ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Raphael Warnock, Election Denier Victory hasn’t stopped him from leveling false charges that Georgia is engaged in ‘voter suppression.’ By Brad Raffensperger

Posted By on December 19th, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/articles/raphael-warnock-election-denier-georgia-senate-runoff-stolen-free-fair-abrams-integrity-jim-crow-turnout-11671353607?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

I have to spend a lot of time shooting down false claims about our elections in Georgia. Usually they come from losers. But sometimes even victorious candidates make false claims about our elections.

After the 2018 and 2020 elections, Georgia had its fill of false claims from losing candidates that our elections aren’t free and fair. For Donald Trump and his supporters, it was tens of thousands of fraudulent ballots that were supposedly cast but somehow never turned up. For Stacey Abrams and hers, it was tens of thousands of voters who were suppressed, not one of whom came forward during her three-year “landmark” lawsuit.

Georgia’s statewide officials—Gov. Brian Kemp, Attorney General Chris Carr and I—stood by Georgia’s elections in 2018 and 2020, defeating the false claims of failed candidates. Last month Georgia returned us to the Gold Dome with commanding margins, whereas statewide Democratic candidates who endorsed or supported Joe Biden’s “Jim Crow 2.0” conspiracy theories came up short in dramatic fashion. Sen. Raphael Warnock made it to a runoff, which he won by the smallest margin of any statewide race.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Goodnight, Poor Harvard! Francis Menton

Posted By on December 19th, 2022

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-12-15-goodnight-poor-harvard

Yesterday I got two emails from Harvard University, as I presume all other Harvard alumni also did. There’s big news: the Presidential Search Committee has announced who will become the next President of the University. It’s Claudine Gay, currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the largest constituent piece of the institution. She will become President on July 1, 2023, when current President Larry Bacow steps down (after only five years).

Have I heard of this person before? More on that in a bit.

But first some of the gushing praise from the official University publicity:

Claudine is a remarkable leader who is profoundly devoted to sustaining and enhancing Harvard’s academic excellence, to championing both the value and the values of higher education and research, to expanding opportunity, and to strengthening Harvard as a fount of ideas and a force for good in the world. . . . As her many admirers know, Claudine consults widely; she listens attentively; she thinks rigorously and imaginatively; she invites collaboration and resists complacency; and she acts with conviction and purpose. . . . Claudine’s own scholarship and teaching have focused on aspects of democracy—political participation, voting behavior, public opinion, and the interplay of race, ethnicity, and politics in America.

And that’s barely a tenth of it. I’m sorry I can’t give you a link to the whole thing; but then, I certainly would not recommend wasting your time reading it.

But where have I come across this name before? Somehow I remembered seeing it on Instapundit, and with a quick search there I find this brief post from April 17, 2022. The link goes to a Substack article by a guy named Chris Brunet, formerly of the Daily Caller, who has gone out on his own at Substack under the name Karlstack. Brunet apparently makes a specialty of exposing corruption in academia, and he is all over the case of Ms. Gay. His April 17, 2022 post has the title “The Curious Case of Claudine Gay.”

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on December 18th, 2022

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Hannukah is the festival of lights.

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3

“ You light up my life, You give me hope to carry on. You light up my days and fill my nights with song. American songwriter Joe Brooks 1970.

Israel’s incredible contributions to science, medicine, agriculture and water technology, bring the light of hope to billions of people throughout the world. Here is another dazzling list from Michael Ordman. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
AI to diagnose cancerous biopsies. Many tumors express the protein PD-L1, which allows them to circumvent the immune system. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed neural networks that use “deep learning” AI to recognize PD-L1 in biopsies, alerting oncologists to apply appropriate immunotherapy.
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2022/11/deep-learning-breast-cancer-ai-immunotherapy/
 
Reducing stress pre-surgery reduces spread of cancer. Confirming a previous study (see here) Tel Aviv researchers revisited patients five years after cancer surgery and found only 12.5% of the patients who received pre-surgery anti-anxiety therapy developed cancer metastases, compared to 50% in the control group.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-724290  https://english.tau.ac.il/colon_rectal_cancer_2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0748798322007053
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41568-021-00395-5  
 
Depression treatment for bipolar disorder. 20% of some 7 million US patients with bipolar disorder commit suicide. US-Israeli company NRx is currently undergoing a US trial on 72 bipolar patients involving the simultaneous administering of two anti-depression treatments that do not have hallucinogenic side effects.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1kv2lfwo  https://www.nrxpharma.com/nrx-100-nrx-101/
 
A new kind of facemask. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have invented the Air-screen fluidic facemask. It blocks virus-laden aerosols and droplets by use of a tiny fan to produce a rectangular air jet, or screen, in front of the wearer’s face. An Israeli startup Wisdom Wearables will commercialize the mask.
https://worldisraelnews.com/invisible-air-screen-israeli-researchers-find-trailblazing-alternative-to-face-masks/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientists-invent-face-mask-made-of-thin-air-which-blows-virus-away/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_H8VHWtH8
 
Help an Israeli hospital save babies’ lives.  (TY UWI) Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has developed a realistic baby simulator for advanced medical training that will help medical professionals save babies’ lives. They are now asking for funds to help pay for the cost of the equipment needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPEC-dN1RBM  https://give.afsmc.org/give/446626/#!/donation/checkout
 
Two lives saved. A Jerusalem woman in her ninth month of pregnancy suffered a stroke while giving a public presentation. Luckily, a member of the audience recognized the stroke symptoms. Seven doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center saved the mother’s life and delivered her healthy baby by Caesarian section.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/two-lives-saved-israeli-doctors-save-mother-from-stroke-during-babys-delivery/

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The West Needs To Fully Cut Ties with Iran’s Ruling Mullahs by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19236/cut-iran-ties

Where, also, are the women’s movements of the West?

The sister of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Badri Hosseini Khamenei, came out criticizing the whole establishment and calling for the overthrow of her brother’s “despotic caliphate”.

“The regime of the Islamic Republic of Khomeini and Ali Khamenei has brought nothing but suffering and oppression to Iran and Iranians. I hope to see the victory of the people and the overthrow of this tyranny ruling Iran soon.” — Badri Hosseini Khamenei, in an open letter.

Even though a large number of high level public figures, celebrities, athletes are supporting the protesters and turning against the regime, calls for international support by many Iranians are being totally ignored

“O free people, be with us and help us, and tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime. This regime is not even loyal to any of its own religious principles, and does not know any laws or rules except force and maintaining power in any way possible. ” — Farideh Moradkhani, niece of Ayatollah Khamenei.

It is shocking and reveals worlds about the rank hypocrisy of Western governments — both in Europe and the United States — that, in spite of all the human rights violations committed by Iran’s regime, not a single Western country, except for Ukraine, has — at the very least — recalled its representatives from Iran, closed its embassies and cut diplomatic ties with Iran’s murderous and child-killing regime.

In spite of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters, many Western governments are maintaining their diplomatic relationships with the ruling mullahs and turning a blind eye to the regime’s sickening human rights violations. Where, also, are the women’s movements of the West?

BOOKS Comments turned off

Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father By Steven Fried****

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

The monumental life of Benjamin Rush, medical pioneer and one of our most provocative and unsung Founding Fathers
 
By the time he was thirty, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin’s protégé, and become John Adams’s confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washington’s surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment. As the new republic coalesced, he became a visionary writer and reformer; a medical pioneer whose insights and reforms revolutionized the treatment of mental illness; an opponent of slavery and prejudice by race, religion, or gender; an adviser to, and often the physician of, America’s first leaders; and “the American Hippocrates.” Rush reveals his singular life and towering legacy, installing him in the pantheon of our wisest and boldest Founding Fathers.
 
Praise for Rush
 
“Entertaining . . . Benjamin Rush has been undeservedly forgotten. In medicine . . . [and] as a political thinker, he was brilliant.”—The New Yorker
 
“Superb . . . reminds us eloquently, abundantly, what a brilliant, original man Benjamin Rush was, and how his contributions to . . . the United States continue to bless us all.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Perceptive . . . [a] readable reassessment of Rush’s remarkable career.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“An amazing life and a fascinating book.”—CBS This Morning

“Fried makes the case, in this comprehensive and fascinating biography, that renaissance man Benjamin Rush merits more attention. . . . Fried portrays Rush as a complex, flawed person and not just a list of accomplishments; . . . a testament to the authorial thoroughness and insight that will keep readers engaged until the last page.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[An] extraordinary and underappreciated man is reinstated to his rightful place in the canon of civilizational advancement in Rush. . . . Had I read Fried’s Rush before the year’s end, it would have crowned my favorite books of 2018 . . . [a] superb biography.”—Brain Pickings

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Justice Department Lies About Absent Prosecutor Just like everything out of Garland’s department, the notion that Jack Smith is in charge and his staff is “independent” is a total fabrication. By Julie Kelly

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/16/justice-department-lies-about-absent-prosecutor/

To hear the media tell it, Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Donald Trump’s alleged theft of classified documents and any illegal interference in the certification of the 2020 election results, is feverishly working away.

Smith, according to a recent story in Yahoo News, issued subpoenas seeking more information related to Trump’s attempts to “overturn” the 2020 election. The subpoenas target “election officials in seven battleground states that were key to former President Trump and his allies after the 2020 election,” Brad Dress reported on December 14.

“These grand jury subpoenas make clear that Special Counsel Jack Smith is aggressively pursuing the January 6th investigation, including the ‘fake electors’ scheme,’” legal analyst Renato Mariotti swooned on Twitter.

Smith has “[hit] the ground running,” the Washington Examiner claimed on December 12. 

Except there’s a tiny problem—it’s unlikely Smith can hit any ground running. According to CNN, Smith is still on the mend after undergoing knee surgery last month. And not only is Smith not in Washington, D.C., to manage the investigation that bears his name, but he also isn’t even in the country.

“Though he remains in Europe recovering from a biking accident, Smith has made a series of high-profile moves since he was put in charge last month, including asking a federal judge to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to turn over records marked classified,” CNN reported on December 11.

But Smith isn’t making any “moves” in court. His condition also explains why Smith was not in attendance during Garland’s press conference on November 18 announcing his appointment. Garland insisted he had no choice but to name a special counsel after Trump announced his intention to run for president again in 2024. 

“The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said. “Such an appointment underscores the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.”

MEDIA Comments turned off

Corporate Media Can Stomp And Cry All It Wants, Its Special Twitter Privileges Are Ending By: Evita Duffy-Alfonso

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/16/corporate-media-can-stomp-and-cry-all-it-wants-its-special-twitter-privileges-are-ending/

Corporate media ‘journalists’ are crying like children because they no longer get special permission to dox their political enemies.

Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, corporate journalists freely persecuted their political enemies by posting their identities and locations to enable in-person harassment, but not anymore. This week, Musk decided he’s no longer allowing anyone, including journalists, to jeopardize people’s safety via Twitter, and he began temporarily suspending the accounts of offending members of the press. 

“Everyone’s going to be treated the same. You’re not special because you’re a journalist,” Musk wrote in a Twitter post.

The crackdown on doxxing is personal for Twitter’s CEO. On Wednesday, Musk reported that his 2-year-old son named “X” was followed by a “crazy stalker” who had mistaken X for Musk. According to Musk, the stalker blocked the car driving his son and “climbed onto the hood.” The incident motivated Musk to suspend several high-profile journalists guilty of doxxing.

This caused the corporate media to fly into hysterics. “Elon Musk censors the press,” said one CNN headline.” “[U]nprecedented,” stated the flabbergasted Axios. “Twitter suspends journalists who wrote about owner Elon Musk,” alleged The Associated Press. “Musk has begun banning journalists who have criticized him on Twitter,” whined Washington Post TikTok reporter Taylor Lorenz.

All this outrage is performative. Firstly, Musk made it clear why the journalists are suspended, and it’s not because they “criticized” him, as Lorenz said. “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” wrote Musk.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Elon Musk Shows How Twitter Served as the FBI’s Lapdog By Chris Queen

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/chris-queen/2022/12/16/the-latest-edition-of-the-twitter-files-reveals-the-cozy-relationship-between-twitter-and-the-fbi-n1654314

Over the past couple of weeks, Elon Musk has treated us to a regular exposé of what went on behind the scenes at Twitter before he took it over. Musk has relied on independent journalists tweeting the information in threads to get it out to the public.

Part six of the Twitter Files dropped on Friday afternoon, and, in this installment, Matt Taibbi revealed how closely the Twitter folks worked with the FBI and other agencies to silence “election misinformation.”

Taibbi reported that the relationship between the FBI and Twitter was cozy, even chummy. In fact, Taibbi suggested that the social media giant operated as if it were a “subsidiary” of the FBI.

“Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary,” Taibbi tweeted. “Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth.”

Taibbi noted that, while some of the emails were anodyne and humdrum, most of them consisted of requests for Twitter to review and take action on information relating to what the FBI deemed “misinformation” relating to elections. And the FBI’s involvement in rooting out “misinformation” led to bureaucracy on a massive scale.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

‘Equity’ Rears Its Ugly Head in Academic Publishing George Leef

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/equity-rears-its-ugly-head-in-academic-publishing/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=third

The leftist obsession with “equity” is showing up all over. Some people insist on ending blind auditions for orchestral openings on the grounds that it’s more important to get a “better” racial mix of musicians than to identify the best ones. And this same mindset is now showing up in the world of academic publishing. It has always been the case that submissions were evaluated “blind” — that is, without the reader knowing anything about the writer.

Now there’s pressure to change that. Daniel Buck writes about this disturbing (but hardly surprising) development in today’s Martin Center article.

In an article for Inside Higher Ed, one academic argues for open reviews. This author, Kim Manturuk, had brought together a conference to discuss instructional practices best suited to the pandemic era. To her shock and horror, a few papers authored by Christians made it through the double-blind review process. Whereas the ancient Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides recommended we “hear the truth, whoever speaks it,” Manturuk, a modern-day Pharisee, suggests we hear the truth only when it is spoken by the ideologically pure.

So, just as with student admissions, merit is no longer the key to success. Papers are to be evaluated based on the characteristics of the writers and tossed aside if those characteristics somehow indicate that the paper isn’t aligned with “proper values.”

Buck argues that this development takes our universities back to the days of the Inquisition.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Last-Minute Fixes Won’t Save Medicare Sally Pipes

Posted By on December 17th, 2022

https://www.newsmax.com/sallypipes/seniors-solvent-taxpayer/2022/12/15/id/1100643/

Doctors around the country are pleading for Congress to scrap a slew of Medicare payment cuts set to take effect next year. If lawmakers don’t act, healthcare providers could be looking at an 8.47% reduction in pay.

Such a pay cut could have significant implications for seniors.

Medicare has paid doctors and hospitals much less than private insurance for years.

Cutting reimbursements further could cause providers to reduce the number of Medicare beneficiaries they’ll see — and thereby jeopardize their ability to access care.

At the same time, Medicare’s finances are a mess.

The program’s Part A hospital insurance trust fund is set to run out of money in 2028. Congress needs to make structural reforms to Medicare to make sure that it’s there for those who truly need it over the long term.

The current turmoil is a function of several mandated changes to how Medicare reimburses providers. First, there is the 4.5% cut in the Physician Fee Schedule that goes into effect next year.

On top of that, Medicare is required to implement an across-the-board 4% cut under the so-called “PAYGO sequester” rule.