Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Golani..
In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and called Assad’s fall “a victory to the Islamic nation.” Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he told hundreds of people that Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran’s greed.”
The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and still split among armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in some remote areas.
Who are we helping over there?
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Pardon Me..
President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter, after repeatedly promising that he wouldn't, has come under fire this past week. And now, a bombshell report out of Politico alleges that Biden's senior aides are contemplating issuing preemptive pardons to a slew of officials they think might be in the line of fire during President-elect Donald Trump's next term.
Politico reports that "Biden's aides are deeply concerned about a range of current and former officials who could find themselves facing inquiries and even indictments.
The list of those reportedly being considered for a blanket, preemptive pardon includes Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and former Rep. Liz Cheney, who played active roles in Congress's Jan. 6 Committee, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was, of course, instrumental in implementing the most unpopular COVID-19 policies and who repeatedly contradicted himself in testimony before Congress.
The very idea of a preemptive pardon is shocking—the exact kind of norm breaking that the Democrats love to accuse Trump of. Think about what a preemptive pardon means: It is a tacit admission that the Democrats believe that Fauci or Schiff committed crimes—that there would be something to find if one went looking—but also that the Democrats will not and would never go looking there.
In other words, if Biden issues these blanket pardons, he will be ratifying the idea that was so aptly laid out by Peru's General Óscar Benavides: "For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law."
Genocide..
This is not a mere matter of a polite divergence of opinion. It is a vast chasm that will generate increasingly weighty legal and political consequences. Without a significant measure of reality-checking and re-alignment, which is highly unlikely, Israel will find itself more and more isolated in the world.
Friday, December 6, 2024
Mind Diet..
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
MIND diet was specifically designed to combat cognitive decline, said lead study author Dr. Russell Sawyer, an assistant professor of clinical neurology and rehabilitation medicine at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute.
Among the MIND diet components are 10 brain healthy food groups — green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, seafood, poultry, olive oil and wine,” Sawyer said in an email.
Five unhealthy food groups, red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, fried and fast foods, and pastries and sweets, are limited in the MIND diet, which helps reduce the intake of trans and saturated fats, Sawyer said.