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November 2020

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Winning! Winning! Winning! by Linda Goudsmit

By on November 1st, 2020

http://goudsmit.pundicity.com/24699/winning-winning-winning

   http://goudsmit.pundicity.com  http://lindagoudsmit.com

We measure ourselves from the time we are children. “Johnny grew three inches!” “Susie got all As in school!”

We compare ourselves with others to measure our accomplishments. “Johnny is faster than Fred.” “Susie is smarter than Mary.”

We compete with each other for advancement. “Johnny won a gold medal in swimming!” “Susie got into Harvard!”

We measure, compare, and compete with others as we establish our own individual identities. We also measure, compare, and compete with ourselves as we establish our own internal sense of self. So, what is the problem?

Competence is the mother of self-esteem. It is the foundation of the meritocracy and source of the American dream. Theoretically, when we study and work hard we achieve competence, feel good about ourselves and are rewarded with advancement. Competition is an integral and important part of establishing an individual identity, a family identity, a community identity, and a national identity.

There are rules in every competition because fairness is the essential qualifying element for the meritocracy. Individuals compete. Teams compete. Families compete. Countries compete. When the rules for fair competition are broken, the entire merit system breaks down and the competition is replaced with a counterfeit performance that is presented as fair and legitimate.

The breakdown in American society is a breakdown of the merit system.

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Biden Opposed the Pakistan Raid That Took Out Bin Laden, The Pakistan Lobby is One of His Biggest Donors Daniel Greenfield

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/11/biden-opposed-pakistan-raid-took-out-bin-laden-daniel-greenfield/

Is the Indian-American community paying attention?

The Biden campaign, right before the election, finally released its list of biggest fundraisers. These are donors who have raised at least $100,000 for the Democrat candidate.

One of them is Ijaz Ahmad.

Ahmad is the head of the American-Pakistani Political Action Committee and Biden has been happy to offer them Islamist dog whistles.

Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden has expressed concern over deteriorating situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) saying restrictions preventing peaceful protests or shutting down the internet, weakens democracy.

In an online meeting, with head of American-Pakistani Political Action Committee, Dr. Ijaz Ahmad along with prominent members of Muslim community, Joe Biden called upon Indian government to take all necessary steps to restore rights for all people of Kashmir.

He quoted a hadith from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) instructs, ‘Whomever among you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand’ If he is not able, then with his tongue. If he is not able, then with his heart.’

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Twitter’s ‘Living’ Censorship The social-media firm finally unfreezes the New York Post after its story on Hunter Biden’s laptop files.

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-living-censorship-11604263210?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

When social-media companies sanction political speech they don’t like, they always point to one policy or another that was supposedly violated. The truth is they are often making up the rules as they go.

Twitter admitted as much Friday when it finally agreed to unlock the New York Post’s account after freezing it on Oct. 14 as punishment for reporting on Hunter Biden’s business dealings that were exposed on his abandoned laptop computer.

“Our policies are living documents,” the company said in explaining its decision to stop blocking the newspaper. Initially, Twitter said the Post’s Biden story violated a policy against “content obtained without authorization.” That was absurd, as leaks of one kind or another are ubiquitous in modern political reporting.

Once that rationale collapsed, Twitter said it “decided to make changes to the policy,” and stopped preventing users from sharing the Post story. But it maintained that the story still violated the policy in effect at the time the Post tweeted it, so the newspaper’s account would remain locked until the offending tweets were deleted.

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Trump Has Torn the Mask Off the Liberal Media The press resents him because he exposes its bias.By Frank Pavone

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-has-torn-the-mask-off-the-liberal-media-11604266772?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

Why does the media hate Donald Trump so much? There are all kinds of theories, but only one really makes sense: We are a country at odds over the most fundamental principles of ideology, economics, religion, race, culture, morality—even our own history. The media is on one side of that metaphorical war, and President Trump calls it out.

In this dispute the two sides have always been known to the participants, but the media doesn’t identify them publicly. A major part of the mainstream media’s strategy has been to preserve the perception of its neutrality and keep its role as hidden as possible. It has been criticized in the past for its liberal bias—by conservatives. But never by a sitting president with such effectiveness. (Richard Nixon mostly delegated the job to Vice President Spiro Agnew.) By treating the media for what it is—a belligerent in the culture war—Mr. Trump has done it irreparable damage.

The media is supposed to be a neutral participant. So, to a lesser extent, are Hollywood and academia. Hollywood’s job is to entertain us. The universities’ job is to educate us. The media’s job is to report the news to us. If there is indeed some kind of philosophical, theological and economic battle being waged for the soul of the country, Americans would certainly want to know if those responsible for filtering information to us are doing so in an objective fashion.

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GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on November 1st, 2020

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Starving leukemia cells to protect the brain. Israeli and Scottish scientists have found that the brain can be protected from metastatic leukemia by blocking the production of the fatty acid stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD). The discovery is particularly important for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children.

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2020/10/leukemia-and-the-brain/ 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-020-00115-2

Prospective treatment for liver failure. There are some 2,000 cases (80% fatal) of Acute Liver Failure (ALF) in the US each year. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have managed to control the severity of ALF in the lab by blocking signals from the gut microbiome to the MYC protein in the liver.

https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/surprising-players-acute-liver-failure-point-potential-treatment

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1102-2

Early stroke detection. The Scan&Sound app developed by students at Israel’s Technion Institute uses AI to analyze subtle changes in a potential stroke victim’s voice and facial expressions. Scan&Sound won 2nd place at John Hopkins University MedHacks in the category “Personalized Medicine Using Data-Driven Healthcare.”

https://www.israel21c.org/hackers-build-prize-winning-early-stroke-detection-app/  https://medhacks.io/

Track the eyes to reduce stress. Israel’s Umoove (reported here previously) has partnered British behavioral change consultant Matt Hudson to reduce stress and anxiety. The app MindReset uses the mobile camera and Umoove’s mobile eye tracking technology to observe the user’s nonverbal responses to stress.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289974  http://www.umoove.me/press.html

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.umoove.mindreset

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyE1q0B8Ov8

Radiotherapy institute for Jerusalem. Construction is underway on a new innovative radiotherapy institute at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. It will serve as a national center for cancer treatment, with advanced treatment methods and technologies.  https://www.jpost.com/health-science/new-innovative-radiotherapy-institute-approved-for-shaare-zedek-646876

https://www.szmc.org.il/eng/article/news,217/ https://shaarezedek.org.uk/cutting-edge-cancer-treatment/

Better clinical trials. The race to produce a Covid-19 vaccine has spurred researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University to partner with Israeli startup Panacea to speed up the human test phases. They have developed an AI tool to help select participants and markers, improve the analysis of results and presentation of findings.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3865794,00.html

A new way to diagnose infections. Israel’s MeMed (reported here previously) has received clearance in Israel, Europe and Switzerland for its MeMed BV and MeMed Key infection analyzers. They measure 3 biomarker proteins and use AI algorithms to determine if an infection is viral or bacterial and whether to use antibiotics.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3865516,00.html

Femtech telemedicine at Sheba. A follow-up to the article reported here previously about the new Women’s Health Innovation Center at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center. The pioneering femtech (female technology) center, was originally set up to promote patient and doctor safety during COVID-19.

https://nocamels.com/2020/10/women-health-innovation-center-sheba-femtech/

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Shame on the Girl Scouts: Thin Skin instead of Thin Mints by Alan M. Dershowitz

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16708/shame-on-the-girl-scouts-thin-skin-instead

The Tweet was anything but partisan or political. It was a girl’s organization dedicated to educating young women about their unlimited possibilities in life. The Tweet itself was innocuous. Here is what it said: “Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789.”

When the Girl Scouts can’t even congratulate a woman for helping to break a longstanding glass ceiling, we know that we are in trouble.

The reason I am so angry at the Girl Scouts’ decision to withdraw their original Tweet is that it is a reflection of the divisive nature of our nation and the growing intolerance, particularly by the hard left, of dissenting speech that is seen as supporting the other side.

I don’t know why I am so mad at the Girl Scouts for having withdrawn their Tweet congratulating Justice Amy Coney Barrett for being the fifth woman nominated to the Supreme Court in its long history. The Tweet was anything but partisan or political. It was a girl’s organization dedicated to educating young women about their unlimited possibilities in life. The Tweet itself was innocuous. Here is what it said: “”Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789.”

It was accompanied by a collage of photographs of the five women who have served on the high court – three of them liberals and two conservatives. But when a few angry leftists led by Cambridge U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and actor Amber Tamblyn complained, the Girl scouts quickly removed the Tweet and apologized for doing something that could be “viewed as a political and a partisan statement.”

Megyn Kelly responded quite appropriately to that absurd claim saying:

“This is pathetic. It’s not ‘partisan’ to generically congratulate the 5th woman ever to join the High Court. It’s patriotic. Taking your tweet down is partisan, however, and a real disappointment.

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The Autocratic Future of the United States? by Guy Millière

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16716/autocratic-future-united-states

If institutions of democracy — the state, the judiciary, opposition parties and the free press — suppress verifiable information instead of informing the public about it — as has just taken place for more than two weeks regarding alleged financial corruption and the possible resultant compromise — by China, Russia, and Ukraine among other countries — of an allegedly financially compromised family as possible a national security threat — these institutions of democracy instead become vehicles to sabotage a democracy.

A danger to American democracy in the past years — with threats to undo the Constitution by, for example, abolishing the electoral college, banning guns and, in 2014, eliminating free speech — has therefore become imminent.

There has been talk about killing the filibuster, to pass just about anything with a simple majority, and talk about enlarging the Senate by adding more states, presumably to enable one side to hold a permanent majority. Also on the agenda has been adding more members to the Supreme Court to turn it into a branch of legislative government, eliminating America’s historic system of checks and balances. There are also plans to raise taxes on everyone (remember, “You can keep your healthcare”?), abolish fossil fuels and fracking, and establish a Marxist-socialist economy of redistribution to replace a free economy.

There seems to have been an attempt for the last four years to instill among the population a hatred of America and of the president, to present them both as a criminal and to try to overthrow them. In any event, it is the first time in American history that there has been an attempted coup d’état against a duly elected president.

If institutions of democracy — the state, the judiciary, opposition parties and the free press — suppress verifiable information instead of informing the public about it — as has just taken place for more than two weeks regarding alleged financial corruption and the possible resultant compromise — by China, Russia, and Ukraine among other countries — of an allegedly financially compromised family as possible a national security threat — these institutions of democracy instead become vehicles to sabotage a democracy.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

US Elections: The Unasked Questions by Amir Taheri

By on November 1st, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16715/us-elections-unasked-questions

The initial success of America’s recent economic policy was based on three factors: a substantial tax cut, energy independence, and a more level playing field in foreign trade…. Will there be a high tax scenario at a time the economy is grappling with the crippling effect of Covid-19? Will he stop or curtail fracking and lose the status of number one global energy producer that the US has won for the first time since the 1960s?

Will the US re-join the so-called Paris Accord on climate change even though none of the remaining signatories has complied with it?

Will the US simply apologize and resume signing cheques for UNESCO and the World Health Organization (WHO) without insisting on reforms that most member nations regard as urgently needed?

Will the US dismantle the build-up of troops and materiel that has bolstered the allies in Central and Eastern Europe?

On strategic arms limitation schemes, will there be abandon recent demands to expand any agreement to include China or will he insist on a Cold War style check with Vladimir Putin? Will the US give the two fingers to Jair Bolsonaro and Narendra Modi, instead, hug Nicolas Maduro as Obama did with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro?

On the Middle East, will the US simply revive the Obama “nuke deal” with the Islamic Republic in Iran, lift sanctions and help the mullahs feed the monsters they have created across the globe in the name of exporting revolution? Will the US resume smuggling crisp greenbacks to Tehran to help “the moderate faction” smile more tooth-fully while “the radical faction” massacres Iranian protesters in the streets?

Will the US stab long-term allies in the back in the hope of turning deadly foes into friends, as Obama tried to do with his infamous speech at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University?

As millions of Americans prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday, joining the estimated 50 million who have already cast their ballots, they might take a few moments to ask themselves a simple question: What are we voting for?

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New York City Restaurateurs Can No Longer Swallow Subjective, Unscientific COVID Restrictions Cuomo’s leadership style is autocracy, not transparency. By Ruth Papazian

By on November 1st, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/10/23/new-york-city-restaurateurs-can-no-longer-swallow-subjective-unscientific-covid-restrictions/

Restaurants, delis, and pubs are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. They’re places we go to congregate with colleagues, celebrate with family, and catch up on “hyperlocal” news and gossip with neighbors. Much of the character and vibrancy of a neighborhood is found in its eateries.

On April 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a Northeast regional plan to reopen the state’s economy in coordination with New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Delaware: “We have reached a plateau in the number of cases and . . . should start looking forward to reopening but with a plan. The art form will be doing it smartly, in a coordinated way, cooperatively and share intelligence.”

Unfortunately, Cuomo long ago ditched the idea of coordinating the full reopening of New York City with nearby states, and the Big Apple lagged months behind other regions in the state—and in the entire Northeast—to allow indoor dining and drinking.

Coincidentally or not, days after a planned class-action suit by more than 450 restaurants in New York City got local media coverage in early September, Cuomo relented—exactly one iota—and announced restaurants in the five boroughs could offer limited indoor seating starting September 30.

Restaurants in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and other suburban counties have been allowed to offer indoor seating at half of maximum occupancy since the middle of June, and are subject to significantly laxer mandatory practices.

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A Hardcore Leftist Makes the Case for Trump By Anis Shivani

By on November 1st, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/10/31/a-hardcore-leftist-makes-the-case-for-trump/

To eject Trump now would be to rejuvenate the neoliberal order at a time of showdown and to accord it the legitimacy it desperately needed after its failed response to the last economic collapse.

The dominant view on the Left is to press the urgency of voting Donald Trump out of office, claiming he is an existential threat to democracy, and then work with a Democratic administration to push for a more progressive agenda. Trump is to be seen as an unprecedented disaster, and we are asked to think of Joe Biden as a temporary measure, the lesser of two evils. 

But all of this seems to be driven by a fundamental misunderstanding of where we stand today as an empire, and what this might mean for the actual possibility of change in a populist direction. 

Behind the upset feelings caused by Trump’s “vulgar” rhetoric and style, the substance of his policies versus those of the Democrats goes unaddressed. What if Trump could be shown to be less destructive than the Democrats in every single policy dimension? On immigration, trade, inequality, surveillance, civil liberties, and even the environment, what if reelecting Trump actually would prove less harmful than returning a Democrat to the White House?

Such a case, in fact, can be made. Trump is the first president in modern American history not to start a war. It appears that he tried his best to unwind the existing wars, but faced unrelenting pressure from the deep state (let’s call it that, rather than the military-industrial complex, because it better captures the passionately symbiotic alliance that’s formed between all the liberal institutions and the war machine) against international retreat. 

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