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Ruth King

The Commercial Impacts of COVID Will Last for Years By John Green

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/12/the_commercial_impacts_of_covid_will_last_for_years.html

Have you noticed that things have changed in our country over the last three years?

In 2019, my truck broke down.  I got it into the shop the next day to be fixed.  In 2022, I needed a mechanic to service the brakes on one of our cars.  It took three weeks to get the car into a garage.

We also had a fender-bender this year.  It took two months to get an appointment for an estimate — not even to get someone to actually fix the damage.  The insurance adjuster just sighed and said that was pretty normal these days.  I halfway expected him to ask who John Galt is.

In 2019, we could go to the local diner and get a good meal with good service.  In 2022, the service at the same diner is slow because of limited staff.  Three quarters of the menu items aren’t available because food deliveries are weeks overdue.

Those are minor annoyances.  Things get a bit more serious when we look at the medical industry.  In 2019, I needed a new general practitioner (G.P.).  I got in to see one almost immediately.  In 2022, my wife needed a new G.P.  Most weren’t accepting new patients, and the doctor who was had a four-month waiting list to get an appointment.

Even worse, I found myself in the E.R. with a heart condition this summer.  The E.R. doctor referred me to a cardiologist.  It took two months to get an appointment to see him and another six months to get on the surgical schedule for the procedure I needed.

Are you noticing a pattern?  Prior to COVID, everything worked.  After COVID, every industry is struggling to meet customer needs.  Businesses have people waiting in line to give them money but are unable to provide the services those customers want to buy.  Don’t they want the money?

Everybody’s familiar with the problems the airline industry experienced in 2022.  Flight cancelations and delays have been commonplace — not because of weather or mechanical issues, but due to a lack of flight crews.

Minnesota: Hamas-Linked CAIR Comes Out in Favor of Racism in Education Grants Another example of a “civil rights” group exploiting news to push its brand. by Larry Estavan

https://www.frontpagemag.com/minnesota-hamas-linked-cair-comes-out-in-favor-of-racism-in-education-grants/

The deputy director of the Minnesota chapter of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Mohamed Ibrahim, insinuates that the discussion by the Faribault School Board on whether or not to refuse a grant is based in racism.

Just because CAIR came to the meetings, it gets its brand displayed on the broadcast and is treated as if it has something of value to offer.

This is a teachable moment for all of us that we need to be vigilant about these attempts to really defund BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and other People of Color].

There are no “attempts” or need to be “vigilant” about the board meeting depriving BIPOCs of an education. They are questioning a poorly written piece of legislation.

Minnesota authorities and local newscasters need to take responsibility for their role in what became nationwide rioting: here is a video of people in Santa Monica, California, almost 2,000 miles away from Minneapolis, dragged out of their cars by George Floyd protestors and beaten in the street.

Minnesota did not kill George Floyd, but they did bring us the riots, and could do it again.

Although CAIR’s Jaylani Hussein was instigating trouble both before and after the George Floyd riots, he continues to receive favorable coverage, even when positioning himself potentially to trigger a large-scale event.

Hussein brought a mobile public address system to the five-year memorial for Jamar Clark, whose police shooting sparked massive protests at the time. Hussein lashed the crowd for not doing “something,” and bellowed into the microphone:

We FAAAILED!

Why Is Joe Biden Still Trying To Raise The Iran Nuclear Deal From The Dead? Struan Stevenson

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/12/11/why-is-joe-biden-still-trying-to-raise-the-iran-nuclear-deal-from-the-dead/

After almost three months of incessant turmoil, the revolution in Iran has now engulfed more than 280 cities in each of the country’s 31 provinces.

The savage crackdown by the theocratic regime’s security forces has led to the deaths of at least 700 people and a demand for a full-scale independent inquiry by the UN. 30,000 protesters have been detained. In Tehran, a spokesman for the mullahs’ judiciary, Massoud Setayeshi, confirmed this week that another five people had been sentenced to death for their role in the uprising, bringing the total number of death penalties handed down to protesters so far to eight.

The mullahs’ regime has executed over 500 people this year, in a wave of killing designed to crush opposition. Many of those sentenced have been accused of “moharebeh” or “corruption on earth,” a charge which carries the mandatory death penalty in Iran.

Undeterred, industrial action and boycotts by shop owners, hospital staff, factory workers, truck drivers and university students, in solidarity with the uprising, have developed into a general strike which has paralyzed the nation.

The clerical regime, led by the elderly and fanatical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has oppressed and brutalized the Iranian people for four decades, but is now at its weakest point since the 1979 revolution that brought the mullahs to power. The daily mass protests resonate with chants of “Death to Khamenei” as demonstrators demand the downfall of the regime.

It’s the duty of both parties to correct the US antisemitism crisis by Douglas E. Schoen

https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3771726-its-the-duty-of-both-parties-to-correct-the-us-antisemitism-crisis/

Though antisemitism may be considered the world’s oldest hate, it has taken on a dangerous new form in the United States in recent years. Prominent members of both political parties have — in distinct ways — taken actions that are inimical to the Jewish community and may be fairly characterized as antisemitic.

As a result, American Jews are increasingly at risk in their communities, including in cities, on college campuses and in synagogues. New York City — which has the highest Jewish population of all cities in the United States — recorded a 125 percent increase in antisemitic hate crimes this November compared to November 2021, and a 53 percent increase in hate crimes against Jews compared to this time last year.

While modern-day antisemitism manifests differently on the political left versus the political right, both forms put the Jewish community at risk. Antisemitism on the far-right is grounded in a dangerous embrace of nationalist and neo-Nazi viewpoints, while on the far-left, it is driven by — and arguably disguised as — anti-Zionism and a myopic focus on slandering the State of Israel.

Unfortunately, some high-ranking members in both parties have been quick to criticize antisemitism across the aisle, yet have allowed antisemitic rot to fester in their own ranks.

The Exaggeration of Long Covid Lingering symptoms after a respiratory infection are common. Most cases are too mild to worry about. By Marty Makary

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-exaggeration-of-long-covid-overmedicalization-research-mortality-children-bivalent-restrictions-11670857268?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Long Covid is real. I have reliable patients who describe lingering symptoms after Covid infection. But public-health officials have massively exaggerated long Covid to scare low-risk Americans as our government gives more than $1 billion to a long Covid medical-industrial complex.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 20% of Covid infections can result in long Covid. But a U.K. study found that only 3% of Covid patients had residual symptoms lasting 12 weeks. What explains the disparity? It’s often normal to experience mild fatigue or weakness for weeks after being sick and inactive and not eating well. Calling these cases long Covid is the medicalization of ordinary life.

Two studies published this month put long Covid in perspective. The first, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at a spectrum of wellness indicators in 1,000 people who recovered from symptomatic Covid or another respiratory infection. It found that 40% of patients who had tested positive for Covid “reported persistently poor physical, mental, or social well-being at 3-month follow-up.” For Covid-negative patients who had other upper-respiratory infections, the figure was 54%. Covid patients did better than non-Covid patients. While there are certainly unique hallmark conditions of Covid, such as loss of smell, any respiratory infection—flu, RSV, other cold viruses—can knock you down for a while.

The second study, in Lancet Regional Health, looked for long Covid in 5,086 children 11 to 17 and found that symptoms present during infection rapidly declined over time. The researchers found that among children who tested positive and negative for Covid “prevalence patterns of poor well-being, fatigue and Long COVID”—defined by its symptoms without the need for a past diagnosis of the disease—“were broadly similar.” (The study also found that loneliness in children increased steadily in the year after Covid illness.)

The National Institutes for Health has been intensely focused on studying long Covid, spending nearly $1.2 billion on the condition. To date, the return on investment has been zero for the people suffering with it. But it’s been terrific for MRI centers, lab testing companies and hospitals that set up long Covid clinics. I’ve talked to the staff at some of these clinics and it’s unclear what they are actually offering to people beyond a myriad of tests.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Files Dump by Peter Schweizer

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19211/elon-musk-twitter-files

It was not “Russian disinformation.” Nor was it “unsafe.” The executives running Twitter in the 20 days before the 2020 presidential election clearly knew that, and tried to find other justifications for what amounted to raw censorship.

Twitter’s bias in censoring or banning conservative accounts for “hate speech” while happily servicing accounts for Iran’s “Supreme Leader” and the Taliban is a running joke. In a series of secretly recorded interviews with Twitter employees, Project Veritas had already confirmed that “shadow-banning,” manipulating the number of followers shown by certain accounts, and selectively “de-boosting” certain tweets in its algorithms was a well-established, standard manipulation of the platform’s stated purpose: “We serve the public conversation. That’s why it matters to us that people have a free and safe space to talk.”

Kudos to Khanna for his lonely but principled stand for free speech. Taibbi also noted in his thread that Khanna was the only Democratic official to do so.

China’s enticements to the Biden family are but one example of this campaign. We learned through this research how insidious and effective the Chinese government has been at co-opting not just the families of senior elected officials, but captains of industry, financial behemoths, and the wealthiest American philanthropists and educational institutions.

The Biden story also showed the ingenuity of corrupt politicians who essentially “outsource” their corruption to family members rather than risk a possible paper trail leading back to themselves. The Bidens, even more than Bill and Hillary Clinton before them, were a family influence business.

We have all learned about other stories of political interference and foot-dragging within the FBI. The public is right to wonder whether federal prosecutors are as serious about pursuing this case as Twitter’s Democratic partisans were in squelching it.

Further, President Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, continues to task the FBI with investigating the January 6, 2021 riots as a deep conspiracy, while simultaneously ignoring what certainly appear to have been well-organized efforts by Antifa to foment violence during the 2020 George Floyd riots, and violence done by pro-abortion organizations after someone on Twitter publicized the home addresses of Supreme Court justices.

For more than two critical weeks, under secret pressure from the Biden campaign and Democrats who were desperate to bury a devastating story that implicated their presidential candidate in his son’s corruption by Chinese intelligence-connected businessmen. The Post’s story was factually accurate, legitimately reported, and was (belatedly) authenticated by other news outlets. In short, there was no reason to do what Twitter, Roth, and Gadde did, other than pleasing a political party with whom they agreed.

Elon Musk’s release of internal Twitter correspondence around the censoring of the New York Post’s blockbuster “Hunter Biden laptop” story merely confirms what most knew already — that Twitter under Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal was staffed with Democratic Party partisans who censored information they thought would damage their cause.

Qatar’s World Cup: What Visitors Were Not Shown by Lawrence A. Franklin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19230/qatar-migrant-workers-world-cup

Qatar claims that 37 workers died during the construction phase of its World Cup infrastructure projects. The organization Amnesty International asserts that authorities in Qatar failed to investigate the deaths of thousands of migrant workers who lost their lives working on construction projects associated with the World Cup. One UK press report puts the total number of victims at 6,750.

The workers often arrive in debt, due to extortionate fees charged by recruiters who facilitate the employment process. Qatar’s kafala (sponsorship) system is so fraught with abuse that it approaches the level of human trafficking.

Working conditions are medieval. Laborers have little to no access to health care: they cannot afford health insurance and there are no on-site clinics. They are also forced to work long hours, often seven days a week. Many migrants die from the extreme heat during Qatar’s summer: temperatures sometimes reach above 44 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit).

Despite the presence of a large US military base, Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family is a huge financial supporter of various terrorist groups, including Hamas. This wealthy, conservative Sunni mini-state is also a sanctuary for several terrorist operatives.

The violation of migrant workers’ human rights in Qatar has been massive and woefully underreported by the Arab Gulf State and many others. Qatar’s dismal treatment of “guest workers” has become more pronounced and visible since its selection in 2010 by FIFA as the site of this year’s World Cup football (soccer) tournament.

Who’s More Un-American: Oil Companies Or Joe Biden?

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/12/13/whos-more-un-american-oil-companies-or-joe-biden/

When Biden administration officials aren’t promising to put them out of business, they’re calling oil companies “un-American” for not drilling more. They should look in a mirror.

Amos Hochstein, Joe Biden’s “senior adviser for energy security” at the State Department, complained to the Financial Times last week that oil companies were using profits to buy back stock rather than invest in oil production.

“It is not only un-American, it is so unfair to the American public,” he said. “You want to pay dividends, pay dividends. You want to pay shareholders, pay shareholders. You want to get bonuses, do that, too. You could do all of that and still invest more. We are asking you to increase production and seize the moment.”

This is the same guy, by the way, who just a few months ago said that oil output must be limited in order to “make sure that we’re in a better footing to accelerate the transition” away from fossil fuels.  

In any event, by Hochstein’s standard, Biden is the most un-American president in history, because his policies are behind both the industry’s increased profit margins and its decision to spend that money on stock buybacks rather than increase production.

8-minute-video: State Department’s systematic failures in the Middle East: Yoram Ettinger

https://bit.ly/3Wd2dZg

Synopsis:

*The State Department assumes that generous diplomatic and financial gestures could induce the violently volatile Middle East to embrace peaceful-coexistence, good-faith negotiation, democracy and human rights.  However, this policy has generated tailwinds to rogue entities and headwinds to the US and its Arab allies.

*Since 1979, the State Department has espoused the diplomatic option toward Iran, assuming that the Ayatollahs are amenable to moderation. However, the diplomatic option has bolstered the Ayatollahs’ anti-US rogue strategy, posing a lethal threat to every pro-US Arab regime, undermining the US posture in Latin America, and letting down most Iranians, who aspire for a regime-change in Tehran.  

*In 2010, the State Department welcomed the turbulence on the Arab Street as “the Arab Spring,” “Facebook and youth revolution” and a “March for peace and democracy.” However, it has been another tectonic Arab Tsunami, not an Arab Spring.

*The State Department extends to Palestinian leaders red carpet reception, contrary to the shabby doormat extended to Palestinians by all pro-US Arab leaders. Arabs are aware of the intra-Arab and anti-US rogue Palestinian track record.

The Apartheid Libel to Destroy Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19218/israel-apartheid

Recently… however, with the UNHRC’s persistent allegations that Israel is an apartheid state, that label is being pushed even further in an apparent effort to make it stick. The complicity of recent reports from NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch appear to be trying to ensure that their libel will be complete.

The campaign emboldens the radicals among the Palestinians, including the Iranian-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), whose declared goal is to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamist state.

Terrorist groups such as Hamas and PIJ are undoubtedly happy to see non-Arabs and non-Muslims — and even ostensible human rights organizations — join their effort to falsely depict Israel as an apartheid state.

Former UNHRC chief Navi Pillay, despite extensive evidence of massive anti-Israel bias, was recently appointed to chair the UNHRC’s first and only open-ended Commission of Inquiry.

Basically, [the New York Times] is saying that although the two countries cannot be equated, the comparison is being forced and twisted into place for the sake of furthering an alternate agenda which has little to do with the facts on the ground.

Israel’s founding charter pledges to safeguard the equal rights of all residents: “… It will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Among many of South Africa’s Apartheid laws, the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act effectively stripped all Blacks of their South African citizenship and of the right to vote.

Israeli Arabs, however, have full citizenship, including the right to vote and to public demonstration. They are represented in all levels of government, including positions as members of Knesset (parliament), in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as Supreme Court justices. Israeli Arabs hold positions as high-ranking officers in the Israel Defense Forces, including that of major-general in the Central Command.

Israeli Arabs are deans, department heads, scientists, and professors at prestigious universities and hospitals. They are news anchors, journalists, actors, athletes, and are represented in every aspect of Israeli society.

The false allegations also come from incorrectly confusing the nearly two million Israeli Arabs — who make up about 21% of Israel’s population and are full citizens of Israel — with thousands of Arabs whose families left Israel when five Arab counties attacked Israel in 1948. After the Arab armies lost the war they had started, they were surprised to find that they were not welcomed back. They have since settled in other countries – such as Lebanon, Jordan, and the West — as “Palestinians,” but are not citizens of Israel and therefore, of course, not subject to Israeli laws… If all the Arabs in the area are called “Palestinians,” however, it makes it easier to claim grievances, merited or not.

Both [the West Bank and Gaza] are now disputed territories where the Arabs totally run their own affairs, and have officially committed to direct, bilateral negotiations with Israel about “final status” issues, including where the borders should be. Lately, the Palestinians have refused to negotiate, apparently in the hope that the international community will hand them a better deal. They have been offered their own Palestinian state three times, and each time have said no, without so much as a counteroffer.

As Navi Pillay herself conceded (in reference to the US, certainly not Israel), “There isn’t a country in the world which has a perfect human rights record…”. Israel is certainly no exception.

If you are looking for real apartheid against Arabs, try Lebanon or Jordan.

The “limitations” referred to above are actually the limitations of the facts. What is missing is that Israel does not fit the legal definition of apartheid; therefore, some are forcibly attempting to recreate the legal definition with an “alternative definition” to fit Israel, to ram a square peg into a round hole. The “alternative definition” is, sadly, just a political maneuver to gather unwarranted international cover for still another attempt to replace Israel.