ISRAEL Comments turned off

DIANE BEDERMAN: INTERSECTIONALITY OF HATE

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://dianebederman.com/intersectionality-of-hate/

Boy, have we done a great job educating the last few generations. DIE, CRT, woke progressivism. Now we have Queers for Palestine. It takes a certain kinda stupid to be Queer for Palestine. The West now celebrates gay marriage and parades with naked gay people.

Although naked people are not permitted to march in Israel, LGBT2+ is celebrated; including this year:

“LGBTQ+ supporters marched the streets of Jerusalem carrying rainbow flags, Israeli flags and yellow ribbons, a symbol for hostages still held in Gaza.”

Now, if these Queers for Palestine went to Muslim countries, they would probably be murdered – not disparaged, or demeaned or ignored. Nope. Murdered. And yet, these Queers for Palestine stand with those who scream INTIFADA – death to Israel.

“Islam’s prohibition of homosexual acts is categorical, and its teachings on gender relations and sexual norms are foundational and inseparable from belief in Allah and His revelation. There is no room in Islam for the new direction in which the liberal culture appears to be dragging the West and, through its coercive ideological apparatus, the world as a whole.”

ISRAEL Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Reading Michael Ordman’s weekly catalogue is going beyond the bias and libel and visiting Israel without leaving home. Read about an expanding economy with advances in medicine, technology, agriculture, and innovations that benefit the entire world. Visit a nation plagued by war but sustained by democracy, patriotism and optimism and music and theater and vigor and youth.

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR

Wounded ICU doctor vows to work again. Dr Yoav Bichovsky, of the intensive care unit at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, was wounded beyond recognition by Hamas in Gaza. He is now regaining his speech and motor skills at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center in Ra’anana and is resolved to return to treating patients.
https://worldisraelnews.com/israeli-icu-doctor-wounded-beyond-recognition-by-hamas-rpg-says-he-will-treat-patients-again/

Family reunions, in Gaza. Several videos are circulating showing brothers in the IDF meeting up unexpectedly in Gaza.  Here is one where a father is reunited with his son.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-heartwarming-reunion-between-soldier-father-and-son-in-gaza/

Pittsburgh paramedic is back in Gaza. A video of Isaac Nadoff, a paramedic from Pittsburgh, is circulating currently where he explains his 2.5-week holiday in Israel on Oct 7 became 4.5 months including 50 days in Gaza. He returned to Pittsburgh for 3 months and now he’s “back in Israel for round two”. Kol Hakavod!
https://www.everand.com/podcast/712659806/My-Service-in-Gaza-Life-After-with-Isaac-Nadoff-About-The-Episode-In-this-episode-Isaac-Nadov-an-IDF-reservist-shares-his-compelling-story

Donating shares to Oct 7 children. The fund, Valoo for the Kids, has so far raised around $20 million in stock donations to help support Israeli child victims of Oct 7.  Founders, angel investors, and employees donate shares in tech companies. As the company’s value grows, so does the value of their donation.
https://nocamels.com/2024/07/israels-tech-sector-donating-stock-to-support-child-victims-of-oct-7/
https://forkids.valoo.io/

Outfitting IDF soldiers. (TY Yanky) Cousins Yael and Terri are known by IDF soldiers as “Terri’s Angels.” Since Oct 7 they have distributed hundreds of bags of gear to thousands of IDF reservists requesting gloves, tents, sleeping bags, scissors, medical kits, and more, supplied by donors and brought to Israel by volunteers.
https://forward.com/news/623425/israeli-soldiers-idf-supplies-donations/

Second Café Otef opens. Following the successful launch of Café Otef in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market (see here previously), Cafe Otef – Re’im has opened in Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood. It will sell Dvir Chocolates, the line of confections created by Re’im resident Dvir Karp, murdered on Oct 7.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/second-tel-aviv-branch-of-cafe-otef-creates-employment-for-southern-evacuees/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Removing shrapnel with a metal detector. Removing metal fragments from the neck and head is complex. At the Galilee Medical Center, they use a small metal detector, purchased on-line from AliExpress, to locate the exact position of bullets or fragments of shrapnel, which are then removed without damage to vital tissues.
https://www.israel21c.org/surgeon-uses-aliexpress-metal-detector-to-save-patient-lives/

Doctor saves life on the way to work. Dr. Amir Orlev, director of the cardiology department at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, was on the way to work when he noticed a man lying on the side of the road. He diagnosed that he was suffering from a massive blood clot in the lung, catheterized him, and saved his life.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-807387

Laser treatment saves leg amputation. Doctors at Netanya’s Laniado Medical Center have for the first time in Israel used an AURYON laser device from Eximo Medical (see here previously) to remove an arterial blockage in a patient’s leg and avoid amputation. Israel’s Eximo was acquired by US-based AngioDynamics in 2019.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-806727

Faster, clearer CT bone scans. The Veriton SPECT/CT system from Israel’s Spectrum Dynamics performs a bone scan in 12 mins instead of the usual 45. Image quality is also far better, thanks to its camera with 12 heads, each with a novel digital radiation detector that gets near to the patient. Used at Schneider hospital and globally.
https://www.israel21c.org/faster-clearer-bone-scans-offer-game-changer-for-patients/
https://spectrum-dynamics.com/products/veriton-series/
https://spectrum-dynamics.com/news-events/press-news/

A hormone-free birth-control pill. Rachel Teitelbaum moved to Israel from the USA in 2003 and founded Hervana Bio in 2008. It has developed a safe contraceptive tablet containing the bacteria lactobacilli found in yoghurt but enhanced to produce antibodies that bind to sperm, removing them from the fertilization process.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-bacterial-birth-control-treatment-could-eclipse-the-pill/
https://hervana-bio.com/

76 new ambucycles. United Hatzalah has inaugurated 76 new ambucycles (emergency motorcycles) – one for each of modern Israel’s 76 years. The vehicles were paid for in a matching partnership with philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson and will be deployed all over Israel. Several were dedicated to the memory of fallen medics.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392454

Reading Michael Ordman’s weekly catalogue is going beyond the bias and libel and visiting Israel without leaving home. Read about an expanding economy with advances in medicine, technology, agriculture, and innovations that benefit the entire world. Learn a nation plagued by war but sustained by democracy, patriotism and optimism and music and theater and vigor and youth.

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Wounded ICU doctor vows to work again. Dr Yoav Bichovsky, of the intensive care unit at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, was wounded beyond recognition by Hamas in Gaza. He is now regaining his speech and motor skills at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center in Ra’anana and is resolved to return to treating patients.
https://worldisraelnews.com/israeli-icu-doctor-wounded-beyond-recognition-by-hamas-rpg-says-he-will-treat-patients-again/
 
Family reunions, in Gaza. Several videos are circulating showing brothers in the IDF meeting up unexpectedly in Gaza.  Here is one where a father is reunited with his son.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-heartwarming-reunion-between-soldier-father-and-son-in-gaza/
 
Pittsburgh paramedic is back in Gaza. A video of Isaac Nadoff, a paramedic from Pittsburgh, is circulating currently where he explains his 2.5-week holiday in Israel on Oct 7 became 4.5 months including 50 days in Gaza. He returned to Pittsburgh for 3 months and now he’s “back in Israel for round two”. Kol Hakavod!
https://www.everand.com/podcast/712659806/My-Service-in-Gaza-Life-After-with-Isaac-Nadoff-About-The-Episode-In-this-episode-Isaac-Nadov-an-IDF-reservist-shares-his-compelling-story
 
Donating shares to Oct 7 children. The fund, Valoo for the Kids, has so far raised around $20 million in stock donations to help support Israeli child victims of Oct 7.  Founders, angel investors, and employees donate shares in tech companies. As the company’s value grows, so does the value of their donation.           
https://nocamels.com/2024/07/israels-tech-sector-donating-stock-to-support-child-victims-of-oct-7/
https://forkids.valoo.io/
 
Outfitting IDF soldiers. (TY Yanky) Cousins Yael and Terri are known by IDF soldiers as “Terri’s Angels.” Since Oct 7 they have distributed hundreds of bags of gear to thousands of IDF reservists requesting gloves, tents, sleeping bags, scissors, medical kits, and more, supplied by donors and brought to Israel by volunteers.
https://forward.com/news/623425/israeli-soldiers-idf-supplies-donations/
 
Second Café Otef opens. Following the successful launch of Café Otef in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market (see here previously), Cafe Otef – Re’im has opened in Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood. It will sell Dvir Chocolates, the line of confections created by Re’im resident Dvir Karp, murdered on Oct 7.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/second-tel-aviv-branch-of-cafe-otef-creates-employment-for-southern-evacuees/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Removing shrapnel with a metal detector. Removing metal fragments from the neck and head is complex. At the Galilee Medical Center, they use a small metal detector, purchased on-line from AliExpress, to locate the exact position of bullets or fragments of shrapnel, which are then removed without damage to vital tissues.
https://www.israel21c.org/surgeon-uses-aliexpress-metal-detector-to-save-patient-lives/
 
Doctor saves life on the way to work. Dr. Amir Orlev, director of the cardiology department at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, was on the way to work when he noticed a man lying on the side of the road. He diagnosed that he was suffering from a massive blood clot in the lung, catheterized him, and saved his life.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-807387
 
Laser treatment saves leg amputation. Doctors at Netanya’s Laniado Medical Center have for the first time in Israel used an AURYON laser device from Eximo Medical (see here previously) to remove an arterial blockage in a patient’s leg and avoid amputation. Israel’s Eximo was acquired by US-based AngioDynamics in 2019.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-806727
 
Faster, clearer CT bone scans. The Veriton SPECT/CT system from Israel’s Spectrum Dynamics performs a bone scan in 12 mins instead of the usual 45. Image quality is also far better, thanks to its camera with 12 heads, each with a novel digital radiation detector that gets near to the patient. Used at Schneider hospital and globally.
https://www.israel21c.org/faster-clearer-bone-scans-offer-game-changer-for-patients/
https://spectrum-dynamics.com/products/veriton-series/
https://spectrum-dynamics.com/news-events/press-news/
 
A hormone-free birth-control pill. Rachel Teitelbaum moved to Israel from the USA in 2003 and founded Hervana Bio in 2008. It has developed a safe contraceptive tablet containing the bacteria lactobacilli found in yoghurt but enhanced to produce antibodies that bind to sperm, removing them from the fertilization process.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-bacterial-birth-control-treatment-could-eclipse-the-pill/
https://hervana-bio.com/
 
76 new ambucycles. United Hatzalah has inaugurated 76 new ambucycles (emergency motorcycles) – one for each of modern Israel’s 76 years. The vehicles were paid for in a matching partnership with philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson and will be deployed all over Israel. Several were dedicated to the memory of fallen medics.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392454

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Why Are Arabs Whitewashing Iran-Backed Terrorist Organizations? by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20768/arab-league-whitewashing-hezbollah

By removing Hezbollah from its terror list, the Arab League has sent a message to Iran and its terror proxies that they have a green light to pursue their terrorist attackers not only against Israel, but also against some of the Arab countries, especially the Gulf states.

Many Lebanese citizens and politicians are convinced that Hezbollah, together with the mullahs in Iran, are determined to destroy Lebanon by dragging it into war with Israel

Every child in Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East knows that the Lebanese army along with UNIFUL forces have failed to secure the border with Israel and combat terrorism.

“What Americans do not know is that there was actually an agreement signed [for energy deals with Lebanon for its sub-sea gas fields] between international companies, including American and European companies, under the umbrella of the ‘Iran Deal.’ All these capitalists who want to make money do not want a war. They want to maintain the status quo [in Lebanon]. … If you put pressure on the Israelis not to take action [against Hezbollah], Hezbollah will reinforce and they will pull another October 7 attack against the north [of Israel]. As for the Lebanese, once Hezbollah is protected from Israel, Hezbollah will go and finish the Christians, Druze, [and] Sunnis who oppose Hezbollah.” – Walid Phares, Middle East expert, X.com, July 2, 2024

In a surprise and controversial move, the Arab League, which has 22 member states, announced last month that it no longer classifies the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon as a terrorist organization. The announcement was made by Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Hossam Zaki, who recently visited the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Zaki explained that previous decisions of the Arab League to label Hezbollah a terrorist organization “led to cutting off communication with it.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The narcissism of Jill Biden Power is a helluva drug. No wonder she won’t let Joe quit. Jenny Holland

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/06/the-narcissism-of-jill-biden/

Surely one of the most ill-timed articles in all of journalistic history was published earlier this week. Vogue has produced a fawning piece about US first lady Dr Jill Biden (not a medical doctor), just days after her husband’s historic, doddering meltdown at the presidential debate against Donald Trump.

The opening paragraph of the Vogue article provides a spectacular description of the first family currently under fire, unwittingly showing them as completely out of touch with the mood of a very tense nation. The journalist writes breathlessly of the experience of being driven around in a presidential motorcade:

‘Rules don’t apply: on a cool spring day, driving down suburban Minneapolis side streets, we run red lights and whip round curves so fast I can barely take in the commonplace American view. Tract housing, big box stores, churches, office parks, semi-industrial no-man’s-land. Finally, we arrive at our destination, Nine Mile Brewing, in Bloomington, Minnesota. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go”, commands someone – a Secret Service agent, maybe – as the motorcade pulls into a loading dock. Politics, I will come to discover in the next few days, involves a lot of backstage spaces: service entrances, freight elevators, places where Very Important People can slip in and out of events unnoticed.’

At a time when Joe Biden’s estrangement from the nation he nominally leads has rarely been as hotly discussed, Vogue treats us to a Biden-eyed view of the ‘commonplace American’, living in his ‘no-man’s-land’. It then contrasts that with the life of ‘Very Important People’ like Dr Jill, who can ‘slip in and out of events unnoticed’, because the ‘rules don’t apply’ to them.

When the journalist first sets eyes on Jill, it’s a semi-religious experience:

‘An entourage of 30 or so are noisily hustling to follow a trim, blonde woman in a pristine white suit as she strides nonchalantly past clanging, gurgling brewing vats, aiming for a back office. This is my first glimpse of first lady Dr Jill Biden: exiting the sealed chamber of power into the middle of America, a vision of calm amid utter cacophony.’

This must be one of the best – and no doubt unwitting – descriptions of the upper echelons of American politics right now. It captures a ruling elite sealed off from the people, kept in pristine condition and chauffeured to and from pantomime appearances among ordinary American citizens – in this case, working at a brewers.

ANTI-SEMITISM, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Anti-Semitism has exploded in British universities Some of our most prestigious academic institutions have become hotbeds of Jew hate.Helena Ivanov

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/08/anti-semitism-has-exploded-in-british-universities/

It is no secret that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the UK. Following Hamas’s massacre in southern Israel on 7 October, the atmosphere for British Jews has become significantly more hostile.

Not even our most prestigious academic institutions have escaped this rising tide of anti-Semitism. In fact, universities have emerged as hotspots for its spread. On campuses across the UK, students have followed the example of their American counterparts in holding ‘pro-Palestine’ protests and setting up tent encampments. Many of these are not simply demonstrations of solidarity with the people of Gaza, but have morphed into hotbeds of anti-Jewish hostility.

At Oxford University last month, a group of both Jewish and non-Jewish, Israeli and non-Israeli, students and staff wrote to the vice-chancellor about the alarming situation on campus. They listed over 100 anti-Semitic incidents that allegedly took place this past academic year. In one, an Israeli fellow claimed he was told that Jews run all the banks in the world. In another, an Israeli student was reportedly told that ‘you guys control the American government’.

Unfortunately, Oxford is not alone in this. In our latest report published this month, we at the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) shed light on the grim rise of campus anti-Semitism. Through one-on-one interviews, workshops and surveys, HJS found that anti-Semitism is now rampant.

In a survey of 105 students across the UK, 67 said they personally experienced anti-Semitism on campus since 7 October. Ninety-seven said they encountered anti-Semitic disinformation. And 101 argued that the prevalence of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic disinformation has increased since 7 October.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Where Are the Weapons? Israel is Defending Freedom against Tyranny for All of Us; It Needs the Weapons Promised It by Nils A. Haug

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20760/where-are-the-weapons-israel

[I]t clearly looks as if the Biden administration just wants to please its terrorist-sponsoring adversaries, Iran and Qatar, by allowing their prized client, Hamas, to win the war.

Regrettably, Iran does not seem to be guided by the same humanitarian, ethical, or “natural law principles” embraced by Israel and the West.

A jihadist in Iran’s premier militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)… probably sees the job of the IRGC as driving the US out of the Middle East so that Iran can continue to “Export the Revolution” without interference.

It is with good reason that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complains that the US is withholding, or “slow-walking,” military supplies. In Ukraine, for instance, badly needed arms are always “being delivered” but somehow never manage to arrive until long after they might actually have helped.

Although Israel’s leaders are well aware of the immense danger presented by Iran, the US and other Western allies evidently cannot be relied upon to prevent Iran from completing its nuclear weapons program. The US appears to like talking, and talking about talking, diplomacy backed up by talking, verbal “understandings” so long as they have no teeth, then paying what looks like bribe money for adversaries not to “make waves,” presumably at least not before the America’s upcoming November election.

The Biden administration, it seems, would rather deal with threatening situations via… worthless promises from Iran, Russia, China, the Taliban, the Palestinians or whoever else will offer appeasements.

The critical point is that Israel is fighting to safeguard not just its own nation, but the West and the Free World as well. The battle at the moment seems between preserving freedom or having it extinguished by the forces of barbarism, autocracies and theocrats, but most of all by the passivity of the West…. Silky, stealth aggressors include Qatar — the consigliere of all Islamic terror groups — which uses money and its media network Al-Jazeera, not military aggression, as its means of persuasion.

Sadly, the Biden administration appears to view Israel not as a sovereign nation but a US satrapy. It is hardly a secret that the US has been trying to oust Israel’s elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and replace him presumably with a subordinate. That US puppet would supposedly be delighted to have a terrorist Palestinian state next door administered by the terrorist godfather, Qatar, and be delighted to see Iran have as many nuclear weapons as it likes.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Bidengate and the Doom Loop The more Biden avoids the media, the more the public considers him an inadequate president. Yet the more he might welcome more exposure, the more his ensuing dementia becomes apparent. By Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/08/bidengate-and-the-doom-loop/

The entire 2019-20 Biden candidacy and subsequent presidency were predicated on a rotten Faustian bargain. A hale Joe Biden would feign his aw-shucks, Joe from Scranton schtick. And an ossified working-class Joe’s camouflage would get the hard left elected—especially thanks to the changes in balloting laws that often saw only 30 percent of the electorate voting on Election Day in key states.

In exchange, the two narcissistic Bidens would bask in the power and attention of the presidency. From the start, Jill and the media would orchestrate deep cover for Joe’s escalating dementia as well as the true intentions of the now-in-power radical Democratic Party with its neo-socialist agenda. The former Obama acolytes would get their long-dreamed-of third presidential term. And this time they would enact a truly radical agenda while their string puppet mumbled to everyone that he was just old, familiar Joe working for the middle class.

The problem, inter alia, with the ruse was that it was based on a complete lie to the American people. Joe Biden was nowhere near cognitively competent. He could not campaign “normally” in 2020. And it would be impossible for his dementia to go undetected even in the ceremonial duties of the presidency for four, perhaps even eight, more years.

And there were plenty of other problems that transcended even Biden’s mental confusion.

First, the new Obama agenda—hyperinflation, open borders, woke crime theories, destroying deterrence abroad, green extremist mandates—was further to the left of the American people than in 2016.

And worse, it was nihilist and destructive. By the August 2021 Kabul withdrawal humiliation, Biden would never again win 50 percent approval from an increasingly exasperated public who felt they had been had by the mannequin Scranton Joe and his false 2020 calls for “unity” and “healing America.”

Second, Joe Biden, senator, vice president, quid-pro-quo sudden multimillionaire, was never a “nice guy.”

His (brief) 1984, 1988, and 2020 presidential runs were characterized by assorted gaffes, plagiarism, and racism (the first “clean” and “articulate” black presidential candidate, “junkie,” “you ain’t’ black,” and the corn-pop sagas).

He always displayed a short-fuse, mean streak (cf. his 1988 angry and falsified defense of his law school and stump speech plagiarism) and bullying (his 2020 slurs of “fat,” “lying dog-faced pony soldier,” etc.).

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Joe Biden: Poster Senior for Elder Abuse He was merely a prop for the Democrats to collect votes in 2020. Nothing more. by Jeff Davidson

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/joe-biden-poster-senior-for-elder-abuse/

Nearly four years ago, I wrote that Joe Biden was a victim of elder abuse and his wife and son Hunter were likely compelling him to take on a job that he was not fit to do. Now everyone, with even a scintilla of objectivity, knows that this is true.

When an Older Adult is Harmed

According to the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) “Elder abuse is an intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult. An older adult is someone aged 60 or older. The abuse often occurs at the hands of a caregiver or a person the elder trusts.”

The CDC further states that “Victims often have to decide whether to tell someone they are being hurt or continue being abused by someone they depend upon or care for deeply.” What’s more, “Elder abuse is common. Abuse, including neglect and exploitation, are experienced by about 1 in 10 people aged 60 and older who live at home.”

The thoughtless, cruel, and immoral exploitation of Joe Biden largely stems from Democrats’ eternal quest for power and their residual shock from the 2016 election, aided and abetted by the aforementioned members of the Biden Crime Family. Jill, a modern day Lady Macbeth is power hungry. History will not be kind to her. Hunter, understandably so, wants to stay out of prison, and the “big guy” is his shield. In no way will they allow Joe to step down even if the degradation gets five times worse.

The Effects of Elder Abuse

Elders who have been abused have a 300% higher risk of death when compared to those who have not been mistreated, based on findings from the National Council on Aging.

MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

Empire of Evil A powerful new documentary from Bill Whittle about the Russian Revolution. by Bruce Bawer

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/empire-of-evil/

There’s a reason why the History Channel is often, with dark whimsy, referred to as the Hitler Channel. As I scrolled through the online TV Guide recently to check out the channel’s scheduled programming for the next few days, I discovered shows entitled The Nazis’ Secret Bases, Secrets of the Nazi War Machine, and Hitler’s Celebrations of Hate – not to mention several programs about D-Day and the ensuing “battles for Europe” between the Western Allies and the Nazis.

There was nothing remotely touching on the Soviet Union.

This is very much par for the course. Similarly, it’s no surprise that while a great many major feature films have been made about Nazi Germany, among them The Pianist, Downfall, Sophie’s Choice, Schindler’s List, Valkyrie, and Shoah. There’s only a scattering of lesser-known Hollywood pictures about the Soviet Union – notably, the obscure Gulag movie Escape from Sobibor and the TV biopic Stalin starring Robert Duvall.

Why this dramatic disparity? Because the people who write and produce feature films for the major studios, or documentaries for clients like the History Channel, have an entirely appropriate contempt for Hitler and everything he stood for. But the Russian Revolution? Lenin? Many of them – whose knowledge of history tends to have been shaped by left-wing university professors – have something of a soft spot for the people who overthrew the Romanovs. After all, the czars were pretty monstrous – most of them, anyway.

So it is that all too many people who want to make powerful films about history are happy to return yet again to the worst horrors of Nazism, but Soviet Communism? The most famous single movie about that topic is Reds, whose protagonist, the American journalist John Reed (Warren Beatty), was an eager fan of, and participant in, the Russian Revolution. Yes, the film ultimately acknowledges, sort of, that the revolution turned out not to be everything that Reed thought it was – but along the way to that conclusion we’re given a hell of a lot of stirring, heroic images of Lenin and company doing their thing.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Universities Should Promote Rigorous Discourse, Not Stifle It By Jay Bhattacharya & Wesley J. Smith

Posted By on July 8th, 2024

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/07/07/universities_should_promote_rigorous_discourse_not_stifle_it_151217.html

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an advocacy article that attacks academic freedom and urges stifling contentious campus debates. Specifically, Evan Mullen, Eric J. Topol, and Abraham Verghese urge universities to “speak out publicly” and issue official institutional opinions about public controversies involving its professors “when it concludes that a faculty member’s opinion could cause public harm.” 

The NEJM authors write in the context of Stanford University refusing to institutionally condemn the arguments made by one of its scholars, Dr. Scott Atlas, when he advised the Trump administration on COVID policies in the early days of the pandemic. The authors, one of whom is a physician trainee (Mullen) and another the former vice chair of education (Verghese) at Stanford, are university colleagues of Atlas, as is one of the authors of this essay (Bhattacharya). They claim that Atlas’ publicly expressed skepticism of masking as an effective prophylactic against infection and his belief that lockdowns and school closures would cause more harm than good were so potentially harmful that Stanford itself – as an institution – should have condemned Atlas’ opinions.

Why? It wasn’t as if some of his colleagues didn’t criticize Atlas. Indeed, more than a hundred Stanford professors and physicians wrote publicly opposing his advice. The letter’s signatories also pushed a vote through the Stanford Faculty Senate in November 2020 condemning Dr. Atlas, using quasi-religious language to declare his positions “anathema.” But that wasn’t enough, apparently, because “institutional silence may be interpreted as tacit approval.”

Controversy between professors is the norm at the frontiers of science. It is utterly unsurprising that there would be discord over the proper policy to follow in the wake of a pandemic featuring a new virus, with great uncertainty about its epidemiological and biological aspects. In the intervening years, Dr. Atlas’ positions in 2020 on school closures and mask mandates have been proven legitimate, demonstrating the wisdom of Stanford not taking a position as an institution.