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May 2023

MEDIA Comments turned off

America’s state media: The blackout on Biden corruption is truly ‘Pulitzer-level stuff’ by Jonathan Turley

By on May 15th, 2023

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4003066-americas-state-media-the-blackout-on-biden-corruption-is-truly-pulitzer-level-stuff/

This week, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) tried to do the impossible. After he and his colleagues presented a labyrinth of LLC shell companies and accounts used to funnel as much as $10 million to Biden family members, Donalds tried to induce the press to show some interest in the massive corruption scandal. “For those in the press, this easy pickings & Pulitzer-level stuff right here,” he pleaded.

The response was virtually immediate. Despite showing nine Biden family members allegedly receiving funds from corrupt figures in Romania, China and other countries, The New Republic quickly ran a story headlined “Republicans Finally Admit They Have No Incriminating Evidence on Joe Biden.”

For many of us, it was otherworldly. A decade ago, when then-Vice President Joe Biden was denouncing corruption in Romania and Ukraine and promising action by the United States, massive payments were flowing to his son Hunter Biden and a variety of family members, including Biden grandchildren.

Last year, I wrote a column about how the media were preparing a difficult “scandal implosion” to protect the Bidens and themselves from the backlash from disclosures of this influence peddling operation.

The brilliance of the Biden team was that it invested the media in this scandal at the outset by burying the laptop story as “Russian disinformation” before the election. That was, of course, false, but it took two years for most major media outlets to admit that the laptop was authentic.

But the media then ignored what was on that “authentic laptop.” Hundreds of emails detailed potentially criminal conduct and raw influence peddling in foreign countries.

When media outlets such as the New York Post confirmed the emails, the media then insisted that there was no corroboration of the influence peddling payments and no clear proof of criminal conduct. It entirely ignored the obvious corruption itself.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Nakba and genocidal wars against Israel – Moshe Dann

By on May 15th, 2023

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-742923

The Holocaust is over, but the legacy of those who perpetrated and promoted it thrives among many today who seek to destroy Israel.

The defeat of Germany and its Nazi empire at the end of the Second World War did not end genocidal attempts to murder Jews, especially those in Israel.

Attempts to destroy Israel

When the State of Israel was declared, five Arab countries launched a war to wipe out the Jewish state. Miraculously, they lost. Called the Nakba Day, (Catastrophe Day) it is a lament for a failed attempt to commit genocide. Their emblem of suffering for as long as Israel exists, Nakba Day will be honored by the UN on May 15.

In 1967, several Arab countries were again about to launch another genocidal attack against Israel; it was thwarted by a preemptive attack in the Six-Day War. Seven years later, Arab countries, aided by the Soviet Union, launched another genocidal attack, known as the Yom Kippur War. Israel survived another Nakba.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-742923

The Holocaust is over, but the legacy of those who perpetrated and promoted it thrives among many today who seek to destroy Israel.

The defeat of Germany and its Nazi empire at the end of the Second World War did not end genocidal attempts to murder Jews, especially those in Israel.

Attempts to destroy Israel

When the State of Israel was declared, five Arab countries launched a war to wipe out the Jewish state. Miraculously, they lost. Called the Nakba Day, (Catastrophe Day) it is a lament for a failed attempt to commit genocide. Their emblem of suffering for as long as Israel exists, Nakba Day will be honored by the UN on May 15.

In 1967, several Arab countries were again about to launch another genocidal attack against Israel; it was thwarted by a preemptive attack in the Six-Day War. Seven years later, Arab countries, aided by the Soviet Union, launched another genocidal attack, known as the Yom Kippur War. Israel survived another Nakba

Attempts to destroy Israel, however, continued aided by the Soviet Union, Muslim and non-aligned countries, and indirectly by the UN. Murdering Jews and destroying Israel remains the policy and practice of Palestinian terrorist organizations, supported by Arab and Muslim countries.

Hoping to end such genocidal efforts, the Israeli government, led by the Labor Party, and backed by US president Bill Clinton, agreed to implement the Oslo Accords, which not only legitimized Arafat and the PLO, but gave them a mini-state under a Palestinian Authority, and promised more concessions.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

A Compromised President: Scott Johnson

By on May 15th, 2023

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/05/a-compromised-president.php

I called Peter Schweizer this past Wednesday to ask for help in understanding the Chinese connection to the Biden family business. Peter cited his most recent book, Red-Handed, published last year by Harper Collins. Peter also pointed me to his contemporaneous New York Post column “Chinese elite have paid some $31 million to Hunter and the Bidens.” The headline is a bit misleading. For “Chinese elite” read “Chinese intelligence establishment,” as Peter states in the opening paragraph:

For those wondering why Joe Biden is soft on China, consider this never-before-reported revelation: The Biden family has done five deals in China totaling some $31 million arranged by individuals with direct ties to Chinese intelligence — some reaching the very top of China’s spy agency.

Peter appeared on Mark Levin’s weekly Fox News show to discuss Red-Handed. He pointed me to the Fox News story by Charles Creitz based on his appearance. Meet Che Fung, “the Superchairman” (as Hunter Biden called him in emails found on his laptop). I have posted video of the segment that Creitz reported on below.

Former TCF Financial Corporation general counsel Greg Pulles reviewed the House Oversight Committee report on the Biden family business released this week. I posted Greg’s comments here on Wednesday.

Greg’s comments reminded me of the heroic exploration of the Biden family business by Senators Grassley and Johnson. Their October 26, 2022 letter to United States Attorney David Weiss is the most recent summary of their work (and a potent reminder of the corruption of the Biden Department of Justice).

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Everything You’ve Heard About The Debt Limit Is Wrong James D. Agresti

By on May 15th, 2023

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/05/15/everything-youve-heard-about-the-debt-limit-is-wrong/

Contrary to widespread claims that the U.S. government will default on its debt if Congress doesn’t raise the debt limit, federal law and the Constitution require the Treasury to pay the debt, and it has ample tax revenues to do this.

Nor would Social Security benefits be affected by a debt limit stalemate unless President Joe Biden illegally diverts Social Security revenues to other programs.

The debt limit is a valuable tool for transparency, accountability, and for giving voters an ongoing say in how their money is spent.

The Debt Situation

The U.S. national debt has grown by $8.2 trillion since 2020 and is now $31.5 trillion. This is an average debt of $239,763 for every home in the nation.

Those figures don’t account for the government’s fiscal liabilities and unfunded obligations. When these are included — as the government requires in the financial statements of publicly traded corporations — the total federal shortfall is $135 trillion. This is an average burden of more than $1 million per household.

In addition, Biden has proposed a budget framework that will allow the national debt to grow over the next decade by $19.8 trillion, according to his own administration’s projections.

Such levels of red ink have perilous consequences for nearly everyone, like higher inflation, wage stagnation, investment losses, and lower standards of living.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

DeSantis’s Legislative Record His pitch for 2024 is that he delivers results, without all the drama.

By on May 15th, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/articles/desantis-legislative-record-florida-2024-education-crime-abortion-fa175ac2?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a reputation as a cultural brawler, ready and willing to throw a right hook at Mickey Mouse, the College Board, the national press. To many GOP voters, it’s part of his appeal. But as Mr. DeSantis readies a 2024 presidential campaign, what deserves to get more attention is the agenda he recently helped usher through Tallahassee.

Mr. DeSantis is blessed with Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, so he can’t claim total credit. Some planks of his platform are controversial among conservatives, and others could prove politically unpalatable to a national electorate. Yet there’s no denying that Mr. DeSantis gets things done. “The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture, and put points on the board,” he once said.

Here’s an assessment of what the Governor has been touting lately:

• Taxes and spending: Florida has no income tax, but it does have a 6% sales tax, and there are new exemptions for such “family-focused” items as “diapers, wipes, children’s clothing, cribs, and strollers.” The state’s latest $117 billion budget is up about 6%, which is far from tight-fisted, and Mr. DeSantis’s office is boasting about $1 billion for Everglades restoration and water protection. But the state fisc is sound because revenue is flush from rapid economic growth.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel under Fire and The West’s Pusillanimous Response by Richard Kemp

By on May 15th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19650/israel-under-fire-west-pusillanimous

Neither Ukraine nor Israel has any territorial ambitions or aggressive intent against their attackers — both Ukraine and Israel are fighting purely defensive wars to protect their civilian populations.

There is another common factor. Islamic Jihad in Gaza is an Iranian proxy terrorist group, funded and directed from Tehran. Iran’s hand is behind this conflict….

I do not recall any Western government or international body suggesting moral equivalence between the aggressor and the defender in the Ukraine war, but that is exactly what we have seen repeatedly in this and previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza with the UN Secretary General calling on “both sides” to exercise restraint.

Unlike the immediate condemnation of Russian violence, we have seen only silence in the US and Europe since Islamic Jihad’s rockets began to fall on Israel. The best we have heard from the White House is that “Israel has the right to protect itself”, a statement of the blindingly obvious. None of this is good enough when what is needed is the strongest support for Israel and the most blunt condemnation of Islamic Jihad, along the lines we see over the Ukraine war.

The usual media suspects, such as the BBC and CNN, both cheerleaders for Ukraine’s defensive operations, have predictably been doing their best to slant their coverage against Israel.

As we can see from the Western approach to Ukraine as well as wars everywhere, no other country that is unlawfully attacked by a foreign power is portrayed as the aggressor or at best on a par with the attacker…. The IDF takes the greatest possible care to defend its civilians while avoiding unnecessary casualties among civilians on enemy territory, frequently aborting attacks when there is the risk of killing innocent people….

Gaza terrorist leaders, on the other hand, make sure their wives and children are nearby and ready to die whenever there is the risk of attack against them. They deliberately position their weapons stores, missile launch sites and fighters among the civilian population, including in schools, hospitals and occupied residential buildings. The IDF will frequently warn civilians to get out of the area when preparing an attack. Understanding how this undermines their policy of causing maximum casualties on their own civilians in order to achieve international condemnation of Israel, terrorists in Gaza have warned their citizens that anyone who complies will be punished.

In such circumstances it is impossible for the IDF to do the vital work of destroying offensive weapons aimed against their own population and eliminating the terrorist commanders who direct them without inflicting some civilian casualties. Despite the misguided or malign commentary of some journalists, politicians, academics and human rights groups, such collateral damage is not illegal or a war crime, provided all possible measures are taken to avoid it.

In the last five days, more than 1,234 rockets have been fired from Gaza, 976 of which have crossed into Israel – a country roughly the size of New Jersey — with the remainder falling short into Gaza itself. The nearest comparable bombardment against Western countries was in 1944, when the Germans fired rockets at Britain with a maximum rate of 100 per day. Britain responded with a bombing campaign of devastating force in which many civilians were unavoidably killed.

The question Western commentators so eager to condemn Israel should ask themselves is: how many rockets fired into their own countries would be tolerated?

The Ukraine war has focused European governments’ minds on this issue and their current planning includes not just improving missile defences but also offensive capabilities to strike at the enemy in his own territory, just as Israel is forced to do today.

When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Western governments, international organizations, media and human rights groups quite rightly rallied round without hesitation, recognising the need to give unreserved moral support to a nation defending itself from violent attack.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on May 14th, 2023

 MAY 14, 1945- THE WORLD REJOICED THE END OF WORLD WAR 2. FOR JEWS IT WAS A BITTERSWEET MOMENT OF MOURNING THE VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST WHERE ONE OF EVERY THREE JEWS IN THE WORLD WERE KILLED.

MAY 14, 1948- THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL WAS PROCLAIMED, TERMINATING BRITISH RULE BY MIDNIGHT. THE REST IS HISTORY.

Here is Michael Ordman’s weekly catalog of Israel’s amazing contributions to the entire globe 75 years later. Read it all. rsk

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Israel should be the first country to go to for solutions to the world’s biggest problems. In medical matters its First Aid is second to none. In the latest positive Israel newsletter, Israeli doctors performed the first ever operation to deliver gene therapy direct to someone’s brain. Israeli scientists discovered where red blood cells are first produced in the human body. And Israeli startups won international first prize awards for successful pain relief and skin therapy products.

Israel opened its first hydrogen refueling station. It launched the first medical incubator for startups in an Arab city. An Israeli-founded startup was responsible for creating the first capital city to go 100% solar powered during the daytime. One Israeli startup won an international Business Intelligence award and another won the Data Security Breakthrough award.  Other business firsts were achieved when foreign airlines began new routes to Israel and French supermarket giant Carrefour opened its first stores in Israel.

A young Israeli Druze woman became the first of her community to be in Israel’s winning female basketball championship team.  And although Israel only came 3rd in the Eurovision Song Contest, an Israeli woman triumphed in the World Judo Championships, resulting in the Israeli national anthem being played in Doha, the capital of Qatar.  Michael Ordman.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Historic gene therapy operation. (TY Atid-EDI) Doctors at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center made history with a 7-hour operation to deliver Upstaza gene therapy directly to the brain of a 4-year-old girl from India. The NIS  10 million cost per vial was the most expensive single Israeli surgery ever and was given free of charge.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/04/02/israeli-doctors-make-history-with-gene-therapy-treatment-to-brain/
 
The origin of red blood cells. Researchers led by Professor Ido Amit of Israel’s Weizmann Institute, have discovered that the kidney is the source of the hormone EPO (erythropoietin), which turns cells in the bone marrow into oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Increasing EPO in kidney disease patients could prevent anemia.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/breakthrough-discovery-on-the-origin-of-red-blood-cells/
 
US approves portable 3D X-ray device. Israel’s Nanox (see here previously) has received US FDA approval for its light-weight imaging system for clinics and hospitals. The Nanox.ARC can employ up to five separate X-ray-emitting tubes at once for a 3D image. The FDA approved Nanox’s single-source X-ray bed in early 2021.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/nanox-scores-clearance-cloud-connected-x-ray-bed-after-years-fda-review  https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-nanox-wins-fda-approval-for-cloud-based-xray-system-1001445270
 
Schizophrenia treatment gets US approval. The US FDA has approved UZEDY (risperidone), developed for the treatment of schizophrenia by Israel’s Teva and France’s Medincell. In a Phase 3 human clinical trial, UZEDY demonstrated up to 80% reduction in risk of schizophrenia relapse versus a placebo.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-fda-approves-innovative-teva-schizophrenia-drug-1001445160
https://www.tevapharm.com/news-and-media/latest-news/teva-and-medincell-announce-fda-approval-of-uzedy-risperidone-extended-release-injectable-suspension-/
 
Diagnosing children with fever. The 15-min BV test from Israel’s MeMed (see here previously) accurately diagnosed over 90% of bacterial versus viral infections at Israel’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center, reducing Emergency Department physician error. The study tested 287 children from 3 months to 18 years.
https://www.me-med.com/press-releases/clinical-data-validate-pioneering-memed-bv-technology-improves-diagnosis-of-pediatric-patients-with-fever-in-the-emergency-department/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281018
 
Relieving post-op pain. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s PainReform has just completed a Phase 3 human trial of its PRF-110 post-operative pain relief. The oil-based, viscous, clear solution is deposited directly into the surgical wound bed prior to closure to provide localized and extended post-operative analgesia.
https://painreform.com/releases/painreform-announces-positive-safety-data-in-first-part-of-phase-3-clinical-trialof-prf-110-in-patients-undergoing-bunionectomy-surgery/  
 
Modifying gut bacteria to fight disease. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Trobix Bio is using CRISPR, phage, and synthetic biology technologies to develop precision microbiome oncology therapeutics. TBX101 counters anti-biotic resistance; TBX201 reduces chemotherapy side-effects; TBX301 tackles gut inflammation.
https://www.trobix.bio/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1MsWkhBAyM
 
Israeli partnership to bio-print organs. Israeli startups Stratasys (see here previously) and CollPlant (see here previously) are jointly to create human tissues and organs. They will use Stratasys’ P3 bioprinter and CollPlant’s rh-Collagen-based bioinks. The first project will be to produce reconstructive implants.
https://ir.collplant.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/144/stratasys-and-collplant-unite-technologies-to-transform
 
Award-winning skin therapy. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s SofWave Medical (see here previously) has won two recent international awards. At the 13th Annual NewBeauty Awards it won Best Noninvasive Cellulite Treatment. Then it won the Good Housekeeping Magazine Award for Best Anti-Aging Pro Treatment.
https://sofwave.com/news/sofwave-wins-2023-newbeauty-award-for-best-non-invasive-cellulite-treatment/
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/05/02/2659180/0/en/Sofwave-Wins-Good-Housekeeping-Magazine-Award-for-Best-Anti-Aging-Pro-Treatment.html
 
Prize-winning pain relief. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s TrainPain has won the Grand Prize in the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) & MIT Hacking Medicine Innovation Challenge. TrainPain uses neurotechnology to retrain sensory the brain through engaging haptic mobile games.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trainpain-awarded-grand-prize-in-the-american-academy-of-pain-medicine–mit-hacking-medicine-innovation-challenge-301814260.html  https://www.trainpain.com/
https://pain.haifa.ac.il/projects/train-pain/
 
Reduction in Israeli skin cancer rates. In the 1990s, Israel had the 3rd highest rate of melanoma (skin cancer) per capita in the world. In 2020, Israel was not even in the top 20. Reasons include the Chacham B’Shemesh (Smart in the Sun) programs from preschool to 12th grade. Plus, annual checkups and early excision.
https://www.israel21c.org/melanoma-deaths-are-dropping-in-israel-heres-why/

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Everything New Under the Sun History and civics scores plummet in our constitutional republic.

By on May 13th, 2023

https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/12/everything-new-under-the-sun/

Surfing the web, I came across a clever name for an Ohio secondhand resale shop: It’s New to Me. Makes sense. After all, if a person was unaware of something, upon discovery, it would be new to them. Because schools have failed to provide adequate instruction, “It’s new to me” is what a growing number of tomorrow’s American adults will say when encountering history and civics.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) quadrennial release of the “Nation’s Report Card” shows a precipitous decline in eighth graders’ proficiency in history and civics; and, consequently, a prospective boon for further leftist indoctrination.

With a hat tip to American Greatness’ writer Eric Lendrum, the state-subsidized NPR bears the bad news to America’s parents and citizens: 

[The 2022] history scores are the lowest recorded since the assessment began in 1994, and the new data mark the first-ever drop in civics . . . continuing a downward trend that began in 2014. Only 14% of students reached at or above ‘proficient’ mark in history, and in civics only 22% of students met the same benchmark.

These declines followed previous declines in fourth- and eighth-graders’ reading and math proficiency. This constitutes a significant problem, as Kerry Sautner, the chief learning officer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, noted: “How are we going to mitigate this when we have significant drops in everything?”

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a significant reason for the students’ declining proficiency. Of course, he eschewed allotting any blame to those who ignored the science and demanded the prolonged closure of schools. 

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

From The American Gulag Chronicles By Eileen F. Toplansky

By on May 13th, 2023

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/05/from_emthe_american_gulag_chroniclesem.html

The idea that Americans known as the January 6th protestors are now languishing in prison because they exercised their  rights to protest is shocking and beyond belief.

In the mid-1970s I and others worldwide were active in a letter writing campaign to Soviet Jewish refuseniks. Anatoly Sharansky is probably the most well-known of these dissidents.  While most of the letters were heavily censored, some did get through and it gave hope to those prisoners of conscience that the world was hearing them despite the malevolence of the communists.

One of my treasured documents is a letter from the wife of Hillel Butman, who was falsely accused of being a spy. She wrote to me that she “wished [me] much power for I knew what to do with it.”  It was a truly incredible and profound statement that I have never forgotten.

It reminds one of the unfortunate truth as stated by John A. Stormer in his Death of a Nation (1968) wherein he wrote,

Our founding fathers were men who — from their study of history… learned that down through history whenever man got power he used it to oppress other humans beings.

Thus, the idea that Americans known as the January 6th protestors are now languishing in prison because they exercised their G-d-given rights to protest is shocking and beyond belief.  It hearkens back to those refuseniks who were denied any justice and mercy.

The American Gulag Chronicles: Letters from Prison (2022) authored by Tim Rivers contains the letters and artwork by the latest victims of despotic rule under Joe Biden and his allies.  The editor-in-chief of this work is Marie Goodwyn, the mother of J6 defendant and video journalist Daniel Goodwyn.  Moreover, an international volunteer team of professional typesetters and proofreaders were instrumental in getting the book done.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Vivek in Iowa By David D. Begley

By on May 13th, 2023

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/05/vivek_in_iowa.html

The NYT hates Vivek Ramaswamy. What could be a better recommendation?

If elected President, Vivek Ramaswamy would be historic.  He would be the first Jesuit high school graduate elected to the highest office in the land.  (See what I did there?)

Since this author and the candidate were both beneficiaries of a Jesuit high school education, I asked him how this influenced him.  He gave me a fascinating answer.

The Jesuits speak of magis; Latin for more.  Vivek said that he learned that magis means striving to do more and to be better.  As a country, we have ideals but we will fall short.  But both personally, and as a country, we continue to keep seeking perfection.

Vivek is not Christian, but he believes in God.  He became pro-life at his Jesuit high school.  One of the Jesuit’s precepts is to see God in all things.  Vivek put it this way, “God resides in all of us.”

My other question was about a negative New York Times story about him this week.  He said he’s not a whiner and was somewhat glad for the attention.  He expects to take hits during the campaign as part of the vetting process.

The main thrust of the NYT piece was that the president doesn’t have the executive power to take certain actions such as abolishing the Department of Education.  We know that.  But that claim is shorthand for the direction Vivek would take.

He deviated from his stump speech after an impressive recitation of part of the Declaration of Independence by a group of young people.  It was a brilliant impromptu riff.  Vivek’s favorite president is Thomas Jefferson.  No surprise there as they are both Renaissance men.

Jefferson’s original draft used the words “we hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.”  Ben Franklin changed it to “we hold these truths to be self-evident.”  I know that this is accurate.

Vivek’s point was that what our country was founded on was not at all self-evident at the time.  The rest of the world was mostly under authoritarian rule.  We were a new beginning.

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