EDUCATION, MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

UPenn Med School Leaders Turn on Former Dean over ‘Racist’ Affirmative-Action Criticism By Jack Crowe

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/upenn-med-school-leaders-turn-on-former-dean-over-racist-affirmative-action-criticism/

Senior administrators at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine recently leveled a reputation-destroying accusation at a former colleague who was, up until a few years ago, a member in good standing of America’s elite medical community.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb had a long, distinguished career in medicine that culminated with his being appointed professor emeritus and associate dean of curriculum at Perelman. He retired from his role as associate dean in 2019 but retained his emeritus title. That honor and the career that made him worthy of it weren’t enough to earn him the presumption of good faith from his former colleagues.

Goldfarb’s offense? Publicly questioning whether racial discrimination is as pervasive in medicine as the conventional elite narrative suggests. Responding last week to a study which suggested that systemic racism explains why minority medical residents tend to receive worse performance evaluations than their white peers, Goldfarb asked: “Could it be they were just less good at being residents?”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden’s inner Trudeau: On guns, he seems to be operating under the wrong Constitution Jonathan Turley

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/bidens-inner-trudeau-on-guns-he-seems-to-be-operating-under-the-wrong-constitution/ar-AAXXT89

In our increasingly hateful and divisive politics, there are times when our nation seems incapable of coming together for a common purpose. Tragedies — moments of shared national grieving and mutual support — once were the exception. Yet one of the most chilling aspects of the aftermath of the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was how the moment of unity was quickly lost to political posturing.

Politicians have long admitted that a crisis is an opportunity not to be missed — the greater the tragedy, the greater the opportunity. After the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called for censorship to “silence the voices of hatred and racism.” After the Uvalde massacre, some Democrats renewed calls for everything from court packing to ending the Senate filibuster.

The most immediate response, however, was a call for gun bans. Vice President Kamala Harris got out front of the White House by demanding a ban on AR-15s, the most popular weapon in America. Then President Joe Biden created a stir by suggesting he might seek to ban 9mm weapons.

Such calls are not limited to the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government is introducing legislation to “implement a national freeze on handgun ownership.” He said Canadians would no longer be able “to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” adding that “there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives.”

The difference between the push in the two countries is the existence of the Second Amendment in the United States — a constitutionally mandated “reason” why Americans are allowed to have guns; they don’t have to prove it to the government.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Concha: Pro-Clinton DC Jury Acquitting Sussmann “Another Black Eye For The Justice System”

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/05/31/concha_pro-clinton_dc_jury_acquitting_sussmann_another_black_eye_for_the_justice_system.html

JOE CONCHA: Well, Donald Trump got 5.4% of the vote in Washington D.C. in 2020. Right? The fact that this jury was going to be sympathetic and friendly to Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer, is not surprising, especially when that jury had Clinton donors on it.

I’m telling you, our faith in institutions just took another big hit as a result of this. This is a whole bowl of wrong.

Very frustrating to see, you have a man who peddled a lie to the FBI — a lie that he was going there as a concerned citizen. Then he turns around and bills the Clinton campaign for that visit to his friend James Baker. What else do you need?

This jury was pre-dispositioned to have a not-guilty verdict. Another black eye for the justice system.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Liz Peek: It’s Biden v. inflation — and Biden’s losing

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3507723-its-biden-v-inflation-and-bidens-losing/

President Biden wants Americans to know: Curbing inflation is his top, top, top priority.

He recently penned an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal with this headline: “My Plan for Fighting Inflation.” The plan didn’t contain much new in the anti-inflation category, but it did contain a red alert, which may have been the point.

The piece prepared the public for an economic slowdown, the likely result of the Federal Reserve’s commitment to reining in its reckless monetary policy. Biden warns that in coming months “growth will look different” and forecasts that job gains will drop from recent monthly totals of 500,000 or so and head lower, to maybe about 150,000.

This will not be “cause for concern,” Biden writes, “it will be a sign that we are successfully moving into the next phase of recovery…”

The last thing Americans were told not to worry about was inflation, so that advisory gives us pause. It was last July – when the Consumer Price Index came in at 0.9 percent, significantly higher than the prior month’s 0.6 percent price increase – that Biden gave an address celebrating the bang-up job he had done in his first six months in office.

He assured us: “Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation. But that’s not our view. Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen are — were expected and expected to be temporary.”

ISRAEL Comments turned off

US “foreign aid” to Israel – a mega billion $ bonanza for the US: Yoram Ettinger

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://bit.ly/3M0b2Ak

The US does not extend foreign aid to Israel. Rather, the US makes an annual investment in Israel, which yields to the American taxpayer an annual R-O-I (Return-On-Investment) of several hundred percent.

Is that a valid statement?

*While Israel is a most grateful recipient of a few hundred US military systems, it serves as the battle-tested, cost-effective laboratory of the US defense and aerospace industries, which employ – directly and indirectly – 3.5 million Americans.

Moreover, Israel’s Defense Forces serve as the battle-tested laboratory of the US armed forces, enhancing the performance of the US military.

*As documented in the following segments, the Israeli battle-tested laboratory enhances the economy, national security and homeland security of the US.

*For instance, Israel’s Air Force flies the Lockheed-Martin-manufactured F-16 and F-35 combat aircraft, providing the US manufacturer and Air Force – on a daily basis – with lessons involving operations, maintenance and repairs.  These lessons are integrated into a multitude of upgrades for the next generation of the aircraft, bolstering the performance of the US manufacturer and Air Force.

In fact, the F-16 has been improved by several hundred Israeli-driven upgrades (cockpit, fire control, wings, fuel tanks, etc.). It has spared Lockheed-Martin 10-20 years of research & development – which costs billions of dollars – improving the global competitiveness of Lockheed-Martin, thus increasing its multi-billion-dollar exports, while expanding Lockheed-Martin’s employment base – a mega-billion-dollar bonanza.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

What primary season has taught us so far Few reasons for Trump to be cheerful, progressives make progress, and more:Oliver Wiseman

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://spectatorworld.com/newsletter/what-primary-season-has-taught-us-so-far/

What primary season has taught us so far

It may not feel like it, but we’re only two months into a seven-month-long primary season ahead of this year’s midterms. There are still thirty-seven states in which the voters are yet to have their say on the major parties’ candidates ahead of Election Day. In other words, it’s still early. But with the calendar front-loaded with attention-grabbing showdowns in important states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, it’s not too late to tease out some big-picture takeaways. Here are three:

Few reasons for Trump to be cheerful

The least surprising thing about the Republican primaries so far is the lack of a definitive answer to the question of Donald Trump’s influence in the GOP. But brush past the black-and-white, pro- or anti-Trump dichotomy with which so much coverage oversimplifies the state of the modern Republican Party, and you find more reasons for Trump to be worried about his waning influence than evidence of an unassailable position at the head of the party.

The Georgia gubernatorial primary saw one of the biggest villains in the MAGA pantomime cruise to victory. In fact, Brian Kemp’s demolition of Trump’s preferred alternative, former senator David Perdue, was so total as to lose some of its broader political impact. Foregone conclusions just don’t capture the imagination as much as narrow wins. Trump would point to results elsewhere to demonstrate his power: the endorsement of J.D. Vance in Ohio, who saw a swift surge in the polls after he received the former president’s seal of approval shortly before primary day. One footnote to this sign of Trump’s power: Team Vance was confident of a late surge — and a primary win — with or without Trump’s endorsement. Spin, perhaps, or a hint that there is a bit more to the Ohio story than meets the eye.

Elsewhere, things get less clear-cut but no more reassuring for Trump

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran Not Waiting for Nuclear Weapons to Destabilize the Middle East by Khaled Abu Toameh

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18580/iran-destabilizing-iraq

The goal of Iran’s mullahs is to spread their control to as many countries as possible by using their terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Iran’s rulers are also seeking to increase their political influence in these countries. They aim to turn Iran into a superpower and major player in the Middle East at a time when US influence in the region appears to be dwindling.

Needless to say, Iran’s mullahs are not only opposed to peace with Israel. They and their proxies have repeatedly stated that their real goal is to eliminate Israel.

Some even warned that Iran’s real intention is to destroy and isolate Iraq….

“Iran, not Israel, is the greatest affliction for Iraq.” — Farouk Yusef, Iraqi author, Al Arab, May 29, 2022.

The Iraqis, Yusef added, would have preferred to see a law criminalizing working for Iran because they do not want to end up like Lebanon, which has been destroyed by Hezbollah.

“The forces affiliated with Iran accuse everyone who refuses to be subordinate to Iran of seeking normalization with Israel.” — Hamid Al-Kifaey, Iraqi journalist, Sky News Arabia, May 15, 2022.

This is how Arab dictatorships regularly seek to discredit the opposition or anyone who speaks out against corruption and bad government: by accusing them of being Israeli or American spies and traitors.

[T]he law may be used to target political opponents who have been protesting against the corruption of the ruling elite in Baghdad. The anti-corruption activists have often been accused by the government of being “agents of Israel.” — Akeel Abbas, Iraqi academic and author, Al Hurra, May 28, 2022.

The law “radically and explicitly violates two of the basic principles stipulated in the Iraqi constitution, which prohibits enacting a law that contradicts the principles of democracy and basic rights and freedoms.” — Akeel Abbas, Sky News Arabia, May 29, 2022.

Additionally, while Russia has been losing thousands of soldiers trying to take over Ukraine, Iran, without so much as swatting a fly, has been quietly filling the void left by Russians abandoning Syria.

Iran is not waiting until it possesses nuclear weapons to proceed with its schemes. Instead, it is spreading its aggression like a deadly virus to other Muslim nations.

Or do the Biden administration and the international community secretly want the destruction of Israel and the Gulf States?

Iran’s mullahs are continuing to meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries, especially Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

This is happening while the US administration and other Western powers continue to delude themselves into thinking that appeasing Iran’s rulers and signing a new nuclear deal with them will bring security and stability to the Middle East and the rest of the world.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

TIM BLAIR ON THE LEFT

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2022/05/they-wont-glow-or-seek-to-know/

“The Left’s complexity fetish infects all social and political realms. To test this, mention nuclear power to one of your bolshie friends and brace for a blizzard of convoluted objections that can claim no more than a nodding acquaintance with logic or fact. After that aural ordeal, eyes glazed and verging on narcolepsy, you won’t dare ask when it became official than men can have babies.”

EDUCATION Comments turned off

The drag-queening of America’s children By Andrea Widburg

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/06/the_dragqueening_of_americas_children.html

In 2015, drag queens reading in libraries suddenly became a “thing.” While I see these men as grotesque appropriations of womanhood, they were sold as cute, sparkly people who make reading fun. Once the camel’s nose was in the tent, drag queens performing for children started appearing everywhere, not just in libraries where weird parents intentionally bring their children, but at nightclubs and across schools where children are captive audiences. It’s become so endemic that Libs of TikTok has put together a seemingly endless thread of such appearances.

Back in the early 1990s, some men I knew when I worked in San Francisco performed as part of a Drag Queen acapella group. Unlike many of the drag queens parading around today, these guys were actually talented performers, so I enjoyed the first show I attended. By the second show, though, I’d had enough. While some songs were clever parodies of pop culture issues, way too many were obsessed with gay sex (in more detail than most people should ever want to know), fecal matter, and STDs. That’s when I realized that people who define themselves by non-traditional (some might say deviant) sexuality, tend to obsess about that sexuality and, moreover, seem to have stopped developmentally at the “poo-poo is funny” stage of humor (around 3 years old).

Armed with that knowledge, I’ve found very disturbing the number of drag queens swarming children’s reading rooms. Were my kids still small, I wouldn’t want them under the tutelage of someone whose entire identity revolves around his genitals and what he does with them. However, when parents objected, they were schooled as “transphobes” and “homophobes” and, of course, most backed down.

So, the drag queens have continued to dig their way into children’s lives. It’s not just at libraries. The big children’s entertainment media companies are on board. Andrew Levitt, an untalented drag performer but highly talented self-promoter, inveigled his way into Nickelodeon, appearing on the children’s show Blue’s Clues and You and singing about LGBTQ identities in a video aimed at children. And now Disney+ has Levitt urging little children to celebrate gay pride and drag queens with him.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

To no one’s surprise, a D.C. jury acquitted Michael Sussmann By Andrea Widburg

Posted By on June 1st, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/05/to_no_ones_surprise_a_dc_jury_acquitted_michael_sussmann.html

Most savvy court watchers were completely unsurprised yesterday when a jury in the District of Columbia acquitted Michael Sussmann, a Perkins Coie attorney, who was charged with lying to the FBI on Hillary’s behalf in support of the Russia hoax. After all, juries routinely rule against Republicans and for Democrats in the D.C. district, the judge couldn’t have made his partisanship more clear, and the jury had a good helping of hardcore Hillary supporters. In other words, the fix was in the moment the case was filed. What was more newsworthy than a predictable verdict was the way the case showed just how corrupt the FBI and the district court are.

The news about the verdict is simple:

A Washington, D.C., jury acquitted former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann of lying to the FBI on Tuesday in the first legal test of special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy theory.

Sussmann was charged with lying to the FBI during a September 2016 meeting with former FBI general counsel James Baker. Sussmann pleaded not guilty to the charges, arguing that he never lied to the FBI, and even if he did, the lie did not impact the FBI’s operations at all. Sussmann decided last week against testifying in his own defense.

The evidence was clear, though, that Sussmann told the FBI’s general counsel he wasn’t representing anyone when he was, in fact, representing Hillary.