Carlin Out Of Character. Newspaper Decline. Leftism Works? Rush We Need 'Ya! More.

Better than making Kamikaze pilots out of young Japanese children.

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What a difference a sad event in someone's life makes.

GEORGE CARLIN (His wife had recently died...)

                

Isn't it amazing George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more in formation, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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Decline In Newspapers

In the early days of American newspapers their

focus and reporting was mainly local. Then the

founder of the NYT's discovered, if they added 

reporting about the upper class, they could increase 

readership and even collect revenue from directed 

ads.

Those who had been writing these stories were 

generally underpaid and few had college degrees. 

Early on, newspapers did not attract America's elite.

Then the Kennedy's entered The White House and 

the age of Camelot began.  Jacqueline Kennedy 

brought elegance and "chique" to The Nation's 

Home. 

Sophisticated, intelligent writers became interested 

in working for newspapers, attending Ivy 

Universities was elevated and became the "thing." 

Salaries also rose dramatically. Intellectually 

speaking, the mass media population of writers and 

broadcasters flowered and began to replace many 

"muckrakers."

A New class was born and their names became 

commonplace household ones.  Their influence 

grew and even Walter Cronkite was able to virtually 

end a dispirited war by declaring it unwinnable, 

when winning was actually within reach. Viet 

Nam's top general even asserted as much after we 

tucked our tails and fled off rooftops.

The'60's ushered  a decline in virtually every aspect 

of American culture. America's "Go West Young 

Man Spirit," fell. Even adherence to law and order 

dropped, classic courses went south and the news 

media's reliable reporting sank as well. Our dress 

code, manners and language also changed for the 

worst.  We tolerated vulgarity, became less 

inquisitive and everything seemed to come apart. A 

few things rose however, ie. crime and discord etc.

The NYT's also fell off it's vaulted perch. It still 

printed all the news but disconnected it from the 

truth. Subsequently, it was discovered the NYT's 

even hid news of The Holocaust After Katharine 

Graham sold WAPO, it too sank.

Kennedy's assassinations brought a less eloquent 

president into the White House and Jacqueline 

married a Geek Shipowner, ending the "Age of 

Camelot."

The ombudsman role of newspapers has been 

replaced technologically and many former 

newspapers have closed. Those remaining have 

sunk in the polls as their reporting credibility 

declined and their editorial page became a shill for 

progressives and The Democrat Party..

Personally, I believe allowing those who write the 

front page news and were allowed a bi-line 

transformed basic news into editorializing.

Most still receive their news from mass media 

entities but it is liberally flavored and 

predominantly written by neo Marxist educated. 

Consequently, embedded biases  have overtaken 

American thinking  and caused significant 

credibility issues.

Just another reason why our republic is threatened.

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Do Leftists Now Believe

Leftism Doesn’t Work?

image003.jpg

By: Victor Davis Hanson

American Greatness

 

It is hard to destroy a naturally beautiful city like San Francisco, with ideal weather and stunning infrastructure inherited from far better earlier generations.

 

Yet San Francisco continues its much-publicized and self-inflicted doom loop. The productive classes still flee the increasingly crime-ridden city and its self-induced pathologies. The city is eroding not because of the doomsayers and not because of what people say about San Francisco, but because of what San Franciscans have done to San Francisco.

 

In 2023, more than 40,000 crimes were reportedly committed in San Francisco. The great majority of the perpetrators were either not arrested or never jailed, indicted, or convicted.

 

Downtown office vacancy rates exceed 35 percent—and are climbing. Tourists have ostracized the city, given the thousands of homeless that occupy sidewalks and downtown. San Francisco claimed to be on the cutting edge of the woke green movement, proud that it had enacted the most stringent environmental laws and regulations in the world—except when it came to defecation, injection, and urination on the sidewalks, doorways, and parks and during storms when the toxic, effluviant human waste escapes sewage treatment and flows into the once-cherished bay.

 

In a mere five years, the city went from being one of the most envied and wealthy in the world with a vibrant nightlife and new high-tech start-ups to a West Coast Detroit.

 

Now billionaires are trying to heal San Francisco by returning it to the old normality in the era before the progressive city councils, the boards of supervisors, and mayors defunded the police, allowed the homeless to absorb the downtown, and promoted prosecutors who refused to enforce the laws.

 

The rich are rallying to undo the damage wrought by the very officials whom they and the majority of the city voted into office. Their principles seem simple—start doing the very opposite of the progressive agenda: enforce laws; arrest, convict, and incarcerate criminals; balance city budgets; and insist that the homeless leave the streets, follow the laws of the city, and relocate to shelters.

 

Across the bay, Oakland is in even worse shape. The city is on life support as a predictable result of progressive nihilism: do not enforce the law; do not arrest or jail criminals; raise taxes and overregulate businesses; pay exorbitant salaries to unionize public workers and bloated city staff; create toxic racial animosity. And the result is Oakland 2024, a mix between 19th-century Tombstone and contemporary Port-au-Prince.

 

The city is becoming a veritable ghost town as more overtaxed employers leave and more taxes rise on those who cannot leave. Cities like Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New York follow the same trajectory. They suffer the symptoms of a collective madness triggered by a combination of the destructive national COVID quarantine that birthed the Zoom culture, the systematic attack on police after the George Floyd death, and a nihilist woke epidemic that postulated a binary of stereotyped oppressors and oppressed that saw the so-called punching bag victimizers shrug and move far away from blue states and cities.

 

In all these doom-loop cities, progressive reformers in the eleventh hour are now trying to undo the very policies of those they elected, as if they are slowly waking up from a collective madness—in an election year.

 

A similar confessional and re-examination among the left is occurring over the border catastrophe. Upon ascension, the Biden administration discarded, and ridiculed as illiberal, the security measures it had inherited from the prior administration—the end of catch-and-release, the demand that would-be refugees apply for entry in their home countries, the continuation of the wall, and Mexico’s responsibility to stop the transit of millions northward through its country.

 

Much of the sudden left-wing panic over the border is, of course, opportunistic because it is an election year and the left fears losing power for what it has done to the middle class. The optics of 8 million people swarming the border with impunity over the last few years have alienated the public. And the infusion of illegal migrants into inner-city and border communities threatens to hemorrhage the Democratic base.

 

So suddenly, no one takes credit for the once wonderful, porous Biden border. Abruptly, the crossings are blamed on Trump—as if no one remembers Joe Biden’s 2019 performance-art boast for illegal aliens to “surge” the border and how he facilitated that advice over the next three years. Abruptly, the Democrats insist that after three years and 8 million illegal aliens into the Biden administration, something must be done—perhaps even a rebranding of what worked in 2020 as their own.

 

The same rethinking of energy is occurring as well among the left—in an election year. The more they talk of banning natural gas, mandating electric vehicles, and ending internal combustion engines, the more they quietly reverse course, draining the strategic petroleum reserve, quietly allowing more federal oil leases, and encouraging national production to return to pre-COVID levels present during the Trump administration.

 

Frackers and drillers are working at near-full production. Production in 2023 ended up at 13.5 million barrels a day. In short, halfway through the Biden administration, as it desperately drained the strategic petroleum reserve on the eve of the midterms to lower the high gasoline prices it had spawned, the left kept up the green rhetoric as it greenlighted oil production.

 

In early 2024, the U.S. is once again the largest oil producer in the world. Monthly production now matches or exceeds the high record months during the pre-COVID Trump administration.

 

Why the turnabout? Once again, reality strikes. In an election year, the return to reasonable energy prices is helping to moderate the inflation that the Biden administration fueled.

 

Energy self-sufficiency is a valuable foreign exchange earner. It allows the U.S. to be independent abroad, free from foreign leverage, whether from the Middle East, Russia, or Iran. American petroleum autarchy keeps the world price low and reduces the income of belligerent states. Again, the green rhetoric continues as the oil flows more than ever. Understood is that the left quietly agrees that oil and gas are necessary for the now slow transition to alternate fuels—in an election year.

 

Are any of our major cities, the vast majority blue and progressively run, still hammering away at the police, eager to cut more from the police? Are they rallying around another Soros-funded critical legal theory wannabe district attorney?

 

Or are they more likely desperately trying to offer bonuses to recruit officers whom, in just two or three years, they libeled and drove out?

 

Why the shift? Perhaps because they got their utopian wish that asserted that blameless criminals break the law only because of society’s biases and unfairness, not because they calculate the perceived benefits of criminality offset by its dangers. And now they rue the result—in an election year. In other words, leftists don’t like getting mugged, car-jacked, assaulted, and beaten and fear their own policies are endangering their own safety.

 

Why are corporations no longer lavishing money on Black Lives Matter? Why are donations to Ivy League schools down? Is Professor Kendi still a hot ticket on the lecture circuit? Is the reparations movement picking up steam?

 

Or does the left now fear that its promotion of tribalism and guilt-ridden racial essentialism is leading to a race-obsessed, fractious society, headlong on its way to a Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, or Iraq—in an election year?

 

The Biden administration, staffed by Obama-era foreign policy apparatchiks and functionaries, sought to remake what National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan once bragged was a quiet inherited Middle East.

 

The progressive therapeutic approach was supposed to lead to an ecumenical Middle East. A tolerant, passive, turn-the-other-cheek enlightened foreign policy for the 21st century would lead to a new, better Iran without nukes, a two-state solution of Hamas living peacefully with Israelis, while the occasionally raucous Houthis calmed down, Hezbollah would become more a partner than mere terrorists, Israel would be lectured and sermonized to as an overdog punching too much above its weight, and the childish Abrams Accords nonsense would end the work of Trump’s conniving son-in-law, and the pariah Saudi Arabia.

 

Or so they thought.

 

So everything was rebooted to kinder and gentler premises—and thus the Biden administration blew up the once calm Middle East.

 

And now? Two carriers were dispatched to the Mediterranean. The U.S. is belatedly bombing and launching missiles to respond to some 170 attacks on American installations. In an election year, Biden seems baffled that distancing himself from Israel still earns him the moniker of “Genocide Joe” from once loyalist Democratic Arab-American communities.

 

The woke, Jacobin revolution was promoted by progressives, mostly out of guilt and insecurity, as an overdue remake of America based on therapeutic principles. For three years, it found a rare pathway to power, enacted much of what it had long wished, and discovered the result was not just a catastrophe but dangerous to the very architects themselves.

 

So now in 2024—an election year—the left is trying to undo what it created without explaining why and what they did to us and themselves as well.

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Israel’s 135th Day of War

By Sherwin Pomerantz

The 135th day of war in Israel finds the War Cabinet continuing with their plans to launch an operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip which includes the evacuation of 1.3 million Gaza citizens out of the war zone before the attack begins.   Israel has plans to build a number of temporary camps north of the combat zone to house those who have left Gaza.   

Meanwhile, Egypt seems to be taking Israel’s plans seriously and is building a wall on the Egyptian border with Gaza in order to prevent Palestinians in Gaza from trying to flee into Egypt.  The general feeling on the ground is that if there is no deal with Hamas before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 10th, the operation in Rafah will be launched.

While the hostage negotiations have stalled there is still hope a deal can be arranged. Hamas is, of course,, blaming Israel for the stalled talks while Israel is saying Hamas has to abandon its “delusional” demands for serious talks to occur.  Meanwhile world opinion continues to build against Israel as pictures of starving children in Gaza, lining up for hot soup, flood newscasts.

While world opinion continues to push for a cease fire, the US signaled  it would veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a cease fire.   The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on the Algerian push for the 15-member . Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, quickly said the text could jeopardize "sensitive negotiations" aimed at brokering a pause in the war.

At today’s cabinet meeting, the Israeli government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal, which reads: "Israel will continue to reject international diktats regarding the permanent arrangement with the Palestinians" in order to "unilaterally force a Palestinian state on Israel." According to the text of the final statement, Israel "outright rejects" the diktats. "Such an arrangement will be achieved only by direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition, following the October 7 massacre, will award an immense and unprecedented prize to terrorism, and prevent any future peace agreement," the statement said.

Future Leadership 

 

Today’s featured potential leader represents a population in Israel that is still too often overlooked. 

Solomon Geveye, 38, was born in the Ethiopia and came to Israel as part of the historic Operation Solomon in 1991, in which more than 14,300 Ethiopian Jews were clandestinely airlifted to Israel over a 36-hour period.  Geveye quickly learned Hebrew and, given his intelligence level, skipped first grade. Although he was an outstanding soccer player, at the age of 13 he chose school over sports. ”

He is an alumnus of Atidim’s prestigious Academic Reserves Program through which he received a BA degree in economics from Ariel University after which he served 7-1/2 years in the IDF as an economist planning and managing $100 million budgets.  During that period, he completed his MBA degree retiring from the IDF as a captain.

With the business experience he gained from working for a few years in California, Geveye in 2019, founded his own consulting company, IEA (Israel, Ethiopia, America), which brought emerging Israeli technologies and investments to more advanced African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. He also facilitated projects between Israeli and American companies and African organizations.  In 2021 he became a partner and the chief business development officer for MetekuAI, a seed stage start-up. The company combines advanced artificial intelligence with human expertise to address the problem of fake news, disinformation, and organic content distribution on social media.  Most recently Geveye launched the Haile Fund (haile means “within my power” in Amharic) with an experienced advisory team and professional partners from across the hi-tech ecosystem designed to support pre-seed and seed-stage companies with at least one Ethiopian-Israeli founder.  Additionally, the fund, with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority, is establishing an entrepreneurship and acceleration program called Haile Scale, which will provide learning and support services to the fund’s entrepreneurs, operated by the Reichman Entrepreneurship School.  

Solomon, and many of his colleagues originally from Ethiopia, have transitioned well to Israeli society and represent a pool of potential leaders that could be useful to any government interested in building the new, post-war Israel.  We should tap their expertise and experience.  

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We could use him now.

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Remembering Rush Limbaugh

By CATHERINE SALGADO |

   

On this day in 2021, America lost a great man: the “Mayor of Realville” and “America’s Anchorman,” the great Rush Limbaugh.

Rush Limbaugh was more than a radio announcer or show host. He was a unique American genius, a patriot who inspired millions. From his one-line zingers — “For government to give, it must first take away” — to his thoughtful monologues, Rush was incomparable. He created a new generation of conservatives and set the gold standard for conservative talk media. Yet, despite his massive fame and popularity, there was nothing elitist or unapproachable about Rush; many of his listeners, including those who never met him, thought of him as their friend.

The college dropout turned radio and TV sensation, the show host honored by presidents and intellectual giants, the “All-Seeing, All-Knowing, All-Everything Maha Rushie,” who took on the left “with half my brain tied behind my back to make it fair.” America tuned in daily to hear his jokes, his critiques, his political observations, his predictions and analyses. As he put it, he had “talent on loan from God.”

I was raised on Rush Limbaugh. My siblings and I memorized his parodies and eagerly awaited the monthly Limbaugh Letter. As we drove to church or activities, my parents tuned into Rush. He shaped my political views and helped inspire me to go into journalism.

Rush’s sense of humor helped him and his listeners get through the hard times. “Bigot: A person who wins an argument with a liberal,” he declared. And he loved to rib the left. “I am the Doctor of Democracy. I am America’s Truth Detector. And as the Doctor of Democracy, the deal you have with your doctor isn’t changing. You get to keep your doctor. You get to keep your plan. You get to keep your station. Nothing’s changing, and it really never was gonna change,” Rush announced, making fun of Obama’s false claims about Obamacare.

But we stayed for his common sense and wisdom. “Morality is not defined and cannot be defined by individual choice,” Rush told us. “Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.” And “No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.” When he observed that “nobody else does what I do,” he was right; there are other very good show hosts, but no one quite like Rush.

Advertisement

Rush Limbaugh fully deserved the Medal of Freedom he received from Donald Trump. He gave hope to several generations, reminded conservatives we weren’t crazy, helped us deal with the present’s problems and plan for the future. “El Rushbo” was a great American, and he will always be greatly missed.

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Biden's foreign policy seems to say: " To the murderous Islamist belongs the spoils and victory :

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https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2024/02/17/biden-regime-plans-to-give-hamas-a-grand-reward-for-murdering-1200-israelis-n4926534

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America's Dysfunctional Overclass

By Michael Barone

      

What does America's overclass think of the rest of us? The short answer is "not much." They think ordinary people's splurging on natural resources is destroying the planet and needs to be cut back forcefully. And that the government needs to stamp down on ordinary people enjoying luxuries that, in their view, should be reserved for the top elites.

These are the implications of the results of two surveys of elite people conducted by pollster Scott Rasmussen by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, an organization that supports low tax rates and low government spending. The surveys covered not large swaths of the population but were confined to the top 1% of society.

One survey, the Elite, included only respondents with postgraduate degrees, household incomes above $150,000 and residents in a ZIP code with more than 10,000 people per square mile. Another, Ivy League graduates, included adults who attended Ivy League or other selective private colleges such as Chicago, Duke, Northwestern or Stanford.

You probably won't be surprised that the large majority of this Elite feels economically well off. Nor, if you've kept up with recent changes in party identification, will you be much surprised that 73% of these elites identify as Democrats and only 14% as Republicans.

What is surprising is the extent to which this American overclass would deprive its fellow citizens of things they have taken for granted. Half of these groups, 47% of Elites and 55% of Ivies, say the United States provides people with "too much individual freedom."

More than three-quarters favor, "to fight climate change, the strict rationing of energy, gas, and meat," a proposition rejected by 63% of the public. Again, "to fight climate change," between half and two-thirds favor bans on gas stoves (a recent target despite demurrals of Biden bureaucrats and New York state Democrats), gasoline-powered cars (heavily disfavored by Biden Democrats and California rules) and SUVs, "private" air conditioning and "nonessential air travel."

The ascetic economist Thorstein Veblen, in his 1899 book "The Theory of the Leisure Class," argued that the rich engaged in "conspicuous consumption" activities such as golf, polo and art collecting, for which ordinary people had neither the time nor the money.

A century and a quarter later, America has rich people hoping to deprive ordinary people of "conspicuous consumption" activities they can afford and where they clutter up the airports, interstate highways and high-end malls.

For generations, Democrats have liked to portray themselves as the tribune of the little man, the defender of policies that enable ordinary people without special advantages, or with many disadvantages, to live comfortably, securely and in dignity. There may be some condescension in this posture, but also a considerable element of respect.

This survey shows that today, this 1% of the public, which includes virtually all elective and appointive Democrats in Washington and states like California, New York and New Jersey, tends to see the bulk of its fellow citizens as selfish and destructive, in need not just of discipline but deserving of harsh restrictions on their freedoms.

This attitude is echoed by the wider group of Democratic voters. A 2023 Pew Research survey shows that while 31% of Republicans, even with their party out of power, think America "stands above all other countries in the world," only 9% of Democrats do so.

It's an unstable and dangerous situation when a largely one-party elite looks, with fear and loathing, across what Rasmussen describes as a "Grand Canyon gap" between it and its multiparty fellow citizens. It's reminiscent somehow of the "let them eat cake" French royalists in 1789 or Russian nobles in 1917. An overclass this disconnected and contemptuous risks disruption.

A better approach comes from an undoubted member of America's elite, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Speaking to CNBC at Davos last month, Dimon recounted a bus trip to Spokane and Boise and Bozeman: "People are growing. They're hungry to grow. They're innovating. It's everywhere. It's not just Silicon Valley."

Perhaps aware the Mountain West votes Republican, Dimon, who calls himself a centrist Democrat, conceded that former President Donald Trump "wasn't wrong about some of the critical issues" and was "kind of right" about NATO and immigration and "grew the economy quite well."

Of elite Democrats' contempt for Trump supporters, he had less to say. "The Democrats have done a good job with the deplorables, hugging their Bibles and their beer and their guns. I mean, really? Can we stop that stuff and actually grow up and treat other people respectfully and listen to them a little bit?"

It's a question other members of our dysfunctional overclass might ask themselves.

Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. His new book, "Mental Maps of the Founders: How Geographic Imagination Guided America's Revolutionary Leaders," is now available.

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Ordman has more good news.

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Future proof is when something has been designed to anticipate and minimize the effects of unwanted future events.  This could apply to so many Israeli achievements and even to its current war against terrorism.

This week's positive Israel newsletter includes Israeli medical innovations that promise a better future for those with dementia, autism, PTSD, tumors and the war-wounded. It includes a healthier future environment from Israeli innovations that cut pollution, save energy, feed humanity, and cool the planet.

But the story of the week must be the incredible events that resulted in the rescue of Israeli hostages and secured their future

In the 18th Feb 24 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

 

IDF special forces rescue two Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Israeli surgeons removed a massive tumor from a young child.

An Israeli climate project aims to build a sunshade in outer space.

Israel’s world-class universities generate billion-dollar companies.

An Israeli produced opera about Herzl has received international acclaim.

You can now study Torah on El Al’s in-flight entertainment.

 

Please click here, to donate (a small or large amount) to help me publicize VeryGoodNewsIsrael. 

If someone wishes to be added to the free email subscription list, they should either click here or send a request (with their name) to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

 

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR

 

Dramatic rescue of two Israeli hostages. (TY WIN) All of Israel celebrated the news that IDF special forces had rescued two Israeli-Argentinian hostages in a daring overnight operation in Rafah. The President of Argentina had just completed his historic visit to Israel and was also delighted with the outcome.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1707714683-idf-rescues-2-hostages-during-op-in-rafah

 

Rescue app saves lives.  The app Digital 101 is one of the technical innovations that has vastly improved survival rates of wounded IDF personnel during the current war. The app, developed by Israel’s K Health (see here previously) and two army reservists, transfers medical data about the wounded from battlefield to hospital.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ryc9a00yia

 

Critical gear for female IDF soldiers. Operation Israel is a group of over 100 volunteer professionals and experts. They have shipped millions of dollars’ worth of critical gear to the IDF. They are now responding to urgent requests from female IDF soldiers for properly fitting shoes, helmets, vests, uniforms, and backpacks.

https://www.jns.org/wire/operation-israel-launches-girl-power-to-equip-women-idf-soldiers-with-critical-gear/

https://www.operationisrael.org/   https://www.operationisrael.org/girlpower

 

‘Falafel King’ donates 25,000 portions to IDF. Shimon Biton, owner of Falafel Biton in Be’er Ya’akov, south of Tel Aviv, has been dubbed the “King of Falafel.” He has donated 25,000 portions of Israel’s national snack to IDF soldiers fighting in Khan Yunis in Gaza. In addition, security personnel always eat free at his restaurant.

https://www.jns.org/falafel-restaurant-donates-25000-portions-to-israeli-soldiers/

 

The biggest homecoming yet. 80% of southern moshav Shokeda’s 132 families have returned to their national-religious community, 4 miles from Gaza. The homecoming was the largest single movement of people into the Tekuma Region near Gaza since its evacuation following Oct 7. Some immediately began mowing their lawns.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/4-miles-from-war-in-biggest-homecoming-yet-hundreds-of-evacuees-return-to-shokeda/

 

Malawi kibbutz workers sing for hostages. In recent months, agricultural workers from Malawi in Africa have been working at Kibbutz Zikim. The issue of the kidnapped Israelis touches their hearts and prompted an acapella band to make a new arrangement of the song; "Home" and a music video filmed in Malawi.

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

 

Gaza mystery (TY UWI) While the IDF was fighting Hamas in the Bani Suheila neighborhood of Khan Yunis, they discovered a desk in one of the houses. On it was an inscription which read: "The table of the late Levi Eshkol." Donation of Dubek Ltd. 1981." How did the desk of Israel’s ex-Prime Minister (1963-69) get there?

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/385142

 

Oct 7 Heroes medal. (TY UWI) “The President’s Medal for Civilian Heroism,” is to be awarded to civilians who showed outstanding heroism on October 7. The announcement said it is to honor ordinary citizens, who risked their lives, “out of a sense of unity of fate and mutual Israeli guarantee, with the aim of saving lives.”

https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/13/israels-president-announces-new-civilian-heroism-medal-for-heroes-of-october-7/

 

Bedouin Oct 7 heroes honored. Military service for members of the Bedouin tribes is not mandatory, yet more than 1,500 are presently serving in the IDF. Public figures came to the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem as a tribute to 13 civilian Bedouin who saved men, women, and small children while being fired at by Hamas.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-786571  

 

 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

 

Another breakthrough in dementia research. Tel Aviv University researchers found a method of preventing memory deterioration in the animal model of Alzheimer’s disease. They detected physiological changes that appear 10 to 20 years prior to cognitive decline. They also hope to prevent cognitive issues from anesthesia.

https://www.jns.org/israeli-team-prevents-memory-deterioration-in-alzheimers-animal-model/

 

A gut feeling. (TY UWI) Researchers from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have uncovered a potential link between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the composition of the gut microbiome. Certain bacteria were more prevalent and diverse in those with ASD. It could lead to the development of possible treatments.

https://tps.co.il/articles/israeli-research-points-to-gut-microbiomes-role-in-autism-spectrum-disorder/

 

Neurofeedback device effective for treating PTSD. (TY Dr Salem) In a recent trial, the Prism neurofeedback device from Israel’s GrayMatters Health (see here previously) significantly improved the condition of 67% of the chronic PTSD patients in its recent trial. Almost one third achieved remission after three months of therapy.

https://nocamels.com/2024/02/brain-activity-monitor-proves-efficacy-in-ptsd-therapy-study-finds/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178123006613

https://www.graymatters-health.com/clinical-publications

 

Doctors removed 3lb tumor from 4-year-old. (TY UWI) Surgeons at Israel’s Emek Medical Center in Afula successfully removed a huge Wilms tumor (see here previously) weighing 1.3 kg from a four-year-old child. The tumor, in the right kidney, measured 16 cm by 12 cm and constituted over 7% of the girl’s body weight.

https://tps.co.il/articles/israeli-doctors-remove-1-3-kilo-tumor-from-toddler/  

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/wilms-tumor/symptoms-causes/syc-20352655#

 

Hadassah’s new rehab center. Wounded IDF soldiers from Gaza are being treated at the new Gandel Rehabilitation Center in Jerusalem, part of the Hadassah Medical Organization, which opened in January 2024. Construction sped up after Oct 7, thanks to $29 million from the government plus $5.5 million donations.

https://www.jns.org/wounded-warriors-find-multiple-ways-to-heal-at-hadassahs-new-rehab-center/

 

Egyptian girl treated in Israel. The daughter of an Egyptian official was injured in a traffic accident and hospitalized in Cairo. She was then transferred to Hadassah Hospital, where there is a dedicated ward for complex trauma in children. Israel approved the transfer as a humanitarian gesture.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384823

 

 

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

 

Digital pen pals connect during wartime. Over 4,000 Jewish high schoolers from Israel and around the world participate in the One2One initiative. They engage in a series of five weekly English conversations of at least 30 minutes each. One2One uses an algorithm to match up students by age, interests and background.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/digital-pen-pals-program-connects-north-american-and-israeli-teens-during-wartime/  

 

Chassid ex-commando is head of security. Asaf Peleg walks to his Chassidic synagogue and to take his daily ritual bath wearing a long black coat and fur hat - an M16 over his shoulder and a pistol and walkie-talkie at his waist. The ex-IDF commando is head of the rapid response team in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi.

https://www.jns.org/ex-commando-turned-chassid-bridges-secular-religious-divide/

 

Arabs and Druze in the IDF. Eye-opening article for those who are unaware that minorities have equal rights in Israel.   https://unitedwithisrael.org/the-unity-among-druze-and-israelis/

 

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

Mapping Israel’s space-tech ecosystem. There are currently 105 startups operating in Israel in the field of space applications. These companies raised a total of $314 million in the past year. Most of Israel’s space startups (71%) are involved in Earth observation, communications and navigation, or space infrastructure.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/s16ya11gsa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGLNJynjbX4

 

Using cosmic rays to map underneath Jerusalem. Tel Aviv University scientists are using muon detectors to build a 3D map of undiscovered underground Jerusalem tunnels, chambers, and fortifications. Muons are a fundamental particle, created when cosmic rays hit our atmosphere. High muon levels indicate a cavity above.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/unable-to-dig-researchers-look-to-cosmic-rays-to-unlock-jerusalems-ancient-underworld/    https://cris.tau.ac.il/en/publications/muon-detector-for-underground-tomography

 

7-year deal to cut pollution and save energy. Israel’s Brenmiller Energy (see here previously) has signed a seven-year, $3.55 million project with Wolfson Medical Center in Holon to replace its old, costly, polluting diesel boilers with Brenmiller’s crushed rock clean energy storage system.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-green-thermal-storage-company-signs-7-year-deal-with-wolfson-hospital/

 

There goes the sun.  Back in August, scientists at Israel’s Technion began work on the Cool Earth project aimed to build a gigantic sunshade made of Kapton, to block the Sun’s rays and cool the Earth. Now Professor Yoram Rozen, says they are ready to build a prototype shade to show that the idea will work.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/by1zx7po2

https://ats.org/ats-news/could-a-giant-parasol-in-outer-space-help-solve-the-climate-crisis/

 

Sustainable aviation fuel. Ben Gurion University’s BGN Technologies has partnered with Israel’s Ralco Energy to revolutionize the aviation industry with a novel method for producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). They have created a new company, CarboNGV, in which Ralco has invested $2.4 million.

https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/news-and-articles/herskowitz-sustainable-aviation-fuel/  

https://www.ralcoenergy.co.il/en/home-page/

 

 

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

 

Huge number of Unicorn founders from Israeli universities. Apart from US universities, Israeli universities are top of the world for producing alumni who launch startups that grow into billion-dollar companies. Tel Aviv was number 1 with 31 founders; Technion - 3rd (27); Hebrew U - 5th (23). BGU and Reichman were 10 & 11.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hkj9lmzs6

 

Israel & Argentina sign innovative software agreement. On his first visit to Israel, Argentinian President Javier Milei signed an agreement with the Israel Latin America Network (ILAN) to develop innovative software and technologies. The President saw it as a major opportunity to advance Argentina’s economy.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384943

 

Canada approves “no cow” milk. (TY OurCrowd) Canada has given Israel’s Remilk approval to sell its animal-free milk protein, marking the first time the country has authorized such a product. Remilk previously received similar approvals in the US, Israel, and Singapore. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remilk-makes-history-as-first-animal-free-milk-protein-greenlit-for-use-in-canada-302053391.html

 

Exits, mergers and takeovers – to 18/2/24; US cyber giant F5 has acquired Israeli cybersecurity Wib for “tens of millions of dollars.” Israel’s HiBob is acquiring British payroll platform Pento for $40 million. Israel’s Armis has acquired US-based CTCI for $20 million.

 

Startup investment – to 18/2/24. Clarity raised $16 million; Lava Network raises $15 million;  Seal Security raised $7.4 million;

 

 

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT

 

Much praise for Theodor. Original Israeli Opera production “Theodor,” about the founder of modern Zionism Theodor Herzl, was chosen as one of the world’s best opera productions of 2023, by the magazine “Opera Now.” Composed by Yonatan Cnaan and librettist and director Ido Ricklin, it was launched in May 2023.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-opera-original-theodor-named-one-of-worlds-best-for-2023/

 

“Discovering the hidden gems of Tel Aviv”. (TY Yanky) AZbigmedia - the fastest-growing news website in the US – focused on Tel Aviv as a tourist destination. The comprehensive article describes Tel Aviv as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city celebrated for its stunning beaches, bustling markets, and lively nightlife.

https://azbigmedia.com/lifestyle/discovering-the-hidden-gems-of-tel-aviv-unveiling-the-citys-treasures/

 

Flags & flowers in Feb. (TY Sharon) Huge floral display on the streets of Jerusalem last week. The blue & white colors of the Israeli flag were also flying.

https://rjstreets.com/2024/02/11/new-february-flowers-and-flying-flags-in-jerusalem/

 

Sports center to be built on Gaza border. Canadian-Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams has promised to build a sports infrastructure in the Gaza border area. He announced that a bicycle track will be built in memory of the fallen, as a donation on behalf of the cycling group he owns, Israel-Premier Tech Cycling Team.

https://www.jns.org/sylvan-adams-to-build-sports-infrastructure-in-gaza-border-area/  

 

The hectic life of an Israeli quadriplegic tennis player. Nice article about Guy Sasson (see here previously) who was runner-up in both the singles and doubles wheelchair tennis finals at the Australian Open.

https://www.jns.org/the-hectic-life-of-guy-sasson-world-ranked-israeli-wheelchair-tennis-player/

 

Israel-born baseball player makes history. (TY UWI) Assaf Lowengart made history as the first Israeli-born position player to sign a pro baseball contract in the US. He is set to join the New York Boulders in the Frontier League, an independent league affiliated with Major League Baseball.

https://www.jta.org/2024/02/08/sports/israeli-ballplayer-assaf-lowengart-signs-with-mlb-affiliated-independent-team-im-trying-to-break-as-many-ceilings-as-i-can

 

Irish basketball team trounced. Unsporting behavior by the Irish women’s basketball team was rewarded with being convincingly beaten 87 – 57 by the Israeli team.  The Irish team had requested to boycott the match but were told that they would be hit with a massive fine and being barred from future EuroBasket qualifiers.

https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/08/israeli-womens-basketball-team-trounces-ireland-in-qualifying-match-amid-row-over-antisemitism/  https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-785904

 

 

THE JEWISH STATE

 

Amazing times. The Argentinian President vowed to move his Embassy to Jerusalem and prayed at the Kotel during his recent visit. And the secular family of the two rescued Israeli-Argentinian hostages revealed that they had been lighting Shabbat candles.  Read (here) about the previous hostage to have been rescued.

https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/6315766/jewish/Two-Israeli-Hostages-Rescued-in-Overnight-Raid-in-Gaza.htm

 

El Al offers Torah classes to passengers. In-flight “entertainment” on El Al long haul flights now includes religious content, provided by the YUTorah platform. It includes discussions on Halacha (Jewish law), Jewish history, Tefillah (Jewish prayer), dating and marriage, parenting, Parsha (weekly Torah portion), and Daf Yomi.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384767  https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sj9aktgot

 

The front lines. The word of the Lord really has gone out from Jerusalem. IDF Battalion 7421 moved all over the Gaza Strip, fighting Hamas terrorists. Everywhere they went, they were accompanied by the battalion's Torah scroll, establishing seven temporary synagogues. (See Numbers Chapter 10 verses 35 & 36.)

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384846

 

Knesset 75th Anniversary. Israel’s President and Prime Minister spoke at a special event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament). The session was also attended by the Leader of the Opposition and the acting President of the Supreme Court. A military cantor led a prayer for the safety of IDF soldiers.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384095

 

Restaurant chains go strictly kosher to serve the IDF. Several branches of Israel’s largest hamburger fast-food chains McDonald’s, Burger Ranch and BurgerIM, plus Domino’s Pizza are to enforce higher kosher standards. The aim is to support Israel Defense Force soldiers who only eat mehadrin-certified meat.

https://www.jns.org/israeli-burger-chains-go-strictly-kosher-to-support-war-effort/

 

Thousands of children pray for the IDF. Some 5,200 children gathered in 42 communities in the Binyamin region of Samaria to pray for the IDF’s success. They also prayed for soldiers wounded during the military campaign and for the return of hostages being held by Hamas.

https://www.jns.org/thousands-of-samaria-children-pray-for-idf-victory/

 

The Roman base at Megiddo. Back in 2015, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Roman garrison at Megiddo in northern Israel (see here previously). 8.5 years of excavations have revealed it to be Legio - a permanent base for more than 5,000 soldiers, and a strategic military hub for more than 180 years.

https://www.jns.org/ancient-roman-military-base-uncovered-in-israel/

 

How to help Israel.  Here are some sites where newsletter readers can donate to Israeli organizations that provide vital help to Israelis at this difficult time.  Many thanks to those who have already contributed and to those who are helping by donating their own valuable time and resources.

 

Friends of the IDF (US donors): https://www.fidf.org/

or IDF Soldiers Fund in Israel: https://www.ufis.org.il/en/donation-en/  (select the English speakers’ option)

 

American Friends of Magen David Adom (US donors): https://afmda.org/

or Magen David Adom (Israel): https://www.mdais.org/en/donation

 

Zaka (US donors):  https://donate.zakatelaviv.org/give/525578/  or (Israeli donors): https://charidy.com/zaka  

or (Canadian donors): https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/bellevue-foundation/

 

United Hatzalah: https://israelrescue.org/campaign/israel-at-war-2/  or Canada https://www.uhcanada.org/

Leket Food Israel: https://www.leket.org/en/

JNF USA - https://my.jnf.org/gaza-emergency/Donate  or Canada https://jnf.ca/

Orthodox Union - https://www.charidy.com/ouisraelcrisis

 

Schneider Children’s Hospital: https://www.fos.org.il/en/donate (Israelis)

https://system.smartgiving.org.uk/charities/8530/make-donation (UK) 

https://chaischneider.org/donate/ (USA)

 

Hadassah Hospital Israel: https://www.hadassah.org/

Laniado Hospital (Netanya) https://my.israelgives.org/en/fundme/EmergencyLaniado

 

And many more charities here:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/where-people-abroad-can-donate-to-israels-hospitals-troops-survivors-and-more/  https://chesedtoday.com/campaigns/soldiers/ (Warm winter clothes for Israeli soldiers)

 

Buy Israel Bonds to support the Jewish State. (TY Larry B)

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/state-of-israel-bonds

USA - https://www.israelbonds.com/

Europe - https://israelbondsintl.com/

Canada - https://www.israelbonds.ca/

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IMMIGRATION & BORDER SECURITY

San Francisco Appoints First Noncitizen to Election Commission   READ MORE ++++++++++++++++++++++ He should be impeached but that willnot happen so vote him out of office.

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2024 and the invasion at the southern border The destruction of the country for the sake of temporary partisan advantage seems a high price to pay 

By Roger Kimball

Posted By Ruth King 

Donald Trump crushed the New Hampshire primary, as every poll in Alpha Centauri predicted he would. Nevertheless, his sole remaining opponent for the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley, “vowed to fight on.” Why? A cynical person might suggest the interaction of two volatile liquids: cash, on the one hand, and consultants, on the other. Haley is swimming in both. The cash is coming from two sources: brittle, establishment faux conservatives like the Kochs and wily Dem operatives like the billionaire Reid Hoffman who, in addition to shoveling gobs of money to Nikki Haley, is also funding such entrepreneurial activities as E. Jean Carroll’s bizarre lawsuit against Donald Trump.

In a sane world, the support of a malignant figure like Hoffman would be disqualifying for Haley. Will Haley have dropped out (“suspended her campaign”) by the time you read this? Maybe. I predict, though, that as long as there is cash in the kitty, Haley’s consultants will “advise” her to “fight on.” After all, consultants are people, too, and they have mortgages and therapy to pay for.

But whenever the money runs out and Haley disappears, one thing that is not going to change is the overriding issue of this campaign. People are worried about inflation, yes; the economy, of course; America’s overextension in the foreign wars that have started since Joe Biden’s tremulous hand lay on the Bible and he promised faithfully to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” you betcha.

But as Iowa and New Hampshire and every poll taken across the fruited plain remind us, the one overwhelming, all-absorbing, keep-you-up-at-night concern is the southern border, which is to say the lack of a southern border. People everywhere, in the trenches in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, as well as far-off Iowa and New Hampshire, are terrified by the hordes of trespassers pouring over the southern border. They have been coming in their tens, nay, their hundreds of thousands, their millions, in fact. Poor, unskilled, surly and, most of them, male. The US government showers them with largesse. US citizens regard this with irritation: why does Joe Biden pamper criminals with such booty when they are accorded no such consideration?

Texas stepped into the fray and, under Governor Greg Abbott’s direction, began protecting its border in place of homeland security agents. The Texas National Guard erected razor wire, kept the feds at arm’s length and was beginning to seal the border.

The Biden administration, outraged that the National Guard should presume to guard the nation, appealed to the Supreme Court. Poor John “finger-in-the-air” Roberts was terrified — he usually is terrified — about what this might mean for the “prestige” of the Court. The chief justice prevailed upon Amy Coney Barrett to give him the 5-4 majority he needed to intervene and reassert federal supremacy, or maybe I mean state irrelevancy. A day or two later, the feds were there removing the razor wire. As one wag put it, “SCOTUS just affirmed the federal government’s right to refuse to enforce its own laws.”

Governor Abbott has bravely declared that the fight is “not over.” He issued a statement declaring an “invasion” of Texas and invoking Article I, §10, Clause 3 of the Constitution to affirm the state’s “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.” That authority, he said, “is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” This could get interesting.

Some have suggested that Roberts threw this bone to the left to clear the way for a bigger victory in one of the myriad Trump cases vying for the Court’s attention. Roberts has seemed loath to buck the left too often. He gave them the voting rights case last year, but then delivered the resounding defeat of the Harvard affirmative action case. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, the invasion at our southern border continues unabated. This has prompted several observers, including Governor Abbott, to dust off the US Constitution, especially Article IV. That’s usually known as the “full faith and credit” bit, but the article in fact details other important aspects of the relationship between the states and the federal government.

In the entire Constitution, the phrase “the United States shall” occurs but four times, twice in Article I, once in Article III, and once in Article IV when defining the obligations of the federal government to the states. “The United States shall,” the Article reads, “guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion…”

There are two things to note. First, the word “shall” is used in its imperative, not strictly temporal sense. That is, the article is not concerned with what might happen in the future but rather in defining the duty of the federal government in certain eventualities.

Second, the Framers put the danger of invasion front and center. The United States has the constitutional duty to protect every state against invasion. Invasion is a hydra-headed threat. It might mean incursion from the serried ranks of an army. It can also mean confrontation with other hostile forces — a tsunami of illegal immigrants, for example.

It is often observed that Democrats encourage illegal immigration because they see in the advent of such masses so many embryo Democratic voters. Perhaps this is so. But the destruction of the country for the sake of temporary partisan advantage seems a high price to pay. Then there is the utter failure of the executive branch to faithfully execute the laws. That constitutional outrage is an impeachable offense, but I suspect it will be remedied not by a trial in the Senate but at the ballot box in November.

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s March 2024 World edition.

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