ISRAEL Comments turned off

Ruthie Blum Avoiding mention of Iran while urging Israeli restraint

Posted By on August 7th, 2022

https://www.jns.org/opinion/avoiding-mention-of-iran-while-urging-israeli-restraint/?utm_source=

The facts of “Operation Breaking Dawn” don’t make the slightest difference to the moral-equivalence choir hot to return to the JCPOA.

When asked in a TV interview on Saturday afternoon about the response of his counterparts at the United Nations to “Operation Breaking Dawn” against Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said that the bulk of the world’s focus right now is on the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Pacific. He did acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority’s representative at the international body, Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour, has been busy urging the Security Council to condemn Israel—as usual.

If Erdan was feeling even mildly relieved about his colleagues’ attention being elsewhere for a change, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland ought to have put a damper on the sentiment. In an official statement on Friday, the useless envoy wrote, “I am deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza. This takes place amidst mounting tensions across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent weeks.”

The rest of the blather, which lacked all context, typically took Israel to task for the “at least 10 Palestinians … killed, [including] a five-year-old child … There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians. The continuing escalation is very dangerous. The launching of rockets must cease immediately, and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation.”

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Net Zero Is Not Just For Carbon Emissions — Now It’s Nitrogen August 06, 2022/ Francis Menton

Posted By on August 7th, 2022

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-8-6-net-zero-is-not-just-for-carbon-emissions-now-its-nitrogen

In recent months the insane world-wide campaign against the emission of carbon into the atmosphere has not been going all that well for the zealots. Among other things, the Ukraine war has highlighted the fact that wind and solar electricity generators can’t really work on their own to power a modern economy. That has left places like Germany and the UK that built the most of them facing soaring energy prices and dependence on natural gas from Russia for backup. Those countries and others are in the process of being forced by reality to at least slow down on their march toward Net Zero as to carbon emissions.

But meanwhile, there’s another campaign for Net Zero that until recently has been flying mostly under the radar. That is the campaign against nitrogen. Nitrogen is the stuff that makes up about 80% of the atmosphere and you never even notice it’s there. It’s also essential for plant growth, but for that purpose needs to be combined with hydrogen. Farmers can give crops the nitrogen they need through animal manure, which is an excellent source, or through commercial fertilizer, which is made by taking nitrogen from the air and combining it with hydrogen from natural gas. Really, who could be against this?

The answer is that the usual environmental zealots, in coordination of course with the UN, have embarked on a war against nitrogen. Or maybe it’s a war on all agriculture, with nitrogen just being the excuse. You be the judge.

The war on nitrogen suddenly leapt into international public consciousness back about last December, when the country of Sri Lanka suddenly found itself facing an unanticipated famine. How did that happen?

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

Patriotism Is Kryptonite to America’s Communist Class J.B. Shurk

Posted By on August 7th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/patriotism_is_kryptonite_to_americas_communist_class.html

Project Veritas’s whistleblower materials revealing that the FBI views the Gadsden and Betsy Ross flags, the Liberty Tree, and a smorgasbord of other Revolutionary War symbols as evidence of domestic terrorism are just further proof that the feds’ secret police force no longer bleeds red, white, and blue (although it does probably give new recruits hammer and sickle tattoos).  A federal agency with both intelligence-gathering and law enforcement functions is dangerous enough to any free society, but one that openly views the spirit of 1776 as a threat to the Republic has lost any vestige of a more noble purpose to defend the country from its enemies.  

Something is surely rotten at the Bureau when it is more than willing to “take a knee” in a Marxist show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter anti-American anthem protesters but denigrates pro-American emblems as evidence of violent extremism.  Independence Day celebrations each year must be grueling for federal agents trying to protect the nation from its own rebellious past.  Now that patriotic displays of affection for the country have been relabeled as potential signs of domestic terrorism, hot dogs and fireworks require a new national security threat assessment.  

All agents, be on the lookout for Americans engaging in too much fun on the Fourth of July.  Be advised: children with patriotic face paint, persistent Liberty Bell ringing, and unexpected outbursts of support for freedom may warrant further investigation.  Should you encounter any reference to the 1773 Boston Tea Party, the modern Tea Party Movement, or strong distaste for tea, in general, immediately call for backup.  

This much is clear: when the FBI honors America-haters and vilifies American patriots, love for America is perceived as not only suspect, but also dangerous to the Deep State.  That says a lot about our current predicament.  

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on August 7th, 2022

michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

From A for Agriculture to Z for Zionism:  Michael Ordman tells us: “One product to increase wheat yields has already been shipped to the US and another is in field trials. Israelis have developed an entirely new, tasty, and highly nutritious ready-to-eat vegetable; an energy-efficient method to extract proteins from plants; and the best-tasting vanilla ever.”

And: “a growing number of Jews who want to see their future, and that of their children, growing up in the Jewish State.”

He also informs us that there are increased opportunities for women in the Israel Defense Forces.

So BDS really defines Isrel’s army: “Brave, Diverse, Soldiers” rsk.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Covid-19 immunity testing. A team of Israeli immunologists, epidemiologists and other researchers have successfully used the levels of antibody markers to predict the risk of Covid-19 infection. IGG antibodies for 608 healthy adults were monitored over 90 days. The 239 subsequent infections were then correlated.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/can-you-judge-your-covid-immunity-with-an-antibody-test-israeli-research-says-yes/
 
Weakening the virus. Israeli-UK biotech Eleven Therapeutics is developing RNAi therapy that attacks the genetic structure of respiratory viruses such as SARS-COV-2. Eleven has just received a $9 million grant from the Gates Foundation. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1ju600ltc  https://www.eleventx.com/
 
Ultrasound scans on MDA Ambulances. Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics on Israeli Intensive Care ambulances and helicopters will use ultrasound probes to monitor patients’ hearts and locate IV points in hard-to-detect veins. If an ultrasound detects a heartbeat but no pulse, fluids should be used – not shocks or CPR.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/357443  
 
A molecule to repair all cells. (TY WIN) Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a molecule, 1,8-diaminooctane, that helps cells repair damaged tissue. It could eventually prevent age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and increase life expectancy and wellness.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/mind-and-spirit/article-713621
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35579620/
 
ECG for the lungs. Israel’s Nanovation-GS (see here previously) is now undergoing clinical trials in Israel and the EU of its SenseGuard first-of-its-kind nano-sensor for monitoring and managing chronic respiratory conditions. It is also working to obtain CE certification, with FDA approval to be sought later.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-712509
https://www.exitvalley.com/Projects/Nanovation/?WebLang=EN&RefAd=rPxlQrCC%20
 
Chipping away at cancer. Israeli pharmacist Eliana Steinberg realized her medicines were not curing cancer patients and went back to university to get a doctorate. She then developed a transparent chip, which takes a sample of the tumor to test numerous treatments to discover which works best. It was even tested in outer space.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-researchers-nanotech-is-revolutionizing-tumor-treatment/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ygzqobysp
 
Diagnosing fibromyalgia. The medical condition fibromyalgia is hard to diagnose. Now, researchers at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus and Canada’s McGill University can identify it in blood tests using an algorithm that analyzes the bile acids produced by gut bacteria. The scientists are developing a tool for use in clinics.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-finding-may-make-hard-to-diagnose-fibromyalgia-easy-to-confirm/
 
Intel & Sheba partner to detect Crohn’s disease. (TY Israel21c) Intel Corporation is working with the ARC Innovation Center at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to develop an AI-enhanced app to help physicians diagnose Crohn’s disease at an early stage. 12,000 images taken by a “capsule pill” can be analyzed in just two minutes.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/07/26/sheba-intel-hope-to-give-crohns-disease-a-punch-in-the-gut-using-ai/
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/technology-science/1658850440-israel-sheba-hospital-intel-partnership-to-detect-chron-s-disease
 
Avoiding the need for amniocentesis. Israel’s Identifai Genetics is developing a noninvasive prenatal test for the early detection of severe genetic disorders. A simple blood test of the mother in her first trimester can detect every single-point mutation, insertion-deletion, and structural variation in the entire embryonic genome.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/pfp425ruq   https://identifai-genetics.com/
 
Improving visual perception for those with autism. Tel Aviv University scientists have developed a new learning method for people with autism that may significantly improve capabilities in terms of visual perception. It uses “memory flashes” to reinforce the duration and repetition of new skills.
https://www.aftau.org/news_item/new-learning-method-from-tau-could-help-people-with-autism-improve-visual-perception-capabilities/   https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00903-4
 

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

NO POSTING UNTIL MONDAY

Posted By on August 6th, 2022

I am out of town…..rsk

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Transgender Surgery or Female Genital Mutilation – Are They Different? By Eileen F. Toplansky

Posted By on August 5th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/transgender_surgery_or_female_genital_mutilation__are_they_different.html

In 2012, The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution urging countries to ban the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), calling it an “irreparable and irreversible abuse.” The resolution was considered a major step forward in protecting women and girls.  FGM has been recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. Sweden was the first Western country to outlaw FGM, followed in 1985 by the UK. In the United States it became illegal in 1997, and in the same year the WHO issued a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) against the practice. Moreover, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called for abolishing the practice. 

Fast forward and it would appear that the new wave of transgenderism among youth is reminiscent of FGM practices. But while the leftwing establishment rightly condemns female genital mutilation, it praises transgenderism as “gender-affirming” and an act of courage.

Some key facts about female genital mutilation include:

The partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
There is evidence suggesting greater involvement of health care providers in the practice. This is known as medicalization.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Ron DeSantis Is Right on the Executive Duty to Enforce the Law By Dan McLaughlin

Posted By on August 5th, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/08/ron-desantis-is-right-on-the-executive-duty-to-enforce-the-law/

The Florida governor may look like he’s engaging in a power grab, but as the executive, he’s standing up for a core rule-of-law value.

The rule of law is vital to the American system of government. Our system is designed, in the words of John Adams, “to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men.” That core value imposes a variety of different obligations on different actors in the system. Today’s big announcement by Ron DeSantis, suspending a county attorney who refused as a matter of policy to enforce Florida laws he disliked, highlights one of those obligations: the duty of the executive to enforce the laws written by the legislature.

The people choose the government and retain the power to remove its officials: That makes us a democracy. Nobody has an inherited role or a privileged status above the law: That makes us a republic. The rules are written down: That makes our system constitutional. The rule of law binds these strands together. Once the constitution and the laws are written down, there are only two choices: Challenge the laws in court as conflicting with the written constitution, or change the constitution or the laws through the democratic process. In the meantime, there are only two outcomes: Either the rules are binding as written on everyone, or the people are no longer in charge of the government.

Adams used the phrase “a government of laws and not of men” in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 to justify the rigorous separation of powers: Only the legislature writes laws, only the executive enforces them, and only the judiciary interprets them. John Marshall used the same phrase in Marbury v. Madison to emphasize a related but distinct point: Judges have not just the power to declare laws invalid if they violate the Constitution, but a duty to do so in order to restrain the legislature: “To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing, if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained? The distinction between a government with limited and unlimited powers is abolished. . . .”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Growing Threat from North Korea by Judith Bergman

Posted By on August 5th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18682/north-korea-threat

China’s urging “flexibility” on North Korea appears to coincide with the Chinese Communist Party’s ambitions in the region.

“According to unclassified intelligence reports to Congress, there are five key Chinese banks and a specially created holding company that funds the North Korean missile and nuclear technology programs.” — Peter Huessy, Real Clear Defense, August 10, 2017.

China’s main strategic concern when it comes to the Korean peninsula is apparently to end the US presence there and keep it out of US hands so that China can finally establish itself as the hegemon in the region.

North Korean escalation in the form of increased missile tests and resumption of ICBM and nuclear tests to pressure the US to make concessions — in the shape of troop withdrawals from South Korea — would play directly into the hands of China, enabling it to replace the US and establish itself as the primary power in the region.

“They are looking to take actions, which we believe are fundamentally destabilizing, as a way to increase pressure.” — US official in Washington to journalists, France24.com, January 31, 2022.

China, however, seems to have no interest in cooperating with the US on North Korea. Attempts to secure “Beijing’s cooperation” to build necessary economic leverage over North Korea are therefore exercises in futility.

China clearly cannot be relied on voluntarily to use its leverage over North Korea to persuade Kim Jong-un to give up his missile and nuclear program. To resolve the impasse, it is necessary to employ means that will leave China no choice other than to cooperate on North Korea.

A highly efficient way of doing that, Gordon Chang has suggested, would be to cut off the large Chinese banks and businesses that support the North Korean missile and nuclear technology from the global financial system by designating them a “primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the Patriot Act.

“In short, American policymakers know how to get China to begin acting responsibly.” — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, May 10, 2021.

The question now is — will the Biden administration muster the political will to designate those large Chinese banks under Section 311 of the Patriot Act?

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Evasive Mr. Wray The FBI director knows a lot about issues that matter to the Biden regime and the media. But he isn’t so savvy when it comes to issues that matter to Americans. By Julie Kelly

Posted By on August 5th, 2022

https://amgreatness.com/2022/08/04/the-evasive-mr-wray/

It was time for him to fly.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time since July 2021, insisted he had to leave the hearing by 1:30 p.m. sharp. (It began at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.) 

Despite leading a scandal-ridden agency quickly losing the trust of the American people and congressional Republicans, Wray somehow believes that setting aside less than four hours to answer questions by lawmakers responsible for checking and balancing his work is sufficient.

“I had a flight that I’m supposed to be high-tailing it to, and I had understood that we were going to be done at 1:30, so that’s how we ended up where we are,” Wray told Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member who asked why the rush. If Wray needed to leave on business, Grassley noted, “you’ve got your own plane,” referring to the taxpayer-funded Gulfstream G550 jet used to ferry the head of the FBI around the country privately.

Wray got his way—the committee wrapped shortly after 1:30 p.m. with no chance for Republicans to ask follow-up questions. It was a symbolic win and another example of how Wray almost always prevails in skirmishes between his agency and members of Congress.

To be fair, an extended appearance only would have resulted in more non-answers and political spin. 

Wray, appointed by Donald Trump in 2018, knows a lot about issues that matter to the Biden regime and national news media, such as the imaginary threat of “domestic violent extremists.” But he isn’t so savvy when it comes to issues that matter to Americans, such as a wide-open southern border, exploding crime rates, an aggressive China on the rise, and foreign terrorists who arrived here in the disorderly evacuation of Afghanistan.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

Will Republicans Make Education a Campaign Issue? Dems are quickly losing their grip. Larry Sand

Posted By on August 5th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/08/will-republicans-make-education-campaign-issue-larry-sand/

It just doesn’t stop. In Portland, OR, the kindergarten curriculum includes an anatomy lesson featuring “graphic drawings of children’s genitalia.” The words “Boy” and “Girl” are eschewed in favor of “person with a penis” and “person with a vulva,” because, according to the curriculum, girls can have penises and boys can have vulvas. In a West Chester, PA middle school, boys were encouraged to wear dresses at the school’s Gay Pride Month celebrations. And in a New York City middle school, students are encouraged to keep a list of all the “microaggressions” they witnessed – both at schools and at home.

And while kids are getting indoctrinated into the gender and Critical Race Theory cults, their traditional learning has become an afterthought. According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Nation’s Report Card, only 37% of U.S. public high school seniors are proficient in reading and 24% have reached proficiency in math. Additionally, proficiency is at just 22% in science and a pathetic 12% in U.S. history. This is pre-COVID data, and we can only guess how horrific the scores will be after the prolonged union-orchestrated school shutdowns.

The good news is that the American people have finally awakened to the abuse. A May poll by the American Federation of Teachers revealed that 39% of voters reported that they have more confidence in Republicans on education matters, compared with 38% for Democrats. While the Republican edge is not exactly overwhelming, it still is important, as Democrats have always prevailed in public opinion because of the perception that they were the education party. As the American Enterprise Institute’s Rick Hess notes, the Democrats’ “broad support for more education spending, outspoken embrace of public education, and close ties to teachers unions and the education establishment have usually added up to a hefty advantage, one that became more significant in recent decades as education assumed a more visible, national profile.”