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September 2020

The Religion of Covid By David Solway

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/09/the_religion_of_covid.html

On the signboard of our local church, all reference to Sunday Service and accompanying Bible texts have vanished. In their place we read the homily: Fewer Faces and Open Spaces, attributed not to the minister Gordon K. Brownmiller, but to British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry, whose gospel has become definitive. Indeed, Bonnie Henry has become a hero of the people, a font of daily information and a source of comfort, delivered in the dulcet tones of motherly consolation. She is probably the most revered political figure in the province. She is lauded for having the wellbeing of its citizens at heart and does everything she can to soothe anxiety and discomfort, issuing instructions dedicated to public safety, including reminders to wear masks and maintain social distancing. She has become an epidemiological saint and Bonniolatry is all the rage.

And yet, as a high-ranking member of the government, Bonnie had no objection to the massive BLM demonstrations in our two major cities, Vancouver and Kelowna, leading to the predictable surge in Coronavirus cases, which she then disingenuously attributed to people gathering in bars. The glaring discrepancy did not register among her admiring votaries. For Bonnie Henry is an apostle of the Lord and must have her reasons too abstruse for ordinary citizens to apprehend — unless we accept the official canard that “racism” is a bigger virus than COVID and that something called “cultural health” — as the Democrats, following in the footsteps of the American Public Health Association, righteously assert — is far more important than the lives of individual people. In any event, for the people of this province, whatever Bonnie says, goes. She is the voice of God. And what a sweet, assuaging voice it is.

In this theological frame of reference, the virus naturally represents the wrath of the Lord against the denizens of Sodom and Gomorrah — that is, Vancouver and Kelowna — who were at one time indifferent to the gifts of authority and went about their sinful daily lives without a thought for higher things. Some complained about extortionate taxes. Some resented escalating prices. Many drove their vehicles with unprecedented recklessness, a notorious feature of the region, dramatically raising insurance rates. A few were known to go whoring after strange gods and even to vote Conservative. The Lord sent a plague to educate us and dispatched his prophet Bonnie Henry to steer us lovingly back to sacerdotal health, requiring us only to self-isolate, don masks and stay six feet away from one another. Covidianity has now become the new communion.

Trump’s victory must be a rout By Peter Rosenberger

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/09/trumps_victory_must_be_a_rout.html

In Super Bowl XXII, Doug Williams led the Washington Redskins (unclear if referring to them by name is “retro-allowed”) to a crushing victory over John Elway and the Denver Broncos.  Although Elway started the game with a beautiful touchdown pass and the Broncos seemed poised to coast to a definitive win, something dramatic happened to Washington in the second quarter, and the Redskins ultimately crushed the Broncos 42-10.

Since no NFL game has aired in our home since Colin Kapernick singlehandedly brought the institution to its collective knees, the football reference must reach back to the sport’s better days.  Yet the example stands, and Super Bowl XXII should reflect the 2020 election.  Trump must rout Joe Biden and the left by running up the score without mercy.

The challenge for America is that mercy seems wired into the DNA of this great country — we feel bad when the other team is crushed and want to “pull our punches.”  Despite past and present faults, America remains a generous country that winces at others who suffer.  Even our war machines reflect the unspoken creed of “loving who’s behind us rather than hating those in front of us.”

While benevolence is a wonderful and aspiring trait, it cannot be extended to the ideas of the left.  The field is not fair, and the umpires in the media are one-sided.  Although many may not have the stomach for such defeat, it nevertheless remains the only path to save the country.  Trump simply winning the election cannot be the goal ─ demolishing and demoralizing the left must remain paramount.  All evidence supports America’s existence requiring the 2020 election to be irrefutable rather than a “squeaker.”   

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Radiation to reduce Covid-19 inflammation. (TY Hazel) Doctors at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center are to test the use of low-dosage radiation on 30 severe Covid-19 patients. It is expected to reduce the inflammatory cells that invade the lungs of coronavirus patients and prevent them from oxygenating the blood.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/reviving-old-therapy-israeli-doctors-unleash-lung-radiation-against-covid-19/

More success for Covid-19 antibody treatment. 11 of the 12 trial patients treated with the IgG Covid-19 treatment from Israel’s Kamada (reported here previously) have now recovered and been discharged from hospital. https://nocamels.com/2020/09/early-trial-results-kamada-covid-19-antibodies/

A national lab to study viruses. The Israeli government is to set up a new national laboratory at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the study of viruses. It will help Israel counter pathogens after the Covid-19 pandemic. It will have special air conditioning, advanced testing tools and high-level protective gear.    

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3848670,00.html

Sheba’s “Gulf” initiative. (TY UWI) Sheba Medical Center has launched its “Gulf” initiative with the first agreement between an Israeli hospital and an organization in the United Arab Emirates. Sheba will work with UAE’s APEX National Investment on key medical challenges from COVID-19 to the future of hospital care.

https://nocamels.com/2020/09/uae-apex-sheba-healthcare-innovation/

On stream. More details about the development of StreamO2 – the low-cost breathing machine for Covid-19 patients built by Israeli fizzy-drinks maker SodaStream (reported here previously). StreamO2 was the idea of Hadassah ICU doctor Akiva Nachshon, and recently tested successfully at Hadassah Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.

https://www.israel21c.org/whats-the-worlds-favorite-fizzy-drinks-maker-doing-fighting-covid/

Antibody for Alzheimer’s. (TY Yehoshua) Israel’s ImmunoBrain Checkpoint aims to begin trials of its IBC-Ab002 treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The antibody, developed by its Chief Scientist EMET Prize-winning Weizmann Institute Professor Michal Schwartz, boosts the immune system to induce brain repair processes.

https://www.jpost.com/health-science/israeli-revolutionary-alzheimers-treatment-to-launch-phase-1-trial-641848  https://www.ibcheckpoint.com/

Cornea and Glaucoma treatment news. The synthetic cornea from Israel’s CorNeat is beginning human trials, as reported here in July. This has become vital due to shortage of human corneas during Covid-19. CorNeat will soon begin trials of its EverPatch for Glaucoma surgery and is developing the eShunt to reduce eye pressure.

https://nocamels.com/2020/09/medtech-corneat-patented-implants-blind-diseases/

Detecting prostate cancer in Puerto Rico. (TY Hazel) The CorePlus pathology lab in Carolina Puerto Rico is the first in the Americas to detect prostate cancer using the AI-based software from Israel’s Ibex Medical Analytics (reported here previously). The system is already in use in the UK and in France.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/puerto-rico-lab-to-use-israeli-ai-based-tech-to-help-diagnose-prostate-cancer/

https://ibex-ai.com/press/first-u-s-lab-implements-ai-based-solution-for-cancer-detection-in-pathology/

A painless bandage. Israel’s Inteligels has developed a wound covering that can be removed without pain. It is made from a special smart transparent polymer that can be triggered to liquify and does not need to be pulled off. It is based on the work of Daniel Cohn, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2020/08/31/israeli-startup-inteligels-has-made-a-new-painless-bandage/

https://www.geektime.com/inteligels-israel-startup/  http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/casali/cohn.htm

Doctor, heal thyself (with Israel’s help). Durban pediatrician Dr Thesi Reddy (non-Jewish) was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year and was given nine months to live. South African Friends of Sheba Medical Center got him to Israel, where Sheba surgeons used advanced techniques to remove the entire tumor. Amazing.

https://www.sajr.co.za/news-and-articles/2020/09/10/durban-paediatrician-saved-by-israeli-medical-team

The Threat of Orphan States to World Order by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16490/orphan-states-world-order

The Third Reich and the USSR could not behave as normal nation-states…. Their prime interest was “exporting” their ideological brand, by war if necessary.
Regardless of the obvious differences of belief systems and discourse, all ideology-driven movements from Lenin and Hitler to Khomeini and Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi aim at replacing the biological human with an ideological one, ostensibly to complete the work of nature or providence.
Lenin seized power in a Russian state that had become an orphan with the fall of the Tsarist state. Hitler inherited the orphan state left by the failed Weimar Republic. Khomeini came to power when the Shah simply left Iran as an orphan state.
At first glance, the same fate may look as if it is threatening Lebanon. A state manned by discredited elites seems on the verge of disintegration, with an armed group backed by Iran poised to seize control, just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan with Pakistani backing.

Remember 9/11, the catchphrase that was seen as a wake-up call for a world lulled into sweet slumber by “The End of History”? Nearly two decades ago today, the twin terror attacks on New York and Washington propelled a new threat to world order at the top of international concerns: the threat of non-state groups seizing territory for use as a base for advancing ideological aims through terror and war.

Though it contained some new features, the attack on the United States recalled a model used by other ideological movements on small and large scales. In a sense, both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had been built on a model that rejected the concept of nation-state as developed by the Westphalian treaties of the 17th century. The Third Reich and the USSR could not behave as normal nation-states concerned with the normal interests of nation-states such as security, trade, access to markets and resources, cultural exchanges and prestige. Their prime interest was “exporting” their ideological brand, by war if necessary.

Emergencies Make Awful Law: Why are Casinos Treated More Favorably than Churches During a Pandemic? by Alan M. Dershowitz

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16496/pandemic-casinos-churches

[T]he government may not discriminate against religion in general or any particular religion in particular. It need not exempt religious institutions or practitioners from rules that are generally applicable to similarly situated institutions or citizens, but it may not impose especially onerous rules on religion that limit its free exercise.

Under the first amendment, churches hold a higher protected status than comparably sized and ventilated businesses. So, as an initial matter, it would appear unconstitutional for a state to prohibit church assemblies of more than 50 congregants, regardless of the size of the building, while allowing a casino to host up to half their usual number of gamblers, which in some cases can exceed 1,000. But Chief Justice Roberts introduced a judicial consideration that went beyond that initial consideration, namely the right of governors not to be second-guessed by judges during a pandemic emergency.”

“Where those broad limits are not exceeded, they should not be subject to second-guessing by an ‘unelected federal judiciary,’ which lacks the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health and is not accountable to the people. See Garcia v. San Antonino Metropolitan Transit Authority, 409 U.S. 528, 545 (1985).” — US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

“But Covid-19 is not a blank check for a state to discriminate against religious people, religions organization religious services. There are certain constitutional red lines that a state may not cross even in a crisis. Those restrictions include racial discrimination, religious discrimination, and content-based suppression of speech.” — US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

If hard cases make bad law, emergencies make even worse law. Our case books are littered with awful judicial decisions authorizing presidents and governors to violate core constitutional rights in the name of coping with crises. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s decision to intern more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent following the attack on Pearl Harbor was upheld by liberal justices. President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to detain citizens and deny them access to the writ of habeas corpus was upheld during the Civil War. Now that that we are experiencing a pandemic crisis, if history is any guide, we can expect some bad decisions.

AG Barr Rips National Media as a ‘Collection of Liars’ Over Riot Coverage Katie Pavlich

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2020/09/11/exclusive-ag-barr-rips-national-media-as-a-collection-of-liars-over-riot-coverage-n2576070

Wrapping up a three-day tour in Chicago, Phoenix and Cleveland Friday, Attorney General Bill Barr took on the media during an exclusive interview with Townhall.

“They’re basically a collection of liars. Most of the mainstream media. They’re a collection of liars and they know exactly what they’re doing. A perfect example of that were the riots. Right on the street it was clear as day what was going on, anyone observing it, reporters observing it, it could not have escaped their attention that this was orchestrated violence by a hardened group of street fighting radicals and they kept on excluding from their coverage all the video of this and reporting otherwise and they were doing that for partisan reasons, and they were lying to the American people. It wasn’t until they were caught red-handed after essentially weeks of this lie that they even started feeling less timid,” Barr said on the flight back to Washington Friday afternoon.

“The press has dropped, in my view – and I’m talking about the national mainstream media – has dropped any pretense of professional objectivity and are political actors, highly partisan who try to shape what they’re reporting to achieve a political purpose and support a political narrative that has nothing to do with the truth. They’re very mendacious about it,” he continued. “It’s very destructive to our Republic; it’s very destructive to the Democratic system to have that, especially being so monolithic. It’s contributing to a lot of the intensity and partisanship.”

For months major news networks have portrayed riots across the country as “peaceful protests.” CNN ran a chyron of a reporter standing in front of a burning Kenosha business that read, “Fiery but mostly peaceful protest.”