China Doesn’t Have to Lift a Finger to Push Biden Around by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17012/china-push-biden

“Xenophobia” has been a constant Biden theme… Within moments [of President Trump’s “travel ban” last January] … Biden went on the attack. “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysterical xenophobia and fear mongering to lead the way instead of science,” he said. There was nothing “xenophobic” about Trump’s travel ban. It was imposed on arrivals from the country where the disease first appeared. The ban, therefore, saved lives, and it would have saved even more if it had been stricter, announced sooner, and had been more rigorously enforced…. [If Biden] had been president then, the disease would almost certainly have spread faster in America. He was, during the campaign, against all such travel prohibitions.

Now, Biden is supporting another Chinese propaganda campaign…. The Chinese regime, which to this day uses geographical names for strains of virus, has been trying to ban any identification of China with the pandemic. Biden, with his executive order [rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO)], is doing Beijing’s work as Chinese leaders try to deflect blame.

This decision was especially hideous because WHO was complicit in China’s deliberate spread of the disease. WHO disseminated Beijing’s position that the coronavirus was not readily contagious even though the organization’s senior doctors knew it was highly transmissible. Moreover, WHO championed the Chinese campaign against travel bans. Americans died because of these and other indefensible actions on the part of WHO, and now Biden will go back to legitimizing and supporting that organization.

So far, Biden has taken steps that certainly encourage Beijing. His rejoining the Paris Agreement, his cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and his repeal of the ban on Chinese equipment in the American electrical grid, among others, favor, directly or indirectly, Beijing. Also of great concern is the failure of Commerce Secretary nominee Gina Raimondo to confirm that Huawei Technologies will remain on the department’s Entity List.

The Biden administration has just endorsed one of China’s most vicious attack lines against the United States.

The new administration’s actions look as if they are setting a pattern for its responses to Beijing on the disease and other matters.

On January 26, Biden signed his executive order titled “Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.”

New Team in Washington: Beyond Tokenism by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17013/washington-tokenism

But what does the term “minority” mean in a democracy based on equal citizenship for all? The term minority denotes “less-ness” compared to the “more-ness” of another entity. However, how could one regard some citizens of a democratic state as “less” than other fellow citizens?

[T]he United States is about “We the People,” not “We the Minorities”. Democracy is a melting pot, not a salad bar.

America… started as a space for settlers from England but was put on the way of becoming a nation by “founding fathers”: Their “one nation under God” had the distinction of being the first constitutional democracy. Its motto became: Government of the People, by the People, for the People.

To pretend that this or that Cabinet minister was chosen because of his or her skin color, religious faith or other “minority” attribution is certainly not a compliment. If the choice is based not on the individual’s competence but on salad-bar considerations, it cannot be justified on democratic grounds. If, on the other hand, such considerations played no part in the choice, why make such a song-and-dance about “rainbowism” and progressive representation?

[F]ortunately, many members of the new Washington team have impressive academic and practical resumes. It is in everyone’s interest to hope that they will see themselves not as figures in a game of ethnic tokenism but the servants of the American demos at a difficult time.

Last month, as he started shaping his future Cabinet, President-elect Joe Biden promised to form a team that offers a better representation of America as it is. Judging by the welcome that his Cabinet has received across the globe, one may conclude that he has delivered on his promise.

If One Mask Doesn’t Work, Try Two, or Three, or Four… By Ted Noel, MD

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/01/if_one_mask_doesnt_work_try_two_or_three_or_four.html

Once upon a time, my primary specialty of anesthesiology was the most scientific of all the medical specialties that actually touch patients. Then I saw that Dr. Scott Segal, chair of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina told NBC news that we should consider wearing four — count ‘em — four face masks at once. I had thought that the insanity would stop at double masking. Welcome to the new normal. Panic porn has taken over even the medical community that should know better.

Albert Einstein is credited with the maxim that “Doing something a second time and expecting a different result is insanity.” So the first step in “Will more masks help?” is to ask, “Do masks help at all?” Lots of people have done a lot of good work on the mechanics of masks. Jose-Luis Jiminez at the University of Colorado and Linsey Marr at Virginia Tech are two excellent scientists who study the mechanics of the aerosols that transmit COVID-19. Both have demonstrated that masks will markedly reduce droplets. Numerous YouTube videos have also demonstrated that quite dramatically. Masks may even slightly reduce — not eliminate — aerosols.

The problem with all this work is that it starts from two primary assumptions. First is the questionable idea that droplets are responsible for spreading the bug. The second is that if we stop droplets, we will necessarily stop the virus. When the epidemic started, we were told to worry about droplets from speaking, singing, and sneezing. But while those can travel many feet, they follow a spitball’s path to the floor, where they cause no further problems. Unless someone sneezes directly in your face from close range as you are inhaling, they can’t get inside your lungs to make you sick.

By his own definition, Biden is already governing like a dictator By Joe Concha

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/536317-by-his-own-definition-biden-is-already-governing-like-a-dictator

“I have this strange notion, we are a democracy … if you can’t get the votes … you can’t [legislate] by executive order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus.” 

Those are the words of Joe Biden. And, no, this isn’t a matter of unearthing a clip from the 1980s or ’90s in an attempt to play a game of gotcha on some antiquated flip-flop. That’s Democratic nominee Biden, less than three weeks before the 2020 presidential election, talking to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos about the dangers of governing like a dictator.

In President Biden’s first week alone, he has signed 37 executive orders and actions as of Thursday. That’s 33 more than the guy he indirectly referred to as a dictator, in the form of predecessor Donald Trump. It’s 32 more than his old boss, Barack Obama, and 37 more than George W. Bush, who signed zero in his first week as president. 

“With unity we can go do great things, important things,” Biden said during his inaugural address. “Unity is the path forward. We must meet this moment as the United States of America. We’ve never failed in America when we’ve acted together.”

“Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward,” he also said, in a speech lauded by those on both sides of the political aisle. 

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

The pandemic is now under control in Israel, but the political bickering in the scrappy democracy never stopped. However, in the background and in the labs and research facilities, state of the art developments to ameliorate global suffering and concerns also never stopped. As Michael Ordman relates: “On Thursday, Jerusalem residents woke up to the sight of a huge rainbow stretched across the whole of Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives.” His weekly posts bring a rainbow of good news. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The Vaccination Nation. Nearly 3 million Israelis have now received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 1.7 million have now received the second.  Covid infections and serious illnesses of Israelis over the age of 60 are now 60% lower than before vaccinating started. An inspiring video.

https://www.jns.org/israel-surpasses-1-million-fully-vaccinated-with-both-doses/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/week-after-2nd-pfizer-vaccine-shot-only-20-of-128000-israelis-get-covid/

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

From coffee to vaccines. Israel’s Youtiligent has developed an IoT (Internet of Things) solution for checking that a vaccine has been kept at the correct temperature. Youtiligent is piloting the system with two of Israel’s four Health Management Organizations. Before Covid, Youtiligent monitored coffee machines and ice cream!

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3888741,00.html  https://www.youtiligent.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb2D7p5xjF8

A Breath of Health. Israel’s Breath of Health (BOH) has developed a breath test system that identifies Covid-19. Clinical trials at Israel’s Hadassah and Sheba Medical Centers have shown preliminary success rates of 98%.  BOH has signed an agreement with India’s Reliance Group to distribute the system throughout India.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3889818,00.html  https://bohpharma.com/

New pathway for targeting cancer. Normal cells have 23 chromosomes from each parent. But cancer cells do not, and scientists have been trying for years to exploit that fact. Now Tel Aviv University scientists have deciphered the phenomena and can guide oncologists to the therapies most appropriate for each type of cancer.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientists-unveil-powerful-tool-advancing-personalized-cancer-medicine/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03114-6

Hope for Parkinson’s treatment. Ben Gurion University researchers have discovered that proteins called BMP5/7 are new promising potential therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease. In lab tests, the proteins prevented the accumulation of toxic alpha-synuclein clumps and loss of vital dopamine-producing brain cells.

https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awaa368/6012790

Trial success for kidney monitor. Israel’s Serreno (reported here previously) reported over 96% accuracy in the trials of its Sentinel monitoring system for Acute Kidney Injury in three Israeli Intensive Care Units. The devices will now be manufactured by Israel’s Elcam Medical, which has also invested $1.5 million in Serreno.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/startup-hopes-life-saving-kidney-monitor-will-hit-us-hospitals-this-year/

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3888772,00.html

 

AI to improve IV. Israel’s Embrionics is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the success rates of fertility treatments. Founded by Haredi female entrepreneur Dr.Yael Gold-Zamir, Embrionics is breaking new ground in embryo selection, genetic analysis and utilizing Big Data to help bring happiness to childless couples.

https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2021/01/24/israels-embryonics-uses-ai-for-fertility-treatments/

 

Tel Aviv is world’s 6th healthiest city. Tel Aviv, known for its vegan scene and vibrant culture, was ranked the 6th healthiest city in the world, according to a new report from UK’s Money.co.uk. It compared life expectancy, obesity levels, pollution levels, safety score, sunlight hours, and cost to be healthy.

https://nocamels.com/2021/01/tel-aviv-is-named-the-6th-healthiest-city-in-the-world-in-new-report/

https://www.money.co.uk/guides/healthiest-places-to-live#valencia-is-the-healthiest-city-in-the-world

EU funding for antibiotic alternative. Israel’s Omnix (reported here previously) has been awarded €10.8 million in EU funding under the EIC Accelerator Programme, part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research funding program. Omnix’s OMN6 peptide destroys the bacteria’s membrane, regardless of its resistance.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3889749,00.html

https://www.omnixmedical.com/omnix-medical-wins-e10-8m-in-eic-accelerator-funding/

Europe approves skin tightening device. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Sofwave (reported here previously) has received Europe’s CE Mark plus Israeli approval for its revolutionary skin tightening and wrinkle reduction device. Sofware’s SUPERB (Synchronous Ultrasound Parallel Beam) has already received US FDA approval.

https://sofwave.com/news/press-release/sofwave-receives-ce-medical-mark-and-additional-key-regulatory-clearances-for-its-revolutionary-skin-tightening-and-wrinkle-reduction-device/

Working to prevent pre-cancerous colon polyps. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Digestix Bioscience is in the early stage of developing a medical device and treatment to prevent recurrence of certain colorectal polyps. These polyps occur in at least 25% of people over 50 and if not removed can develop into colon cancer.

https://cannabics.com/cannabics-pharmaceuticals-founds-digestix-bioscience-inc-a-subsidiary-for-treatment-of-precancerous-and-early-stage-neoplastic-local-tumors/  https://www.digestix.com/

Dad says NYC DOE public schools are ‘brainwashing’ kids with woke agenda

https://nypost.com/2021/01/30/dad-says-nyc-doe-public-schools-are-brainwashing-kids/

Henry Jones* is a married 49-year-old father of a daughter, 12, and son, 8, who are enrolled in two different public schools in Manhattan’s District 2. Worried about the identity politics agenda that’s increasingly dominating his children’s education, Henry, who is white, reached out to The Post. Here, he reveals his fears that his kids’ curriculum has gone too far: 

In 2017, our 5-year-old son came home from kindergarten and said he was studying a famous teenage transgender girl in school. I’d never heard of her, but he said her name was Jazz Jennings (formerly a boy who transitioned a few years ago and has so far had three gender reassignment surgeries.) 

I knew his school was liberal, so in the beginning I didn’t worry too much. But I did tell the principal I thought it was inappropriate. He disagreed. He told me, “We would never teach something inappropriate.” 

Not long after that, our son came home and told me the teacher said it was wrong to give little girls pink toys and little boys blue toys. That same year, teachers urged my son and his classmates to march around the school chanting, “Pink and blue is for everyone!” in a gay-rights walk. 

In 2018, my son and daughter were in the same elementary school, and their principal started involving parents as if they were part of the problem, too. We were told to read Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” and Ibram X. Kendi’s book, “How to Be an Antiracist.” I read both books, and had issues with them both. Alexander argues that the war on drugs is racist. This is crazy talk because drugs were and still are devastating the black community. Kendi says that unless you’re actively pushing for “equity” all the time, you’re racist. So, for example, the city wants to abolish testing for its more competitive schools because there aren’t enough black kids passing the test. But this lowers the bar for everyone. In my opinion, this so-called anti-racism is hurting black people. 

Growing evidence Capitol assault was planned weakens incitement case against Trump, experts say If Trump “didn’t know about it, they had planned it without him, then you’re missing the causal relationship,” said Alan Dershowitz. “It would have happened without his speech as well. So that would be relevant on the issue of causation.”By Carrie Sheffield

https://justthenews.com/government/security/evidence-pre-planned-capitol-attack-grows-experts-say-case-weakens-tying-trump

Growing evidence of advance planning and coordination of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol undermines claims that the rioters were responding spontaneously to former President Trump’s speech to supporters about a mile and a half away, according to legal and intelligence experts.

As Senate Democrats mull their options for convicting or censuring Trump and banning him from future public office for allegedly inciting insurrection, experts said their incitement case against him was dealt a severe blow this week when federal prosecutors charged three men in the Capitol attack, alleging their communication and coordination dated back to November. 

For speech to meet the threshold of incitement, a speaker must, first, indicate a desire for violence and, second, demonstrate a capability or reasonable indication of capability to carry out the violence, according to Kevin Brock, former assistant director of intelligence for the FBI.

In Trump’s case, Brock said, there were neither.

In an interview Thursday, Brock told Just the News he listened to Trump’s entire Jan. 6 speech. “I didn’t hear a single word about — or anything that would trigger a reasonable person to believe that he was inciting— violence,” he said. “He even used the words ‘peaceful’ and ‘respectful.'”

Cuomo blames nursing home scandal on ‘political attack’ by Trump admin Cuomo speaks in first public comments since scathing attorney general report

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-blames-nursing-home-scandal-on-political-attack-by-trump-admin

In his first public comments since a scathing attorney general report finding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration undercounted nursing home deaths, the governor on Friday argued criticisms of him were a “political attack” that began with the Trump administration. 

“That was mean,” Cuomo said when the federal government blamed New York and other states for the nursing home COVID-19 deaths.

“Where this starts is frankly a political attack from the prior federal administration and HHS… Michael Caputo,” the Democratic governor continued.

Caputo, assistant secretary of public affairs for the Health and Human Services Department under President Trump, fired back immediately in a statement: “Early on, experts at the Health and Human Services administration identified Cuomo’s foolish executive order as a primary cause for thousands of nursing home COVID deaths in New York. He’s right, I called him out on it immediately… Cuomo is personally responsible for thousands of unnecessary nursing home deaths and he must be held accountable.”

Is karma coming calling for Killer Cuomo? By Thomas Lifson

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may finally be facing a partial reckoning for sending elderly Covid patients back into nursing homes, thereby spreading the disease to the most vulnerable group of all, the elderly.  New York State also has the highest Covid death toll (42,000) but is only the fourth largest state by population. Yet Cuomo has written a book crediting his performance as magnificent and has enjoyed favorable media treatment, and until now high levels of public approval.  

Thanks to a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James, it is now on the public record that the Covid deaths among nursing home residents were undercounted by as much as 50%, mostly thanks to the trick of failing to count the deaths of those who were readmitted to hospitals and died there.

CNBC writes:

The investigation found that the number of Covid deaths among nursing home residents in some facilities rose by more than 50% when residents who died in the hospital are counted. The state’s official Covid-19 death toll in nursing homes, which stands at more than 8,700, excludes patients who died after being transported to a hospital.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has faced criticism for failing to disclose the total number of nursing-home residents who have died of Covid-19. In her sweeping report, James, also a Democrat, found that “many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in D.O.H.’s published total nursing home death data.”

In my book, sending Covid patients into nursing homes, where the risk of disease spread and lethality was highest, was nearly criminal. I also note that there was a financial interest in killing off elderly patients, whose nursing home care in many cases fell to the State of New York, costing it tens of thousands of dollars annually per resident/patient.

1776 Commission Director: Abolishing the Commission Won’t ‘Get Rid of These Principles’ By Samuel Allegri

https://www.theepochtimes.com/1776-commission-director-abolishing-the-commission-wont-get-rid-of-these-principles_3677164.html

“The commission, in some form, will carry on.You could abolish the commission, but you can’t erase history, you can’t get rid of these principles. That’s what we’re dedicated to. And that’s what we will continue teaching and working to defend,” Spalding said at the conclusion of the interview.

Dr. Matthew Spalding, a professor of constitutional government and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College was interviewed by The Epoch Times’ program American Thought Leaders. He was the executive director of the 1776 Commission, created by executive order by former President Donald Trump.

The host of the program, Jan Jekielek, asked him some key questions highly relevant to the current intense political zeitgeist, allowing Spalding to cast lucidity on the partially forgotten, at least for the younger generations, ideals of 1776.

The new Biden administration has abolished the 1776 commission, a history-centered, patriotic education program that calls for remembrance of and upholding the nation’s founding principles.

Spalding spoke about the clashing points that juxtapose the New York Times’ controversial “1619 Project” and the United States’ founding history, along with the ideological and theological ramifications.