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Ruth King

ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Anti-Semitism’s Signature Moment Tony Thomas

By on December 18th, 2023

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/the-universities/2023/12/anti-semitisms-signature-moment/

Australian pro-Hamas petitions are swelling to a torrent. For example, “Historians for Palestine” signed by 120 academics, on top of one from 720 academics nationally. That loopy one begins:

As scholars, academics and students in Australia, a settler colony built on the dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we stand in solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for liberation and against Israeli settler colonialism.

There’s old petitions like the journos’ multiple efforts since 2021, the most recent garnering 320 names and continuing to amass new activist signatures. Then there’s is the arty crowd of nearly 4,000 arts “creatives” signing their own effusion.

There is even a ceasefire petition under way from “Current and Former Elected Representatives” at local, state and federal level. It says, “We stand with Palestine, the Palestinian people, including Palestinian Australians and for truth and justice.” This petition blasts Israel for rights “violations” dating to 1948 and “occupation” of Gaza since 1967 via blockades. It has just one weak phrase about “the acts of Hamas on 7 October 2023″ requiring investigation. For the real thing on October 7, see here (warning – extremely graphic).

Most sinister of all is the pro-Palestine open letter from 700 Victorian school teachers and staff, as reported today (December 18) in The Australian. The letter says that it is within teachers’ “professional and ethical duty to model an anti-violence position”. They are pressuring federal and state education ministers to advise principals that Palestinian advocacy is in line with the public sector code of conduct. (It isn’t). They claim this is required to “protect children’s and young people’s wellbeing” in regards to Palestine:

Our own students are also witnessing the catastrophic devastation unfold, which will have short and long-term effects on their social, emotional and cultural wellbeing, impeding their capacity to live and learn well,” it says. “In response to the indefensible actions causing catastrophic harm, it is essential for people and governments to take an ethical stand, including those who remain accountable to the responsibility of caring for children and young people.

The Australian quoted Teachers Professional Association of Australia secretary Edward Schuller that the group “vehemently oppose any attempt to push political agendas onto children”.

But the daddy of all rows is convulsing Australia’s top-rated Melbourne University, with 2,050 pro-Hamas staff, students and alumni slugging it out with embattled Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell. His offence was to issue a statement on October 25 correctly blaming the war on the Hamas terrorism of October 7. He called for civilised behaviour at the university “as a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-faith community”. He urged for no anti-Semitism, no Islamophobia and no racism.[1]

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

The Rapid Growth of Educational Freedom is Unprecedented School choice has made great strides in 2023, and its foes are not happy. by Larry Sand

By on December 18th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-rapid-growth-of-educational-freedom-is-unprecedented/

According to the latest ABCs of School Choice  – EdChoice’s comprehensive report about all matters pertaining to education freedom – policymakers in 40 states have debated 111 educational choice bills in 2023, 79 percent of which related to education savings accounts. (ESAs allow parents to receive a deposit of public funds into a government-authorized savings account with restricted, but multiple uses. Those funds can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses, and other approved customized learning services and materials.)

The report continues, “As the months ticked by, a total of seven states enacted new choice programs and ten expanded ones already in operation. As of this writing, eight states have joined Arizona and West Virginia in offering all students choice, making 2023 the Year of Universal Choice.”

Overall, 32 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have some form of private school choice programs, with 80 programs impacting about 800,000 students nationwide.

The teachers’ unions and their fellow travelers are fuming over the turn of events. One of the grinches’ ongoing claims is that any privatization measure hurts traditional public schools. However, when researcher Greg Forster looked at 34 studies on the effects of school choice on government-run schools, he found that in 32, school choice improves academic outcomes in public schools affected by the program, while one saw no visible difference, and just one found a negative impact.

Yes, competition works.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Hamas’ Lust for Mutilation, Murder & Sexual Atrocity The pathology of an honor-shame culture. Dawn Perlmutter

By on December 18th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/hamas-lust-for-mutilation-murder-sexual-atrocity/

Hamas groomed an army of angry, insecure, wife-beating psychopaths and gave them permission to rape, mutilate and kill Israeli men, women, and children. The terror organization drugged these psychopaths, told them to videotape their atrocities, and offered them a $10,000 reward for taking hostages. Hamas savages were high on captagon, Israeli blood, and visions of martyrdom. They believed that they were heroes righting wrongs and injustices by killing and violating the “oppressors” who stole and occupy their land.

The October 7th attack on Israel can be partly attributed to the red-green alliance of radical leftists and Islamists who foster a cult of Palestinian victimhood. The coalition of radicals that divide the world into oppressors and oppressed has generated one of the most successful long-term global information operations by making the Palestinian-Israeli conflict a cause célèbre. Decades of calculated anti-American, anti-Zionist, anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist, oppressor-themed propaganda has resulted in “Palestinian solidarity” and support from Americans and people around the world. Disinformation campaigns combined with shame-based indoctrination techniques facilitated Oct. 7th — and its aftermath of worldwide antisemitic, anti-Israel protests and hate crimes.

The propaganda strategy portraying Palestinians as helpless victims against Israeli aggression is calculated to evoke deep-seated feelings of humiliation and shame that prompts violence. The Palestinians, similar to many other Muslim Arab males, belong to what is referred to as an ‘Honor – Shame’ culture, in which men are in a constant struggle with fear of dishonor and maintaining “reputation.” Emotions of weakness, helplessness and shame are always just below the surface, triggered by a hypersensitivity to any real or perceived act of humiliation. Honor and reputation are everything and can only be restored through violent bloodshed which washes away the insult.

Palestinian men who are continually portrayed in the media as weak, powerless, demeaned, and humiliated by Israel often relieve their feeling of shame and inadequacy by beating their wives. This is exemplified by the extremely high rate of Palestinian domestic violence. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, over seventy percent of the women in the Gaza Strip were exposed to violence from their husbands. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) attributes Gender Based Violence in Gaza to ‘traditional patriarchal norms and values’ and then justifies violence against women by blaming Israel for frustrating Gazan men.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve only has a 20-day supply for the country Ronald Stein

By on December 18th, 2023

https://www.cfact.org/2023/12/13/the-u-s-strategic-petroleum-reserve-only-has-a-20-day-supply-for-the-country/

In 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo against the United States, triggering a crude oil crisis that sent the U.S. economy into a recession. To mitigate any future shortages of oil, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

The SPR is centrally located along the Gulf Coast, where the oil can be distributed to nearly half of all U.S. oil refineries using interstate pipelines or barges.

Interestingly, California, the 4th largest economy in the world, has no access to the SPR as there are no pipelines over the Sierra Mountains to reach the “California Energy Island”.

A few years after the SPR was authorized, in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis in 1977, the Department of Energy was established to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

Today, California, the 4th largest economy in the world, California is importing almost 60 percent of its crude oil demands from foreign countries to support the state’s 9 International airports, 41 Military airports, and 3 of the largest shipping ports in America!

Now, after 50 years, the Department of Energy (DOE) is comprised of approximately 14,000 federal employees, over 95,000 management and operating contractors, 83 field locations, and a $48 billion dollar budget, the United States remains a net crude oil importer. Although exports increased in the first half of 2023, the United States’ demands have also been increasing, resulting in imports exceeding exports, meaning the U.S. remains a net crude oil importer.

The United States, as a net crude oil importer, continues to rely on foreign countries to run the 118 international airports in the United States and the 500 Military airports in the United States.

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ANTI-SEMITISM, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Huge Majority Of Voters Say U.S. Has ‘Serious’ Antisemitism Problem: I&I/TIPP Poll Terry Jones

By on December 18th, 2023

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/12/18/large-majority-of-voters-say-u-s-has-a-serious-problem-with-antisemitism-ii-tipp-poll/

While the big media might not be worried about the wave of antisemitism that emerged after Israel was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, average Americans are. A hefty majority now call antisemitism in the U.S. a “serious” problem, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

Following the recent disturbing outbreak of antisemitism across the country, ranging from an upsurge of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses to a spate of ugly harassment incidents against individual Jewish Americans, a majority of Americans agree there’s a big problem.

In our latest national online poll, taken Nov. 29-Dec. 1 from among 1,464 registered voters, we asked the following question: “Generally speaking, how serious is the problem of anti-Semitism, or prejudice against Jewish people, in the U.S. today?”

The overwhelming response was not comforting for those who might have hoped that antisemitism was a relic of the past. Some 76% of all Americans called the problem either “very serious” (43%) or “somewhat serious” (33%). A mere 14% said it was either “not very serious” (10%) or “not serious at all” (4%).

Another 10% said they were “not sure.” The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points.

Differences among the three major political groupings in America – Democrats, Republicans and independents – were not great. The share of Democrats (83%) and Republicans (77%) responding that antisemitism was a “serious” problem in the U.S. were, statistically speaking, basically even.

Independents, at 67%, were the lowest of the 36 demographic groups regularly tracked by I&I/TIPP, but even that was still a strong majority. Plainly, average Americans are worried.

But this raises a question: Who do Americans think are the groups most afflicted with antisemitic ideas?

I&I/TIPP asked a follow-on question: “Generally speaking, how serious is the problem of anti-Semitism, or prejudice against Jewish people, among the following groups, in the U.S. today?” The choices were liberals, conservatives, young adults and universities.

Recall that, overall, 76% in the poll thought America overall suffered from antisemitism. None of the individual groups listed in the preceding paragraph get close to that level, though all are above 50%. They range from conservatives (51%) and liberals (54%) to young adults (61%) and universities (61%).

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to be removed despite GOP opposition Sarah Rumph-Whitten

By on December 18th, 2023

Despite efforts from a group of Republican lawmakers, a Confederate statue in the Arlington National Cemetery will be removed in the coming days.

The Reconciliation Monument, known as the Confederate Statue, is part of the push to remove military installations named after the Confederacy in the wake of the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

According to a press release from the national cemetery, the statue will be removed from the cemetery by Dec. 22.

The move to remove the statue is in compliance with the Congressional mandate to remove all Confederate memorials by Jan. 1, 2024.

The Congressional mandate, passed in 2020, declared that the Department of Defense must remove all “names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America” by Jan. 1, 2024.

An Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that safety fencing has been installed around the Confederate Memorial as preparation begins to deconstruct the memorial, which was erected in 1914.

While the work occurs, the surrounding landscape, graves, and headstones will be protected, the cemetery said.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

“Thoughts on Israel and the Palestinians” Sydney Williams

By on December 18th, 2023

http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com

War has been around as long as has man. President Obama said as much in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 2009: “War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man.” Efforts to outlaw war, or even to impose rules as to its conduct, have failed. The Kellogg-Briand Pact, an effort to outlaw war, signed on August 27, 1928 did not prevent Japan (a signatory) from invading Manchuria three years later. Nor did it stop Germany (also a signatory) from invading Poland eleven years later. The best means to prevent war is to prepare for it. When I was at the University of New Hampshire, I often drove past Pease Airforce Base with its seemingly oxymoronic, but in fact accurate, sign, “Peace is Our Profession.” The projection of strength is necessary to curtail war. Unfortunately, that air base, and the entire Strategic Air Command was “disestablished” in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The conduct of modern war is supposed to follow rules of international humanitarian law established under the Geneva Convention of 1949, as they pertain to non-combatants, the wounded and treatment of prisoners of war. But such good intentions are never followed, as we have seen throughout all subsequent wars, and as Senator John McCain, along with thousands of other servicemen, learned during their years as prisoners of war in North Vietnam. As Carl von Clausewitz noted in On War, “The object of fighting is the destruction or defeat of the enemy.” The Swedish war historian Peter Englund, in his new book November 1942, wrote of a British tail gunner flying over Germany: “The aircrews are not guided by moralistic motives or complex explanations; they are given orders to carry out their missions…”

Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are not asking for a two-state solution. Their call for Palestine to be free “from the river to the sea,” is a call to eradicate Israel. When terrorists hide among civilians it is they who are causing civilian deaths. “Wars are just to those to whom they are necessary,” wrote Edmund Burke, in Reflections on the Revolutions in France, but “just” is in the eyes of the beholder. “Unjust war is to be abhorred,” spoke President Theodore Roosevelt at the University of Berlin on May 12, 1910 (only four years before Europe embarked on a four-year war of devastation), “but,” he added, “woe to the nation that does not make ready to hold its own in time of need against all who would harm it.” And woe to the state of Israel now if they do not confront and destroy Hamas.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

MICHAEL ORDMAN: POSITIVE NEWS DURING WARTIME IN ISRAEL

By on December 17th, 2023

 “War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out.”  General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891).

The tragedy of friendly fire killing three Israeli hostages haunts us today. It will be investigated thoroughly by the IDF. This particular event reminds us that Israel has a citizen army -everyone serves-and alas, some are less experienced than others in the fight for survival against genocidal enemies.

But, as Michael Ordman reminds us, Israel has another nonmilitary army of researchers, doctors, technical experts, and civil servants who work around the clock to bring succor and a better and peaceful life to billions of citizens on every continent. rsk

 

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR

From war to the Olympics. Israel’s Sports Association for the Disabled and Israel’s Paralympic Committee have launched a voluntary initiative for IDF personnel who have lost limbs. Rehabilitation and recovery include personal trainers, coaches, physiotherapists, and sports psychologists. More than 20 have already joined.

https://www.israel21c.org/paralympians-to-help-war-wounded-heal-trauma/ 

When father meets son. Rambam hospital’s Dr. Arik Schechter has been serving in the IDF reserves deep inside Gaza since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War. With three sons and a son-in-law also serving, perhaps it should not have been such a surprise when he was reunited with one of his sons in the fighting.

https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/father-son-meet-in-gaza.aspx

When Dad meets wife & new son. I admit that I shed a few tears when I read this story and then saw the video on Instagram.   https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/dad_arrives-for-birth_despite_war.aspx

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz0NpHksLYG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

What motivates us. Research led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has discovered that the impulse for motivation is generated by the balance in the striatum area of the brain of simultaneous wavelike patterns of two neurochemicals – dopamine and acetylcholine. The team used advanced genetic tools and imaging.

https://en.huji.ac.il/news/wave-theory-neurochemical-balance-brain

Impact of early life trauma and possible treatment. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have also been studying the brain. In lab tests they found that trauma in early life caused problems in adults that showed up on brain scans. But a short treatment of diazepam soon after trauma erased those signs on adult brain scans.

https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/traces-trauma-young-brain-%E2%80%93-and-how-erase-them

Bring back the light. On Chanukah, Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund (SICF) launched its campaign, “Bring Back the Light.” for children scarred by terror.  SICF uses individual and group therapies, both traditional and alternative, administered by a team of skilled social workers, psychologists, and specialty therapists.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/miracle-of-healing-shiloh-israel-childrens-funds-bring-back-the-light-initiative/

Empathic robot companion in NY State. (TY OurCrowd) A few weeks ago (see here previously) the ElliQ empathic robot from Israel’s Intuitive Robotics was being offered free to seniors in two areas in South Florida.  It is now being offered to seniors in New York State. The pilot shows a 95% reduction in loneliness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZBKjK9WXE8  https://elliq.com/pages/free 

https://abc7ny.com/seniors-ai-robot-companionship/14154002/

https://aging.ny.gov/news/nysofas-rollout-ai-companion-robot-elliq-shows-95-reduction-loneliness

Simultaneous simulations. Israel’s QuantHealth (see here previously) has upgraded its platform for simulating clinical trials. Its new product, called Katina, simultaneously simulates hundreds of thousands of combinations of each element in a clinical trial to maximize the probability of success when real human trials begin.

https://nocamels.com/2023/12/new-ai-platform-simulates-thousands-of-clinical-trials-at-once/

Best Buy remote monitoring. Israel’s BioBeat (see here previously) is integrating its wearable devices for remote patient monitoring into the Current Health home care platform offered by Best Buy Health in the US.  The devices monitor 13 parameters, e.g., blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, pulse rate and respiratory rate.

https://nocamels.com/category/news-briefs/#post-125875  

https://www.currenthealth.com/remote-patient-monitoring/

When dormant bacteria revive. Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have discovered how bacteria spores retain vital genetic information during dormancy and activate when revived. The RNA polymerase, inside the spores, initiates copying processes. The knowledge could help research into controlling pathogens.

https://www.afhu.org/2023/12/01/hebrew-university-researchers-discover-mechanism-for-dormant-bacteria-spores-to-retain-genetic-memory/

Herbal diabetic remedy and more. Israel’s Curalife manufactures Curalin – a herbal supplement formulated to treat diabetes but with anecdotal indications for stress reduction, improved metabolism and even insomnia. It contains nine herbs based on Ayurvedic medicine – an ancient Indian practice.

https://www.israel21c.org/ayurvedic-herbal-supplement-targets-diabetes/   https://global.curalife.com/

US approval for glaucoma laser device. Israel’s Belkin Vision (previously Belkin Laser – see here) has received US FDA clearance for the use of its automatic and noninvasive glaucoma laser surgery device. The Eagle is the first and only contactless laser surgery for glaucoma patients.

https://nocamels.com/category/news-briefs/#post-125889

AI sensor to monitor kidney function. Israel’s FIZE Medical has developed a new AI device that measures production of urine by the kidneys via a patient catheter. It identifies problems with kidneys, heart, medication, etc. Fize has FDA approval and has completed a pilot at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. 

https://nocamels.com/2023/12/ai-sensor-monitors-kidney-function-one-drop-at-a-time/  https://fizemedical.com/

How does your dog smell?  Israel’s Tech4animals lab (see here previously) has developed an algorithm that detects the canine breathing condition known as Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS). It is common in dogs such as boxers, pugs and French bulldogs that have been bred with short snouts.

https://nocamels.com/2023/12/ai-doggie-doctor-diagnoses-breathing-problems-pugs-boxers/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Occupational therapist, soldier, and bone-marrow donor. Lee, an occupational therapist at Israel’s Rambam Health Care Campus has been serving as a casualty officer since she was called up for reserves at the beginning of the war. She volunteered as a bone-marrow donor and was a lifesaving match for a woman in need.

https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/three-in-one.aspx

She just can’t stop. I was surprised to see this on the BBC. Praise for a woman (Yael Noy) whose heads the organization “Road to Recovery” group of Israeli volunteers. Despite Oct 7, Yael drives sick Palestinian Arabs – mostly children – from security checkpoints in Judea and Samaria to hospital appointments in Israel.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67592468 

1000+ volunteering TAU students. Some 6,000 Tel Aviv University students are serving in the IDF reserves. At least 1000 more are volunteering to help patients at hospitals; make food for serving soldiers, harvest fields and transport people to the Gaza border; help run factories at evacuated kibbutzim, and more.

https://english.tau.ac.il/news/volunteering_initiatives  https://english.tau.ac.il/news/Helping_Israeli_farmers

Lost and asleep. (TY Hazel) In the middle of fighting a war, IDF reservists discovered a 4-year-old Gazan girl who had got lost, stumbled barefoot into an IDF camp, and fallen asleep. They cleaned her up, bandaged her injured feet and then arranged an ambulance to take her to the safe civilian area of Southern Gaza.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/watch-reservists-help-lost-gazan-child-who-fell-asleep-in-idf-encampment/

Rescuing abandoned pets from Gaza. Many of the IDF’s heroic efforts go unnoticed, such as the rescue of abandoned animals from Gaza. They include cats, dogs, parrots, owls, and even a neglected, malnourished lion from the Gaza Zoo. Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority is working with the IDF to bring the lion to safely.

https://worldisraelnews.com/idf-rescues-abandoned-pets-exotic-birds-and-even-a-lion-from-gaza/

Rescuing unsold food. Israeli food rescue startup SpareEat (see here previously) shut down when Covid-19 regulations prevented people from collecting food in person. It has now re-launched and is even more popular than the first time around. Israelis collect “surprise” bags of highly discounted excess food from businesses.

https://nocamels.com/2023/12/spareeat-app-unsold-food-rescue/

US National Academy of Inventors “fellow”.  Prof. Shulamit Levenberg of Israel’s Technion Institute (see here previously) has been chosen to be a fellow of the prestigious American National Academy of Inventors. She is a founder of Aleph Farms (see here), NurExone (spinal cord regeneration) and Nanosynex (see here).

https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-777863

https://nurexone.com/professor-shulamit-levenberg/

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The World Is at War by Gordon G. Chang

By on December 17th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20223/world-at-war

[Senator JD] Vance has apparently not heard of World War II, which did not end with a negotiation either in Europe or the Pacific.

Leaders, officials, and legislators across the political spectrum have gone crazy, thinking their crowd-pleasing but truly awful ideas, if implemented, will have no consequences.

[Biden] is far more interested in avoiding escalation than in winning, and not angering the totalitarians in Beijing and Tehran has apparently become his primary goal… That is a grave strategic mistake.

[Putin] is unlikely to stop with just that embattled state. By explicitly adopting the language of Peter the Great, Putin has made it clear that Russia has the right to expand to areas now in NATO states. The Baltics, for instance, are obviously at risk. So is much of Eastern Europe.

Many in the West say that Putin would not dare to attack a NATO country, yet a failure of the West to defend Ukraine, a country protected by the guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, could convince Putin that he does not have to worry about the trans-Atlantic alliance or its most important member, the United States of America.

Senator JD Vance on December 11 suggested that Ukraine surrender land in order to obtain a peace settlement with Russia.

“It ends the way nearly every single war has ever ended: when people negotiate and each side gives up something that it doesn’t want to give up,” the Ohio Republican said to reporters. “No one can explain to me how this ends without some territorial concessions relative to the 1991 boundaries.”

Vance has apparently not heard of World War II, which did not end with a negotiation either in Europe or the Pacific. Moreover, given what he just said about a peace-for-land agreement with Russia, Vance also apparently knows nothing about the Munich Pact of 1938. I suspect he may not be able to locate the Sudetenland on a map.

Vance is not the only misguided American in Washington. Leaders, officials, and legislators across the political spectrum have gone crazy, thinking their crowd-pleasing but truly awful ideas, if implemented, will have no consequences.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Global Warming and ‘Big Bad Oil’ by Amir Taheri

By on December 17th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20222/global-warming-oil

[H]istory shows that civilizations based on recycling and no growth end up disappearing, the most glaring example being ancient Sumer.

Nuclear energy may sound attractive…. But the fact is that we still know little about its impact in the long run, especially when it comes to disposing of the waste it produces.

Since the Paris Conference of 2015, those leading the “save the planet” crusade have opted for a piecemeal approach to a problem that, if it exists, cannot be solved by diplomatic gimmicks, fixing sectorial targets such as a maximum of 2 degrees increase in global warming by an arbitrary date…

Even before it started, it was evident that the COP28 jamboree to “save the planet” would not satisfy the high expectations, some of them contradictory, of the 198 nations and dozens of non-governmental organizations attending the event with different agendas, including some hidden ones.

It is, therefore no surprise that some participants pronounced the event “a big failure” even before the conference president, the UAE’s Sheikh Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, struck the final gavel.

The next move was to blame “the Arabs” and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a whole.

The fact, however, is that OPEC as a whole accounts for just over a third of global oil production.

Of the top oil producers, only two Saudi Arabia and Iraq are Arab states. The United States, Russia and Canada claim first, third and fourth slots as largest producers. Of the top 20 consumers of crude, oil only two, Indonesia and Iran, are OPEC members.

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