NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Cuomo’s Many Abuses Show Why The Separation Of Powers Matter Daniel Ortner

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/01/18/cuomos-many-abuses-show-why-the-separation-of-powers-matter/

During the COVID-19 pandemic, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was breathlessly heralded as “the politician of the moment” and the “authoritative voice in the crisis.” His press briefings were carried live on all major news networks and even won him an Emmy. He was seen as decisive and in charge, and he even wrote a bestselling book highlighting his pandemic “leadership.” 

It later came to light that Cuomo deliberately obscured data showing the scale of nursing home deaths. His catastrophic policies requiring nursing homes to take infected patients likely resulted in more fatalities.

But a recent POLITICO story paints perhaps an even more disturbing and damning picture of Cuomo’s one-man rule during the pandemic. Cuomo routinely ignored the advice of department of health experts on questions such as whether to send protective equipment. He also consistently ignored the metrics set by his own department to determine when businesses would be allowed to reopen. 

His announcements, made without notice or consultation, left his advisors scrambling. One member of his COVID-19 task force noted that Cuomo “was managing by press release, by press conference” rather than responding to evidence.  

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

It’s Official: Biden Now Leads Trump In The COVID Death Count

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/01/19/its-official-biden-now-leads-trump-in-the-covid-death-count/

According to the latest numbers from the CDC, more Americans have died with COVID since President Joe Biden took office than did in the year before under Donald Trump.

CDC data show that, as of January 17, there have been a total of 850,575 deaths in the U.S. related to COVID. On Trump’s last day in office, that number was 424,409. That means 426,166 COVID deaths have occurred — so far — since Biden took office, with the number currently trending well above a thousand a day.

This is a stunning rebuke not just of Biden, but of everyone who went around blaming Trump for every single COVID death that occurred on his watch.

Biden and others repeatedly insisted that if Trump had only done things such as accelerated testing and contract tracing, responded faster to the pandemic, pushed mask mandates, the country would have avoided the calamities of 2020.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The system is set up for hospitals to profit from COVID By Terry Paulding

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/the_system_is_set_up_for_hospitals_to_profit_from_covid.html

If you had a financial incentive to do something that wasn’t exactly honest, would you abandon your principles and take the cash? Apparently, that’s what many medical providers and hospitals in America have been doing, especially since the beginning of the Biden administration. The numbers are staggering—both in money hospitals took in and the very real possibility that their actions caused people to die. If the accusations are true, what happened is truly evil and, I think, points directly to a cause: the removal of God and morality from society, replacing these brakes with what passes for modern life—disconnected, social-media-driven, selfish, me-first living, with no real accountability. If you see “everyone” acting a certain way, who, after all, are you to buck the system? Besides, you’re accountable to the Board, or the stockholders, first and foremost!

This is as old a story as humanity. Losing the strong moral code that should underlie our lives opens the door to saying, “Well, that’s a gray area, and I won’t think too much about it, and anyway, everyone’s doing it this way.” This was forcibly borne upon me because a good friend sent me an article that illuminates in a precise and fact-driven way what is going on and allows us to see exactly how evil aspects of our modern medical system have become. I’ll summarize the article here, but I urge you to read it yourself.

If you’re unlucky enough to need a hospital procedure, step one is a free COVID test. Of course, the government pays the hospital a fee for this “free” test. If the test is positive, the hospital gets another fee. No matter that the patient was in for appendicitis. The COVID rewards continue with more money for admission; 20% more on the entire bill if they give you Remdesivir rather than ivermectin; and a big booster payment for ventilation. The list, of course, goes on.

Remdesivir, Tony Fauci’s drug of choice, is harmful and sometimes a killer, and they know it. It causes severe side effects in the majority of patients. Besides long-term kidney and liver failure, the death rate using it exceeds 50%. Doctors stopped using it for Ebola in Africa for this reason, yet we mandate it as the drug of choice—even when Ivermectin has proven far more efficacious and has virtually no side effects. Hospitals get paid very well to administer Remdesivir. Then there’s the ventilator, itself a killer. Look at the article—the numbers these mechanical breathing devices kill are staggering.

On top of this, there’s apparently quite an incentive to have deaths from COVID in the hospital—to the point where such mundane human needs, nutrition, hydration, etc. are often denied to the patients. In case you didn’t know, this is all based on something called the Complete Lives System, a socialist treatment protocol developed by none other than Ezekiel Emanuel, meant for his theory of rationing medical care for those “too old” to be of value.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Political Timing of the End of the Pandemic By Thomas Buckley

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/01/the_political_timing_of_the_end_of_the_pandemic.html

At some point in the relatively near future, President Joe Biden will be handed a speech that will read something like this:

“My Fellow Americans — Our long national nightmare is over.  The pandemic is a thing of the past and I am ordering the end of all federal COVID-related efforts and I implore those governors who have not lifted their emergency orders to do so immediately.  It’s time for all of us to get back to normal.”

Given Biden’s speech and cognition issues, he will most likely actually say ‘My Felericans — our long natural fair is covered,” but that is beside the point — his political facts of life demand that this moment must occur within the next few months.

With the abject failure — so far — of his massive wokedream spending package and the egregious attempt to federalize all elections, the Biden administration needs a very big win before November, and what could be simpler and easier than simply declaring one?  Democrat hopes that the January 6 “insurrection” would provide one seem to be coming up short, despite someone, desperately in need of a talking point, recently shaking Attorney General Merrick Garland by the lapels to get him to finally file the first and only “sedition” related charges.  (It should be noted here that people who engage in treason tend not to leave their guns at home to comply with local law, or call a few days later to ask if they accidentally left their coat behind, or make sure that the whole thing is wrapped up in time for dinner… but I digress.)

Now, predictions are like politicians — everyone’s got one and they are usually wrong.  However, as to this issue, the only question is one of timing: politics.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

There’s no cure for health-authority pig-headedness Ruthie Blum

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://www.jns.org/opinion/theres-no-cure-for-health-authority-pig-headedness/

 It’s time for health authorities in Israel and abroad to stop vilifying the medical experts who’ve been issuing a reassuring message as to where the coronavirus pandemic is headed. At this point, with so many people contracting the Omicron variant of COVID-19—among them recovered patients, the fully vaccinated, the double-boosted and a combination of the three—there’s enough anecdotal evidence from every corner of the globe to suggest that the mutation is weak.

Indeed, most of those recently or currently infected report having cold-like symptoms that last for less than a week. This hasn’t prevented the Health Ministry and “coronavirus cabinet” from behaving as though there’s an upswing in an unmanageable crisis, warranting endless meetings and fights over restrictive measures. That none of these has worked where curbing the spread of the microbe is concerned doesn’t seem to register.

What does appear to be effective—other than the inescapable presumption that we’re finally heading towards herd immunity—is a drug that the Maccabi Health Services HMO has begun administering to COVID patients.
According to a report on Monday by the health fund, 92 percent of those given Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill showed improvement within three days, and some 60 percent said that they felt relief within 24 hours.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB Comments turned off

Mediocrity in Power By Jacob Fraden

Posted By on January 19th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/01/_mediocrity_in_power.html
The power of government rests on ignorance of the people, and it knows this, and therefore will always resist enlightenment.      Leo Tolstoy

Every nation has its fair share of people with no useful abilities, yet harboring considerable ambition and an insurmountable craving for la dolce vita. The longing is there, but with no means for its realization. So, what are they to do? Sooner or later the mediocre find a workable solution: they go into politics.

A sufficiently high position in a government structure that doesn’t require any special abilities or talents gives a nearly assured opportunity to receive lucrative benefits, including money, respect, and influence. There is a famous saying: “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”There is a corollary: Those who can’t teach, govern.

This is how the selection process works: mediocrities float to the top. Thus, government agencies accumulate several bureaucratic politicians for whom the main goal in life is to hold on to their positions and, if possible, move up the career ladder. The good of the country and its people becomes secondary and intrusive. Many professional bureaucrats possess just one talent: seizing and holding onto power.

Until recently, leaders of many countries had a clear understanding that the intellectual potential of a society can be of exceptional value to the state and for the preservation of their power. Even such bloody dictators as Stalin and Hitler allowed a certain degree of free-thinking and independence of ideas in scientific and technical academia. They were well aware that quality education and the existence of an intellectual elite were among the cornerstones of the foundation of their power.

This understanding seems to have been lost in America.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

The Biden Administration’s ‘Diplomacy’ with the Iranian Regime by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on January 18th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18125/us-diplomacy-iran

As part of its “diplomacy”, the White House first told the Iranian leaders not only that it is willing to lift nuclear-related sanctions, but also that it is considering lifting non-nuclear related sanctions.
Not only has the Biden administration’s diplomatic route lifted some of the sanctions on the Iranian regime and its Houthi proxy, the administration has also looked the other way regarding the Islamic Republic’s malign actions in the region.
As #BloodyFriday [the Iranian regime’s lethal response to citizens protesting water shortages] trended on Twitter, not a word of condemnation could be heard from the White House. The organization Iranian-Americans for Liberty pleaded with the Biden administration to stand with the protesters….
Sadly, throughout history, “diplomacy” without the credible threat of a military follow-up (emphasis on the credible) can easily be regarded as just a “toothless” bore.
The Biden administration’s policy of “diplomacy” towards the Iran’s ruling mullahs seems in reality to be nothing more distressing to the ruling mullahs than a soggy pile of concessions and capitulations that, far from stopping their predations, will only empower and embolden them.

The Biden administration is perpetuating the idea that the White House is relying on “diplomacy” in dealing with the Iranian regime. However, the Biden administration’s “diplomacy” with Iran seems nothing but capitulations to the ruling mullahs.

As part of its “diplomacy”, the White House first told the Iranian leaders not only that it is willing to lift nuclear-related sanctions, but also that it is considering lifting non-nuclear related sanctions. This was followed by the first concession toward Iran’s proxy militia group, the Houthis. Even as the evidence — including a report by the United Nations — showed that the Iranian regime was delivering sophisticated weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, the Biden administration suspended some of the anti-terrorism sanctions on the Houthis that the Trump administration had imposed. Soon after, the Biden administration revoked the designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist group.

POLITICS Comments turned off

Under Biden, Dems Getting Absolutely Crushed in New Polls Spencer Brown

Posted By on January 18th, 2022

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2022/01/17/under-biden-dems-party-preference-advantage-disappeared-in-2021-n2601938

When it comes to party preference among Americans, a new report published by Gallup on Monday showed that 2021 saw Democrats lose their advantage against the GOP in just one year. The Dems began 2021 with a new president, control of Congress, and a nine-point lead — 49 to 40 percent — over Republicans. By the end of 2021, that all had evaporated and Republicans seized the lead 47 to 42 percent, a five-point disadvantage for Democrats.

Calling the change over the course of 2021 a “dramatic shift” in party preference, Gallup’s findings are an aggregation of some 12,000 phone surveys it conducted over the course of the year, in which respondents are asked whether they identify as Democrat, Republican, or independent. Those who say independent are then asked which party they lean toward, and they are then factored into that party’s total. So what Gallup’s switch in party preferences shows is something numerous other polls have reported: Independents are leaning more toward the GOP than Democrats, and that’s more bad news for Democrats in a midterm year. 

The flip in party preference wasn’t just a slim reversal, either. According to Gallup’s report on the numbers, “[b]oth the nine-point Democratic advantage in the first quarter and the five-point Republican edge in the fourth quarter are among the largest Gallup has measured for each party in any quarter since it began regularly measuring party identification and leaning in 1991.”

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Critical Race Theory: Wrong for K-12 Education By Walter Myers III

Posted By on January 18th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/01/critical_race_theory_wrong_for_k12_education.html

Critical Race Theory (CRT), a relatively young legal theory that has been circulating in legal academic circles since the 1980s, suddenly burst on the scene of public consciousness in the past year.  It continues to be a topic of controversy due to its being advocated for inclusion in K-12 instruction. As with other subjects that become political footballs, CRT elicits very strong views — especially among those with minimal understanding of the theory. Unless a person has taken the time to earnestly read source materials from CRT’s original authors, it is all too easy to fall into one camp or the other — while still remaining in the dark about its meaning.

Here I would like to provide some insights about CRT and encourage reading original source materials by authors such as Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado. A great start would be Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement by Crenshaw, et al. What you will find is that CRT writings are not light reading by any means, but scholarly and heavily academic, as the expected audience is other legal scholars and academics. Yet grappling with these works is a necessary investment if you truly want to have an informed perspective regarding CRT.  You will likely come away with a conclusion that what has been labeled and promoted as “CRT” in K-12 education has virtually nothing to do with the theory as put forward in the key writings of its authors.

Last year we heard the continual refrain, even from the highest levels of government, that CRT is needed for K-12 students because it teaches about slavery and racism in our history.  The problem with this assertion is CRT is not something you would look for in a history book because it is not an account of specific events of the dark history of slavery and Jim Crow in America. Rather, CRT is based on legal theory from the perspective of the role of law in the treatment of people of color. Specifically, CRT examines how the law, since the founding of the country, has been both central and complicit in upholding white supremacy throughout its history in terms of social domination and subordination of people of color.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Predicting 2022 – The Year of the Tiger – Part II by Pete Hoekstra

Posted By on January 18th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18140/china-year-of-the-tiger-ii

The same inaction by Western leaders to hold China accountable for the global pandemic that infuriates Western citizens only emboldens the Communist Party leadership, which sees inaction as a license to do more.

China will be constantly assessing the political strength of its adversaries. European political leaders have never demonstrated the stomach to confront military threats. During my tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, I observed Europeans always believed dialogue was more important than confrontation. Bad agreements were better than no agreements and being party to agreements that did not work was better than withdrawing.

They also likely assess the EU will do almost anything to protect its significant economic ties with China. The EU likely would propose as the appropriate response to any CCP action against Taiwan talks and talks and talks.

The CCP will closely monitor the responses of the EU and U.S. to Russia’s aggressive posture against Ukraine. Does Russia gain major concessions from the West? Does it grab another piece of Ukraine with little or only a modest reaction from the West? If so, this would signal to China that the West is unreliable ally and ripe for the picking.

The year of the Tiger, 2022, is shaping up to be a year of escalating tension between the world’s two major superpowers. It will be go big or go home.

Not only will the U.S. go big against China, but it is likely the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will see 2022 as an opportunity to go big against the U.S. The target will be Taiwan.