RUTHFULLY YOURS

Our fair-minded media have decided to make Darwin’s theory of evolution a test of presidential qualifications. Governor Scott Walker refused to answer on the basis that he wasn’t a biologist. Nobody knows if Obama knows anything about science — like climate prediction, solar energy, shale, or Iran’s nuclear bomb program. Or, say, economics.

Media heads are basically filled with straw when it comes to science. Just ask them the pros and cons of solar energy. They can’t tell you. It’s just another superstition they heard from somebody.

So here is a little quiz for your favorite news guy or gal about Darwinian evolution. Any biology student should ace it.

What is a biological species? How does it differ from a variety? Give examples.
How has Darwinian theory changed since Darwin? (Be specific.)
Define the two criteria for “Darwinian fitness.”
What are “Darwin finches?” Where are they found?
What is the function of HOX genes?
What is meant by “ultra-conservation” in evolution? Give two examples.
Give an example of a recent evolutionary change in humans, within the last 10,000 years.
What is parallel evolution? Give an example.
What is meant by “genetic drift”?
Why are there two sexes in most species?

Please ask your favorite journalist or talking head to return their answers (without cheating) to you, and grade according to the answers in Wikipedia. Then send us your journalist’s score to be published to the world.

Next: A quiz about the U.S. Constitution. If your journo flunks it, s/he gets fired.

If this is Tuesday, it must be… Belgium… oops, Denmark. Sorry, Belgium was last week. It was Copenhagen [1] this time under jihadist attack… scratch that again… I meant “random violence.” Is that correct, Mr. President? A few weeks ago, it was some “folks at a deli” in Paris, now it’s some “folks standing in front of a synagogue” in Cope. Koinky-dinky, as the kids say. What next?

Oh, no.. Don’t tell me ISIS has got us surrounded in Anbar [2]? Sorry, I meant ISIL. I thought they were the jayvee team. Oh, right, they’re “on the defensive” [3] and Congress has an ““extraordinary opportunity.” [4]

That’s fine then. Don’t be upset, you “progressives” at the Huffington Post [5] and Vox [6]. This is just a police matter — like parking tickets or, at worst, running a red light. All this 1938 talk is a bunch of nonsense from wingnuts. History never repeats itself except, as Marx told us, as farce [7]. Chairman Barack’s got it all handled. He’s holding a conference on “extremism.” And he has a new pen pal [8]. No, it’s not Netanyahu.

http://roskam.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/roskam-vargas-unveil-us-israel-trade-and-commercial-enhancement-act?utm_source=emailcampaign2181&utm_medium=phpList&utm_content=HTMLemail&utm_campaign=ISRAPUNDIT+DAILY+DIGEST+FEB+14%2F15

Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Congressman Juan Vargas (D-CA) released the following statements after introducing H.R. 825, the U.S.-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act which penalize all countries, including European countries, for boycotting Israel.

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Congressman Juan Vargas (D-CA) released the following statements after introducing H.R. 825, the U.S.-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act. This bipartisan bill would counter the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and strengthen the U.S.-Israel economic relationship. Over the past several years, a growing contingency of countries across the globe have sought to isolate and delegitimize Israel through BDS. This bill leverages ongoing trade negotiations to discourage prospective U.S. trade partners from engaging in economic discrimination against Israel. It also establishes a clear U.S. policy in opposition to state-led BDS, which is detrimental to global trade, regional peace and stability.

“The historic alliance between the United States and Israel is rooted in shared moral standards, mutual strategic interests, and a commitment to confronting common enemies wherever they may surface,” said Congressman Roskam. “Today, an alarming number of countries within the European Union and beyond have embraced BDS as a form of economic warfare aimed to cripple Israel’s economy and demonize its very existence. These attacks not only threaten Israel, but commercial relations across the globe. The U.S-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act will ensure that American free trade partners never engage in this harmful and illegitimate political protest against Israel, while also protecting U.S. companies from foreign lawsuits targeting their associations with Israel. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Congressman Vargas. Although we hail from different political parties, we share a common belief that a strong and prosperous Israel is a necessity for the United States. Congress has always been the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and we have an historic opportunity before us to once again reaffirm the mutually beneficial ties that bind our great nations.”

“BDS is a harmful political tactic which seeks to undermine and diminish Israel’s economic strength,” said Congressman Vargas. “We need to reassure our commitment to our ally in the region by clearly defining U.S. policy to oppose this practice and dissuade other nations from adopting BDS policies toward Israel.”

http://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/

We support the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality. In response to the call from Palestinian artists and cultural workers for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge to accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

Signed by:

Hanan Abdalla, May Abdalla, Khalid Abdalla, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Leo Abrahams, Tom Adams, Olugbenga Adelekan, Joseph Adesunloye, Rizwan Ahmed, Mediah Ahmed, Peter Ahrends, Hanan Al-Shaykh, Jane Alexander, Catherine Alexander, Clem Alford, Seif Alhasani, Tariq Ali, Khyam Allami, Deniz Allport, William Alsop, Tayo Aluko, Chiara Ambrosio, Amir Amirani, Tahmima Anam, Adjoa Andoh, Ben Annesley, Frankie Armstrong, Barby Asante, Richard Ashcroft, Simon Ashdown, Oreet Ashery, Peter Ashlock, Kevin Atherton, Tim Atkins, Ed Atkins, Diane Atkinson, Anne-Marie Atkinson, Liane Aukin, Lekan Babalola, Ben Bailes, Roy Bailey, Giles Bailey, Richard Olatunde Baker, Steven Ball, Sue Ball, Debbie Ballin, Ben Ballin, Ros Barber, Shahidha Bari, Phyllida Barlow, Neil Bartlett, Chloe Bass, Linda Bassett, Sarah Beddington, Cezary Bednarski, Saleha Begum, Henry Bell, Emilia Benjamin, Ishia Bennison, Paul Bennun, Dzifa Benson, Lina Bentley, John Berger, Josephine Berry Slater, Kavita Bhanot, Alice Birch, Brighid Black, Kelvin Bland, Nicholas Blincoe, Penni Blythe, Russell Bolam, Sean Bonney, Leah Borromeo, Bette Bourne, Susan Bradburn, Paul Bradshaw, Andrea Brady, Brid Brennan, Haim Bresheeth, Victoria Brittain, Lez Brotherston, Patricia Bryden, Pavel Buchler, Niall Buggy, Carrie Bulley, Mark Burnhope, Ellen Burroughs, Jonathan Burrows, Margaret Busby, Justin Butcher, Brad Butler, Amelia Bywater…
Full A-Z list of 700 signatories here

Let’s talk about phobias. Not about phobias such as arachnophobia, and ophidiophobia, and acrophobia, or even gynophobia.

A phobia, after all, is an intense, terrifying, and often debilitating, but legitimate or unreasoning fear of something or of doing something. An object is perceived, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, as something that poses a threat to one’s life or values. A phobia freezes one’s rational faculties and capacity for action; however, the suspension of one’s mind or capacity to act itself can prove to be genuinely perilous. A phobia is rooted in a fear or hatred of the thing.

A friend remarked when I let her know the subject of this column:

The hallmark of phobias is that they are impervious to rational examination. That’s one reason it’s used as a pejorative by manipulators, to convey the idea of an irrational hatred and aversion. For a Muslim to acknowledge that there might be reasons for such dislike opens the door to questions of what it is about Islam that might cause it. Even “bigotry” invites debate. But phobia — there’s nothing to be done but for the blameless victim to be protected from such inexplicable malice. The “phobe” must be silenced and immobilized like a raving maniac in a Victorian madhouse.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Preventing hospital infections. Another Israeli company is countering the risk of contracting infections in hospital. Nano-Textiles coats hospital textiles (bed linen and clothing) with nano-particles of Zinc and Copper oxides that kill even antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Nano-Textiles plans to raise $3 million on Wall Street.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-nano-textile-files-to-raise-3m-on-wall-street-1001007812
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xT2BW-bpw

More good news for brain tumor patients. (Thanks to Israel21c) Here is a new report about the TTFields scalp device from Israel’s Novocure that slows the growth of brain tumors. (Previously reported in Nov 2014).
http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/wearable-device-slows-brain-tumor-growth/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-3JkQOsPg

New devices to diagnose pneumonia. (Thanks to Israel21c) Two Israeli startups have received Israeli Government grants to develop their products for diagnosing pneumonia. RespiDX’s Respimometer has sensors to measure breathing. NanoVation-GS’s stick-on patch has a film with a nano-sensor to measure respiration.
http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/catching-pneumonia-before-it-kills/

Accurate injections. Israeli biotech SteadyMed has developed a disposable patch pump delivery system to administer medicines safely and accurately into the body. SteadyMed plans to raise $55 million on NASDAQ.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-steadymed-therapeutics-files-for-55m-nasdaq-ipo-1001007954
http://www.steadymed.com/technology/

Crowdfunding helps solve rare disease mystery. Crowdfunding – funds from a large number of individuals over the Internet – have enabled researchers at Tel Aviv University to conduct Whole Exome Sequencing and identify the genetic mutation responsible for mental retardation and severe developmental delays in children.
https://www.aftau.org/weblog-medicine–health?=storyid4704=2160ncs4704=3
http://raregenomics.org/#httpraregenomicsorg

Joint medical research with UK. The Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange partnership (BIRAX) has pledged £3.2 million of funding for eight joint stem cell research projects to develop therapies for diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, liver disease and Multiple Sclerosis. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the research “has the potential to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-boost-for-israel-uk-tech-ties/#

The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant says police tracked the gunman down using CCTV
Police in Copenhagen say they have shot dead a man they believe was behind two deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier.

Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them.

It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.

In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city’s main synagogue.

Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.

Today’s deadly assault by a masked gunman who sprayed more than 200 rounds of automatic fire into a Café in Northern Copenhagen. The exchange of gunfire by the gunmen with Danish security police took the life of one 40 year old man at the Free Speech, Blasphemy and Islam event where both Swedish Artist Lars Vilks the honoree and the French Ambassador were present. They were unhurt in the attack. Three security police were injured in the shootout at the Krudttønden Café. :Listen to this BBC recording of a speaker at the Krudttønden Café when gunfire sent everyone to the floor. According to a later reports from AFP, Reuters and BBC:

A second ,perhaps related, incident, close to Copenhagen’s main synagogue in the city center, saw a 55 year old Jewish man shot in the head, who subsequently died of wounds, and two policemen were injured, police said in a statement early Sunday. The BBC reported “early on Sunday, police said they had shot dead a man who opened fire on them near a railway station in the neighbourhood of Noerrebro where they had been keeping an address under observation.”

If you are a student of ancient military history — or actually an action movie buff — you know the significance of the number 300. It is a number associated with a brave stand made by Spartan warriors led by their king, Leonidas. They stood against a numerically superior force but wrought much violence and death against the invading Persian Army of Xerxes, until they were betrayed. Could it be a modern day episode of the brave 300 playing out before our eyes?

In case you haven’t heard, unlike the characterization of President Obama on Wednesday, ISIS is not on the defense and their morale is certainly not low. ISIS has taken a western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi not far from Ramadi. Nearby al-Baghdadi is an Iraqi base, al-Asad, where 300 Marines are training Iraqi forces.

It’s an appealing delusion, the notion that the much vaunted, but little seen, Religion of Peace might transform itself from within. Alas, both history and contemporary context say all the West can do is smile at those who would coexist while standing ready to smite those who do not.

In a generally excellent article in The Spectator Theo Hobson tackled the jarring new tagline of the center-right: “Islam needs a Protestant Reformation.” Hobson is exactly right in pointing out that this narrative “implies that, once upon a time, Christianity was in conflict with healthy political values, but learned to change its ways,” and points out how “Christianity didn’t [in fact] adapt to modernity: it inadvertently made modernity, by trying to purify itself.”

But Mr. Hobson loses the plot when he expresses doubt that Islam could do the same:

… liberal values already exist, and are firmly seen as external, or alien, to Islam. To say that freedom of religion and freedom of speech are central principles of Islam just doesn’t ring true: we all know that they have been most fully formulated and institutionalized, over centuries, in the West.

Now hold on a minute. Are we saying that political liberalism was inherent in Christianity, and only in the process of reformation did that come to the fore? Unlike most American conservatives I don’t use the “L-word” as an insult – a habit I probably picked up in Australia, like wearing sunscreen in the middle of winter. But this reading is inextricably bound up with a Protestant interpretation of Christian history. As an Anglican, that doesn’t particularly irk me. But it doesn’t make for an objective exercise in comparative religions.