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Kamala Harris is Hamas’ useful idiot The vice-president is a major liability for the Biden campaign – and is harming relations with Israel Nile Gardiner March 2024

Posted By on July 22nd, 2024

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2024/03/27/kamala-harris-hamas-useful-idiot-rafah-invasion-israel/

As the Biden Presidency continues to sink at a rapid pace, with nearly two thirds of Americans now believing the country is on the wrong track, Kamala Harris is unwittingly doing her best to speed its demise.

Her latest television interview, with ABC News, can only be described as a train wreck that cements her reputation as a calamitous vice president. The interview followed her recent gaffe-ridden visit to Puerto Rico, where Harris cluelessly applauded anti-American protesters singing a song in Spanish accusing her administration of war crimes.

In yet another damaging blow to relations between the Biden Presidency and the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris warned Israel against a military offensive in Rafah, while ludicrously boasting “I have studied the maps.” Harris, whose expertise on the Middle East is close to zero, saw fit to berate America’s closest ally in the region on its own counter-terrorism policy. The arrogance was breathtaking, and the ignorance of the complexities on the ground simply stunning.

Harris has been one of the least impressive vice presidents in US history. Her vacuous policy statements and speeches frequently display a staggering lack of knowledge. Her handling of the southern border crisis as the White House’s “border czar” has been an absolute disaster, with over nine million illegal migrant crossings since she and Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

Many Americans I have spoken to genuinely fear her one day taking over the presidency. With good reason. The only thing more embarrassing for the Biden presidency than Joe Biden himself are the media utterances made by his deputy, Kamala Harris.

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Biden won’t seek second term His fate was that of Wile E. Coyote over the precipice: Charles Lipson

Posted By on July 22nd, 2024

https://thespectator.com/politics/biden-confirms-second-term-dropping/

President Biden’s announcement that he will not seek a second term — and his endorsement of Kamala Harris — came after weeks of increasing pressure from Democratic Party insiders, alarmed that voters had finally discovered what they had known for months. Joe Biden is a shell of the man he once was. Voters knew it — and they wouldn’t vote for him. Voters also knew they had been lied to by the White House, Biden’s political allies and the mainstream media, not once or twice but for years. Whatever credibility those sources still had is gone and, with it, a major prop in the Democratic coalition. The cumulative result was almost certain to cost Democrats not only the White House but the House and Senate, as well. Biden dropping out is unlikely to help. 

Biden’s inglorious exit evoked the fate of that great cartoon character, Wile E. Coyote. His futile pursuit of the Road Runner usually ended with Wile E. running off a cliff but remaining suspended in mid-air until he looked down. When he finally looked, he began plummeting to the canyon floor, far below. 

That was Joe Biden’s ultimate fate. He was as slow to grasp it as Wile E. Coyote. He ran off the cliff after his catastrophic debate performance against Donald Trump. For weeks he refused to look down. He wouldn’t look when his wife helped him walk down a few stairs after the debate. He wouldn’t look when President Obama had to guide him off the stage at George Clooney’s star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles. He wouldn’t look when major donors reported their shock at his frail appearance and began closing their checkbooks. He wouldn’t look as he stumbled through recent interviews. He wouldn’t look as more elected officials began calling for him to end the race for reelection. The canyon was too far below. It was far better to try and stay suspended in mid-air. 

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Kamala Harris Will Be Burdened By What Has Been

Posted By on July 22nd, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/22/kamala-harris-will-be-burdened-by-what-has-been/

On YouTube, there is a four-minute video that is nothing but Vice President Kamala Harris repeating this empty phrase: “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”

But no matter how many times she utters this idiotic mantra, Harris will, in fact, be heavily burdened by the disaster that has been the Biden administration. Burdened by her own dismal record as vice president. And burdened by the fact that she is so uniquely unqualified to be leader of the free world.

To say Harris is an empty pantsuit is an insult to empty pantsuits.

As we put it in an editorial a year ago:

Biden’s reelection campaign recently described Harris as a ‘powerful and effective messenger.’ Sure. Like when she says ‘As the name suggests, community banks are in the community.’ Or, when she says that ‘present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment, and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment.’ Or … well, as Harris might put it, there are endless examples of her vapidity that stretch on without limit because there’s no end to them.

As we put it in an editorial we posted last week and updated over the weekend:

It might seem impossible, but she would be an even worse president than he was.

No matter how much Harris tries to distance herself from Joe Biden, she will carry the burden of answering for this failures. Among them:

The border crisis. One of the few jobs Biden gave her to do was stem the flow of illegal immigrants. She blathered on about “root causes,” after which 10 million or so illegals crossed the border and her “leadership role” was quietly memory-holed.

The economy. Harris will have to defend Biden’s economic record – inflation, falling real wages, widespread dissatisfaction.

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Trump is dividing America’s oligarchs Ending the Democrats’ total domination among the billionaire class would be good for democracy. Joel Kotkin

Posted By on July 20th, 2024

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/18/trump-is-dividing-americas-oligarchs/

The shot heard around the world may have been aimed at Donald Trump’s head, but it could also put extra cash in his pocket. In the aftermath of last weekend’s assassination attempt, two prominent billionaires – Elon Musk and investor Bill Ackman – announced their support for the former president. Two other formerly Trump-sceptical billionaires, Paul Singer and Ken Griffin, are also reportedly considering joining them.

The importance of these endorsements, as well as others from both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, reflect America’s increasingly oligarch-dominated political system. Traditionally, populist Democrats would have made much more of the announcements. In 2018, Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse claimed Trump was in the ‘back pocket’ of billionaires, but the attack didn’t quite land – not least because Whitehouse himself and his Democratic allies have become major recipients of oligarchic funds. Democrats received far more ‘dark money’ than the GOP in 2020.

Even recently, a spokesman suggested that Joe Biden was sending the message that ‘America is not for sale’. That is despite the fact that in 2020 Biden easily outraised Trump with a major advantage from donors in Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood, just as Hillary Clinton had done in 2016. While some Democrats posture about seeking to reduce oligarchic power, they equally want to ensure that it’s their oligarchs who thrive.

None of this is to say that Trump was previously lacking his own reliable trove of right-wing donors. Investors like Jeff Yass and Timothy Mellon have given tens of millions to his campaigns. Trump donors tend to be rich investors who are in control of their own funds and less beholden to shareholders or a board of directors. In contrast, big corporate elites have, at least until now, favoured the Democrats and Biden. They have done this through contributions not only to Democratic candidates, but also to left-leaning nonprofits.

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Donald Trump and Baby Hitler Once you’ve determined that it’s okay to commit a heinous act—all bets are off. By Stephen Soukup

Posted By on July 20th, 2024

https://amgreatness.com/2024/07/20/donald-trump-and-baby-hitler/

In November 2015, when he was still the presumed frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, Jeb did an impromptu online Q&A while on his campaign bus. Among the questions he was asked was whether he “would go back in time and kill baby Hitler.” “Hell yeah, I would,” he responded immediately. And he would do so, he said, because “you gotta step up.” His only objection—or at least the only one he voiced in front of the cameras—was the butterfly effect, that is to say, the presumption that such a small change in history would have enormous future ramifications, the science for which he said “we all learned” from those “Michael Fox movies…Back to the Future.”

This answer raises two questions. First, why would Jeb answer that way? This is a guy, remember, who was raised in a very WASP-ish patrician home, was educated at the finest prep schools and one of the best public universities in the country, and converted to Catholicism. If he, of all people, thinks that the answer is an immediate “hell yeah,” then we have to ask ourselves why that is the case.

The second question is: why would anyone ask such a stupid thing anyway? Obviously, time travel is not possible, Back to the Future notwithstanding. So why would it even cross anyone’s mind to question a former governor and presidential candidate about the possibility of doing so? Where do people come up with these things?

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Palestinian Leaders Prefer Murderers and Rapists Over Reforms by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on July 20th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20793/palestinian-leaders-murderers-rapists

The Biden administration’s plan to “revitalize” the Palestinian Authority (PA) is being interpreted by Palestinian leaders as permission to form an alliance with the murderers and rapists of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas.

Instead of starting a “reform process” within the PA, as the Biden administration has demanded, Abbas and his top officials are still pursuing unity and reconciliation with Hamas, whose members carried out the October 7 atrocities against thousands of Israelis. It is hard to see how such an alliance between the two Palestinian parties would even begin to benefit the Palestinians or advance peace and security in the Middle East.

The Biden administration has so far refrained from demanding that the PA halt its efforts to form a partnership with Hamas, which is designated by the US as a foreign terrorist group.

Such statements show why there is basically no difference between the PA and Hamas. Both organizations believe that murdering Jews helps the Palestinians and advances their objective of preventing Israel and the Arab states from normalizing relations with each other.

The PA is lying when it states that it supports a two-state solution.

The PA has always stated that it prefers a one-state solution: a state of Palestine replacing all of Israel.

The Biden administration’s plan to “revitalize” the Palestinian Authority (PA) is being interpreted by Palestinian leaders as permission to form an alliance with the murderers and rapists of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas.

In November 2023, the Biden administration called for “revitalizing” the PA in the hopes that it would be able to oversee the Gaza Strip once the Israel-Hamas war ends.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US looks forward to working with the new PA government headed by Mohammed Mustafa, which was established last April, “to deliver on credible reforms.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

European Union Is Funding Iranian Aggression by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on July 20th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20791/eu-funding-iranian-aggression

The continued funding of Iran’s regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran’s ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis — and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program.

The regime’s actions appear part of a broader strategy aimed at ultimately annihilating not only Israel but also oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

While the EU loves to portray itself as a front-runner in human rights, often lecturing the world about those values and global security, its actions — all mercenary, all the time — tell a very different story.

The Iranian regime, largely thanks to the backing of a powerful ally, the European Union, has managed to sustain and even increase its revenue streams.

The continued funding of Iran’s regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran’s ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis — and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program.

Support from the EU has enabled Iran to continue its regional and international militaristic endeavors without the looming threat of financial insolvency.

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

The Road to Climate Atheism John Howard

Posted By on July 19th, 2024

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2024/07/the-road-to-climate-atheism/

The Hon. John Howard was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007

I have customarily invoked the word agnostic to describe someone who is uncertain about whether God exists, and the word atheist to someone who denies any such existence. In contemporary times, as the use of the two descriptions has broadened to more than labels about religious belief, I have embraced that trend.

Thus, on the issue of climate change I have described myself as being an agnostic with growing temptations to becoming an atheist. My walk along the road to atheism has gathered pace. The bullying and dismissive tactics of the climate alarmists have played no small part in this process.

The overwhelming bulk of commentators, scientists and others who assert a special understanding of the subject sweep aside dissent with dismissive descriptions such as “denier”. There is mounting impatience with any who dare to challenge what has clearly become the conventional wisdom. Use of the term “denier” is particularly pernicious. For decades that term has been normally understood to describe someone who asserted that the Holocaust has been either grossly exaggerated or, even worse, never occurred.

Academics and others who dare to question the majority view are brutally told that the science has been settled. A growing number have either lost their jobs, been denied promotion, or been subjected to constant harassment and ridicule. Time-honoured notions such as freedom of inquiry and the need to regularly question seemingly settled assumptions have gone by the board.

Climate change zealotry now manifests itself in growing numbers of demonstrations which interrupt citizens going about their lawful business. We are regularly told that we face an existential crisis. Indeed, just about everything in our society is now at a “crisis” point. In the process, we are rapidly losing a sense of proportion. 

If ever an issue in mankind’s existence required rational analysis and cool heads it is climate change.

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Liel Leibovitz Let’s Talk About Political Violence The Biden administration should adopt a strong stance against all political violence—including the anti-Semitic mayhem on college campuses.

Posted By on July 19th, 2024

https://www.city-journal.org/article/lets-talk-about-political-violence

“The idea, the idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this, is just unheard of. It’s not appropriate.” Thus said President Biden on Saturday, after a gunman shot former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. As political truisms go, this one is up there with “the children are our future,” a statement so obvious that it makes you wonder why anyone would bother. (Though it’s also empirically dubious: It’s “unheard of”?)

But Biden’s insistence that his administration will tolerate no political violence deserves further exploration in a different context, given a statement released last week by his Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. “In recent weeks,” it read, “Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.”

A lone, disgruntled shooter is one thing; an orchestrated, nationwide campaign of unrest, which was partly paid for and organized by another nation and which has sometimes devolved to violence, is another. And it hardly takes a professional spy to realize what must be done when an enemy country is discovered to have agitated for uprisings on America’s campuses and in our streets: arrests, deportations, sanctions, and other defensive measures must follow.

The Biden administration would be wise to adopt the more assertive stance against political violence set by the president on Saturday. Up to now, that has not been the case. For example, Haines and her colleagues went out of their way to note that, though the Iranians are clearly involved in the anti-Jewish violence that has become a staple of so much of American urban and collegiate life these past eight months, many of those participating in anti-Israeli demonstrations did so of their own accord, with nonviolent intentions, and without any knowledge of Iranian involvement. “I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza,” Haines said in her statement. “This intelligence does not indicate otherwise.”

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Researchers achieve success in allowing a patient to ‘speak’ using only the power of thought

Posted By on July 19th, 2024

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-success-patient-power-thought.html?sfnsn=mo

A scientific breakthrough by researchers from Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) has demonstrated the potential for speech by a silent person using the power of thought only. In an experiment, a silent participant imagined saying one of two syllables. Depth electrodes implanted in his brain transmitted the electrical signals to a computer, which then vocalized the syllables.

The study was led by Dr. Ariel Tankus of Tel Aviv University’s School of Medical and Health Sciences and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital), along with Dr. Ido Strauss of Tel Aviv University’s School of Medical and Health Sciences and director of the Functional Neurosurgery Unit at Ichilov Hospital.

The results of this study were published in the journal Neurosurgery. These findings offer hope for enabling people who are completely paralyzed—due to conditions such as ALS, brainstem stroke, or brain injury—to regain the ability to speak voluntarily.

“The patient in the study is an epilepsy patient who was hospitalized in order to undergo resection of the epileptic focus in his brain,” explains Dr. Tankus. “In order to do this, of course, you need to locate the focal point, which is the source of the ‘short’ that sends powerful electrical waves through the brain.

“This situation pertains to a smaller subset of epilepsy patients who do not respond well to medication and require neurosurgical intervention, and an even smaller subset of epilepsy patients whose suspected focus is located deep within the brain, rather than on the surface of the cortex. To identify the exact location, electrodes have to be implanted into deep structures of their brains. They are then hospitalized, awaiting the next seizure.