AOC does nor like ICE yet, she was a bartender. (See 1 below.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ordman's Edited Israel's Good News newsletter to 14th July (See 2 below.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Similar to what I posted after speaking with a family member who just returned from Israel.
Economic motivation overcoming hate. (See 3 below.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some of my liberal friends cannot acknowledge how AOC and her three other radical co-horts have altered the entire Democrat Party. Lamentably, they continue to argue there are only four against the entire Party.
The German philosopher, Nietzsche, had a tremendous influence over Hitler who surrounded himself with a few others who embraced similar views and you know the rest.
Literally today, a few American mayors are denouncing the rule of law and are gaining a significant number of radical social advocates to join in their protests against ICE. Some are equating Pense and Trump as employing NAZI tactics against illegal immigrants and many are attacking Pelosi as a racist. It only takes a few to start a revolution. Be careful what you willingly ignore.
Those politicians who establish sanctuary cities are breaking the law and are planting the seeds of our next civil war. Once state politicians begin defying legal federal laws they are lighting a match which can have explosive effects.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A few memos ago I posted an ad by Joe Collins, a conservative black candidate who is seeking to unseat Rep. Walters and mentioned I was sending him a modest check. I rarely ever get monetarily involved in candidates outside my own jurisdiction but I wanted to help Collins because the Republicans Party seldom helps qualified black candidates.
Yesterday, I got an e mail from a dear friend and fellow memo reader who told me he too was going to contribute to Collins and he even called him and chatted with him and then my friend sent out his own e mail urging others to do the same.
The power of the social media technology is truly amazing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dick
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1)
Ocasio-Cortez Tries To Grill Former ICE Director. He Wrecks Her.
By RYAN SAAVEDRAFormer ICE Director Thomas Homan rendered socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez utterly speechless on Friday during a congressional hearing after the 29-year-old former bartender tried to grill him about immigration-related policies.
"It says the official recommendation, there were three different options presented, the third included the option for family separation," Ocasio-Cortez said. "This initiative would pursue prosecution of all amenable adults including those presenting with a family unit.
"Mr. Homan, your name is on this, is this correct?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"Yes, I signed that memo," Homan replied.
"So, you are the author of the family separation policy?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"I'm not the author of this memo," Homan replied.
"You're not the author, but you signed the memo?" Ocasio-Cortez pressed.
"Yes, a zero tolerance memo," Homan responded.
"So, you provided the official recommendation to Secretary Neilson on families for the United States to pursue family separation?" Ocasio-Cortez asked.
"I gave Secretary Nielson numerous recommendations on how to secure the border and save lives," Homan responded.
"But it says here that you, you gave her numerous options but the recommendation was option three, family separation," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"What I'm saying this is not the only paper where we had given the secretary numerous options to secure the border and save lives," Homan responded.
"And so the recommendation of the many that you recommended, you recommended family separations?" Ocasio-Cortez continued to press as she seemed unable to understand Homan's previous responses
"I recommended zero tolerance," Homan responded.
"Which includes family separation," Ocasio-Cortez pressed.
"The same as is whatever U.S. citizen parent gets arrested when they're with a child," Homan said.
"Zero tolerance was interpreted as the policy that separated children from their parents," Ocasio-Cortez continued, again not seeming to understand Homan.
"If I get arrested for DUI and I have a young child in the car, I'm gonna be separated," Homan responded. "When I was a police officer in New York and I arrested a father for domestic violence, I separated that father from their family.
"Mr. Homan, with all due respect, legal asylees are not charged with any crime," Ocasio-Cortez said, refusing to acknowledge the majority of people entering the U.S. at the southern border are not legitimate asylum seekers.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2) In the 14th July 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
“Ghost” decoy cells kill cancer. Israel Technion Professor Marcelle Machluf has developed tumor-shrinking technology using normally “good” mesenchymal stem cells that tumors hi-jack to help them grow. Machluf’s team removed the cells’ contents and filled the membranes with chemotherapy. They lure and destroy tumors.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Colon capsule has further positive trial results. I’ve reported previously (see here) on the C-Scan colon diagnostic capsule from Israel’s Check-Cap. In its latest (post CE approval) study, C-Scan detected 76% of small (potentially cancerous) polyps as opposed to only 28% using currently approved non-invasive techniques.
http://ir.check-cap.com/2019-
Surgical navigator approved. (TY OurCrowd) The Israeli Ministry of Health approved marketing of the Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform (SNAP) and SuRgical Planner (SRP) systems from Israel’s Surgical Theater. The VR systems help surgeons plan and perform complex operations including brain, heart and spinal.
https://finance.yahoo.com/
https://www.surgicaltheater.
Pain relief without pills. Israel’s Solio has developed Alpha Plus - the world’s first US FDA and European CE approved radio frequency (RF) topical pain relief device. It combines bipolar RF to increase blood circulation, infrared to heat and ease pain and stiffness, and low-level laser to relieve the skin. All in a simple external unit.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-
https://www.soliotherapy.com/ https://www.youtube.com/
Anti-bacterial tooth fillings. Tel Aviv scientists have developed dental fillings made of resin-based composites enhanced by antibacterial nano-assemblies. It can hinder bacterial growth on dental restorations, the main cause of secondary tooth decay that can lead to root-canal treatment and tooth extractions.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-
Paramedics cross the seas. Israel’s Magen David Adom has inaugurated its new ‘Sea-Bulance’ service to assist people in need of critical medical treatment and rescue while at sea. It currently operates in the Sea of Galilee equipped with advanced medical tools and can carry up to six people at speeds of up to 35 knots.
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
Paramedics scale the heights. Israel’s Magen David Adom paramedics treated a Haifa crane operator who lost consciousness, 50 meters above ground. Using advanced medical equipment, they provided treatment before harnessed firefighters and security guards extracted and evacuated him to hospital in stable and good condition.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Power women. Forbes Israel has released its annual list of 50 Israeli women who are making an impact in business, government, tech, journalism, culture, sports, and entertainment. They “control huge companies, manage thousands of employees, invent breakthrough technologies and shape Israeli culture and society.”
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
http://lists.forbes.co.il/
Female Muslim athlete competes for Israel. (TY TPS) Arab-Israeli high-jump champion Hanin Nasser, 22, intends to represent Israel in the current 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships in Gävle, Sweden. Hanin won the recent Maccabi championship with a personal best of 1.79m - the ninth highest score in Israel's history.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Indonesian visit is worth diamonds. A seven-member delegation from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce visited the Israeli Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan. Yoram Dvash, president of the Israeli Diamond Exchange, stressed the importance of strengthening the ties of Muslim companies and businessmen with the State of Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Empowering Yazidis. Dr. Yaakov Hoffman and Prof. Ari Zivotofsky, from Bar-Ilan University have brought 15 women (mostly Yazidi Kurds persecuted by ISIS) to Israel to share Israeli knowledge of how to help victims recover from the trauma. https://unitedwithisrael.org/
US delegation tours Israeli anti-terrorism startup. A bipartisan high-level delegation of US House members visited Israeli cybersecurity company Cobwebs Technologies during their visit to Israel. They saw how, with one click, authorities can identify connections between criminals or terrorists on social media and the dark web.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Israel to showcase its innovations to the UN. At the week-long United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) the Israeli Mission to the UN will hold an event recognizing Israeli innovation. It will showcase Israel's revolutionary patents in the areas of water technologies, agriculture, social issues and more.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Rescuing Maharashtra from drought. I reported previously (see here) on Israel’s work to help the Indian state of Maharashtra with agriculture and smart city tech. Now Israel’s national water company Mekorot is helping Maharashtra implement a looped water grid, linking 11 dams to ensure that its reservoirs never run dry.
https://www.mid-day.com/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Tackling plastic pollution. Good video on Israeli technology designed to reduce the impact of plastic garbage. It features TIPA, UBQ, Ben Gurion University research, Sodastream, Hiriya’s Refuse Derived Fuel plant and Haifa University’s Jellyfish project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Use www.IsraelActive.com to search for them in previous newsletters.
Free fast WiFi for Jerusalem. The municipality of Jerusalem has introduced free wireless internet in Israel’s Capital city center for residents, business users and visitors. It boasts speeds of 16Mb, much faster than that of Tel Aviv’s free service.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
AI chips are now even faster. I reported previously (18th Nov) on the Artificial Intelligent microprocessors developed by Israel’s Habana Labs. Habana has launched its Gaudi AI Training Processor. Training systems using the new processor will be up to four times faster than those built with competitors’ graphics chips.
https://habana.ai/press/
Reinventing the wheel for electric cars. Israeli startup REE has designed a new flat and modular chassis for electric cars of the future. The motor, steering, suspension, drivetrain, sensors, brakes, thermal systems and electronics are now in the wheels, lowering the center of gravity, increasing stability, agility and performance.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Solar-powered wireless smartphone charger. Israel’s Benny Mengesha is developing the Multi-Functional Case (MFC), It will fit snuggly round your iPhone or Android but on the back are solar panels which charge your phone without USB or leads. The MFC debuts on 24th July at TheMarker Tau Innovation Summit.
https://www.jpost.com/Jpost-
Communicate with your dog through its vest. Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University have developed dog vest that allows canine owners to transmit communications and commands to their pets via haptic (vibrations) technology. It has immense potential for search & rescue operations and assisting disabled owners.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Giving voice to the silent majority. (TY WIN) Israeli startup ZenCity helps municipalities identify the true opinion of its residents rather than the more vociferous views of a noisy minority. It analyses virtually any publicly shared information generated by residents and can save a city huge costs of erroneous investment.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
http://israelbetweenthelines.
Security device gets even better. I reported previously (Sep 2016) on Israel’s SayVU when it was deployed at the Rio Olympics. When it is unsafe to speak, shaking the device alerts emergency services. There are now new versions for smartwatches and for areas where there are no cellular networks or GPS. It has saved many lives.
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
Google’s graduates. The five graduates from Google’s first Israeli Startup Residency incubator are Saillog (AI agritech), Gaviti Akyl (payments software), Agamon (medical data analysis), Mona Labs (QA for AI) and Dattor/Pairser (data compliance). They were given workspace, mentoring and access to Google facilities.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Record currency reserves. Israel’s reserves of foreign currency hit another record level at the end of June of over $ 120 billion. https://www.boi.org.il/en/
BIRD invests $8.2 million. The US-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) foundation is to invest another $8.2 million in 9 new joint R&D projects (see previous). Israeli startups (seven new to this newsletter) include 3PLW, Igentify, IAI, MyndYou, Netafim, Novelsat, Shamaym, Snappers and WizeCare.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.3plw.co/ http://www.igentify.com/ https://myndyou.com/https://novelsat.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
WiFi to schools & hospitals in Philippines. Globe Telecom, the leading telecom company in the Philippines, has chosen Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks for a three-year multi-million US dollar contract, to enable WIFI service over satellite to schools and hospitals, in addition to cellular backhaul throughout the Philippines.
https://www.gilat.com/
More help for US vision-impaired. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) has partnered with Israel’s OrCam. Under the agreement, ACB members can buy Orcam’s visual aids, such as MyEye2 and MyMe (see here) at a special discount. https://www.calcalistech.com/
A culinary platform for chefs. Non-profit organization Start-up Nation Central has opened L28 (in Tel Aviv’s Lilienblum Street) where chefs can conceive and develop Israeli foods, ingredients and menus. It will also help chefs learn how to run a restaurant, without the worries of raising enough money to survive.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
How a bad haircut started a beauty empire. Israeli entrepreneur Sharon Rabi studied electrical engineering at Tel Aviv University. But a too-short haircut and lack of styling tools prompted her to invent the DAFNI. Her range of products now sells in 15 countries.
https://www.independent.ie/
https://www.outbrain.com/blog/
Google buys Israeli cloud storage company. Google is to acquire Israel-based cloud storage company Elastifile for approximately $200 million. Elastifile had already been partnering Google Cloud, plus Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. http://www.israelnationalnews.
https://www.elastifile.com/
Tesco tests Israeli cashier-less checkout. I reported previously (10th Jun)that Israeli supermarket Shufersal was running a pilot of the automatic checkout system from Israel’s Trigo. Now the giant UK chain supermarket Tesco is testing the Trigo Vision system as one of a range of technologies for future implementation.
https://www.israel21c.org/
Not only J.Lo but also her fiancé. I reported previously (28th Apr) that Jennifer Lopez would be performing in Hayarkon Park Tel Aviv on 1st Aug. Not only has that been confirmed, but her fiancé, former NY Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez, will accompany her on the tour and is so excited ahead of his first time in Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
"Mr. Homan, with all due respect, legal asylees are not charged with any crime," Ocasio-Cortez said, refusing to acknowledge the majority of people entering the U.S. at the southern border are not legitimate asylum seekers.
"When you're in the country illegally, it's a violation 8 United States Code 13:25," Homan responded.
"Seeking asylum is legal," Ocasio-Cortez responded.
"If you want to seek asylum you go through the port of entry, you do it the legal way," Homan fired back. "The Attorney General of the United States has made that clear."
Ocasio-Cortez had no response for Homan and immediately moved on to question other people.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2) In the 14th July 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
- An Israeli scientist has developed a new way to lure and destroy cancer cells.
- An Arab Muslim represents Israel in women’s Euro high-jump championships.
- Israel is designing an innovative water system for India’s Maharashtra state.
- An Israeli startup has truly “re-invented the wheel” for electric cars.
- Israeli businesses benefit Philippine hospitals and US visually handicapped.
- Israel’s premier dance and theatre center is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
“Ghost” decoy cells kill cancer. Israel Technion Professor Marcelle Machluf has developed tumor-shrinking technology using normally “good” mesenchymal stem cells that tumors hi-jack to help them grow. Machluf’s team removed the cells’ contents and filled the membranes with chemotherapy. They lure and destroy tumors.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Colon capsule has further positive trial results. I’ve reported previously (see here) on the C-Scan colon diagnostic capsule from Israel’s Check-Cap. In its latest (post CE approval) study, C-Scan detected 76% of small (potentially cancerous) polyps as opposed to only 28% using currently approved non-invasive techniques.
http://ir.check-cap.com/2019-
Surgical navigator approved. (TY OurCrowd) The Israeli Ministry of Health approved marketing of the Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform (SNAP) and SuRgical Planner (SRP) systems from Israel’s Surgical Theater. The VR systems help surgeons plan and perform complex operations including brain, heart and spinal.
https://finance.yahoo.com/
https://www.surgicaltheater.
Pain relief without pills. Israel’s Solio has developed Alpha Plus - the world’s first US FDA and European CE approved radio frequency (RF) topical pain relief device. It combines bipolar RF to increase blood circulation, infrared to heat and ease pain and stiffness, and low-level laser to relieve the skin. All in a simple external unit.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-
https://www.soliotherapy.com/ https://www.youtube.com/
Anti-bacterial tooth fillings. Tel Aviv scientists have developed dental fillings made of resin-based composites enhanced by antibacterial nano-assemblies. It can hinder bacterial growth on dental restorations, the main cause of secondary tooth decay that can lead to root-canal treatment and tooth extractions.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-
Paramedics cross the seas. Israel’s Magen David Adom has inaugurated its new ‘Sea-Bulance’ service to assist people in need of critical medical treatment and rescue while at sea. It currently operates in the Sea of Galilee equipped with advanced medical tools and can carry up to six people at speeds of up to 35 knots.
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
Paramedics scale the heights. Israel’s Magen David Adom paramedics treated a Haifa crane operator who lost consciousness, 50 meters above ground. Using advanced medical equipment, they provided treatment before harnessed firefighters and security guards extracted and evacuated him to hospital in stable and good condition.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Power women. Forbes Israel has released its annual list of 50 Israeli women who are making an impact in business, government, tech, journalism, culture, sports, and entertainment. They “control huge companies, manage thousands of employees, invent breakthrough technologies and shape Israeli culture and society.”
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
http://lists.forbes.co.il/
Female Muslim athlete competes for Israel. (TY TPS) Arab-Israeli high-jump champion Hanin Nasser, 22, intends to represent Israel in the current 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships in Gävle, Sweden. Hanin won the recent Maccabi championship with a personal best of 1.79m - the ninth highest score in Israel's history.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Indonesian visit is worth diamonds. A seven-member delegation from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce visited the Israeli Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan. Yoram Dvash, president of the Israeli Diamond Exchange, stressed the importance of strengthening the ties of Muslim companies and businessmen with the State of Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Empowering Yazidis. Dr. Yaakov Hoffman and Prof. Ari Zivotofsky, from Bar-Ilan University have brought 15 women (mostly Yazidi Kurds persecuted by ISIS) to Israel to share Israeli knowledge of how to help victims recover from the trauma. https://unitedwithisrael.org/
US delegation tours Israeli anti-terrorism startup. A bipartisan high-level delegation of US House members visited Israeli cybersecurity company Cobwebs Technologies during their visit to Israel. They saw how, with one click, authorities can identify connections between criminals or terrorists on social media and the dark web.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Israel to showcase its innovations to the UN. At the week-long United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) the Israeli Mission to the UN will hold an event recognizing Israeli innovation. It will showcase Israel's revolutionary patents in the areas of water technologies, agriculture, social issues and more.
http://www.israelnationalnews.
Rescuing Maharashtra from drought. I reported previously (see here) on Israel’s work to help the Indian state of Maharashtra with agriculture and smart city tech. Now Israel’s national water company Mekorot is helping Maharashtra implement a looped water grid, linking 11 dams to ensure that its reservoirs never run dry.
https://www.mid-day.com/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Tackling plastic pollution. Good video on Israeli technology designed to reduce the impact of plastic garbage. It features TIPA, UBQ, Ben Gurion University research, Sodastream, Hiriya’s Refuse Derived Fuel plant and Haifa University’s Jellyfish project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Use www.IsraelActive.com to search for them in previous newsletters.
Free fast WiFi for Jerusalem. The municipality of Jerusalem has introduced free wireless internet in Israel’s Capital city center for residents, business users and visitors. It boasts speeds of 16Mb, much faster than that of Tel Aviv’s free service.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
AI chips are now even faster. I reported previously (18th Nov) on the Artificial Intelligent microprocessors developed by Israel’s Habana Labs. Habana has launched its Gaudi AI Training Processor. Training systems using the new processor will be up to four times faster than those built with competitors’ graphics chips.
https://habana.ai/press/
Reinventing the wheel for electric cars. Israeli startup REE has designed a new flat and modular chassis for electric cars of the future. The motor, steering, suspension, drivetrain, sensors, brakes, thermal systems and electronics are now in the wheels, lowering the center of gravity, increasing stability, agility and performance.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Solar-powered wireless smartphone charger. Israel’s Benny Mengesha is developing the Multi-Functional Case (MFC), It will fit snuggly round your iPhone or Android but on the back are solar panels which charge your phone without USB or leads. The MFC debuts on 24th July at TheMarker Tau Innovation Summit.
https://www.jpost.com/Jpost-
Communicate with your dog through its vest. Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University have developed dog vest that allows canine owners to transmit communications and commands to their pets via haptic (vibrations) technology. It has immense potential for search & rescue operations and assisting disabled owners.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
Giving voice to the silent majority. (TY WIN) Israeli startup ZenCity helps municipalities identify the true opinion of its residents rather than the more vociferous views of a noisy minority. It analyses virtually any publicly shared information generated by residents and can save a city huge costs of erroneous investment.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
http://israelbetweenthelines.
Security device gets even better. I reported previously (Sep 2016) on Israel’s SayVU when it was deployed at the Rio Olympics. When it is unsafe to speak, shaking the device alerts emergency services. There are now new versions for smartwatches and for areas where there are no cellular networks or GPS. It has saved many lives.
http://nocamels.com/2019/07/
Google’s graduates. The five graduates from Google’s first Israeli Startup Residency incubator are Saillog (AI agritech), Gaviti Akyl (payments software), Agamon (medical data analysis), Mona Labs (QA for AI) and Dattor/Pairser (data compliance). They were given workspace, mentoring and access to Google facilities.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Record currency reserves. Israel’s reserves of foreign currency hit another record level at the end of June of over $ 120 billion. https://www.boi.org.il/en/
BIRD invests $8.2 million. The US-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) foundation is to invest another $8.2 million in 9 new joint R&D projects (see previous). Israeli startups (seven new to this newsletter) include 3PLW, Igentify, IAI, MyndYou, Netafim, Novelsat, Shamaym, Snappers and WizeCare.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.3plw.co/ http://www.igentify.com/ https://myndyou.com/https://novelsat.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
WiFi to schools & hospitals in Philippines. Globe Telecom, the leading telecom company in the Philippines, has chosen Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks for a three-year multi-million US dollar contract, to enable WIFI service over satellite to schools and hospitals, in addition to cellular backhaul throughout the Philippines.
https://www.gilat.com/
More help for US vision-impaired. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) has partnered with Israel’s OrCam. Under the agreement, ACB members can buy Orcam’s visual aids, such as MyEye2 and MyMe (see here) at a special discount. https://www.calcalistech.com/
A culinary platform for chefs. Non-profit organization Start-up Nation Central has opened L28 (in Tel Aviv’s Lilienblum Street) where chefs can conceive and develop Israeli foods, ingredients and menus. It will also help chefs learn how to run a restaurant, without the worries of raising enough money to survive.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
How a bad haircut started a beauty empire. Israeli entrepreneur Sharon Rabi studied electrical engineering at Tel Aviv University. But a too-short haircut and lack of styling tools prompted her to invent the DAFNI. Her range of products now sells in 15 countries.
https://www.independent.ie/
https://www.outbrain.com/blog/
Google buys Israeli cloud storage company. Google is to acquire Israel-based cloud storage company Elastifile for approximately $200 million. Elastifile had already been partnering Google Cloud, plus Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. http://www.israelnationalnews.
https://www.elastifile.com/
Tesco tests Israeli cashier-less checkout. I reported previously (10th Jun)that Israeli supermarket Shufersal was running a pilot of the automatic checkout system from Israel’s Trigo. Now the giant UK chain supermarket Tesco is testing the Trigo Vision system as one of a range of technologies for future implementation.
https://www.israel21c.org/
Not only J.Lo but also her fiancé. I reported previously (28th Apr) that Jennifer Lopez would be performing in Hayarkon Park Tel Aviv on 1st Aug. Not only has that been confirmed, but her fiancé, former NY Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez, will accompany her on the tour and is so excited ahead of his first time in Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3) The Palestinian Problem Is Dying of Natural Causes David Spengler
Posted By Ruth King
“West Bank grows calmer as pocketbook issues take priority of protests” is the headline of a New York Times story today. It seems that the Palestinian jihadists of the old intifadas are more concerned about making a living than killing Israelis. Writes reporters Isabel Kershner:
BILIN, West Bank — On a recent weekday, Muhammad Abu Rahma returned to the place where Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers used to clash in weekly confrontations that made the West Bank village of Bilin a symbol of resistance against the Israeli occupation.
But this time, he came not to protest but to picnic with his wife and three children. He had served three terms in prison for his activities at the height of the protests. But now, at 33, he had a family and a job as a garbage collector.
“People want money to live, and permits,” he said, referring to the Israeli permits allowing laborers to work in Israel, where they can earn twice as much as they do in the Palestinian territories.
It turns out that time is on Israel’s side, as Ambassador Yoram Ettinger and other Israeli analysts have argued for years. The Arab “demographic time bomb” turned out to be a dud, as fertility rates plunge across the Muslim world, a phenomenon I discussed in my 2011 book How Civilizations Die. In a 2011 analysis for Asia Times, I counseled Israel not to attempt to make peace with a Palestinian population heavily tilted towards hot-headed youngsters, and to wait until the declining Palestinian fertility rate had raised the average age of the West Bank population. Like Northern Ireland, the militants would find themselves married with mortgages (at least those who survived). Prime Minister Netanyahu generously commented on the article when it was published.
Although the aging kleptocrats who still run the Palestine Authority out of Ramallah won’t admit it, the time is ripe for the kind of peace plan that the Trump administration offered at last month’s Bahrain conference. Drafted under the direction of presidential adviser Jared Kushner, the plan would channel $50 billion in development aid to the West Bank over a ten-year period. Israeli observers note that despite the PA’s intransigence, the administration plan has shifted the debate in the Middle East and isolated the Palestinian jihadists.
By way of background, I repost below my 2011 analysis. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are doing precisely the right thing.
Israel, Ireland, and the Peace of the Aging (from Asia Times, June 2011)
by Spengler
Sometimes, the best thing to do is nothing at all.
A generation from now, the Palestinians will make peace with Israel, for a simple reason: they will grow up–literally. Palestinian Arabs comprise one of the fastest-aging populations in the word.
Barack Obama was misinformed when he told the America-Israel Political Action Committee May 22 that “the number of Palestinians living west of the Jordan River is growing rapidly and fundamentally reshaping the demographic realities of both Israel and the Palestinian territories.” In fact, Palestinian fertility on the West Bank has already converged on the Israeli fertility rate of three children per woman, if we believe the Palestine Ministry of Health rather than the Palestine Authority’s statistics bureau.
There is endless debate about the Palestinian population numbers. Israel’s peace party has advanced the “demographic argument” for years, and has been consistently wrong. The decisive data point is that Palestinian Arab fertility has plunged and, in consequence, the Arab population will age rapidly. That augurs well for peace, a generation from now. After three-quarters of a century of warfare, starting with the 1937 Arab uprising against British rule in Palestine, it’s not a hardship to wait one more generation.
In this regard, the Northern Ireland peace agreement of 1998 is worth revisiting. At the Obama White House, the Irish sense of victimhood blends easily with the president’s own anti-colonial resentment, and the Third World sympathies of such advisors as the Iranian-born Valerie Jarrett. Ireland has been the White House template for a “peace process,” which is why Obama brought in as chief negotiator former Senator Mitchell, who negotiated the Irish settlement in 1998. Samantha Power, Obama’s foreign policy aid in the Senate and now head of the National Security Council’s human rights desk, figures prominently in the President’s inner council. Born in Dublin, Power brings the sensibility of post-Catholic Ireland to international affairs: sensitivity to minority rights, horror at violence, and an urge to wield military power on behalf of beleaguered ethnic groups.
Ms. Power persuaded the president to intervene in Libya to save civilian lives, perhaps the silliest and least successful use of American arms since the founding of the republic. Like Ireland’s President Mary Robinson, the former human rights chief at the United Nations whom Obama gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Power identifies the Palestinians with the Catholic Irish, as a putative victim oppressed by a colonial power.
Leave aside the obvious differences (for example, every Catholic cleric of standing denounced IRA terrorism, while plenty of prominent Muslim clerics endorse suicide bombing). Time heals some wounds. Northern Ireland’s guerilla war between the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority ended in 1998 for a number of reasons. Prominent among them was the simple fact that the hell-raising youngsters of the 1970s had become middle-aged fellows with jobs and families. Former Senator George Mitchell negotiated the “Good Friday” agreement that effectively ended the conflict. But he resigned in frustration last month as President Obama’s negotiator in the Middle East.
As a student journalist, I travelled in Northern Ireland in 1970, gulping improbable quantities of Guinness with Catholic radicals in Londonderry and Belfast. Everyone was young, and everyone was mad. I watched the Protestants’ Orange Order march on July 12, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1692 that finished off Irish resistance. I joined a busload of protesters off to demonstrate at Armagh Prison in support of Bernadette Devlin, then the heroine of the nationalist cause. The Ulster Defense Regiment stopped us at a roadblock, waved us out of the bus, and stuck submachine guns in our ribs. “Don’t worry,” said the fellow next to me. “They don’t have any bullets.” The protesters sang the theme song to “Dad’s Army” (a British comedy about the elderly Home Guard of World War II) and jeered at the Protestant cops. We were drunk, and they were drunk. It’s surprising more people weren’t killed. No-one was sober enough to care. The young IRA types I met didn’t want peace. They wanted to raise hell and they held their lives cheap.
By the time George Mitchell came around to mediate in 1998, the hell-raisers of 1970, or what was left of them, had families and gave some thought to how to pay a mortgage. Prison and bullets had winnowed the ranks of the hard core.
Distribution of Irish Population by Age Group, 1970 vs. 2010
Source: United Nations Population Division
Ireland’s population was front-loaded into the teens and twenties back in 1970, when the troubles were at their worst. By 1998, the bulge in the population distribution had moved into the thirty-to-forty-year bracket. The Irish got older, and got tired of killing.
Something like this well may occur in the Palestinian territories over the next generation. The data shown above for Ireland are quite accurate; Palestinian demographic data are notoriously unreliable, for the Palestine Authority records more phantom aid recipients than ever the Cook County Democratic Party recorded phantom voters. According to an authoritative study by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, the West Bank and Gaza population in 2004 was only 2.5 million, rather than the 3.8 million claimed by the Palestinian authorities. The numbers are inflated to increase foreign aid and exaggerate the importance of the Palestinian population. The Begin-Sadat Center observes,
[The Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics] projected that the number of births in the Territories would total almost 908,000 for the seven-year period from 1997 to 2003. Yet, the actual number of births documented by the PA Ministry of Health for the same period was significantly lower at 699,000, or 238,000 fewer births than had been forecast by the PCBS… The size of the discrepancy accelerated over time. Whereas the PCBS predicted there would be over 143,000 births in 2003, the PA Ministry of Health reported only 102,000 births, which pointed to a PCBS forecast 40% beyond actual results.
[The Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics] projected that the number of births in the Territories would total almost 908,000 for the seven-year period from 1997 to 2003. Yet, the actual number of births documented by the PA Ministry of Health for the same period was significantly lower at 699,000, or 238,000 fewer births than had been forecast by the PCBS… The size of the discrepancy accelerated over time. Whereas the PCBS predicted there would be over 143,000 births in 2003, the PA Ministry of Health reported only 102,000 births, which pointed to a PCBS forecast 40% beyond actual results.
The UN data are adopted without revision from the Palestinian statistics bureau, which inflates birth data by 25% to 40%, and also counts hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living abroad as if they were still residents. It is clear that the overall population estimates are much too high—perhaps by 1 million of the supposed 3.5 million total—but less clear how much of the overestimate is assigned to each age bracket.
Palestinian Fertility, Report by Statistics Bureau vs. Palestine Ministry of Health
Sources: UN Population Division, Begin-Sadat Center
Bearing in mind that the data are unreliable, the age distribution chart below is nonetheless indicative.
Distribution of Population in Palestinian Territories by Age Group, 2010 vs. 2040 (Projected)
Source: United Nations Population Division
Around 80,000 Palestinian men are employed by one or another of the “security forces” in Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestine Authority’s grossly inflated numbers claim that there were 587,000 men aged 20 to 40 in the territories; the actual number is probably around 400,000, which means that one in five has a job carrying a gun. Taking unemployment into account, that implies that one in three Palestinian men with a full-time job is a gunman.
That may change over time. 5,800 Palestinians are working at technology companies on the West Bank, and the booming Israeli software sector is outsourcing to the West Bank, with a third of Palestinian software companies filling orders for Israeli firms, Bloomberg News reported March 15. And the top school for Palestinian computer science students is Ariel University in Samaria, in the midst of a settlement near Nablus. “Administrators at the Ariel University Center are proud to have the Arab students, saying their enrollment is an example of loyalty and equality among Israeli citizens. For their part, the Arab students seem not to feel uncomfortable attending the college despite its reputation and location,” wrote theChronicle of Higher Education. “On campus the fact that we are in occupied territory is irrelevant—it doesn’t affect us at all. We leave all the politics outside,” the Chronicle quoted Manar Dewany, a 20-year-old student in math and computer science who commutes each day from the Israeli Arab town of Taybeh. “I never even considered it a reason for not coming here,” Ms. Dewany added. “I have no problem with it. Why not come here? This place is full of Arabs.”
No-one outsources computer technology to Egypt, where very few of each year’s crop of 700,000 college graduates meets world standards. The education that young Arabs receive at the settlers’ university on the West Bank is better than anything available among Israel’s Arab neighbors. In a quiet way, the settlers of Samaria may do more for peace than the diplomats.
By 2040, the stone-throwing kids of the First Intifada will be close to retirement age, and the gun-toting young men who dominate today’s Palestinian employment picture (or those who still are alive) will have families. If they missed out on high-tech jobs, the spillover from the West Bank’s economic growth—driven in turn by Israel’s economic miracle—will keep them employed in service industries. Absent additional violence, the West Bank will flourish while Egypt and Syria descend into penury and chaos.
There is no urgency to make peace, except in the minds of the Palestinians’ present leaders. The world has allowed them to rule a little fiefdom as warlords of private armies, with little accounting for billions in foreign aid, and the opportunity to indulge in a grand ideological tantrum on the tab of Western donors.
The window is closing for radical Islam. That makes the present an exceptionally dangerous period, because the radicals know that it is closing. Contrary to what Obama said on May 22, the radicals understand better than anyone else that time and demographics are against them. The Palestinians of the West Bank are better off than any other Arabs in the region by any tangible measure—health, literacy, higher education, per capital income. They have the good luck to reside next to one of the world’s most dynamic economies. In a generation the world may have moved beyond the likes of Mahmoud Abbas. That gives Abbas an incentive to gamble while he still has chips on the table. If the radicals can be contained through the present generation, though, they can be extirpated in the next.
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