Biden bets on net zero-Rupert Darwall

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/508762-joe-biden-bets-on-net-zero

“Science tells us we have nine years before the damage is irreversible,” Joe Biden declared last week, echoing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) claim 18 months ago that the world would end in 12 years unless climate change was addressed. Pledging “drastic action,” the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee says he’ll spend $1.7 trillion so that the United States can cut net greenhouse-gas emissions to zero by 2050.

Biden’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s doomsday remarks both refer to the 2018 special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impact of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That report can now be seen as the most successful bait-and-switch of the 21st century.

In 2015, many national governments, including the United States under the Obama administration, signed on to the Paris Agreement and its aim of “pursuing efforts” to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C and to reach “net zero” – a balance between greenhouse-gas emissions produced and emissions taken out of the atmosphere – sometime in the second half of the century. Three years later, the IPCC produced its 2018 report, bringing forward the net-zero deadline to 2050. At the same time, it declared that greenhouse-gas emissions must be cut by 40 percent by 2030, thereby setting in motion the doomsday timetable touted by climate alarmists.

The science in the report is pretty crude. In essence, the IPCC concluded that the climate impacts of limiting global warming to a 2°C rise are greater than a 1.5°C rise. That’s hardly rocket science, or even climate science. Far more important is what the IPCC did and didn’t do. It didn’t look at the costs of working toward net zero and weigh them against the putative climate benefits. In fact, it barely looked at the costs of net zero at all.

More willful blindness by the media on spying by Obama administration Jonathan Turley

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/509002-more-willful-blindness-by-the-media-on-spying-by-obama-administration

The Washington press corps seems engaged in a collective demonstration of the legal concept of willful blindness, or deliberately ignoring facts, following the release of yet another declassified document that directly refutes past statements about the Russia collusion investigation. The document shows the FBI used a security briefing of then candidate Donald Trump and top aides to gather possible evidence for Crossfire Hurricane, its code name for the Russia investigation.

What is astonishing is that the media has refused to see what should be one of the biggest stories in decades. The Obama administration targeted the campaign of the opposing party based on false evidence. The media endlessly covered former Obama administration officials ridiculing suggestions of spying on the Trump campaign or of  improper conduct in the Russia investigation. When Attorney General William Barr told the Senate last year that he believed spying did occur, he was lambasted in the media, including by James Comey and others involved in that investigation. The mocking “wow” response of the fired FBI director received extensive coverage.

The new document shows that, in the summer of 2016, FBI agent Joe Pientka briefed Trump campaign advisers Michael Flynn and Chris Christie on national security issues, a standard practice ahead of the election. It included a discussion of Russia interfering in the election. But this was different. The document detailing the questions asked by Trump and his aides and their reactions was filed a few days after the meeting under Crossfire Hurricane and Crossfire Razor, the FBI investigation of Flynn. The two FBI officials listed who approved the report are Kevin Clinesmith and Peter Strzok.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

In this week’s positive Israel newsletter, Israeli innovators continue to provide solutions to global problems. These are as diverse as Covid-19, cancer, gastro surgery, access to computers for disabled children, the effects of isolation, electric vehicle batteries, noise pollution, animal cruelty, road accidents, public transportation, local economy, on-line security, foreign travel and emergency medical treatment.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
The 3rd most Covid-19 solutions. Cross-border investment specialists Cukierman & Co state that Israel has the most Covid-19 solutions, after the USA and China. Some 180 of Israel’s 1,600 life sciences companies are either fully or partially dedicated to coronavirus. Israel is also a top global pioneer in personalized medicine.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3840111,00.html
 
Latest Covid-19 research at HUJ. This video shows some of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s latest medical research into the novel coronavirus. They include the overactive immune response; locating the virus during the incubation period; analysis of virus receptors; and boosting the oxygen needed by immunity T-cells,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JEOhlCUKEI
 
Positive report on “second wave”. (TY Pamela). Contrary to several media reports, the current Covid-19 situation in Israel is not “out of control”. Listen to this 45-min presentation by Professor Yonatan HaLevy of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The elderly are protected and treatments are working.
https://soundcloud.com/user-699337879/covid-19-israel-and-the-world-where-weve-been-and-where-were-headed  
 
A sense for detecting respiratory problems. Israel’s NanoVation (reported here previously) has been awarded a €2.5 million EU Horizon 2020 grant to develop SenseGuard. The device’s nano-sensor technology detects respiratory problems (e.g. COPD). Professor Hossam Haick (Sniff phone inventor) is Chief Scientific Officer.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israeli-startup-secures-25-grant-from-eu-to-develop-respiratory-monitor-635793  https://www.nanovation-gs.com/team  https://www.nanovation-gs.com/
 
Bubbles plus ultrasound kills cancer. Tel Aviv University researchers have developed an innovative cancer treatment. They shoot microbubbles at cancer cells and then blow them up using ultrasound. This destroys 80% of the cancer cells and a simultaneous “trojan horse” immune system gene therapy kills the remaining 20%.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israelis-turn-ultrasound-into-powerful-cancer-fighting-weapon/
 
Filter out cancer-causing proteins. (TY Hazel) Scientists at Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre are trialing a new cancer treatment called immunopheresis. It involves filtering a patient’s blood to remove proteins produced by malignant cells from the bloodstream. These proteins suppress the immune system’s cancer-killing T-cells.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283420
 
Did we remove all the cancer? (TY UWI) Currently after cancer surgery biopsies are taken, but testing takes weeks. Now a new experimental tool developed by Tel Aviv University researchers tests a sample taken during surgery. An hour later and the surgeon knows if an immediate return to the operating theater is needed.
https://www.israel21c.org/breakthrough-finds-leftover-cancer-cells-in-real-time-during-surgery/
 
Reduce stress before cancer surgery. Tel Aviv University researchers have found that the weeks before and after cancer surgery are critical for the prevention of metastases development. Patients require immune-therapeutic treatment as well as treatment to reduce inflammation and physical and psychological stress.
https://ecancer.org/en/news/18246-immune-system-treatment-to-reduce-stress-prevents-cancer-metastases
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41571-019-0319-9?proof=true
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cncr.32950
 
Warning of post-gastro surgery problems. Israel’s Exero Medical has developed a bio-degradable wireless sensor for the early detection of leaks following gastrointestinal surgery procedures. Doctors at Israel’s Rabin Medical Center have just completed the first human implantation of the device as part of a clinical trial.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-clinical-trial-sensor-implanted-to-detect-dangerous-gastrointestinal-leaks/
https://www.exeromedical.com/
 
Triage system for Mayo Clinic. Israel’s Diagnostic Robotics is to implement its triage system (reported here previously) at the Mayo Clinic’s headquarters in Rochester, Minnesota (see here also).  The system cuts down emergency room wait times (currently 2.5 hours on average in the US) and reduces the burden on physicians.
https://nocamels.com/2020/07/mayo-clinic-diagnostic-robotics-ai-system/
 
Safe analysis of dangerous viruses. To safely develop vaccines against deadly viruses, scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have developed a method for producing artificial cells that can assemble just part of the virus. Researchers can then test their vaccines on a safe section of the virus.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/chemistry/artificial-cells-produce-parts-viruses-safe-studies
 

JUSTICE NEAL GORSUCH DISSENTS….CONCISE AND PERFECT!

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/07/25/justice-gorsuchs-dissent-in-the-nevada-church-supreme-court-case-is-short-but-epic-n697490

On Friday, Chief Justice John Roberts inexplicably sided with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, denying Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley’s request to strike down Nevada’s blatantly unconstitutional 50-person cap on worship services. Here is Neal Gorsuch’s dissent:

“This is a simple case,” the dissent begins. “Under the Governor’s edict, a 10- screen ‘multiplex’ may host 500 moviegoers at any time. A casino, too, may cater to hundreds at once, with perhaps six people huddled at each craps table here and a similar number gathered around every roulette wheel there. Large numbers and close quarters are fine in such places. But churches, synagogues, and mosques are banned from admitting more than 50 worshippers—no matter how large the building, how distant the individuals, how many wear face masks, no matter the precautions at all.”

“In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in entertainment than religion. Maybe that is nothing new. But the First Amendment prohibits such obvious discrimination against the exercise of religion. The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges. But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.”

Joe Biden’s Scholarship Choice He’d kill a program that helps 86% of graduates, mostly black and Hispanic, go to college.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-bidens-scholarship-choice-11595630807?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Amid all of the money Washington wastes, here’s some good news: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced this week that her department will award at least $85 million over five years for the Washington, D.C., Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The scholarships let lower-income parents of children trapped in failing public schools attend the charter or private schools of their choice. According to the Education Department, nearly 98% of students with Opportunity Scholarships graduate from high school, compared with 69% of D.C. public school students. Some 86% go onto college, while more than 90% of scholarship recipients are black or Hispanic, and the average family income is less than $27,000 a year.

This is money well spent on upward mobility and opportunity, yet Democrats have been trying to kill the scholarships since they began in 2004. In 2009 Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin succeeded in passing a prohibition on any new scholarships unless the program was fully reauthorized, though Republicans reversed that in April 2011 during budget negotiations with Barack Obama. In subsequent years President Obama consistently sought to reduce or zero out funding.

Enter Joe Biden, whose own children benefitted from private schools. But in his recent unity platform with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mr. Biden specifically calls for eliminating the D.C. scholarships. It takes a special political animus to kill scholarships for poor minorities while proposing literally trillions of dollars in new spending on countless other programs.

What Else Cuomo Crushed New York’s economy has suffered the worst job losses in the Northeast.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-else-cuomo-crushed-11595631048?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims to have crushed the coronavirus curve, and we’ll leave that debate for another time. But he didn’t have to crush his state’s economy at the same time. That’s one takeaway from last week’s Labor Department state employment report for June, which shows how many states have managed to keep the virus more or less under control while doing far less economic damage.

Job losses in Northeastern states have been more severe than in the rest of the country. But New York stands out even in the Northeast for the size and scope of job losses, which have resulted from Mr. Cuomo’s reluctance to ease his lockdown orders even now that new infections are under control.

Over the last year employment has declined by 15.3% in New York compared to 14.4% in Massachusetts, 13.4% in New Jersey, 11.8% in Rhode Island and 10.3% in Connecticut. The only state that has lost more jobs than New York is Hawaii (16%), but its economy relies mostly on tourism and travel.

“Meritocracy” by Sydney Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

“They should all live together on an equal footing; merit to be their only road to eminence,and the disgrace of evil and credit of worthy acts their one measure of difference between man and man.  Plutarch (c.47AD – c.119AD)

                                                                                                                  

“I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University”

                                                                                                                                                William Buckley (1925-2008)

                                                                                                                                             

The word meritocracy has Latin and Greek roots. It is a system where economic goods and political power are vested in individuals on the basis of talent, effort and achievement, rather than on wealth or social class. The word was popularized in 1958 by Michael Young, a British sociologist and politician in a book The Rise of Meritocracy, which satirized the tripartite school system in England that put children, at age eleven, onto one of three paths toward future education opportunities: Grammar schools for those heading to university; technical training for those with mechanical skills, and secondary schooling for all others. Forty-three years later, Mr. Young wrote an article for The Guardian in which he said his satire had been stripped of its meaning and had been embraced by an elite to justify their status.

 

Meritocracy is under attack. In a piece for The New Yorker last September, “Is Meritocracy Making Everyone Miserable?”, Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club, wrote: “In recent years, we have been focused on two problems, social mobility and income inequality…” Mr. Menand cited Daniel Markovits, author of The Meritocracy Trap who concluded “that the whole system is a Frankenstein’s monster. We created meritocracy with good intentions, and now we are its victims.” Meritocracy, it is true and like free-market capitalism, does create inequalities – a natural process. Victor Davis Hanson of Stanford’s Hoover Institute went further. “Merit,” he wrote earlier this month, “will soon become a dirty, counterrevolutionary word.” When it no longer works to the advantage of elites, it is renounced.

The Hysterical ‘Trump Won’t Leave’ Canard By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/claim-trump-wont-leave-office-if-he-loses-

T here have been many “interesting times” in human history, even if there is actually no ancient Chinese curse wishing that we may live in them. On the contrary, had some sage conjured up a hex along the lines of “May you live in stupid times,” our time would fit perfectly.

One could have that reaction daily to many media reports. This week, my nominee is this one in the Washington Post: “Trump’s assault on election integrity forces question: What would happen if he refused to accept a loss?”

The premise is that the president is engaged in “relentless efforts to sow doubts about the legitimacy of this year’s election” by “escalating attacks on the security of mail-in ballots.” This is coupled with Trump’s refusal, a priori, to accept the legitimacy of the election outcome, echoing the position he took in the last presidential campaign — you know, before the same Democrats who feigned outrage over Trump’s demurral began four years of mulishly refusing to accept the outcome of the 2016 election.

The Post distorts the president’s refusal to rubber-stamp an election that has not happened yet — under circumstances where there is immense reason for concern about mail-in ballots — as a “refusal … to reassure the country that he would abide by the voters’ will.” Of course, Trump is not saying he won’t abide by the result; only that he won’t concede at this point that it will be an honest result. Recall that Richard Nixon abided by the result in 1960 even though there were grounds to doubt that it was on the up and up.

The Post’s cold sweats are amplified by William A. Galston, a columnist and former Clinton administration official who is with the strenuously anti-Trump Brookings Institution. He declaims that Trump is “undermining confidence in the most basic democratic process we have” and “arousing his core supporters for a truly damaging crisis.” Galston is so disturbed that, he informs us, “Words almost fail me.” Almost.

JOHN STOSSEL WITH MATT RIDLEY-DOOMSAYERS KEEP GETTING IT WRONG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YpfJgVZ5ow

John Ioannidis Warned COVID-19 Could Be a “Once-In-A-Century” Data Fiasco. He Was Right The unreliability of COVID-19 data is a problem everyone seems to agree on. Jon Miltimore

https://fee.org/articles/john-ioannidis-warned-covid-19-could-be-a-once-in-a-century

On Thursday, a Florida health official told a local news station that a young man who was listed as a COVID-19 victim had no underlying conditions.

The answer surprised reporters, who probed for additional information.

“He died in a motorcycle accident,” Dr. Raul Pino clarified. “You could actually argue that it could have been the COVID-19 that caused him to crash. I don’t know the conclusion of that one.”

The anecdote is a ridiculous example of a real controversy that has inspired some colorful memes: what should define a COVID-19 death?

While the question is important, such incidents may be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg regarding the unreliability of COVID-19 data.

In May, a public radio station in Miami broke what soon became a national story. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been conflating antibody and viral testing, obscuring key metrics lawmakers use to determine if they should reopen their respective economies.

The story was soon picked up by NPR, who spoke to an epidemiologist who condemned the practice.

“Reporting both serology and viral tests under the same category is not appropriate, as these two types of tests are very different and tell us different things,” Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security told NPR.

The Atlantic soon followed with an article that explained the agency was painting an inaccurate picture of the state of the pandemic. The practice, the writers said, was making it difficult to tell if more people were actually sick or had merely acquired antibodies from fighting off the virus.

Public health experts were not impressed.