedure, under local anesthesia. It is said to be the world’s first digital, wireless, battery-less device that can communicate from deep within the body.
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/vectorious-1st-human-trial-wireless-heart-monitor-implant/
http://vectoriousmedtech.com/

ReWalk’s soft suit completes trials. I reported previously (see here) about ReStore, the soft suit exoskeleton from Israel’s ReWalk that enables stroke patients to walk. ReStore recently completed successful trials at five US rehabilitation centers and ReWalk has now applied for US FDA and European CE approval.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3756695,00.html

Treatment for refractory seizures. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Teva has launched a generic version of Sabril (vigabatrin) in the US for the treatment of refractory Complex Partial Seizures (CPS). It is meant for adults and children over 10 with this form of epilepsy who have failed to respond to several alternative treatments.
https://www.tevapharm.com/news/teva_announces_u_s_launch_of_a_generic_version_of_sabril_vigabatrin_02_19.aspx

Unique way to mend a broken heart. A 29-year-old Israeli staggered into Sheba Medical Center with a left ventricle aneurysm (ruptured heart artery). Cardiologist Professor Victor Guetta performed a “first in the world” procedure using a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) occlude (normally used to open arteries) to plug the hole.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-israeli-doctor-plugs-heart-bleed-with-innovative-procedure/

Lab-grown bone patient competes in triathlon. Danny Yaakobson suffered a serious leg injury in a car accident and risked losing his leg. He was the first patient to receive a transplant using bone grown from his own fat cells by Israel’s Bonus Bio. Danny completed the 112-mile cycle race of Eilat’s 2019 Israman triathlon.
http://nocamels.com/2019/02/world-1st-patient-lab-grown-bone-implant-israman-triathlon/

Predicting the spread of melanoma. Scientists at Ben Gurion University, working with others at the University of Texas, have used microscopic cameras to film live cancer cells. They then used artificial intelligence to identify cells with metastatic potential that were likely to spread to other parts of the body.
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/ai_melanoma.aspx
https://www.the-scientist.com/image-of-the-day/image-of-the-day–bad-behavior-65202

Finding the cause of genetic diseases. Israeli biotech Emedgene has developed a platform that can pinpoint the genetic mutation(s) responsible for rare genetic diseases. Emedgene gets cases from healthcare organizations and uses Artificial Intelligence and information databases to help geneticists uncover the underlying problem.
https://emedgene.com/emedgene-raises-6-million-to-scale-genomics-based-care-with-ai/

Hope for safer skin grafts. It’s early days, but Shahar Ben-Shaul from Israel’s Technion Institute looks to have improved the success rate for skin grafts. In laboratory trials, she and her team were able to connect blood vessels faster and safer using more mature (14-day-old) cells grown in the lab, in combination with real skin.
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-study-shows-more-successful-method-for-skin-grafts/
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/8/2955

Sweden: Still More Migration by Judith Bergman

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13846/sweden-more-migration

Sweden’s reintroduction of the right to family reunion for people granted asylum in Sweden without refugee status, entitles so-called “unaccompanied children” to bring their parents to Sweden. Many of these “unaccompanied children” turned out to be adults, not minors. (The dentist who contributed to exposing this inconsequential detail was subsequently fired).

Mehdi Shokr Khoda, a gay 19-year old Iranian, who converted to Christianity in Sweden after he fled from Iran in 2017, probably wishes that Swedish authorities would apply their “humanitarian approach” to his particular case. The Swedish migration authorities rejected his asylum application, claiming that Khoda is “lying” about his situation. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has executed “between 4,000 and 6,000 gays and lesbians”, according to a 2008 British WikiLeaks dispatch.

As for Sweden’s humanitarian impulses — or lack thereof — regarding persecuted Christians, there are an estimated 8,000 Christians under deportation orders hiding in Sweden, according to attorney Gabriel Donner, who has assisted an estimated 1,000 Christian asylum-seekers facing deportation.

Sweden’s new government, which was finally formed in January after months of delay, is introducing policies that will lead to more immigration into Sweden — despite the main governing party, the Social Democrats, having run for office on a promise to tighten immigration policies.

The right to family reunion for those people granted asylum in Sweden who do not have refugee status is being reintroduced — a measure that is estimated to bring at least 8,400 more immigrants to Sweden in the coming three years. According to the Minister of Migration, Morgan Johansson, this measure will “strengthen integration,” although he has not explained how.

Mad, Sad and Dangerous Always: Peter Smith

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/03/mad-sad-

FRENETICALLY outflanking each other, leftists in the United States have taken themselves to the brink of madness and beyond. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (above) Green New Deal (GND) is conclusive proof of that. And, be warned, where the US goes others might well eventually follow. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad, is a well-known aphorism of disputed origin. Let’s hope it proves to be true in this case, lest the current wave of socialists do what they’re best at: condemning us to shortages, deprivations and, eventually, to despotism and gulags.

The GND is steering the Democrat ship so hard to port that the old guard (Pelosi, Schumer, Biden, et al) are clinging onto the starboard rails for dear life. It is inane of course – free education, free child care, pleasant houses for all, good high-wage jobs for all, high-quality health care for all, universal access to healthy food, refitting all buildings for climate efficiency, meeting 100 percent of power through clean renewable emission-free energy, replacing air travel with fast trains, removing greenhouse emissions from agriculture; and so on, and so on, into Wonderland and through the Looking Glass.

Its sheer silliness is a comfort. Surely, no one can take it seriously? Wait on! According to the Washington Examiner on Feb 11, 67 House Democrats had signed onto the GND. Fox News reported a few days earlier that “seven senators either running for the Democratic presidential nomination or seriously weighing White House bids have signed on.”

I don’t know who has since signed on but I suspect that there is only upside to the numbers. After all, left-wing mobs can make life difficult for those who don’t fall in behind Ocasio-Cortez. Now, to be clear, the danger is not that the GND would ever be implemented. That would be impossible. The danger is that it is shifting the Democratic Party’s centre far to the left. What would have been on the fringe only a few short years ago is becoming mainstream.

The federal government’s end-of-year spending spree

https://www.openthebooks.com

In the final month of the fiscal year, federal agencies scramble to spend what’s left in their annual budget.

Agencies fear that leaving excess funds might prompt Congress to appropriate less money the next year.To avoid this, agencies spend like crazy every September. We call it the “use-it-or-lose-it” phenomenon, and it’s all on the taxpayer dime. 

Our latest oversight report, which broke this morning on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, quantified the $97 billion federal agencies spent in the final month of fiscal year 2018. That’s a 39-percent increase from fiscal year 2015.These last-minute transactions purchased a range of services and products including fidget spinners, guns and ammunition, alcohol and lobster tail, CrossFit equipment, musical instruments, and more. For the next six days, we are making this report available to you for free. Download your free copy of our breaking report today.

Contrary to claims, US jobs bust not a fluke February’s disappointing jobs report was the result of exhaustion of parts of the labor pool and consumer resistance to paying for higher labor costs By David P. Goldman

https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/contrary-to-claims-us-jobs-bust-not-a-fluke/

US payroll employment grew by just 20,000 in February, against a market consensus forecast of 170,000 growth. Administration officials pointed to the 3.4% growth in average hourly earnings as a sign of economic health, but low employment growth and higher wages are twin images of the same picture. US employment growth has been concentrated in labor-intensive, low wage sectors, and that is where hourly earnings have risen the fastest.

Higher wages are NOT leading to inflation, as the Phillips curve predicts, but to lower growth. Household budgets are tight and consumers balk at price increases. The unexpected slump in hiring in labor-intensive sectors is consistent with the unexpected slump in retail sales and personal spending in December.

I expect not a US recession but a slowdown in growth to the 1%-1.5% range, down from last year’s 3%. The US consumer, as I wrote yesterday, remains the world’s biggest macro risk.

Mark Janus: The Man Who Ended Compulsory Union Dues By Jack Fowler

https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/03/25/mark-janus-the-man-who-ended-compulsory-union-dues/

He asked the Supreme Court to acknowledge his First Amendment rights, and it did

An average guy, provoked enough, can accomplish things that are above average.

Mark Janus is such a guy. Provoked by what he believed was a bald violation of his First Amendment rights, he took action to see them protected. And he prevailed. Big time, as an average guy might say.

His name, italicized, will live on now in legal textbooks and amicus curiae footnotes, will be cited at length in law-school seminars and oral arguments, will be uttered with contempt in union headquarters, with respect in conservative gatherings. And it will be classified under “landmark.” Maybe even give birth to a phrase, “Janus rights.”

Last June, in Mark Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, commonly known as Janus v. AFSCME, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that public-sector unions may not automatically enroll workers as members and collect fees from them. Janus was a loss for labor. A big loss. And it was a major — even surprising, and far-reaching — victory for conservatives and First Amendment champions.

Mark Janus describes himself as “just an average guy, a middle-class person who goes to work every day.” And work is where this saga of jurisprudence, of constitutional rights, of modern-day politics and union power, all begins. A lifelong resident of Springfield, Ill., Janus, a down-to-earth civic-minded citizen (he is an Eagle Scout), graduated in 1975 from Illinois College, a business-administration major whose career path meandered. He worked for his dad’s beauty-supply company and then at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, where his duties centered on economic-development small-business loans.

Janus soon returned to the private sector, as an accountant for a printing company and then in his own spiral-binding business, which he eventually sold. Then followed an encore as a government employee.

The Tireless Ron DeSantis By Deroy Murdock

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/the-tireless-ron-desantis/

He has led a burst of pro-market, limited-government reforms that are making Florida even greater.

The last time most Americans heard of Ron DeSantis, the former GOP congressman had edged past Mayor Andrew Gillum (D., Tallahassee) in their rough-and-tumble wrestling match for Florida’s governorship. After contested recounts in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, DeSantis, 40, prevailed over Gillum, 39, by a margin more svelte than Palm Beach — 49.6 percent to 49.2 percent. Among 8.1 million ballots cast, just 32,463 votes divided victor from vanquished.

Since his January 8 inauguration, DeSantis has done far more than rearrange the gubernatorial furniture. Indeed, he has led a burst of pro-market, limited-government reforms that are making Florida even greater.

• Most significantly, DeSantis replaced three Florida supreme court justices who were required to retire at age 75. His appointees — Barbara Lagoa, Robert J. Luck, and Carlos Muñiz — have shifted the court’s composition from four liberals and three conservatives to one liberal and six conservatives. This jump to the right should keep the Sunshine State’s top tribunal safe for constitutionalism.

• DeSantis pioneered Florida Deregathon — a one-day summit in which agency heads targeted red tape, especially in occupational licensing. While eye surgeons and airline pilots should certify their competence, why do nail polishers and boxing timekeepers need Tallahassee’s permission to work? Florida’s 1,200-hour training requirement for new barbers, for instance, stymies competition by boosting costs and headaches for new entrants.

11 Lessons For Conservative Women On Campus Melissa Langsam Braunstein

http://thefederalist.com/2019/03/08/11-lessons-for-conservative-women-on-campus/

In the book ‘She’s Conservative: Stories of Trials and Triumphs on America’s College Campuses,’ young conservative women offer in their own words lessons for how to survive—and thrive—at college and beyond.

It’s impossible to know the future, but we can do our best to prepare for it. That’s why if you’re a parent, especially of a high school senior heading off to college this fall, you’ll want to pick up a copy of She’s Conservative: Stories of Trials and Triumphs on America’s College Campuses. This collection of 22 essays by women affiliated with the Network of Enlightened Women—a book club for conservative college-age and young professional women—offers readers a window into what it’s like to be a Gen Z conservative woman on campus.

Every essay is different, as are the women and campuses they reflect. However, 11 lessons emerge over the course of the easy-to-read 100-plus pages.

1. Buckle Up. You already know this in theory, but the book offers many concrete examples of campus leftists making college life harder for anyone who rejects, or even questions, their orthodoxy. Margaret Reid writes of her time at Western Michigan University, “At one point, it got so bad that I lied to friends and professors about what I supported, so I would not lose friendships or see my grades suffer.”

2. Prepare for Condescension. Grace Bannister writes, “At Harvard, my independently formed political beliefs are challenged as backward and often blamed on my rural West Virginia upbringing . . . Making matters worse, many on campus believe there is something inherently wrong with conservative women. They think we are oppressed or uneducated.” Sarah George writes, “When I tell my liberal peers I am conservative, the few who don’t immediately recoil in horror determinedly start explaining to me how confused I am.”

35 Key People Involved In The Russia Hoax Who Need To Be Investigated By Willis L. Krumholz

http://thefederalist.com/2019/03/08/35-key-people-involved-russia-hoax-need-investigated/

As their desperate search for collusion continues, Democrats want to interview 81 people. Try this list instead.

Funny how things change. The Washington Post couldn’t say a nice thing about congressional Republican efforts to investigate the Obama administration and FBI shenanigans that occurred before and after the 2016 election. That’s if they even covered these efforts at all.

But with Democrats controlling the House, and that legislative body’s subpoena power, the establishment media’s line has changed. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have just sent letters to 81 people, all associated with President Trump or the Russia probe, demanding answers on Russian election interference.

This is part of Democrats’ effort to continue their hunt for proof of Russia collusion—although they are already sure that Trump is guilty—as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation appears to be winding down. To cover these events, the Post’s Philip Bump wrote an article titled: “The 81 people and organizations just looped into the Trump probe—and why they were included.” Of course, the article is totally unquestioning of the House Democrats’ desired narrative and motivations.
Investigated, But Not for the Reasons Dems Give

It isn’t worth it to go through Bump’s whole article, but even the commentary about the first name on the list—Rinat Akhmetshin—omits glaring and important facts. Bump says Akhmetshin “joined his colleague Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer linked to the Kremlin, at the June 9, 2016, meeting in Trump Tower predicated on providing information that would undermine Hillary Clinton’s campaign.” But, Bump says, “the focus of the meeting instead reportedly focused on the Magnitsky Act—a law that resulted in sanctions on numerous prominent Russians.”

Next Up: Democrats Want Children to Vote By J. Christian Adams

https://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/next-up-democrats-want-children-to-vote/

Oregon legislation to allow children to vote should bring to an end our first reaction to crazy ideas involving our elections — namely laughter. It’s dangerous to laugh at proposals like child-voting when the advocates are deadly serious.

Oregon Senator Shemia Fagan introduced legislation at a press conference to allow sixteen-year-olds to vote. She was flanked by teens wearing homemade T-shirts criticizing firearms. “Sixteen-year-olds are couch surfing with friends while their families are experiencing homelessness, and begging us to take action to protect their future and planet,” Fagan said.

As long as democracies have existed, and as long as this democratic republic has existed, voters must be adults.

This, the latest in a long march of transformational rules over our elections, is a loud alarm that these efforts to change election process rules are really an effort to change America.