Displaying posts published in

December 2015

BOOKS Comments turned off

Kerry: Americans won’t vote for a president not willing to act on climate By Thomas Lifson

By on December 14th, 2015

Secretary of State John Kerry is out selling the Paris COP21 climate agreement on the Sunday morning talk shows. If the agreement were a pharmaceutical, his misrepresentations would get it pulled off the market. Elizabeth Wasserman of Bloomberg:

U.S. voters won’t elect a leader who denies the damage that climate change incurs upon the planet and fails to commit to curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC News.

“I don’t think they’re going to accept as a genuine leader, someone who doesn’t understand the science of climate change and isn’t willing to do something about it,” Kerry said in an interview broadcast Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopolous.”

Ahem.

The Associated Press (11/3/15):

Americans are hot but not too bothered by global warming.

Most Americans know the climate is changing, but they say they are just not that worried about it, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. And that is keeping the American public from demanding and getting the changes that are necessary to prevent global warming from reaching a crisis, according to climate and social scientists. (snip)

Continue reading →
POLITICS Comments turned off

Reagan and Cruz: Unelectable By Fritz Pettyjohn ???

By on December 14th, 2015

For political veterans, much of what we’re starting to hear about Ted Cruz has an eerily familiar ring. Too extreme. Unelectable. Scares people. A radical, not a conservative.

The American people will hear a lot about Cruz’s extremism in the year ahead, just as they were told about Reagan’s. It may cause them to hesitate before supporting him. But over the course of the campaign they’ll be able to make that determination for themselves. In fact, Ted Cruz represents the mainstream of conservative thought in this country, just as Reagan did two score years ago. Reagan’s victory vindicated everything we’d been saying for twenty years. A Cruz win next year would do so again.

Precisely 36 years ago Reagan was on his way to the Republican nomination. George Will and the church ladies of the party were concerned, even trying to lure former President Ford into the race. Reagan was just too conservative to get elected. A few years earlier Will had described Reagan’s support as “. . . kamikaze conservatives who thought the 1964 Goldwater campaign was jolly fun.” The reasonable, establishment Republicans settled on Bush 1 as their candidate, and it was game on. Marco Rubio is, or will be, their choice this time. Same song, same singers.

Even those of us in the Reagan campaign had concerns. In January of 1980 Reagan trailed Carter 62-33. This in spite of the fact that our embassy in Iran had been overrun, and hostages taken, a couple months before. Carter had earlier been openly humiliated by Brezhnev in Afghanistan. A weak economy, and soaring inflation, combined to give us the worst of both worlds, stagflation. The previous summer Carter had complained to the American people about their malaise. He seemed to be over his head. In the face of all these troubles, Carter still had a 2-1 lead. Reagan was too extreme.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Understanding Terror Depravity is a choice. By Cynthia Ozick

By on December 14th, 2015

On a New Yorker panel nearly a dozen years ago, in the wake of the publication of his novel Snow, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk set forth an emphatic credo. “Our moral duty,” he said, “is to pay attention to the humanity of everybody.” And since the subject of the panel was “Literature and Politics,” this comment was altogether in keeping with Pamuk’s remarks elsewhere, on the responsibility of the novelist: “I strongly feel that the art of the novel is based on the human capacity, though it is a limited capacity, to be able to identify with the ‘other.’ .  .  . It requires imagination, a sort of morality, a self-imposed goal of understanding this person who is different from us.”

But in 2004, this anodyne and conventional literary conviction, addressed to the New Yorker’s loyal audience, rang out with an unexpectedly unsettling force. The motivations and influences and inmost desires and doubts and dreams and fevered schemes of invented characters in a novel, however pleasing or villainous, make up the very essence of what we derive from storytelling. We want to understand Isabel Archer and Mr. Kurtz (who are so different from us), we want to know them to the deeps of their marrow. The glory of literary modernism especially— the revelatory dazzle of Joyce and Proust and Woolf — turns precisely on this psychological probing into hidden consciousness. It was a shock, then, to learn that Pamuk’s “everybody,” his requirement of imagination, his “goal of understanding this person who is different from us,” his vaunted “humanity” — all this was meant to reach well beyond his primary literary argument. It was meant to include terrorists. Are not terrorists a portion of humanity? A challenge came from a fellow panelist: What about suicide bombers, are they to be similarly understood by the humanely embracing imagination? Pamuk’s response was quick and sharp and dismissive: “We have to base our judgment on moral essential things rather than on what we see on TV the other night.”

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Why Obama Can’t Catch Up with Putin’s Increasingly Bold Moves Blind to the motives that shape the Russian president’s strategy, the White House pursues a futile search for “common ground.” Leon Aron****

By on December 14th, 2015

Leon Aron is the director of Russian studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of, among other works, Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life and Roads to the Temple: Memory, Truth, Ideas, and Ideals in the Making of the Russian Revolution 1987–1991.

As conscientious chroniclers do, Michael Doran, in his painstaking examination of the Obama administration’s disastrous foreign policy toward Russia, both instructs us and provokes thoughts and questions that may exceed the intended scope of his essay. Specifically, one is drawn to ask: what caused this policy to be so dismal, so strewn with mistakes, so strikingly unable to predict Moscow’s behavior or to catch up with Vladimir Putin’s increasingly bold moves?

Between historical explanations based in theories of conspiracy and those premised on assumptions of incompetence, it’s usually prudent to plump for incompetence; or so we’re told. But a number of those advising President Obama on Russia are personally known to me to be quite competent, so that explanation won’t wash. Doran offers a different explanation, one that focuses on the beliefs of the president. Barack Obama, he writes, is ideologically wedded to a strategic understanding that is at once false, impervious to correction by reality, and unswayable by the counsel of advisers. This may well be so, but the problem may also be deeper and require elaboration.

Continue reading →
NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

MILITARY BASES.CO- A NEW RESOURCE SITE

By on December 14th, 2015

We have recently started a not for profit resource site http://militarybases.co that displays all the U.S. military bases on an interactive map.

Militarybases.co is a novel resource for interactive maps that display military bases operated by the U.S. either locally or abroad conveniently along with data points such as: historical info, base facilities, housing, weather, driving instructions and pictures of the bases involved.

Militarybases.co cover different army branches such as air force, navy, marine, coast guard and regular army installations. We aim to be a resource for elementary, secondary and college students who want to learn and absorb information regarding our countries military infrastructure and for families of service men and woman as well as those on active duty to get more information on their next deployment location.

The site is useful in many ways as it can be used for research for geopolitical issues in terms of arms deployment of the US forces accross the globe, it can also be used by families of service men and woman to find their way around the bases where their loved ones serve to protect our country. It can also be used as classroom material for elementary, secondary or even college eductation.

The site is a resource for data points on housing, weather, driving directions, base facilities and even historical information of ALL U.S. military bases either on our soil or abroad. We currently have over 500+ bases listed and expanding day by day.

Continue reading →
BOOKS Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on December 14th, 2015

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Missing protein causes hearing loss in elderly. (TY Nevet) Joint Israeli-US research has discovered that the absence of protein RFX in many elderly people causes hearing loss. The protein is responsible for maintaining tiny hairs (cilia) in the inner ear. When these hairs die off, the person becomes deaf. The team believe their discovery will help develop treatments to restore hearing in patients. http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Health-and-Science/Breakthrough-find-may-lead-to-restoring-hearing-in-elderly-431761

Self-healing artificial skin. Israeli researchers at Israel’s Technion have created a new, flexible material that is sensitive to touch and can heal itself automatically if there is damage within 10-30 minutes, according to research published in the Advanced Materials journal.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/24/israeli-researchers-create-self-healing-material/

Protein link to aggression. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute investigating the protein tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) found in the brains of humans and animals, have discovered that low TH levels increase aggression in males. High TH levels reduce aggression in males but increase motherly instincts in females.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-to-tame-a-male-weizmann-researchers-may-have-the-answer/

US approves leukemia treatment. The US FDA has approved BENDEKA, (bendamustine hydrochloride) injection from Israel’s Teva for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and for indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). BENDEKA is expected to be commercially available by 1st Quarter 2016.
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/teva-eagle-pharma-report-fda-approval-of-bendeka-injection-20151208-00240

Smart enzymes. Israel’s SmartZyme is developing new proteins and enzymes for medical and industrial uses. One enzyme has improved bio-electrochemical glucose catalysis, to be used on glucose test strips for the Self Monitoring Blood Glucose (SMBG) market. SmartZyme has just received $4 million of funding.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-biologics-co-smartzyme-raises-4m-from-orbimed-1001076726

Infrared imaging checks quality of sealed treatments. Israel’s DIR Technologies has invented a system that checks every package of medicine using thermal imaging. Operators can then find and fix problems causing faulty seals whenever they occur, without destroying a sample or holding up the production line.
http://www.thetower.org/2585oc-israeli-company-develops-revolutionary-drug-safety-system/

Kids kicking cancer in Israel. Kids Kicking Cancer, founded by Detroit Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, has now expanded to five Israeli hospitals. Children who have life-threatening diseases are taught martial arts in order to help them cope with the aftermath of the disease. The pool of instructors includes both Jews and Arabs.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-martial-arts-help-kids-with-cancer-kick-the-pain/

Identifying your “Sleep DNA”. Israeli crowdsourcing platform Sleep ASAP (see Jun 2015 newsletter) offers insomniacs a solution to their sleeping problems. In a recent study, Sleep ASAP analyzed personality traits and sleep habits of 2500 participants. It successfully determined the reason for the insomnia in 99% of cases.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tech-cracks-sleep-dna-to-beat-insomnia/

Continue reading →
WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Turkey’s “Spies,” EU’s “Human Rights” by Burak Bekdil

By on December 14th, 2015

“He who ran this story will pay heavily for it.” — Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey

The two journalists, Dundar and Gul, are being charged with being members of a terrorist organization; espionage, and revealing state secrets. The prosecution has asked for life sentence for both journalists.

Really, why would a spy publish secret material in a newspaper instead of handing it over to his foreign controllers?

As Dundar and Gul completed their 11th day in solitary confinement, that human rights champion, the European Union, committed to push forward the process towards Turkish EU membership and open five accession chapters.

Dr. Bilgin Ciftci posted photos on Twitter juxtaposing the fictional character Gollum with Erdogan. He was fired from the hospital where he worked, then brought to court for insulting Erdogan, an offense punishable by up to four years in prison.

Continue reading →
ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Committee City The arrangement to site the capital in the South was the nation’s first great backroom deal By Fergus M. Bordewich

By on December 14th, 2015

In the spring of 1790, as the members of the First Congress, meeting in New York City, discarded one proposed location after another, it seemed almost certain that the nation’s permanent capital would end up somewhere in Pennsylvania. Few expected it to wind up sandwiched between the slave states of Maryland and Virginia—except President George Washington and his leading acolyte in Congress, James Madison. How the capital got there is just one of the many stories that Tom Lewis recounts in “Washington: A History of Our National City,” an engagingly written, panoramic chronicle of the nation’s capital, from its unlikely founding to the era of the city’s notorious crack-smoking mayor Marion Barry.
Washington: A History of Our National City

By Tom Lewis
Basic, 521 pages, $40

Madison, brilliantly playing a weak political hand, derailed the overconfident Pennsylvanians and their allies and concluded the first great back-room deal in American political history. Over dinner at Thomas Jefferson’s rented house on Maiden Lane, he agreed to provide enough (grudging) Southern votes to ensure the passage of Alexander Hamilton’s ambitious financial plans, in return for the Treasury secretary’s agreement not to block the establishment of the federal city on the Potomac River.

Continue reading →
BOOKS Comments turned off

Paris Climate of Conformity It pays to be skeptical of politicians who claim to be saving the planet.

By on December 14th, 2015

The moment to be wariest of political enthusiasms is precisely when elite opinion is all lined up on one side. So it is with the weekend agreement out of Paris on climate policy, which President Obama declared with his familiar modesty “can be a turning point for the world” and is “the best chance we have to save the one planet that we’ve got.”

Forgive us for looking through the legacy smoke, but if climate change really does imperil the Earth, and we doubt it does, nothing coming out of a gaggle of governments and the United Nations will save it. What will help is human invention and the entrepreneurial spirit. To the extent the Paris accord increases political control over human and natural resources, it will make the world poorer and technological progress less likely.
***

The climate confab’s self-described political success is rooted in a conceit and a bribe. The conceit is that the terms of the agreement will have some tangible impact on global temperatures. The big breakthrough is supposed to be that for the first time developing and developed countries have committed to reducing carbon emissions. But the commitments by these nations are voluntary with no enforcement mechanism.

Continue reading →
POLITICS Comments turned off

Trump, Cruz Lead GOP Field as Support for Carson Plummets, Poll Finds Journal/NBC News survey shows the Texas senator consolidating party’s conservative support By Janet Hook

By on December 14th, 2015

Sen. Ted Cruz has surged in the 2016 GOP presidential primary contest, consolidating support from the party’s most conservative voters and emerging as a leading alternative to businessman Donald Trump, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

The latest poll, coming after a tumultuous month of international and domestic terrorism, found Mr. Trump tops in the GOP field, with Mr. Cruz in second place. The Texas senator appears to be benefiting from the sharp decline in support for Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who led the pack in Journal/NBC News polling six weeks earlier.

The poll also showed a substantial lead for Hillary Clinton over her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders, although the gap has narrowed.

Until recently, Messrs. Trump and Cruz have refrained from attacking each other, saving their barbs for other rivals in the crowded Republican field. But with a separate poll showing Mr. Cruz rising to first place among likely Republican caucusgoers in Iowa, he has increasingly come under direct and pointed attack from Mr. Trump, suggesting a messy new chapter in the GOP campaign on the eve of a nationally televised debate from Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

Continue reading →