RUTHFULLY YOURS

Dan Calabrese’s new column on Hillary Clinton’s past may bring the curtain down on her political future. Calabrese interviewed Jerry Zeifman, the man who served as chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate hearings, has tried to tell the story of his former staffer’s behavior during those proceedings for years. Zeifman claims he fired Hillary for unethical behavior and that she conspired to deny Richard Nixon counsel during the hearings:

As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying.

The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther – and goes much deeper – than anyone realizes.

Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

France says will propose UN Security Council draft on Israel

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — France’s foreign minister said Friday his country will propose a U.N. Security Council resolution in the coming weeks that could present a framework for negotiations toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Laurent Fabius said “there is no other solution” but said he doesn’t know what the United States, Israel’s top ally, will agree to.

The minister spoke to reporters at U.N. headquarters before leaving for the Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland.

“France will be part and parcel in proposing a resolution in the U.N.,” he said. He said discussions with partners will begin in the days ahead.

The U.N.’s top Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, challenged the Security Council on Thursday to lead the way on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it should present a framework for talks that “may be the only way to preserve the goal of a two-state solution.”

France had put off a previous attempt at a council resolution to wait for the results of Israel’s election earlier this month. “Now look at the result,” Fabius said.

A number of our citizenry quietly wonder not whether Obama loves America, but does he actually like who we are as a society and what are the origins of his agenda to profoundly change America though social engineering.

Of critical importance is our current inability or political unwillingness to address the threat of radical Islam with nuclear arsenal capabilities – yet those who have sought to call attention to these threats are often criticized, or worse.

“It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it… I know of no way of judging the future but by the past…” — Patrick Henry, American Revolutionary War Hero.

Amir Hossein Motaghi says he no longer sees any “sense” in his profession as he could only write as he was told
A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA).

He then appeared on an opposition television channel based in London to say he no longer saw any “sense” in his profession as a journalist as he could only write what he was told.

“There are a number of people attending on the Iranian side at the negotiations who are said to be journalists reporting on the negotiations,” he told Irane Farda television. “But they are not journalists and their main job is to make sure that all the news fed back to Iran goes through their channels.

Ruthie Blum is the editor of Voice of Israel radio (voiceofisrael.com).
A few days ago, Jerusalem Post Managing Editor David Brinn posed a tongue-in-cheek challenge to his friends on Facebook, daring us to engage in a 24-hour moratorium on the words “Obama” and “Netanyahu.”

I have decided to take him up on it, though I suppose that what I am about to say could be considered indirectly connected to both.

I am referring to the brouhaha surrounding an article by Lena Dunham in the current issue of The New Yorker, which set social media on fire with charges of anti-Semitism.

The piece, called “Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz,” is literally and figuratively nothing to write home about — or to write at all, for that matter. And had it not been penned by the celebrity actress-producer-director, who became famous for her TV series “Girls,” it would never have made it past the editor’s slush pile.

It consists of a list of 35 descriptions of the man with whom Dunham shares an apartment and a bed. Because Dunham’s mother is a Jew, she has no qualms about making fun of what she claims are her boyfriend’s Jewish traits. Among these are not leaving tips in restaurants, never bringing his wallet anywhere, having asthma and a sensitive stomach, being judgmental about the food he is served and expecting to be waited on hand and foot.

‘Everyone in Vanuatu Loves Israel’ Israeli aid workers went to remote islands to help locals in aftermath of Cyclone Pam, and made a surprising find: they love Israel.

An IsraAID disaster assistance team recently ended its first visit to the remote islands of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean, where they helped locals recover from the massive damage caused by Cyclone Pam. While there they learned something surprising – the islanders love Israel.

The Israeli team, together with Tongoa parliament representative MP John Amos and a team of local volunteers, distributed over 40 tons of rice, flour and drinking water to residents of the Tongoa and Mataso islands in Vanuatu.

Israeli and UK academics to combat global cyber security threats.Francis Maude has announced joint working between Israeli and UK academics to combat global cyber security threats.£1.2 million of joint funding will be used to fund a bilateral cyber research programme through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The successful joint UK and Israeli academic partnerships are:

University of Bristol / Bar Ilan University
University College London / Bar Ilan University
The University of Kent / University of Haifa
All 3 UK academic institutions are part of the UK”s Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research programme which celebrates excellence in research in this field.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Brain disease mechanism discovered. Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University and the University of California have discovered a new molecular mechanism in a mutant gene that governs how ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) attacks motor neurons. They have also identified that the protein MIF inhibits this mechanism. The discovery is also relevant to other neuro-degenerative diseases.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Health/BGU-and-University-of-California-researchers-discover-new-mechanism-in-Lou-Gehrigs-disease-394714

BrainTech 2015. (TY Michelle) Here is a roundup by “neurotech entrepreneur” Yannick Roy of the first day of Israel Brain Technologies’ BrainTech 2015 Conference in Tel Aviv. The speakers focused on the main joint ‘brain initiatives’ being conducted around the world.
http://neurogadget.com/2015/03/12/braintech-2015-day-1-roundup/11046

Israeli nanotechnology explained. TY Israel21c for a fascinating discussion of how Israeli scientists are engineering the tiniest parts of matter to make life better for millions of people around the world. Applications include a tiny robot transporting drugs to a cancer cell in your body; or artificial retina to restore lost sight.
http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/turning-science-fiction-into-fact-audio/

A study, not to be sniffed at. (TY Nocamels.com) One of the more unusual studies by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute has uncovered that humans imitate one of the habits of dogs; by sniffing the odor of someone they meet. They do this by subconsciously sniffing their own hand after shaking the other person’s.
http://nocamels.com/2015/03/why-humans-sniff-hands-after-handshaking/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r91sFUTezE

Device to prevent heart failure. (TY Michelle) Israel’s Vectorious Medical has raised $5 million to take its miniature wireless hemodynamic monitoring sensory implant into human trials. The device measures and reports left atria pressure – a reliable early indication of cardiac deterioration, which medication can treat.
http://www.thetower.org/1800oc-israeli-company-gets-5-million-financing-to-develop-heart-monitoring-implant/

An even bigger heart. Israel’s SHL Telemedicine specializes in providing remote diagnosis and monitoring services for patients suffering from chronic heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Its second German acquisition in two years is GPH, which monitors 10,000 heart patients.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-shl-telemedicine-buys-german-co-gph-1001021356

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The world leader in cyber security. (TY Michelle) To coincide with CyberTech 2015 in Tel Aviv, here is a link to the inside story of how the best and brightest Israelis go from the army’s elite cyber security unit to launch innovative startup companies. And this article explains why Israeli cyber security will continue to be a driving force in the Israeli hi-tech ecosystem. Even Chinese on-line shopping giant Alibaba is investing in it.

Cyber security for Portugal. Israel’s CyberGym has signed a NIS 45 million deal with the Portuguese electricity company Energias de Portugal (EDP) to plan, build, and maintain a cyber-defense training facility. CyberGym is jointly owned by the Israel Electric Company and Israeli IT company Liacom Systems.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-cybergym-signs-nis-45m-portuguese-cyber-defense-deal-1001021506

UK announces 3 joint Israeli cyber Uni ventures. (TY Michelle) Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office responsible for cyber security, announced 3 UK-Israel academic collaboration ventures that will receive cyber research funding. They link UK’s universities of Bristol, Kent and UCL with Israel’s Bar Ilan and Haifa.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/israeli-and-uk-academics-to-combat-global-cyber-security-threats

12 young science geniuses. Twelve teenagers won the top prizes in the Intel-Israel Young Scientists Competition in Jerusalem. Their projects covered medicine, mathematics, linguistics, music, anthropology and satellite technology. The twelve will travel to finals in Pittsburgh and Milan and receive academic scholarships.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/New-Tech/Nine-teenage-geniuses-take-top-three-prizes-in-Intel-Israel-Young-Scientists-Competition-393500

Hundreds of schools in tech contest. Hundreds of Israeli middle and high schools are participating in the biggest programming contest in Israeli history, with prizes totaling NIS 100,000. Israel’s Center for Educational Technology wants students to learn to write code, using CodeMonkey – an Israeli interactive computer game.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/New-Tech/Tech-Talk-Student-code-contest-395050

Brainihack 2015. The winning project at this year’s Brainihack in Tel Aviv, Emochat, used a Neurosteer Brain Computer Interface device to interpret another person’s emotions based on their brain activity. So no need anymore to see facial expression or hear voice tone.
http://neurogadget.com/2015/03/23/brainihack-2015-hackathon-roundup/11198

Microsoft’s opens new Haifa R&D center. 24 years after selecting Haifa for its first Research & Development center outside the US, Microsoft is inaugurating a new R&D center in the city. The new building will cover 7,500 sq.m, houses 150 engineers and allows Microsoft to expand by hiring dozens more.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-microsoft-inaugurates-new-haifa-rd-center-1001022151

Multinational cooperation week. The Israeli R&D centers of Motorola, Microsoft, Marvell Technology, Deutsche Telekom, Citibank, Kodak, and GE are holding their third Weekathon in three years to develop new products together. Each company is sending up to 5 senior programmers to develop “the next big thing”.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-7-israeli-rd-centers-of-multinationals-to-cooperate-1001021588

The most popular national pavilion. (TY Michelle) The crowds flocked to the Israel pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here is a roundup of some of the innovative Israeli products and apps on show.
http://www.gadget.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=9607

Magisto revolutionizes Facebook. Magisto, an Israeli video storytelling platform with more than 55 million registered users, is a key part of Facebook’s newly launched Messenger Platform. Using Magisto’s patented AI technology, EmotionSense, text and photos are transformed into a video with music, motion and special effects.
http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2015/03/25/facebook-messenger-platform-revolutionized-with-israeli-magisto-shot-video-editing-app/

Real-time road-traffic information. (TY Michelle) Israel’s Decell Technologies provides historical and predictive road-traffic information captured from smartphones and GPS-enabled car systems in Tel Aviv, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and Bratislava. Decell has just been acquired by US-based AirSage.
http://georgiaceo.com/news/2015/03/airsage-acquires-israeli-based-decell-technologies/

Transforming the forestry industry. Israel’s Intelescope Solutions utilizes drone and satellite imagery to produce an accurate inventory of a forest. Forestry companies in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, India, and China utilize services from Intelescope, which just raised $8.3 million of funds.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-forest-big-data-co-intelescope-solutions-raises-83m-1001022541

Where to go next with your smartphone? (TY Michelle) Israel’s Deeplink.me has launched AppWords – a mobile search and ad platform that uses keywords to trigger relevant content between one app and another. E.g. after finishing booking with a theatre tickets app, you receive “bids” for your custom from your restaurant apps.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/24/deeplink-moves-into-google-territory-with-appwords-a-deep-link-mobile-search-and-ad-platform/

Citi launches tech challenge in Jerusalem. (TY David Levy) International banking giant Citi has launched the Citi Mobile Challenge in Europe (London & Warsaw), The Middle East (Jerusalem) and Africa (Nairobi). Developers can win $100,000 and Citi support by building innovative solutions based on Citi’s digital platform.
http://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2015/150223a.htm

Israeli scientists calculate Saturn’s “day”. (TY Geoff) Scientists at at Tel Aviv University have solved the mystery of Saturn’s days, determining that one day on the planet lasts 10 hours and a little more than 32 minutes – seven minutes shorter than originally calculated.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4641248,00.html

In the dangerous last two years of Obama’s presidency, things could go from bad to worse. His allies are now backing a pro-Sharia populist in Nigeria’s presidential election, with potentially disastrous results.

On Saturday, Nigerians will go to the polls to choose their president. The race pits an incumbent with an imperfect record against a former military dictator who has flirted with Islamism.

As with the recent election in Israel, alumni of Obama are aiding the challenger — and not because he would make the region safer.

The decision Nigerians will make this weekend matters greatly, both for themselves and the West. Nigeria has Africa’s largest economy, with a gross domestic product of about $500 billion. It is a major energy producer and exporter, but also a political and cultural bellwether: the nation of 177 million is divided almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria’s problems are serious, ranging from endemic corruption to a spiraling jihadist insurgency. The economy is growing but the unemployment rate exceeds 20 percent. Transparency International, which ranks nations by the absence of corruption, places Nigeria at an undesirable 136th out of 175.

The news that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will not contest the next election and has decided to ride that lonesome trail into the sunset of lobbying and consulting naturally reminded me of the great man’s finest hour – his stirring defense of the federally subsidized cowboy poetry program. Here’s what I had to say about it in my column of more or less exactly four years ago – March 2011 – oh, and do stay tuned for my own non-federally subsidized efforts at cowboy poetry right at the end:

How mean-spirited are House Republicans? So mean-spirited that they would end federally funded cowboy poetry! On Tuesday, Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, took to the Senate floor to thunder that this town ain’t big enough for both him and the Mean-Spirited Kid (John Boehner).