ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Constitutional defamation: Democrats, not democracy, are in danger this election by Jonathan Turley

Posted By on November 7th, 2022

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3721139-constitutional-defamation-democrats-not-democracy-are-in-danger-this-election/

Historian Michael Beschloss’s warning on MSNBC — speculating that “our children will be arrested and conceivably killed” if Republicans win control of Congress — summed up the final pitch by President Biden and fellow Democrats ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Apparently, it is not gas prices, the economy or crime that once again are the top polling issues for voters. Instead, it is democracy or death, gas or grandchildren — you choose.

Biden returned to this theme in what White House chief of staff Ron Klain called his “final warning” to voters. The president ominously cautioned voters who might be thinking of voting for Republicans that, “make no mistake, democracy is on the ballot for all of us.” In other words, be afraid, be very afraid.

Biden was widely criticized for an earlier Philadelphia speech that denounced political opponents as fascists plotting to overthrow democracy. Yet he and others have returned to that theme as Democrats appear to be losing ground even in traditional blue states. Among others, Hillary Clinton warned that the GOP is trying to “steal” the election and that “they’re going after democracy.“

The president’s attacks do not appear to be gaining much traction, with polls showing that most people view him as inciting political unrest. Nevertheless, on almost every network and cable news program, the mantra seems unrelenting: If the GOP prevails in the midterms, democracy could be lost.

Whereas the media once pushed a false Russia collusion claim in the 2016 election, this time it is pushing a claim that the GOP itself represents the threat to our liberties and very lives.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Doctor, Fix Thyself Peter J. Pitts

Posted By on November 7th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/11/07/doctor-fix-thyself/

We owe a lot to America’s physicians, the brave men, and women on the front lines of the war against COVID-19. Yet rather than supporting American doctors, flawed public policy will soon reduce Medicare’s physician fee schedule, compounding and magnifying the increased pandemic pressures and economic challenges that physicians have been facing over the past two-and-a-half years.

Current federal policies call for a 4.42% cut in Medicare physician fee schedule payments, effective Jan. 1, 2023. Such drastic cuts for our nation’s physicians will force many small to mid-size practices out of business — particularly those in rural communities — placing an increased, and deeply unfair, financial strain on the ones that remain. The result is entirely predictable, a weakened health care system that endangers the lives of vulnerable patients. Proposed reductions to Medicare’s physician payments will undermine the economic viability of practicing medicine in towns and cities nationwide, and further broaden the health care equity gap for both rural America and lower income communities of color.

These fast-approaching ill-considered cuts magnify the insidious instability of Medicare’s arcane and antiquated physician payment system For quite some time the growing discrepancy between the cost of running a medical practice and the actual payments physicians receive from Uncle Sam through Medicare has become more and more unreasonable and unjustifiable, considering the various administrative red tape and financial burdens of participating in the program. This situation is driving provider consolidation that limits patient choice not just in access to physicians, but in the type of care those remaining physicians can provide.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

US interests and Israel’s control of Judea & Samaria (West Bank) a new 8-minute-video: Yoram Ettinger

Posted By on November 7th, 2022

https://bit.ly/3E58u3h

Synopsis:

*Israel’s control of the topographically-dominant mountain ridges of the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria has enhanced Israel’s posture of deterrence, constraining regional violence, transforming Israel into a unique force-multiplier for the US. 

*Top Jordanian military officers warned that a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would doom the pro-US Hashemite regime east of the River, transforming Jordan into a non-controllable terrorist heaven, generating an anti-US domino scenario in the Arabian Peninsula.

*Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria has eliminated much of the threat (to Jordan) of Judea and Samaria-based Palestinian terrorism.

*Israel’s posture of deterrence emboldens Jordan in the face of domestic and regional threats, sparing the US the need to deploy its own troops, in order to avoid an economic and national security setback.

*The proposed Palestinian state would become the Palestinian straw that would break the pro-US Hashemite back.

*The Palestinian track record of the last 100 years suggests that the proposed Palestinian state would be a rogue entity, adding fuel to the Middle East fire, undermining US interests.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

THE UNFORGIVALBE REQUEST FOR SHAMNESTY: THOMAS BUCKLEY

Posted By on November 7th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/11/07/covid-amnesty-will-not-it-cannot-be-given/

EXCERPT:

After a day or so, you start to work your way back to normal – a bit. 

And then – in an effort to get yourself completely off the hook for your bad behavior — you write an article for The Atlantic entitled “Let’s Declare a Drunken Party Amnesty.”

And you have the self-satisfied gall of the recently repentant to think “well, that’s over and we should never discuss it ever again because that would be rude of you.”

That’s not how this works.

The actions taken by Dr. Emily Oster – who had the narcissistic temerity to write the “Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty” — and her many many over-credentialed, under-educated power-mad brethren over the past 30 months cannot be given a pass.

What happened during the pandemic was obviously more than a one-off drunken party moment.  Having tee many martoonis does not compare to the whirlwind of destruction the COVID reaction caused.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

 www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

This week on November 8, 2022 Americans will vote. The franchise is the hallmark of democracy, so sadly unavailable to billions throughout the word. Last week, Israelis held elections and Michel Ordman highlights two wonderful stories about the results and the participation.

Congratulations Israel!   You make outsize contributions to the world in every aspect of human endeavor, especially in the growth, production, storage, and quality of food. And, you remain a bastion of the freedoms that are essential human rights. And thank you Michael Ordman! rsk

 He voted in every election. Yossi Barash, 94, has never missed a chance to cast his ballot since Israel’s 1948 inception. Barash was born in Tel Aviv in 1927 and now lives in Kfar Yehoshua. He voted in rain, storms and intense heat and never prioritized vacation plans over voting. He says voting is the most important civic duty. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/sjo31hseo
 
The most democratic country. The latest Israeli elections revealed some interesting facts. Israel is now first in the world in terms of frequency of elections since 1996. Voter turnout was 71% – the most since 1999.  Voters had the choice of 39 separate parties. https://unitedwithisrael.org/11-surprising-figures-about-todays-israeli-election/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Israel’s first lymph node transplant. For the first time in Israel, surgeons at Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya in Tiberias have performed lymph node transplant surgery. They used lymph nodes from the abdomen of a 34-year-old woman suffering from the lack of a lymphatic system in her leg that caused it to swell hugely.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-720370
 
HBOT and autism. A new Tel Aviv University study showed that Pressure chamber therapy (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy – HBOT) significantly improved social skills in animal models of autism. It also reduced neuroinflammation, which is known to be associated with autism.
https://neurosciencenews.com/pressure-chamber-asd-21737/  https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/19/11077
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36232395/
 
Israeli cancer detection expands across France. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Ibex Medical has expanded its partnership with France’s Medipath (see here previously) to cover cancer analysis of multiple tissue types at more of Medipath’s 30 labs. Medipath provides pathology services to 250+ hospitals and clinics across France.
https://ibex-ai.com/medipath-ai-expansion/  
 
10,000+ implants.  Israel’s Ossio (see here previously) has reported that orthopedic surgeons have implanted more than 10,000 Ossiofiber implants since their introduction in 2019. Ossio’s biofriendly Ossiofiber, and intelligent bone regeneration technology are designed to solve the shortcomings of conventional metal implants.
https://www.massdevice.com/ossio-closes-38-5m-series-c/  https://www.ourcrowd.com/companies/ossio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvZsgpgfW7s
 
Twin sisters develop metabolism device. (TY UWI) Israeli twin sisters Merav and Michal Mor, both PhD graduates, were training for an Ironman triathlon and needed to measure their metabolic rate. No device existed, so they invented their own and founded Israeli startup Lumen (see here previously).
https://www.israel21c.org/how-to-hack-your-metabolism-and-improve-your-health/
https://www.lumen.me/home-research
 
Israeli global medi-tech (TY Louise) A recent Shanghai expo has revealed two Israeli medical technology start-ups that haven’t previously been reported in this newsletter. They are Vitalerter (biosensor care protection), and RuiLuo Technology, part of Israel’s Neurotech Solutions (ADHD diagnosis and treatment).
https://ischam.glueup.cn/event/chinese-investments-in-israeli-medical-tech-33640/
https://www.vitalerter.com/   https://www.neurotech-solutions.com/
 
Newborn saved in Herzliya mall. Volunteer EMTs from United Hatzalah revived a 3-week-old baby girl who suffered cardiac arrest in a Herzliya shopping mall. The team performed CPR with just two fingers and after 30 minutes the baby’s pulse returned. Later in hospital a heart defect was discovered and treated.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/361365
 
Preemie delivered and resuscitated. United Hatzalah volunteers have been busy. In Kiryat Gat they delivered a premature baby in the breech position and then used two-fingered CPR and ventilation to restore her pulse. They also treated the mother who had lost a large amount of blood during the emergency.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/miracle-delivery-israeli-emts-revive-pulse-less-preemie-during-home-birth/

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

“You Think You Can Run Away?”: The Persecution of Christians, by Raymond Ibrahim

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19081/persecution-of-christians-september

In the video, the 36-year-old mother of three] appears naked, with both of her arms and legs cut off. One of her eyes is clearly gouged out. A severed finger appears sticking out of her mouth, and another appears to be sticking out of her private parts. The Muslim soldiers videotaping their handiwork… can be heard laughing and joking in the background. Video footage similarly showed Azerbaijani soldiers overpowering and forcing down an elderly Armenian man, who cries and implores them for mercy, as they casually carve at his throat with a knife. — Video, September 13, 2022, Azerbaijan/Armenia.

Bashir threatened the Christians: “If you continue insisting that Jesus is the Son of God, then Allah will kill all of you.” — “Bashir,” before drowning five Christians, Morningstar News, September 8, 2022, Uganda.

“There is still no breathing space for Christian communities in southern Kaduna, as terrorists, jihadists, bandits and armed herdsmen have continued to plunder and wreck Christian communities in the southern part of Kaduna state.” — Statement from the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union on extensive murders, saharareporters.com, September 19, 2022.

The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of September 2022:

The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Bibi’s victory, Biden administration blues By Ruthie Blum

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

https://www.jns.org/opinion/bibis-victory-biden-administration-blues/

 Let’s set aside speculation as to why President Joe Biden has yet to congratulate Israel’s former and soon-to-be prime minister, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, on his victory in the Nov. 1 Knesset elections. One could argue that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides’s call on Thursday—to wish Netanyahu well and say that he’s “looking forward to working together to maintain the unbreakable bond”—was a sufficient temporary stand-in for the real thing.

It’s worth remembering that Biden’s got his own political hurdles to cross at the moment. Polls ahead of the upcoming midterms are boding ill for his party, to put it mildly.

Still, given the widely cited gossip-disguised-as-news by Israeli commentator and Axios columnist Barak Ravid, it’s hard to ascertain the significance of Biden’s silence. Ravid reported on Wednesday that “two U.S. officials” said Washington “is unlikely to engage with Jewish supremacist politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is expected to be a senior minister in [Netanyahu’s new government].”

Ravid added that “if the Biden administration does boycott Ben-Gvir [No. 2 on the Religious Zionist Party list], it will mark an unprecedented development that would likely have negative consequences for the U.S.-Israeli relationship.”

Even though the above claim is more of an “anyone but Bibi” assessment than an accurate representation of the facts, one thing is clear: The Democrats occupying Pennsylvania Avenue and Capitol Hill are not fond of the prospect of another Netanyahu-led government in Jerusalem.

This works both ways. The Israeli public that just chose to replace its ruling caretaker coalition with a right-wing one is hoping for a “red wave” in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. In such an event, Biden’s belated felicitations to Bibi will contain a subtext that makes the White House wince.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

House Republicans release a scathing report alleging politicization of the DOJ and the FBI By Rajan Laad

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/11/house_republicans_release_a_scathing_report_alleging_politicization_of_the_doj_and_the_fbi.html

On Friday, the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released 1050 page report detailing the claims made by myriad whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the abuse of power and politicization of the nation’s foremost law enforcement authority.

They called it “the first comprehensive accounting of the FBI’s problems to date, which undermine the FBI’s fundamental law-enforcement mission.”

The following are the key details of the report.

The report states that Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray are willing participants in the Biden Administration’s weaponization and politicization of law enforcement.

The whistleblowers describe the FBI’s D.C. leadership as “rotted at its core,” with a “systemic culture of unaccountability,” and full of “rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse” and that “the problem lies not with the majority of front-line agents who serve our country, but with the FBI’s politicized bureaucracy.”

The whistleblowers allege that “the FBI prioritizes investigations and uses differing tactics based on political considerations—using aggressive tactics against political opponents of the Biden Administration while going softer on, or outright ignoring, allegations against the Administration’s political allies.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran: Old Recipes From the Devil’s Kitchen by Amir Taheri

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19088/iran-recipes-devil

By the time of this writing, we had the names of 385 protesters killed, including 40 women and 32 children, and 7 security men. A further 12,500 people have been arrested, according to statistics presented to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“People just don’t believe what our authorities say,” complains former Islamic Majlis (parliament) member Masud Pezeshkian.

Living in another time zone that bears no relation to reality, the Khomeinist regime is deeply anachronistic. It boasts about conquering the world for the Khomeinist version of Islam while not a single nation has bought or is likely to buy that bundle.

While it lives in another time, the Khomeinist regime also thinks it lives on another planet.

The Supreme Guide boasts of his imaginary triple alliance with China and Russia to “end American domination”. But the fact is that neither China nor Russia is prepared to put a penny into the Khomeinist begging bowl.

Even if it weathers the current storm, the Khomeinist system is on life-support and borrowed time.

Even in new versions, the old recipe from the devil’s kitchen won’t whet the Iranian people’s appetite.

The kitchen is the same, as is the chef. The ingredients are also the same. But when the witches’ brew is served in the restaurant, Chez Ayatollah, would-be clients reject it in disgust. This is the image that comes to mind as the Islamic Republic of Iran struggles to crush the latest popular revolt.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Thank God For These Horrible Democrats Derek Hunter

Posted By on November 6th, 2022

https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2022/11/06/thank-god-for-these-horrible-democrats-n2615531

It’s times like these when you yearn for the perfect words to explain not only how important it is to vote Tuesday, but also to properly describe just how awful the people you’re running against are. In the case of Democrats, unfortunately, the words needed to describe them tend to contain four letters and generally are slang for body parts or directions for action involving them. That makes them unusable in a family-friendly column, but I’m going to try to get around that as best I can and paint as accurate of a picture as possible about why we should be grateful for these horrible Democrats.

A fish rots from the head down, but in the case of Democrats that head is empty, or at least has forgotten where it is. Naturally, that head is on the scrawny neck of Joe Biden, a man so untrustworthy that it says “hello” you have to suspect he’s leaving. What kind of person thinks claiming “Ultra MAGA is a threat to the country” is a good strategy? “MAGA” stands for “Make America Great Again,” which if you’re pretending to like the country is rather difficult to demonize. Then again, Biden leads the party that has “America was never great” as a guaranteed applause line on the campaign trail, so nothing should surprise us.

In a last-ditch effort to save his worthless presidency, Biden declared the act of engaging in democracy to be a threat to it should the public dare vote against the wishes of Democrats. I’d call that verbal yoga, but yoga has value whereas Democrats and what they say do not.

The idea of declaring one of the two possible election outcomes to be invalid before any votes are counted should bother the people who claim to wake up screaming about “threats to democracy.” But those claims are as sincere as the election results in the old Soviet Union or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Yet, while calling anyone who opposes his failed policies “semi-fascist,” Biden is embracing the tactics of fascists throughout history. 

And so is every other Democrat out there, on the ballot or in the media. Any result not reflecting what Democrats want is a threat to democracy, according to these people. The only difference is they won’t have a firing squad outside your polling place ready to dispense their version of “democracy” should they discover you voted wrong, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to. Enjoy voting against them…while they still allow it and so they can’t disallow it in the future.

Whatever joy you experience Tuesday night, save an extra cup of “in your face” for Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke. While those two are horrible people – having spent the last four years lying about and smearing Republicans, unchallenged, on cable news – beating them again should bring special joy.