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Ruth King

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Leo Varadkar vs the people Good riddance to the man who turned Ireland into a laboratory of the new illiberalism. Brendan O’Neill

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/03/22/leo-varadkar-vs-the-people/

‘I am no longer best man to be Irish PM’, said a BBC headline this week, summarising Leo Varadkar’s resignation speech. The truth, Leo, is that you were never the best man to be Irish PM. He was never elected by the people to be taoiseach, instead securing that seat of power by appointment and backroom dealing. And once there, once he’d been gifted the highest office in the land by his allies in Dublin 4, he wielded government not for the people, but against them. He bent Ireland to what was essentially a vast real-time experiment in social re-engineering and thought control.

An unelected ruler using his power and clout to correct the country and improve the people? There’s a word for that. And it isn’t ‘democracy’.

Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday. In an emotional speech he said he was stepping down as leader of Fine Gael immediately and will step down as taoiseach once his successor has been chosen. His ‘shock departure’ followed the people’s crushing defeat of the twin referendum he put forward. Overwhelming majorities rejected his proposals to alter the Irish constitution to update its definition of ‘family’ and to fix what Varadkar damned as its ‘very sexist’ reference to a woman’s ‘duties’ in the home. No thanks, said the electorate, in the biggest ever referendum loss by an Irish government.

Even the fact that Varadkar’s stepping down is widely seen as a ‘shock move’ speaks to the haughtiness, the outright unworldliness, of his political kind. To many of us it makes perfect sense that a PM would bugger off after suffering a historically unprecedented bloody nose from voters. But it seems the Varadkar clique thought they could ride it out. ‘No biggie’ was their view. Until his ‘shock departure’ on Wednesday, reports the Guardian, ‘the political fallout from the [referendum] debacle had widely been expected to be limited’.

Who expected that? I’m sure those voters who gleefully seized the opportunity of the referendum to give the middle finger to Varadkar and the rest of the establishment didn’t expect the impact of their discontent to be ‘limited’. It is a testament to the arrogance of technocracy, to the chasm that has emerged between Ireland’s rulers and Ireland’s ruled, that the Dublin establishment thought it could shrug off the largest drubbing it has ever received from voters.

In the end, tellingly, it seems it was disgruntlement from within his own party ranks, rather than the disgruntlement of the oiks, that convinced Varadkar to go. He was facing ‘increasing discontent within Fine Gael’, with some party bigwigs worried he’s an ‘electoral liability’. Everything you need to know about the man is contained in the fact that he essentially shrugged when the masses rose up against him but bolted when his fellow clerisy members criticised him. To the technocrat, the disapproval of their dinner-party circle carries far more weight than the discontent of ordinary people.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Biden’s Pier Is a Gift to Hamas Terrorists by Con Coughlin

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20513/biden-pier-gift-to-hamas

There are mounting concerns that the Biden administration’s pier plan could ultimately boomerang, especially, as Netanyahu himself has warned, if the US aid and the port itself end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists.

“This [Biden] administration betrayed its allies – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Jordan – by handing the port over to Qatar, namely to Hamas….. What all anti-U.S. elements will take away from this tragic episode is not that America stands by its human values to support and care for the population of Gaza, but rather that America is weak and that this is why it is granting the port to Qatar and Hamas.” — Yigal Carmon, founder and president, Middle East Media Research Institute, March 20, 2024.

As Hamas ultimately controls most of the aid distribution networks in Gaza, the plans currently being drawn up by the US and Europe to expand aid deliveries could ultimately prove counter-productive in terms of ending the conflict, as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of exploiting foreign aid to strengthen their terrorist activities in Gaza.

If the Biden administration and its European allies are really serious about ending the conflict in Gaza, then they should give their unequivocal backing to the Israeli military in its battle to destroy the terrorist infrastructure Hamas has constructed in Gaza.

For it will only be when Hamas is completely destroyed, and no longer poses a threat to the Israeli people, that there can be any genuine prospect of lasting peace in the region.

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BOOKS Comments turned off

CHAPTER 11: Critical Race Theory: A Species of the Ideological Thought Genus Marxism Space Is No Longer the Final Frontier—Reality Is [forthcoming release April 2024] by Linda Goudsmit

By on March 24th, 2024

https://goudsmit.pundicity.com/27641/chapter-11-critical-race-theory-a-species-of

 goudsmit.pundicity.com 

 lindagoudsmit.com 

Dr. James Lindsay, mathematician, cultural critic, political analyst, and prolific anti-Woke/anti-Marxist writer, presents an extraordinary and original analysis of the existential threat facing Western Civilization. He introduces Marxism as a genus of ideological thought, and categorizes classical economic Marxism, Maoism, radical feminism, critical race theory, queer theory, Post-Colonial Theory, and Woke as species in the genus of Marxism. It is a magnificent discourse that identifies Woke as the 21st-century species of Marxism evolved to attack the West, signaling our entry into the transformational stage of education, the final phase of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), discussed in Chapter 6.

Lindsay addressed the European Parliament at its Woke Conference on March 29, 2023[i]. It is a stunning speech in which he states unequivocally, “Woke is Maoism with Western characteristics.” The complete transcript follows.

[Transcript]

Woke: A Culture War Against Europe | James Lindsay at the European Parliament

March 29, 2023 [posted May 30, 2023]

Hello. Thank you. I’m glad to be here. I want to address something Tom just said, which is, in fact, that woke is supposed to advance equity in Europe. So, here’s the definition of equity and see if it sounds like a definition of anything else you’ve ever heard of.

The definition of equity comes from the public administration literature. It was written by a man named George Frederickson, and the definition is “an administered political economy in which Shares are adjusted so that citizens are made equal.”

Does that sound like anything you’ve heard of before—like socialism? They’re going to administer an economy to make “shares” equal. The only difference between equity and socialism is the type of property that they redistribute—the type of shares. They’re going to redistribute social and cultural capital, in addition to economic and material capital.

And so, this is my thesis: When we say, “What is woke?” Woke is Maoism with American characteristics.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on March 24th, 2024

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Jews around the world have just heard how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people from annihilation over 2,000 years ago. This week, the positive Israeli news is full of the achievements of Israeli women.

They include the discoverer of a treatment for a common eye disease.
Three women who developed a test for newborns at risk of disabilities.
The Oct 7 survivor who is back on her feet thanks to Israeli technology.
Technion’s first female dean of aerospace engineering.
The winner of the “Nobel Prize” for Electrical Engineering.
And the founder of an NGO that has brought water & electricity to 1,100 African villages. Michael Ordman

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR

Israel Prize for heroes. The Israel Prize for civilian heroism will be awarded to Menachem & Elchanan Kalmanson and Itiel Zohar, for saving over 100 lives on Oct 7. They named themselves “Team Elchanan” in honor of Elchanan Kalmanson, who died in the rescue operation.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/heroic-civilians-to-receive-israel-prize-for-saving-nearly-a-100-people-on-oct-7th/

Bedouin Arab policeman rescues hundreds. On Oct 7 Police Sgt. Remo Salman El-Hozayel, a member of the southern Israel Bedouin community, drove hundreds of Nova partygoers to safety in a small, abandoned car he found after Hamas blew his up with a grenade. He later returned the car to its owner who had escaped on foot.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/california-synagogue-leases-space-to-muslim-group-werent-expecting-this-result-2/

Technion UK solidarity trip to Israel. UK readers can join Technion UK (May 6 – 10), for the “Solidarity trip to Israel”. Experience Israel’s innovative spirit firsthand through privileged encounters with pioneering startups, interactive sessions at the Technion Institute and adventure into the heart of Israel’s past, present, and future.
https://technionuk.org/event/solidarity-trip-to-israel/

Directing $800 million of donations to Israel. (TY Yanky) North American Jewish response to the Gaza war has been phenomenal. Jeff Schoenfeld, co-chair of the Israel Emergency Allocations Committee, is busy allocating $800 million of funds raised by Jewish Federations of North America and other institutions.
https://jweekly.com/2024/03/13/the-man-directing-800m-in-post-oct-7-donations-to-israel-on-where-the-money-goes/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Another approach to curing Alzheimer’s? (TY Nevet) In 2023, Bar-Ilan University Prof Shai Rahimipour (see here previously) worked with Canadian scientists on a peptide therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Now he is working with Italian scientists developing nanoparticles to attack an early version of the Amyloid-beta protein.
https://tps.co.il/articles/nanotechnology-breakthrough-could-transform-alzheimers-care/

New pathway for treating wet AMD. Prof. Ofra Benny, cofounder and CSO of Israel’s Orsight, has developed a small molecule that (in lab tests) stops the formation of excess blood vessels in the eye, thus preventing the worst effects of wet AMD. It also has prospects for use in cutting off blood supply to tumors.
https://www.israel21c.org/orsights-novel-amd-drug-may-preserve-sight/
https://ngt-healthcare2.com/orsight-pharma/

Linking heart disease to cancer. (TY Nevet & UWI) Researchers at Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center found that a diseased heart releases bubbles, called extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These travel through the bloodstream and promote the growth of cancer cells. Spironolactone stops sEVs and prevents cancer.
https://tps.co.il/articles/israeli-researchers-uncover-biological-pathway-between-heart-disease-and-cancer/
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.123.066911

Saliva tests can prevent lifelong disabilities. (TY Nevet) Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection causes (often lifelong) health problems for one in every 1,000 newborns in the USA. Hadassah / Hebrew Uni researchers have developed an efficient cCMV PCR saliva-based screening test for early detection & treatment.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-791556
https://www.hadassah.org/story/newborn-saliva-screen-could-revolutionize-ccmv-protocol

Innovative tech gets survivor back on her feet. Neta from Kibbutz Kfar Aza was badly wounded by Hamas on Oct 7. Technion doctors created a unique orthotic device tailored specifically for Neta based on 3D scans of her leg, to aid her in walking while her ankle is unable to bear weight. It allows for adjustment as her leg heals.
https://technionuk.org/news-post/a-new-step-toward-healing-with-innovative-orthotic-technology/

New technologies for treating wounded. (TY Nevet) Doctors at Hadassah’s hospitals in Jerusalem are using the latest technologies, like robot-assisted surgeries, 3D printing, and computer games, to treat wounded soldiers and civilians. A robot can extract a bullet easily, without damage to other organs.
https://www.hadassah.org/story/voa-hadassah-treats-wounded-using-advanced-technology
https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-medical-technology-helps-treat-save-soldiers/7508578.html

Increasing fertility with AI. Israel’s FertilAI has developed Fertilane – an AI platform for clinicians, to offer solutions for better patient care throughout the entire fertility journey. It also includes an app to help patients throughout the complicated process of fertility treatments and to improve clinic-patient communication.
https://www.israel21c.org/fertilais-ai-platform-increases-clinical-fertility-by-8/ https://fertilai.com/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Female-friendly Technion. (TY Nevet) This year, 50% of new undergraduate students at Israel’s Technion Institute are women. To encourage more new mothers to enroll, the Technion has installed 18 nursing rooms. They are located in each faculty, as well as in the Student House and the Ulman Building used by all faculties.
https://ats.org/our-impact/the-technion-opens-18-rooms-for-nursing-moms/

First female head of aerospace engineering faculty. (TY Nevet) Professor Daniella Raveh is the first woman to become dean of the Israel Technion’s faculty of Aerospace Engineering. An alumna of the faculty, she graduated with honors and went on to earn both a master’s and Ph.D. degree at the Technion.
https://ats.org/our-impact/making-history-first-woman-to-head-the-faculty-of-aerospace-engineering-at-the-technion/ https://ats.org/about/faces-of-the-technion/daniella-raveh/

80,000 Muslims pray peacefully at Al-Aqsa. Tens of thousands of Moslems peacefully worshipped in the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. Police reported no unusual incidents, despite Hamas calling for violence. The Islamic Waqf estimated that 80,000 people took part.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-gird-for-first-ramadan-friday-prayers-after-hamas-calls-to-defend-al-aqsa/

Medtech hub utilizes Israeli Arab creativity. Israel’s MEDX Xelerator (see here previously) has generated the NorthMed innovation hub in the northern town of Sakhnin. In its first year, NorthMed helped Swift Duct (see here previously) develop its endoscope for navigating the bile duct.
https://nocamels.com/2024/03/medtech-hub-fostering-underutilized-creativity-of-israeli-arabs/
https://medxelerator.com/

Ramadan parade led by Israeli flagbearer. (TY Yanky) The Israeli Bedouin settlement of Bir al-Maksur, which means Broken Well, and is located near the Jezreel Valley. The village held a parade to mark the start of Ramadan. Leading the parade was someone proudly carrying the Israeli flag.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Israel/comments/1bbk7i0/this_is_how_we_welcome_ramadan_in_my_arab_home/

“Nobel Prize” for Electrical Engineering. Tel Aviv University Prof. Hagit Messer-Yaron has been awarded the top prize in electrical engineering – IEEE’s Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies – for her groundbreaking technology that uses existing cellular networks to monitor meteorological phenomena.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/tau-professor-wins-top-electrical-engineering-prize-for-weather-monitoring-work/ https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/env-safety-rl.pdf

Still happy despite the war. (TY Nevet) Although at war, Israel is fifth on the World Happiness Report 2024, just one place lower than in 2023 and four higher than in 2022 (see here). The scores are from asking citizens questions about GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/387047
https://tps.co.il/articles/despite-war-israel-ranks-5th-in-world-happiness-report/
https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/WHR+24.pdf

1,000+ African villages. Israeli NGO Innovation: Africa has brought water and electricity to 1,100 villages in Africa. Each village costs $65,000 to provide costs for drilling, solar pump, solar panels, tanks, piping, taps, a 10-meter tower, and remote monitoring. $20,000 brings light to all school classrooms and teacher’s homes.
https://innoafrica.org/ https://innoafrica.org/projects/

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Shaping future technology with India. (TY Nevet) Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed a strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to foster research initiatives through collaborative projects, training programs, and research consultancy.
https://tps.co.il/articles/iai-iit-collab/

Sensing food that has gone bad. Israel’s Sensifi promises to revolutionize pathogen detection. Using an ‘artificial nose’, Sensifi’s tiny sensors – electrodes covered with carbon nanoparticles – enable rapid detection of harmful pathogens like E. Coli and Salmonella in under an hour, far less than current alternatives.
https://nocamels.com/2024/03/artificial-nose-sniffs-out-bacteria-making-your-food-go-bad/
https://www.startuphub.ai/startups/sensifi/

Printing on the moon. Israeli 3D printing firm Stratasys is sending its 3D-printed materials on an upcoming lunar mission to test their performance on the surface of the moon. It is part NASA’s Tipping Point which is promoting companies that develop space technologies.
https://nocamels.com/2024/03/3d-printing-firm-testing-how-its-products-perform-on-the-moon/

Innovative cooling technology. Israel’s Storage Drop (see here previously) has won a 1 million Euros grant in the EU funding program – HORIZON in the Clean and Efficient Cooling 2023 Track. The system, receiving energy from solar panels, aims to supply electricity to the system to produce 5 TR of cooling 24/7.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-storage-drop-wins-eu-grant-to-develop-innovative-cooling-systems-1001473896

Turning Beersheva into Singapore. A comprehensive article about the Synergy7 hub (see here previously) located in the Gav-Yam Advanced Technologies Park in Beersheva. It has just opened its new, first-of-its-kind robotics lab, with specialists from Israel’s Elbit enabling entrepreneurs to gain valuable practical experience.
https://www.israel21c.org/ambitious-new-robotics-lab-opens-in-war-hit-negev/
https://www.gavyam-negev.co.il/en/ https://synergy7.co.il/

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Thousands more foreign workers. (TY Hazel) The Ministry of Housing plans to bring about 40,000 more foreign workers to Israel for jobs in the construction industry. Already some 1,200 Indian workers are in Israel, increasing to 10,000 by end June. Similar numbers will be employed from Georgia, Sri Lanka, and Azerbaijan.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-792325

Facts about Canadian trade. (TY Hazel) In his announcement of an arms embargo on sales to Israel, Canada’s Foreign Minister forgot to mention that in the last decade, the Canadian Defense Ministry purchased Israeli weapon systems worth more than a billion dollars. (see also here previously)
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-792943

Israel Resilience Fund invests in 34 companies. Israel’s OurCrowd has announced that commitment by investors to its Israel Resilience Fund had increased to $17 million, enabling it to increase funding to a current total of 34 startups. In addition, PwC Israel will provide business support to portfolio companies in the fund.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/startup-news/pwc-israel-collaborates-with-ourcrowds-israel-resilience-fund-to-support-israels-tech-sector-at-time-of-crisis

Europe continues to invest. The tenth Europe Days conference in Tel Aviv (see here previously) featured some 200 Israeli startups and entrepreneurs. All were hoping for investment from the 14 venture capital funds and 18 representatives of companies, authorities, and municipal bodies from Europe.
https://www.israel21c.org/foreign-investors-eye-israeli-startups-at-europe-days/

Europe invests in Israeli AI startup. Israel’s NeuReality (see here previously) has raised $20 million including from The European Innovation Council and Israel’s OurCrowd.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-chip-co-neureality-raises-20m-lincluding-eus-eic-1001474101

Securing payments in Africa. (TY OurCrowd) Egyptian-based PAPSS (the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System) has selected Israel’s Thetaray (see here previously) as its anti-money laundering (AML) and screening partner.
https://nocamels.com/2024/03/egypt-based-pay-platform-taps-israeli-anti-money-laundering-startup/

Sports Illustrated is (for 10 years) Israeli. Israel’s Minute Media has reached a 10-year licensing deal for digital and print rights to publish Sports Illustrated. The Israeli company will oversee all digital and print editorial operations across the SI portfolio. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/s1tq0kuap

Exits, takeovers and mergers – to 24/3/24: US-based Gitlab is acquiring Israel’s cloud security startup Oxeye for $30-40 million. Israeli-founded Redis has acquired Israel’s Speedb.

Startup investment – to 24/3/24: BigID raised $60 million and achieved Unicorn status; NeuReality raised $20 million; Euno raised $6.25 million; IO River raised $5.4 million,

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT

International Photography Festival. The 11th International Photography Festival has been rescheduled and will now take place Mar 27 – Apr 6 at the Enav Cultural Center and Ofer Garden complex in Tel Aviv. It is free and includes the Meitar 2024 exhibition, focusing on photographs of the evacuees of the Negev and the Galilee.
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/photo-israel-11th-international-photography-festival/
https://photoisrael.org/en

Visit the Israel Museum. There are currently some interesting exhibits and lectures at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Shekels true or false (ends Apr 30); a VR tour of Aleppo’s Great Synagogue. Roman Road in the Desert; The lost album of Yemenite photos;
https://www.imj.org.il/en/current-exhibitions https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/shekels-true-or-false https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/wonders-deep
https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/lost-album-jakob-rosner%E2%80%99s-yemenite-photographs

International Music Festival. The Felicja Blumental International Music Festival runs Mar 25 – 30 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It advertises as “the best of our Israeli songwriters and classical Arabic music, all wrapped within European classical music performed by orchestras and chamber ensembles”.
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/felicja-bloomental-international-music-festival/
https://fbmc.co.il/en/festival/felicja-blumental-festival/

Jerusalem in Harmony. The “Emunah” Concert – Jerusalem in Harmony, takes place on Weds Mar 27 at the Jerusalem Theatre. Chazanut, Classics, Broadway, Israeli, and more. Featuring Shai Abramson, Simon Cohen, Halellu Choir, & Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Proceeds go to the Emunah Centers for Trauma Counselling.
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/the-emunah-concert-jerusalem-in-harmony/
https://www.jso.co.il/en/concert/the-emunah-concert-jerusalem-in-harmony/?bt=1

Jerusalem’s new laser light show. The city of Jerusalem has just started its new laser light show along the Tower of David promenade. Through music and visuals, the show tells the story of Jerusalem’s cultural tapestry while offering spectators a panoramic view of the iconic landmarks of Israel’s capital city.
https://www.israel21c.org/jerusalem-debuts-spectacular-laser-light-and-sound-show/
https://www.jwire.com.au/lasers-light-up-jerusalem-night-sky/

Cycling team wins Tour de Taiwan. (TY WIN) Israel Premier – Tech cycling team continued its success at the Tour de Taiwan. After winning the first stage last week (see here previously) it won the overall team event after clinching the 5th and final stage in Kaohsiung City. The team’s 13th win of the year already beats 2023.
https://tps.co.il/articles/israeli-cycling-team-clinches-overall-victory-in-tour-de-taiwan/

The Israelis heading for the Paris Paralympics. Israel has 15 athletes so far in its team for August’s Paris Paralympics. Israel won nine medals at the 2021 games – eight of them in the swimming events.
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-paralympic-team-so-far-15-athletes-heading-to-paris/

THE JEWISH STATE

2,000-year-old hideout from the Romans. (TY UWI & WIN) Israeli archaeologists have discovered an extensive underground complex at Huqoq in the Galilee, just north of Tiberias, dating from the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire in 66 – 70 CE. It had been converted from a 2nd Temple period water cistern.
https://www.jns.org/2000-year-old-refuge-complex-found-near-sea-of-galilee/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386913

Virtual tour – the return to Zion. An immersive virtual tour (one-hour on Zoom) exploring the profound impact of Persian rule on ancient Israel and its enduring influence on the symbols of Zionism.
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/virtual-tour-the-return-to-zion-post-purim/
https://www.museumtours.co.il/event-details/virtual-tour-return-to-zion

Solidarity mission to Israel. This May, join the Friends of the IDF for a truly unforgettable mission to spend Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Day on Israeli soil with her protectors. Spend Shabbat in Jerusalem; private meeting with Israel’s President; Yom haZikaron at the Kotel; Yom Ha’Azmaut with IDF soldiers.
https://www.fidf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Israel-Mission-May-Itinerary.pdf

Global hour of Jewish Unity. A global service of solidarity on Mar 21 was streamed live from the Kotel (Western Wall). The hour of psalms and please for the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas culminated with the simultaneous recitation of the Shema prayer. Also see the connection between Purim and this war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiS5dprr0jU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFIKFnWNHzg
https://www.jns.org/thousands-attend-western-wall-prayer-service-for-the-hostages/

Jerusalem’s first Purim parade in 4 decades. Despite the war, Jerusalem will host its first Purim parade since 1982 on Shushan Purim 25th March. It will include 30 floats and seven musical stages along the 1km downtown route. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said it is “a victory of spirit and standing strong”.
https://www.jns.org/jerusalem-to-hold-first-purim-parade-since-1982/

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Russian dictator’s double terrorism standards Putin decries the Moscow massacre, while siding with the genocidal butchers of Oct. 7.By Ruthie Blum

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.jns.org/the-russian-dictators-double-terrorism-standards/

Following Friday’s massacre at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the outskirts of Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a video address to his nation. The slaying of “dozens of peaceful, innocent people … including children, teenagers and women,” he said, was a “bloody, barbaric, terrorist act.”

After praising security services, firefighters, medical teams and “ordinary citizens” who aided in rescuing the victims, he declared that “it is already obvious that we are faced not just with a carefully, cynically planned terrorist attack, but with a prepared and organized mass murder of peaceful, defenseless people.”

Yes, he added, “The criminals calmly and purposefully set out to kill, to shoot at point-blank range our citizens, our children. Just like the Nazis once carried out massacres in the occupied territories, they decided to stage a show execution, a bloody act of intimidation.”

He proceeded to vow: “All perpetrators, organizers and customers of this crime will suffer fair and inevitable punishment—whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat, we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this attack on Russia, on our people.”

Not much detective work proved necessary, though, since Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) promptly and proudly took credit for the heinous assault in a statement published on the Telegram channel of the group’s affiliate news agency, Amaq. This didn’t prevent Putin from a subsequent attempt to pin the event on Ukraine, despite zero evidence of Kiyiv involvement.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Bragg Falsifies Business-Records Charges against Trump By Andrew C. McCarthy

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/bragg-falsifies-business-records-charges-against-trump/

Oh, the irony.

Donald Trump is facing a state criminal trial for violating federal election laws that Alvin Bragg has no jurisdiction to enforce.

This is not apparent from last spring’s 34-count indictment, which Bragg couched as a state falsification-of-records prosecution. In the statement of facts he issued in connection with the indictment, the Manhattan district attorney also camouflaged his intentions, knowing a plainspoken admission that he was trying to enforce federal law — congressional statutes under which the responsible federal enforcement agencies had opted not to charge Trump — would ignite a firestorm. The statement of facts makes only a fleeting allusion to Trump’s involvement in a “scheme” in which participants “violated election laws” (not otherwise specified); and it conclusively alleges that the payment of hush money by Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, was “illegal” because Cohen has “since pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution.”

We should think of Bragg as falsifying his prosecution — just as he accuses Trump of falsifying business records.

Tellingly, Bragg avoided specifying the statute to which Cohen had pled guilty — a federal statute that the state prosecutor has no authority to enforce. And as an experienced prosecutor, Bragg must know that there is zero evidentiary value in what he touts as Cohen’s admission of guilt to federal campaign-finance felonies — made while Cohen was trying to sell himself to the Justice Department as a cooperator, hoping for leniency in an unrelated federal fraud case. Given Cohen’s lack of experience in the esoterica of federal election law, his admission does not establish even that he committed federal campaign-finance felonies, much less that Trump did.

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MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

FDA takes down its propaganda demonizing ivermectin as a treatment for Covid By Thomas Lifson

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/03/fda_takes_down_its_propaganda_demonizing_ivermectin_as_a_treatment_for_covid.html

We will never know how many Covid sufferers died because they shunned treatment with ivermectin, but at least the FDA has stopped spreading the lie (aka, disinformation) that the medicine is for animals, not humans.

(source: FDA tweet via American Greatness)

This retreat is taking place because:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly settled a lawsuit brought by three doctors who who accused the health regulator of interfering with their ability to practice medicine and prescribe Ivermectin to treat COVID.

But the FDA is not conceding that ivermectin is a safe and effective treatment for Covid. To do so would invalidate the emergency use authorization for the mRNA drug incorrectly called a vaccine.  Bypassing the normal tests for new drugs with an emergency use authorization requires that there be no effective alternative therapy.

Via The Epoch Times:

Within 21 days, the FDA will remove another page titled, “why you should not use ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19,” according to the settlement announcement, which was filed with federal court in southern Texas.

The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals,” the page currently states. It also says that data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19, despite how some studies it cites show ivermectin is effective against the illness.

The FDA in the settlement is also agreeing to delete multiple social media posts that came out strongly against ivermectin, including one that stated: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

In exchange, doctors who sued the agency are dismissing their claims, the filing states. (snip)

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Gaza: Razzia as Political Warfare by Amir Taheri

By on March 24th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20516/gaza-razzia-political-warfare

British and European Union leaders say the time has come to formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Major-General Ismail Qaani, chief of the Quds Force of the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, promises to “rebuild Gaza stronger than before as an advance post against world Zionism.”

Claiming to be a “freedom fighter” shouldn’t mean a license to kill at will. Even the “oppressed” have certain duties and must observe some rules while, as history has shown, the tyranny of the underdog could be as deadly as that of the oppressor.

The question today is why, when no time limit is imposed on conventional war until a victor emerges, should war against an insurgent group be subjected to calendar-based shenanigans?

In fact, the origin of razzia is the Arabic word ghazwa, which means a sudden no-holds-barred attack on a single set of targets in the hope of knocking out an adversary… The 9/11 attacks of 2001 on the US were four coordinated razzias.

World War II produced over 30 million refugees, all of whom acquired new abodes within a decade. The partition of India produced 14 million refugees, again, seeing all of them re-settled in less than a decade. Since 1959, more than 10 million Cubans have been driven out of their homeland and settled in a dozen countries, notably the United States.

Does it make any sense to have refugee camps even in Gaza, which was free of Israeli occupation for two decades? Or in the West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority? Is it humane to turn being a refugee into a profession, with UNRWA as the franchise-holder?

The Biden administration is making a big mistake by implicitly upgrading Hamas to a legitimate partner through regional allies, thus creating the illusion that razzias like the October 7 one could still produce at least a lollipop for perpetrators.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Show the Video, Israel It’s time for Israel to show the 47-minute video of the October 7 attack to the world. By Michael E. Ginsberg

By on March 24th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/03/23/show-the-video-israel/

Across the globe, a critical mass of the ignorant, the brainwashed, the Islamist supremacists, and the evil is forming.

Just consider what a massacre of Jews on October 7 launched:

Downtown London has become a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.
Jewish teachers have been being chased by frenzied student mobs through the halls of New York schools.
Jewish university students have been barricaded in auditoriums and libraries by braying mobs.
Synagogues and Jewish hospitals in the US and Canada have become the targets of screaming protesters.
Jewish-owned restaurants and businesses have been vandalized, and their patrons have been threatened with violence.
Jewish artists have had their shows cancelled or protested.
Rallies featuring Nazi imagery and celebrating the events of October 7 have taken and continue to take place in Times Square and on the streets of New York City.

And all this has been in response to a genocidal attack on Jews on October 7.

October 7 was the final crank of a jack-in-the-Pandora’s-box of Leftist and Islamist antisemitism that has been bubbling under the surface for years.

The Hamas pogrom of October 7 is no longer just an existential threat to the Jewish state. It is an existential threat to every nation in the civilized world. And the civilized world, from academia to politicians to law enforcement, has proven incapable of or unwilling to forcefully stamp this evil out.

Which is why Israel must do what few others in power are able or willing to do: directly confront

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Bobulinski’s Testimony: Unraveling Allegations of Biden Family Influence Peddling Joe Biden has repeatedly denied ever talking to his son about his business dealings. Bobulinski shows that it was an outright lie. By Roger Kimball

By on March 24th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/03/24/bobulinskis-testimony-unraveling-allegations-of-biden-family-influence-peddling/

The entertainment committee never sleeps.  Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski came to Congress a few days ago to testify before the House Oversight Committee about Hunter, his uncle Jim Biden, and the “Big Guy,” Mr. 10 percent, Joseph R. Biden himself.  It was an extraordinary performance. Calm. Deliberate. Detailed. Deadly. Mr. Bobulinski’s written statement shows what care he took in marshaling facts and evidence.

But it was his in-person testimony that made popping the corn worthwhile.  Tony Bobulinski and Congressman Jay Raskin. Tony Bobulinski and Congressman Dan Goldman.  He called both liars to their faces. It was delicious. It was also true.  Representative Raskin spluttered, stalled, and looked like he might burst into tears. He later, out of the line of fire, pouted about Mr. Bobulinski’s “outlandish and baseless accusations,” but that was just a feckless face-saving gambit.

Maybe the most entertaining moment of the afternoon came when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did her best Minnie Mouse impersonation and demanded to know what crimes, if any, Mr. Bobulinski was accusing Joe Biden of having committed. “RICO is not a crime!” she squeaked.  It was priceless.  The “greatest deliberative body in the world” in action, ladies and gentlemen. The country’s in the very best of hands.

But, as the old song said, “it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” In any normal polity, Mr. Bobulinski’s testimony would have been devastating to its targets. But in our polity, it was just entertainment.  If Congressmen Raskin and Goldman were capable of embarrassment, they would be squirming with shame.  But they are not so endowed, which means that they will emerge unscathed by any pangs of conscience. After all, they are still in office. Perhaps they will even be reelected and continue suckling at the public teat for the rest of their adult lives.

There will be a lot of tongue-clucking. You’ll see many columns rehearsing the details of Mr. Bobulinski’s testimony. At the end of the day, though, it won’t matter what evidence Mr. Bobulinski adduced.  The Justice Department is run by the State Party, aka the Democrats, and the DOJ is going to do exactly nothing about what Rudy Giuliani colorfully baptized the Biden Crime Family.

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