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Kim Jong-Un Emerges After 20 Days Out of Public View By Rick Moran

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/05/02/kim-jong-un-emerges-after-20-days-out-of-public-view-n387591

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was seen in public for the first time in 20 days, ending speculation that he may have been seriously ill or dead.

Kim was seen cutting a ribbon and walking around a new fertilizer plant near Pyongyang. He was accompanied by his sister, Kim Yo-jong, who many North Korea watchers believe would take over for him in the event of his untimely demise.

State media showed videos and photos of Kim wearing a black Mao suit and constantly smiling, walking around facilities, applauding, cutting a huge red ribbon with a scissor handed by his sister, and smoking inside and outside of buildings while talking with other officials.

Seemingly thousands of workers, many of them masked, stood in lines at the massive complex, roaring in celebration and releasing balloons into the air. A sign installed on a stage where Kim sat with other senior officials read: “Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory; Completion Ceremony; May 1, 2020.”

We’ll probably never know why Kim disappeared but the most logical explanation is that he was trying to avoid exposure to the coronavirus. After North Korea couldn’t hide the extent of the pandemic anymore, Kim disappeared.

There were no clear signs that Kim was in discomfort. He was shown moving without a walking stick, like the one he used in 2014 when he was recovering from a presumed ankle surgery. However, he was also seen riding a green electric cart, which appeared similar to a vehicle he used in 2014.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB Comments turned off

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Had the Worst Response to the Crisis of Any Governor in America Rick Moran

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/05/02/gov-cuomo-had-the-worst-response-to-the-crisis-of-any-governor-in-america-n387642

The press has been gushing about the performance of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for weeks. The media often compares Cuomo’s “decisive” response to the coronavirus pandemic to the president, and guess who always wins?

Whether it’s good PR from the governor’s office or just the media worshipping a liberal who says mean things about Donald Trump, it hardly matters. What matters is results. And in that department, Andrew Cuomo has been a miserable failure — using several metrics.

And it’s not just the numbers. The panicky, sometimes hysterical New York governor began whining about the federal government (specifically the president) not doing anything to help the states with getting medical supplies. Back in March, he kept saying he needed 30-40,000 ventilators. And when Trump pointed out that was silly, he accused the president of being an unfeeling monster.

National Review:

“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” Trump said on March 27. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators,” he added, referring to Cuomo’s estimate for New York state. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others said they had “facts” on their side.

By the middle of April, New York was sending ventilators to other states.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

 

In 1945 at the conclusion of World War 2, a dispirited and depressed Jewish community throughout the world, including the Jewish residents of Palestine, contemplated the devastating fact that one of every three Jews in the world had been killed in the Holocaust. Out of despair came the imperative for an independent Jewish state in the ancient homeland where the Patriarchs founded our faith. It seems almost miraculous that three years later, in May 1948 the President of the United States, Harry Truman declared official recognition of the new/ancient state. And, like the tale of Passover, this time the seas parted again when steel hulled ships brought survivors of Europe and oppressive existence in the Arab states to haven and an epic rescue.  There were wars, terrorism, the implacable hatred of neighboring nations, but Israel grew and prospered. Today, a nation of 8,655,535 people in Israel contributes to better lives for billions of people globally. The following, brought to us from my friend Michael Ordman every week is just an example. Happy 72nd birthday Israel! rsk

  

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Israeli coronavirus treatment benefits six patients. Six moderate to severe Israeli coronavirus patients have shown clinical improvement with the new opaganib  treatment from Israel’s Redhill (see here previously). All required less supplemental oxygenation, had higher lymphocyte counts and less lung inflammation.
https://www.redhillbio.com/RedHill/Templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=178&FID=2432&PID=0&IID=15261
 
Startup funds coronavirus treatment. Israeli startup InnoCan is funding research at Tel Aviv University to develop a cannabinoid-based coronavirus treatment. Together with exosomes (particles derived from stem cell culture) it has been shown to be effective against inflammation in lung cells infected with the coronavirus.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3809431,00.html
 
Weizmann starts coronavirus testing. Israel’s Weizmann Institute has started conducting tests to diagnose coronavirus. Its world-class, cutting-edge lab facilities include advanced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) systems, which are capable of rapid and efficient gene identification.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/weizmann-institute-science-began-conduct-coronavirus-testing-today
 
Transforming Israel’s ability to combat coronavirus. In just 4 weeks, Israel’s Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Production and Procurement (DOPP) set up of hotel recovery centers, acquired ventilators, testing equipment, and protective gear and then organized for local Israeli companies to take over their manufacture.
https://www.jns.org/an-inside-look-at-the-historic-efforts-by-israels-defense-ministry-to-combat-the-coronavirus/
 
Inside Sheba’s battle with COVID-19. (TY Stuart) Fascinating video of the coronavirus isolation compound at Sheba Medical Center. It focuses on Dr Galia Barkai, Head of Pediatrics and Tele-medicine and shows some of the major issues they have been facing.  Sheba also monitors patients in their own homes (see 2nd video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jue3B5BReJk   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkpO5CIk6i8
 
Identifying high risk patients. As reported here previously, Israel’s Medial EarlySign has partnered with Israeli health company Maccabi to identify its members with a high risk of influenza complications. The system will now be used to fast-track testing and treatment if these patients report coronavirus symptoms to Maccabi.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/new-israeli-tech-helps-identify-those-at-high-risk-for-covid-19/
 
Saving children’s lives in times of adversity. At the Schneider Center for Pediatrics, despite the coronavirus crisis, three life-saving transplant operations were performed on children: Two livers and one kidney. One very complex liver transplant was for an 8-month old infant. The other was the third sibling to receive a new liver.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-doctors-perform-3-lifesaving-transplants-on-children-despite-corona-crisis/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/497324
 
More Israelis recovered than still infected. This week, for the first time, the number of Israelis that have recovered from the coronavirus exceeded those that still have the infection. On 2nd May, over 9,600 had recovered while under 6,500 are still infected (mostly mild or asymptomatic). 82 are on ventilators.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-first-time-israelis-recovered-from-coronavirus-outnumber-those-still-sick/
 
Ready for the next crisis. In case there is a resurgence of the coronavirus, Israel has acquired or manufactured thousands of respirators, some 61 million surgical masks, 930,000 advanced N95 masks, about 1.4 million protective outfits for medical teams, 403,000 disposable gowns, and a million coronavirus testing kits.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-ready-for-next-crisis-61-million-masks-811-respirators-acquired-in-april/
 

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Flynn Revelations Reveal A Criminal Conspiracy At The FBI

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/05/01/now-we-know-there-was-an-anti-trump-conspiracy-at-the-fbi/

Recently unsealed notes show top FBI officials debated whether they should get President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn “to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired,” or “admit to breaking the Logan Act” for talking to former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition. As the deep-state onion gets peeled back layer by layer to its rotten core, it becomes clear this wasn’t mere government misconduct. It was a criminal conspiracy.

These are not mere procedural quibbles, but profound questions about the integrity and legality of the FBI’s investigations into key officials in the incoming Trump administration, including Trump himself. A pattern of collusive illegality on the part of the FBI and key Justice Department officials has become increasingly clear from these and other revelations.

The newly released notes contain shocking revelations of how the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigators and top FBI officials set their “perjury trap” for Flynn.

Flynn, you will recall, pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to federal officials. But he did so only after being forced to sell his home to fund his legal defense, and after threats to prosecute his son if he didn’t cop a plea.

It was coercion, plain and simple. The kind of thing a totalitarian or dictatorial regime would do. Yet such skullduggery was routine for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which tried to gin up false charges of Russian collusion first against the Trump campaign and later against the incoming Trump administration.

In questioning Flynn in January 2017, the FBI circumvented its own rules that require it to go through the White House counsel’s office. Instead, it brazenly barged in and questioned Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general, in his office just three days after Trump was sworn in.

Among the other illegalities, the FBI’s own notes of the meeting were later re-written – that is, tampered with – by both FBI special agent Peter Strzok and his paramour FBI lawyer Lisa Page. That tampered document was used as a pretense to overturn a decision in early January to close the case against Flynn. Instead, lacking any real evidence, the FBI chose to pursue an investigation it hoped would lead to a prosecution.

An honest mistake? Earlier emails released in the investigation of the FBI’s misconduct show that Strzok and Page loathed Trump and desperately wanted Hillary Clinton elected president. Yet, Strzok spearheaded the investigation into Trump, a clear conflict of interest. And he was one of the two FBI agents who interviewed Flynn in the White House.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Coronavirus, Flynn, and Epicureanism By Roger Kimball

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/05/02/coronavirus-flynn-and-epicureanism/

The prospect of death, Epicurus knew, upset many people. Hence he and his followers expended a great deal of effort trying to remove the sting, the fear, from the prospect of death.

I am weary, I confess, both of the CCP Virus—COVID-19 for all you budding epidemiologists out there—and the shameful case of General Michael Flynn (the shameful thing in his case being the Obama Administration’s effort to destroy him).

I am not sure how many pieces I have written about the former—probably a score—but by now it is clear that going forward there will be two main questions about the Chinese coronavirus crisis. The first is this: why did we commit social suicide for a virus whose hospitalization rates for those 65 years and older (as the CDC just admitted) are comparable to recent bad flu seasons, while the hospitalization for children for the Wuhan flu “are much lower than influenza hospitalization rates during recent influenza seasons”?

The second question is, what will our response be to the busybodies and bureaucrats whose policies destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth and put 30 million people out of work?

A friend of mine with a dark sense of humor speculates that the millions of face masks we’ve been saddled with might wind up repurposed as blindfolds. In any case, I suspect once the dust clears and people take note of the thousands of ventilators lining the doorways of businesses that have had to close their doors because of our insane overreaction, there will be a lot of anger abroad. Right now, Dr. Anthony Fauci seems to be riding high on a crest of public adulation. Look for that to come crashing down soon.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

“The Goal Was to Kill as Many People as Possible”: The Persecution of Christians, March 2020 by Raymond Ibrahim

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15969/persecution-of-christians-march

Two days ago, [the Saylani Welfare International Trust] refused to give ration cards to non-Muslims, saying that only Muslims are entitled to them. The reason for this is that Zakat, Islamic alms giving (one of Islam’s five pillars), is reserved for Muslims. The Christian man said he begged for food to no avail…. last Saturday, Abid Qadri, a member of Saylani Welfare,… handed out food cards in his area. But, when they got to Christian homes, they just moved on.” — Shafique Khokhar, AsiaNews.it, March 30, 2020, Pakistan.

The reason formerly simple Fulani herdsmen have managed to kill nearly twice as many Christians as the “professional” terrorists of Boko Haram, according to many Christian leaders in Nigeria, is because one of their fellow Fulani tribesmen, the president of the nation, Muhammadu Buhari, is enabling their jihad. Nigeria.

“The men who undertook the attack are so blinded by hate they are showing no evidence of remorse. Overcoming such hate will take a miracle as it is ingrained into every aspect of culture and society in Pakistan and is reinforced via a biased national curriculum….Nations such as the UK naively continue to send foreign aid to Pakistan despite the existing social malaise – this naive attitude contributes to Pak-Government apathy and perpetuates the status quo.” — Juliet Chowdhry, a Pakistani human rights activist in the UK, britishpakistanichristians.org, March 3, 2020, Pakistan.

“But this hateful environment did not emerge out of nowhere. The seeds of this hatred are spread, beginning at primary schools, through books printed by the Ministry of National Education portraying Christians as enemies and traitors. The indoctrination continues through newspapers and television channels in line with state policies. And of course, the sermons at mosques and talk at coffee houses further stir up this hatred.” — Uzay Bulut, Ahvalnews.com, March 13, 2020, Turkey.

The Kidnap, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christians

Pakistan: A group of motorcycle-riding Muslim men kidnapped and gang-raped two 12-year-old Christian boys. The children were playing video games at a local arcade when a gang of Muslims approached and lured them to check out and eventually sit on their motorcycles. Once the boys were atop the vehicles, the men rode off to a remote field where “the young boys were beaten till they submitted to the demands of the Muslim men, at which point the 12 year olds were raped,” notes the March 23 report:

“After the ordeal Suneel and Harry [the two boys] were threatened not to say anything by the gang as they rode off … leaving the boys behind naked. Suneel and Harry then tearfully and in pain got dressed and walked for 3 hours till home. Suneel managed to stagger home at 3:30 am early the following morning and was received by his father Naeem (40 yrs) who had not slept all night. Naeem and other family members were praying for Suneel and were shocked when they found him crying and trembling with fear.”

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Bankrupting Government to Achieve Educational Utopia By Robert Weissberg

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

Like the Energizer Bunny, radical egalitarians just keep on going and going no matter how futile their utopian schemes and all the wasted money. This is particularly true in education where levelers are convinced that they can coerce government to ensure that everybody — regardless of race, sex, ethnicity or whatever — can be all (and equally) academically proficient.

This misguided passion has existed for decades, but for the last forty years it has entailed going to court to demand judges direct schools with large disadvantaged population to dramatically up spending to achieve the equality supposedly required by the state’s constitution. An organization called the Education Law Center (ELC), for example, has a national network of lawyers to sue states plus workshops to bring lawyers together to promote their egalitarian agenda. They have been active in every state, and while the ELC may have had notable legal victories, whether these legal wins have accomplished much beyond bloating educational budgets is debatable.

One would think that in today’s troubled time when governments struggle to provide basic services, these egalitarians would go on vacation and wait for a more plentiful era to launch their utopian schemes. In fact, it is estimated that as a result of the virus, states will cut some $57 billion in aid for local school budgets, a staggering amount considering how cities themselves are hurting financially.

The egalitarian passion was recently illustrated in Michigan, where plaintiffs (technically a group of students) revived an ongoing class-action lawsuit (Gary B. v. Whitmer) in which they claimed that Detroit’s dreadful schools (see here for grim details) had denied them a “minimum education” and this denial violated their constitutional right to literacy. In particular, their schools provided inadequate teaching in unsafe, vermin-infested buildings. Happily for these students, the Sixth Circuit of Appeals agreed that they had, indeed, been denied a “fundamental right.” But this one decision hardly ends it — the case now returns to the federal district court to be relitigated. Yes, Detroit may be unable to pay its bills, but rest assured, if these students eventually win, city employees may lose their jobs and the city will continue to deteriorate, but Detroit’s disadvantaged youngster’s students will, supposedly, be academically proficient.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Bill Gates’s treasonous defense of China – why? By Mario Alexis Portella

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/bill_gatess_treasonous_defense_of_china__why.html

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently called the United States government’s coronavirus testing data “bogus” because of testing inequality and slow turnaround, with three to four days to get results.

Earlier in the week, President Trump, during a news conference, came under fire from a reporter who claimed that South Korea had tested more people per capita than the U.S. The Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, who was present, defended the president, saying: “I just want to make it clear that South Korea’s testing was 11 per hundred thousand [residents], and we’re at 17 per hundred thousand.” This matches the latest statistics at Worldometers, which maintains a constantly-updated database of coronavirus statistics globally, by country, down to the state level.

Seems there’s not enough bad to say about testing, and Gates was out front in that effort.

The tech tycoon had previously taken a swipe at the president for publicly castigating China for its cover-up of the coronavirus.  During a Sunday interview on CNN, Gates not only argued that it is not time to be questioning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) efforts in handling the COVID-19 outbreak, but went so far as to dispel any wrongdoing by the communist regime:

“China did a lot of things right at the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up. They can look back and say where they missed some things.  You know, some countries did respond very quickly and get their testing in place, and they avoided the incredible economic pain.  It’s sad that even the U.S. that you would have expected to do this well, did it particularly poorly.  But it’s not time to talk about that.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Mullahs Threaten Trump with October Surprise by Amir Taheri

Posted By on May 3rd, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15968/iran-trump-october-surprise

“No War on Iran” placards are appearing where “No wars by Iran” would make more sense.

In other words, the Islamic Republic doesn’t need medical and technical help; it needs crisp greenbacks that could be spent on Hezbollah, Bashar al-Assad, the Popular Mobilization Forces, the Houthis, Hamas and other members of the “Resistance Front”. And, then, not to forget the $100 million Tehran has allocated for lobbyists in the US.

The reward they want, and people like Senator Feinstein seem ready to provide, is to get a free hand in building an ideological empire as a springboard for “exporting” revolution. In the end, either Iran must become like the rest of the Middle East or the rest of the Middle East must become like the Islamic Republic.

With the Khomeinist regime once again in deep trouble, the usual suspects launch a campaign to portray the Islamic Republic as victim and US President Donald Trump as oppressor.

Slowly the blame is shifting from the mullahs to the Trump administration as the debate is redirected to tackle the hypothetical question of US military action rather than the Islamic Republic’s real misdeeds.

“No War on Iran” placards are appearing where “No wars by Iran” would make more sense.

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Against heavy odds, Trump rises 6 points in two weeks, according to Gallup poll By Monica Showalter

Posted By on May 2nd, 2020

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/against_heavy_odds_trump_rises_6_points_in_two_weeks_according_to_gallup_poll.html

His face showing the strains of office, President Trump has obviously been on the job in the coronavirus pandemic.

Apparently the voters have noticed, and Fox News reports that Trump is rising with voters:

President Trump’s job approval soared 6 points in the last two weeks, according to the latest Gallup poll.

The new survey found 49 percent approve of the president’s job in office and 47 percent disapprove, a personal best with Gallup for Trump. Two weeks ago, 43 percent approved of the president’s job, according to the pollster.

Trump also had a 49 percent approval rating in mid-March, according to Gallup, before his rating took a 6-point plunge in the first half of April.

For us, that’s reason for ‘cautious optimism’ as the market guys like to say. Or better still ‘the trend is your friend.’

It comes against so many external negatives that would otherwise sink any other politician.