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The Biden Loyalty Machine Administration insiders play by one rule: Never criticize other insiders. By Andy Kessler

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biden-loyalty-machine-democrats-dgb-disinformation-sec-climate-risk-fauci-covid-lockdowns-biden-inflation-

In her 2014 book, “A Fighting Chance,” Elizabeth Warren describes advice she received from Lawrence Summers when he was Harvard’s president: “I had a choice. I could be an insider or I could be an outsider. Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don’t listen to them. Insiders, however, get lots of access and a chance to push their ideas. People—powerful people—listen to what they have to say. But insiders also understand one unbreakable rule: They don’t criticize other insiders.”

Want to see this in action? In his 2021 book, “A Plague Upon Our House,” about his time as an adviser to the Trump administration on Covid-19, the Hoover Institution’s Scott Atlas describes “a functioning troika of ‘medical experts’ composed of Drs. Birx, Fauci, and Redfield.” He “noticed that there was virtually no disagreement among them. It was an amazing consistency, as though there were an agreed-upon complicity—even though some of their statements were so patently simplistic or erroneous.” Loyalty! But was that for the best? After two years of Covid restrictions, obviously not.

Loyalty is overrated. Harry S. Truman, worried about communist infiltration, instituted a Loyalty Program in 1947 via executive order, expecting “complete and unswerving loyalty” from federal employees. Seventy years later, FBI Director James Comey insisted that President Trump, at a private dinner, asked him for his loyalty. Mr. Comey declined. Mr. Trump then asked for “honest loyalty,” which Mr. Comey agreed to, knowing it didn’t mean anything.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2019 ruling: “Presidents are not kings. . . . This means that they do not have subjects, bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control.” Amen.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

COVID Proves It: Democrats Couldn’t Care Less About Minorities Or The Poor

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/05/09/covid-proves-it-democrats-couldnt-care-less-about-minorities-or-the-poor/

New research reveals the enormous harm that pandemic school shutdowns had on students, and that minorities and the poor suffered the most, especially in places run by Democrats.

To understand the impact of school shutdowns on learning, Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research compiled testing data on 2.1 million students in 49 states to see how school closures and the use of remote “learning” affected academic achievement.

The findings are deeply troubling. Closing schools “had profound consequences for student achievement.” Worse, it widened economic and racial education gaps. The researchers found that “high-poverty schools were more likely to go remote and the consequences for student achievement were more negative when they did so.”

One of the study’s authors, Thomas Kane, told the New York Times that “this will probably be the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation.”

The study also revealed a wide gulf between states based on how long they shuttered their schools – ranging from a handful of weeks to 20 weeks or more.

What the authors didn’t point out, but which is the inescapable conclusion to be drawn, is that states and cities run by Democrats kept their schools closed far longer than those run by Republicans.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Defeating the danger from without By Ruthie Blum

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://www.jns.org/opinion/defeating-the-danger-from-without/

 It is sound practice to examine one’s own behavior before casting aspersions on that of others. But self-reflection in the Jewish context is all too often an exercise in directing accountability inward, rather than where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of the people of Israel’s external enemies.

European Jews learned the hard way that their very existence—and the blood in their veins—was sufficient cause for all of them, from the visibly Orthodox to the utterly assimilated, to be systematically tortured and slaughtered. Tragically, it’s a lesson that American members of the tribe are now being forced to internalize and in which their counterparts in Paris, London and elsewhere on the Continent are being given a refresher course.

Anti-Semitism of the above type is foreign to native Israelis, especially the younger generation, despite contending daily with foes out to kill them for being Jews. In fact, even many Israelis whose families have been ripped apart by terrorist missiles, fire bombs, guns and machetes don’t recount having experienced anti-Semitism. Instead, they view themselves as victims of Arab/Palestinian terrorism; as though it were a separate phenomenon.

A minority of Israelis, some of whom have high positions in the government and an even higher number of whom hold seats in the Knesset, still cling to the notion that the cause of the hatred and ensuing violence is political. This bloc thus believes that the solution lies in diplomacy—Israeli territorial and other concessions whose ultimate goal is the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Since all such efforts on Israel’s part have belied this idea, the weary majority has come to realize that the hostility is deep-seated, religious, ideological and not going anywhere in the near future. The divide between the two perspectives is not new in Jewish history or the annals of the Jewish state.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

White House tacitly endorses intimidation of Supreme Court justices by Joe Concha

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3480825-white-house-tacitly-endorses-intimidation-of-supreme-court-justices/

It was a horrific scene at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va. five years ago. Five people were shot while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. Among the wounded was Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was in critical condition while undergoing several surgeries to stop internal bleeding. Fortunately, he would survive, as would the others who were shot. 

They were extremely fortunate that three Capitol Police officers were present because they were assigned to Scalise given his leadership position in the House of Representatives. But if Scalise hadn’t been at practice that morning, the gunman would’ve had several more minutes before police arrived and could’ve killed or seriously injured more people. 

One would think that our leaders in Washington would have learned from this terrible day and would be doing everything in their power to condemn similar acts of violence from happening again.

But the Biden White House doesn’t seem to care that angry mobs have gone to the homes of six conservative Supreme Court justices to protest the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade after a draft document stating such, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked earlier this week. A liberal firestorm followed, as the overturning of the 1973 decision would send abortion law back to the states.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Election Whores of the Democrat Party by Linda Goudsmit

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://goudsmit.pundicity.com/26202/election-whores-of-the-democrat-party http://goudsmit.pundicity.com and website: http://lindagoudsmit.com

Election integrity and freedom of speech are the two most basic requirements for a democracy, a government by the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives. The 2020 United States presidential election breached them both. Unprecedented in US election history, Democrat-run cities in battleground states suspended vote-counting, and then mysteriously resumed with drastically changed trajectories of the vote count. Americans went to sleep certain that President Donald Trump had been reelected. When they woke up, Joe Biden had mysteriously surged ahead to “win” the election. Americans remain shocked, confused, and angry. What happened?? 

Investigative journalist Dinesh D’Souza answers that question with irrefutable proof the election was stolen from we the people in his stunning new documentary film 2000 Mules. The film’s summary:   

Drawing on research provided by the election integrity group True the Vote, 2000 Mules offers two types of evidence: geotracking and video. The geotracking evidence, based on a database of 10 trillion cell phone pings, exposes an elaborate network of paid professional operatives called mules delivering fraudulent and illegal votes to mail-in drop boxes in the five key states where the election was decided. Video evidence, obtained from official surveillance cameras installed by the states themselves, confirms the geotracking evidence. 

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Ministry of Truthiness Dominic Green

Posted By on May 9th, 2022

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/ministry-of-truthiness

The Biden administration has set up a Disinformation Governance Board, its mission to expose, intercept, and otherwise chivy any form of untruthiness that might threaten the national security of the United States, especially if it comes from Russia. I haven’t laughed so hard since Jen Psaki, one of the nation’s top sources of disinformation, said she would continue to front another top source of disinformation, the White House press office, while under contract to join a third source of disinformation, MSNBC.

The good news is that this “Ministry of Truth” will be run by the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS is the DMV of federal agencies. Its multitentacled powers of snooping and scanning are matched only by the moronic incompetence of its staff. The DHS couldn’t spot disinformation if it came singing the “Song of the Volga Boatmen” and was wrapped in a $3 bill. That’s why it’s brought in an academic expert, Nina Jankowicz, to determine what is true and what is white supremacy or shilling for Russia or whichever thoughtcrime opposes the Democratic narrative of the day.

Misinformation is incomplete or mistaken. Disinformation is, as the Russians say, “active measures.” The full truth is deliberately edited and misrepresented. Carefully curated untruths are woven into fragments of fact to create a plausible atmosphere of truthiness. You can be misinformed from innocence or its cousin at the DHS, ignorance. But disinformation is intentional. It’s “information warfare,” part of a political program.

Jankowicz knows all about disinformation. As our very own Jerry Dunleavy reported, Jankowicz has obfuscated the nature of the anti-Trump “Russian collusion” dossier compiled by the ex-British spook Christopher Steele. Jankowicz was not misinformed when she reminded Sen. Lindsey Graham that the dossier “began as a Republican opposition research project,” but he was disinformed. It’s also true that Adolf Hitler began as a painter, but it would be disinformation to leave it there.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Some Contrarian Thoughts About Elon Musk And The Purchase Of Twitter Francis Menton

Posted By on May 8th, 2022

https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=a9fdc67db9&u=9d011a88d8fe324cae8c084c5&id=5c87c1d8fb

The news of the past few weeks has been all aflutter over Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

The main issue for discussion has been, what does this mean for the future of free speech in the American public square? That’s an important issue, to which I don’t have the answer. I think that there are reasons for both optimism and pessimism. More on this issue later.

A second issue is what Musk’s Twitter venture signals as to progressive fantasies about net zero utopia. This second issue has been little discussed, let alone recognized at all, in the recent press coverage. So let me open the door.

The most logical way to look at what Musk is up to is that he is getting money out of Tesla in advance of an almost certain huge decline in its value, while placing his next bet on something else with a much better chance for major future growth. I think that he has recognized that the net zero utopia necessary for Tesla to have continuing exponential growth is impossible and not going to happen.

According to Forbes, Musk is currently the richest man in the world, with net worth in the range of $255 billion. That puts him far ahead of the next richest, who could be either Jeff Bezos or Bernard Arnault, each at around $140 billion, depending on current stock prices for Amazon or LVMH.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

At Harvard, Facts Are For Losers It turns out that nobody’s SAT scores can provide immunity to propaganda. Dara Horn

Posted By on May 8th, 2022

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/at-harvard-facts-are-for-losers?token=

There is no one writing more lucidly today on the subject of Jews and Jew-hatred than Dara Horn.

I find myself constantly recommending her essays—especially this one, called The Cool Kids—and her recent book, People Love Dead Jews. As I wrote my own book about antisemitism, these two sentences from Dara helped me frame my own thinking: “Since ancient times, in every place they have ever lived, Jews have represented the frightening prospect of freedom. As long as Jews existed in any society, there was evidence that it in fact wasn’t necessary to believe what everyone else believed, that those who disagreed with their neighbors could survive and even flourish against all odds.”

In other words, where liberty thrives, Jews thrive. But where liberty is under siege, Jews will inevitably be, too.

I find myself constantly returning to that theme as I am bombarded by news of historically high antisemitism here in America, and as I read, last week, of the Harvard Crimson’s decision to endorse the boycott movement against Israel. That’s the subject of Dara’s essay today, which we are thrilled to publish. — BW

“…Twenty-five years later, I still remember the theatrics involved with becoming an editor at the Harvard Crimson, the newspaper produced by Harvard undergraduates every day for the past century and a half. The newspaper’s office had a room upstairs called the Sanctum, so named because only those who had jumped through the paper’s prescribed journalistic hoops were allowed to enter—and then only for Sunday night editorial meetings, at which the coming week’s worth of unsigned editorials were debated and approved under strict secrecy. Newly minted editors were welcomed into the room with the question, “What are your politics?” One’s answer determined the side of the room where one would sit for these debates.

HISTORY, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

American military cemeteries come alive in memory of Jewish soldiers How Operation Benjamin connects people with their forgotten past and Jewish identity Samuel H. Solomon

Posted By on May 8th, 2022

https://www.jns.org/opinion/american-military-cemeteries-come-alive-in-memory-of-jewish-soldiers/

Benjamin Garadetsky fought with courage and died on August 23,1944 in service of the 2nd Armored Division in Europe. Benjamin was just one example of the over 550,000 Jews who fought to defeat Nazism during World War II. From his birthplace in Zhitomir, Russia to the shores of Ellis Island, to the streets of the Bronx, to the battlefields of Europe, Benjamin Garadetsky lived as Jew. He died a Jewish-American hero and was laid to rest at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, along with 9,386 other heroes of the war.

And here our story begins.

For various unintended reasons—along with an estimated 500 other soldiers—Benjamin was buried under a Latin Cross and not the Star of David. One of the two main reasons for these errors was related to paperwork during the multiple reburials of these soldiers. But the more ironic reason was Jewish soldier’s reluctance to wear dog-tags with the identifying “H” for Hebrew, as they feared certain death in the hands of the Nazis, thus they enlisted as Christians. These historical errors are being painstakingly researched and corrected by a small team that has taken it upon themselves to welcome these war heroes into the bosom of the Jewish people once more.

Rabbi J.J. Schacter, Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University, discovered these historical errors back in 2014 while visiting Normandy. Months later, he mentioned the missing Stars of David to a friend and military historian, Shalom Lamm. Together, they decided to take action, and their first experiment with the process was in connection to the headstone of Benjamin Garadetsky. From this experience, Operation Benjamin (www.operationbenjamin.org) was born.

Changing a soldier’s burial marker is a very difficult process, as it should be. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) administers the Normandy American Cemetery along with 25 other cemeteries located in 17 foreign countries. These beautifully arranged and maintained cemeteries are a symbol of America’s role in defeating Nazism. They are very special and, I dare say, holy places. The ABMC is tasked with the maintenance of the integrity and beauty of these cemeteries. As such, they dictate the process by which a gravestone is changed.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on May 8th, 2022

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

 

Israelis were really flying with innovations and humanitarian activities this past week.  A Ukrainian girl was flown to Israel for heart surgery; blue-sky thinking unlocked more secrets of how the brain works; and Israeli scientists revealed the details of many of the medical experiments performed by Israel’s Eytan Stibbe during his 15 days in space. The first Israeli Druze pilot is now commander of IAF Southern Command Fire Center; over 100 Israeli Arabs flew to visit Auschwitz for Yom ha ‘Shoah, and Israel soared to the top of the list of the World’s most live kidney donors. New Israeli renewable energy innovations will help keep our skies blue and warn of solar storms. Israeli judokas have sent their international opponents flying and Aliyah numbers are sky high!  Michael Ordman

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Field hospital treated 6,000. Israel’s Kochav Meir (Shining Star) field hospital in Ukraine has closed after six weeks, having treated 6,000 patients. The hospital was originally planned to operate for one month. The initial 100 staff (80 doctors & nurses) were then replaced by new staff from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-shuts-ukraine-field-hospital-after-6-weeks-medical-team-returns-home/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326670
 
Life-saving heart treatment for Ukrainian girl. Israeli NGO Save A Child’s Heart brought 5-year-old Karina from Ukraine to Israel for surgery to fix her atrial septal (hole in the heart) defect. Following the catheterization operation, Karina is expected to enjoy a normal life.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-year-old-ukrainian-girl-receives-lifesaving-treatment-in-israel/
 
Gene in “junk” DNA protects against ALS. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have found a gene in the non-coding (“junk”) part of the genome that reduces five-fold the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The gene IL18RAP can contain mutations that reduce inflammation in the brain.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/mutations-in-noncoding-dna-protect-the-brain-from-als/  
https://www.timesofisrael.com/identifying-als-preventing-mutation-israeli-researchers-hope-for-path-to-treatment/
 
Breakthrough brain research. Israeli scientists have published a peer-reviewed paper that identifies the dendrites in the brain’s neurons as the learning center of the brain, rather than currently regarded synapses. It could help develop new types of treatments for degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/bold-new-israeli-brain-theory-touted-as-breakthrough-for-medicine-computing/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10466-8
 
Phase 3 trial of oral insulin begins. Israel’s Oramed (see here previously) has completed enrollment of patients for the Phase 3 trial of its oral insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Topline results of the trial are expected early 2023.  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oramed-completes-patient-enrollment-in-pivotal-phase-3-oral-insulin-study-ora-d-013-1-301538222.html
 
The world’s most protected blood bank. (TY Sharon) After 4 years’ construction, Magen David Adom has opened its new $135 million Marcus National Blood Services Center (see here previously). The underground facility doubles current capacity and is shielded from terrorism, rocket attacks, earthquakes, and cyber-attack.
https://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=37&ARTICLE_ID=154008
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-opens-worlds-most-protected-blood-bank-rocket-proof-and-underground/
 
Israeli space medical experiments. Enlightening article about some of the ground-breaking medical experiments performed by Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe aboard the International Space Station. It features the miniaturized, remotely controlled lab on a chip developed by Israel’s SpacePharma (see here previously).
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-705829
 
Hear this. (TY JNS) Plastic surgeons at Israel’s Galilee Medical Center attached a 3D-printed prosthetic ear to a six-year-old boy, born with microtia, to correct his birth defect. Although the ear will never be functional, the landmark operation will reduce pain, prevent future complications and is socially, aesthetically important.
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-surgeons-print-an-ear-to-correct-boys-deformity/
 
A happy return. When United Hatzalah paramedic Leah helped deliver a baby girl in Jerusalem, she remembered the address. Three years previously it had taken 40 minutes of CPR and several shocks from a defibrillator, to restore the pulse of the baby’s father after he had suffered cardiac arrest.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326507
 
 
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
 
Teddy bear treatment. Bar-Ilan University’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine complex in Safed was transformed into a Teddy Bear Hospital when some 500 children brought their teddy bears and dolls in for “treatment”. The annual event included ER, surgery, pharmacy, cardiology, ENT, MDA, Israeli police, the IDF and more.  
https://www.jns.org/bar-ilan-university-medicine-complex-in-tzfat-transforms-into-teddy-bear-hospital/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326851
 
Joint feast to mark end of Passover and Ramadan. More than 300 Jews and Arabs in Beersheba celebrated at a joint Iftar and Mimouna feast to mark the end of the daily Ramadan fast and the traditional Moroccan Jewish celebration at the conclusion of Passover. It was organized by Beersheba’s Hagar Association.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-arab-feast-marks-coinciding-of-passover-and-ramadan/
 
Over 100 Israeli Arabs visit Auschwitz. 103 Arab-Israeli teenagers from across the country marched alongside Holocaust survivors and their progeny in the March of the Living. Before leaving Israel, they visited Yad Vashem and the Ghetto-fighters Museum, prior to flying to Poland and touring the Auschwitz site.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-705316
 
Druze commander of Israel’s Fire Control Center. Lt.-Col. A., the first Druze to complete the Israel Air Force flight school, now serves as commander of Israel’s Southern Command’s Fire Center. Ironically, his grandfather served in the Syrian Arab Army forces that invaded Israel in 1948, before switching sides.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-705814
 
The world’s top healing spot. (TY UWI) International travel magazine Travel + Leisure’s put the Dead Sea top of its 2022 list of 10 recommended global healing destinations. Benefits include as a remedy for asthma, arthritis, and osteoporosis; its mud alleviates psoriasis, and the UV-filtered sun as a safe source of vitamin D.
https://www.israel21c.org/travel-leisure-names-dead-sea-1-healing-spot-for-2022/
 
The world’s most live kidney donors. (TY Stuart Palmer) Israel is the country with the most living kidney donors worldwide per capita, according to a recent World Health Organization report of 2020 data. Israeli non-profit Matnat Chaim (see here) facilitated the donation of 1,170 kidneys – two thirds of all Israeli donations.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-694257
http://www.transplant-observatory.org/2020-international-activities-report/ (see yellow bar on page 13)