Tuesday, January 07, 2025

Daniel Penny: No Regrets Standing Up to Help


From Newsmax.com (Dec. 10):

Marine veteran Daniel Penny, despite being prosecuted by leftist Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, saidTuesday he has no regrets about trying to help others on the subway in May 2023.

Penny was acquitted on Monday of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, who witnesses said was threatening people on the train.

"I'm not a confrontational person. This type of thing is very uncomfortable — all this attention and limelight is very uncomfortable, and I would prefer without it. I don't want any type of attention or praise, and I still don't," Penny told Fox News.

Penny added that he knew he needed to step in to protect people on the subway from Neely.

"The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he [Neely] did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself. I'll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed," Penny said. [source]

Good for him!  I'm glad he was found not guilty. He should never have been prosecuted. Society needs to encourage good Smartian protectors not to discourage them.

More articles about him:

Monday, January 06, 2025

Are the Years of Madness Ending?

From AM Greatness.com (Dec. 16):

Never in U.S. history has a president-elect been welcomed as the real president before his January 20 inauguration. And never has the incumbent president so willingly surrendered his last two months in office and all but abdicated—to the relief of his nation and the rest of the world.

One reason so many are welcoming Trump’s return is the universally desperate hope that his election spelled an end to a collective madness at home and its ripples abroad during the last four years. And why not?

Nations overseas had never quite witnessed anything like the lethal August 2021 American flight from Afghanistan. That utter humiliation and impotence of the U.S. military likely signaled to Russia there would be no consequences if it invaded Ukraine—and it did; to Iran that it could now unleash Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel—and it did; and to China that it could daily threaten Taiwan and send a spy balloon across the United States with impunity—and it did.

The result was the current global chaos perhaps not seen since the late 1930s when a confused United States was similarly a bystander to the rise of bellicose regimes and wars. The Biden administration shrugged that the Red Sea, the Black Sea, the South China Sea, the Straits of Hormuz, and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea all became dangerous to the U.S. Navy and unsafe to world shipping.

A disparate group of nuclear and near-nuclear powers—Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—are either at war with Western allies or threatening war with them. Their confidence was predicated on the assumption that the U.S. after 2020 was engaged in a Maoist-like cultural revolution that warred on its own security, energy, military, universities, and social unity—and would continue with a second Biden term.

The Biden-era cultural revolution has done great damage to the United States. The U.S. border was systematically and deliberately destroyed to allow some 10-12 million illegal entrants to pour into the U.S. without legality or background checks. Never has an outgoing administration spitefully sold taxpayer-purchased border wall material for pennies on the dollar—rather than see it used for the purposes for which it was purchased.

Never had the U.S. experienced such an immigrant surge. And never had more than 50 million, and over 15 percent of the resident American population been foreign-born.

Why did Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas erase the border? What madness and hate drove them to dismantle federal immigration law? Was it sheer nihilism? Or a desperate but calculated effort to alter American demography for political purposes?

For four years, the public, elected officials, and pundits have all warned that Joe Biden was dangerously cognitively challenged and indeed completely unfit to fulfill the duties of the presidency.

A long-suffering nation winced as Biden slurred his words, spoke in unintelligible sound bites, stood frozen and mute, screamed at and libeled half the country, tripped, fell, wandered aimlessly, became bewildered, and more or less proved a global embarrassment. All knew Biden was not able to run the country; yet none knew exactly who was actually in charge of America in his stead. The Obamas? Leftists like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, the Squad, Jill Biden, and the Biden staff?

Our allies worried that the usually resilient American president was now all but demented. Our enemies enjoyed these leaderless years of opportunity. And the left serially misled the public that the decrepit Biden, whom they feared in private was senile, was “dynamic,” “energic,” and “fit as a fiddle.”

Never has a president so deserved to be removed by the 25th Amendment or through impeachment and conviction. And never has even his inner circle finally but silently agreed as they left office, the very enablers who had done their political best to mask his dementia for four long years.

Rarely have the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, the Department of Justice, and the Pentagon become weaponized and so flagrantly and with impunity broken the law, abandoned their mission statements, and served political agendas rather than the American people. Not since the J. Edgar Hoover era has the FBI hierarchy serially lied under oath, stonewalled Congress, forged a court affidavit, or partnered with the media to suppress the news. Has the FBI ever raided an ex-president’s home, spied on parents at school board meetings, monitored Catholics, or tried to terrify and harass pro-life activists?

Never has the justice system, from local to state to national jurisdictions, so systematically and coordinately, sought to bankrupt, render inert, and jail an ex-president and current presidential candidate.

Never has a presidential family so brazenly profited by selling its influence to foreign interests. Never has it used the powers of the FBI and DOJ to cover up its crimes and to ensure the family filial bagman would be for years exempted by the DOJ and later pardoned by the president himself, the father of the family miscreant and privy to the family syndicate’s illegal activities.

Seldom has a president and his administration sought to fuel a veritable cultural revolution to change the fabric of the nation by institutionalizing a third, transexual gender, violating civil rights law, and systematically admitting, hiring, and promoting Americans on the basis of their race and gender.

Never since the Civil War era had local and state insurrectionist governments established 600 nullification zones, in which they vowed to break federal law and consider it null and void within their jurisdictions. Never have rioters looted, burned, killed, assaulted, and occupied large swaths of cities for over 120 days, and largely with impunity.

Never had the U.S. Treasury borrowed so much money so quickly and owed $37 in national debt—and been so intent on borrowing continuously nearly $2 trillion a year in annual deficits.

Never has a political party sought to systematically violate long-standing traditions, customs, and often the law itself to destroy a political opponent: hiring a foreign national to spread smears among the media and bureaucracies, impeaching a president twice, trying an ex-president in the Senate, seeking to remove a presidential candidate from 16 state ballots, using five different judicial jurisdictions to try an ex-president, and serially so defaming a candidate and ex-president as a dictator, fascist, and Nazi to create a climate that encouraged two near-miss assassination attempts on him.

In sum, for the last four years, the world has watched aghast as the United States lost its collective mind and became a radical Jacobin revolutionary society.

So why is there not a sense of almost ecstatic relief, not just among conservatives but even among Democrats, that the years of darkness and madness are ending?

The global public believes that the United States will again become lawful, have a secure border, return as a beacon of free-market economics, protect its allies, deter its enemies, win over its neutrals, return to the rule of law, restore the professionalism and prestige of its government agencies, check predatory nations abroad with a new deterrent military, and prepare to lead the world in energy production, exploration of space, and scientific and technology development.

Summed up, the welcomed counterrevolution is one of restoration—to dream again that nothing is impossible, and the dreary age of stasis, envy, cynicism, and nihilism is ending, replaced again by a world without limits. No one knows quite what is ahead, but all know that it is at least better already than the current nightmare. [source]

I hope so. The adults are back in power. So, that's good. Now, if the Left can let go of their hatred of President Trump, the country (and them) will be better for it. Another thought-provoking article by Victor Davis Hanson.

Friday, January 03, 2025

Six Ways Socialism is Anti-Social

From Lawrence W. Reed on FEE.org (Dec. 4, 2022):

Here’s a question for a PhD dissertation: How did something so radically anti-social ever get the name, social-ism?

I leave that vexing matter to whoever wants to write it up. Meantime, I can assist the project by offering some of the reasons why socialism is a self-evidently anti-social contrivance.

First, what is socialism? For a definition, socialists themselves offer numerous moving targets. For example:

It’s happy talk and sharing things even though under socialism there’s less to share and be happy about.

It’s free stuff until the bills come due.

It’s the welfare state, where the politicians get well and the rest of us pay the fare. (See “John Calhoun’s Mouse Utopia and Reflections on the Welfare State”).

It’s bread lines that bring us all together, somehow. Remember that Bernie Sanders once proclaimed that people lining up for food in communist countries was a blessing in disguise.

It’s government ownership of the means of production so the economy can hum with the efficiency of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

It’s when workers run the factories that somebody else invested in.

It’s when clueless elites tell the economy what to do.

It’s Scandinavia (which isn’t socialist).

It’s communal utopia where everybody gets an equal portion regardless of effort, until they nearly starve. The Pilgrims tried it until forced to replace it with private property. (See also “The Dark Side of Paradise: A Brief History of America’s Utopian Experiments in Communal Living”).

It’s Venezuela, or it was Venezuela until it didn’t work.

If it seems like socialists don’t really know what it is, that’s only partly true. In most cases, they just don’t want YOU to know what it really is. The best charlatans are always the clever ones.

Socialism is rightly and widely perceived as diametrically opposed to capitalism. So it can’t possibly be acts of caring, sharing, giving and being compassionate toward the needy. There is demonstrably more caring, sharing, giving, and compassion toward the needy under capitalism!

Even when it comes to foreign aid, capitalist countries are the donors and socialist countries are the recipients. You can’t give it away or share it with anybody if you don’t create it in the first place, and socialism offers utterly no theory of wealth creation, only wealth confiscation and consumption.

Another way to think of the distinctions between these two opposing systems is this: Capitalism is what happens when free and peaceful people are left alone. In that sense, it’s natural and spontaneous. Socialism is nothing more than the presumptuous plans of bullies and know-it-alls who impose their plans at gunpoint. In that sense, it’s unnatural, contrived, arbitrary and officious.

Socialists are math-challenged: They’re good at division and subtraction but are unaware of addition or multiplication. If your second grader tells you that 3 + 2 = 1, you know he’s a future socialist. Likewise if he tells you that taxes on cigarettes discourage smoking but taxes on investing, hiring or starting a business have only beneficial effects. The economics knowledge of socialists is even more dismal: They think supply and demand means the people demand and the government supplies.

In my book, Was Jesus a Socialist? I blew away the smoke bombs to reveal what socialism really is:

It is the concentration of power in the hands of the State, which then deploys legal force for one or more of these purposes (and usually all three to one extent or another): the redistribution of income, government ownership of property, and the central planning of economic life.

Note that socialists do not propose to accomplish their objectives by mutual consent. They do not advocate raising the money for their plans by way of bake sales or charitable solicitations. Your participation is not voluntary. From start to finish, socialism’s defining characteristic is not so much the promises meant to beguile but rather, the method by which it implements its agenda—FORCE. If it’s voluntary, it’s not socialism. It’s that simple. [read more]

Socialism is definitely evil. Anti-God.

Here are the reasons socialism is anti-social:

  • The Plans of Socialists Are More Important Than Yours
  • Socialists Are Know-It-Alls and Know-Nothings, Simultaneously
  • Socialism Rejects Biological Science
  • Socialists Call the Cops for Everything
  • Socialism Is Anti-Capital
  • Conflict Is Their God

Thursday, January 02, 2025

How a US lab created energy with fusion—again

From Pop Sci.com (Aug. 13, 2023):

About eight months ago, scientists at a US-government-funded lab replicated the process that powers stars—nuclear fusion—and created more energy than they put in. Now, physicists and engineers at the same facility, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Northern California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, appear to have successfully created an energy-gaining fusion experiment for the second time.

NIF’s latest achievement is a step closer—the second step down a very long road—to a dream of fusion providing the world with clean, abundant energy. There is a long way to go before a fusion power plant opens in your city. But scientists are optimistic.

“It indicates that the scientists at [NIF] and their collaborators understand what happened back in December well enough that they have been able to make it happen again,” says John Pasley, a fusion scientist at York University in the UK who wasn’t part of this experiment.

NIF declined to comment, noting that the facility’s scientists had not yet formally presented their results. Until that happens, there’s a lot we won’t know about the specifics of the experiment, which took place on July 30.

There are multiple ways of achieving fusion, and NIF works with one, called inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In NIF’s setup, a high-powered laser beam splits into 192 smaller beams, showering a capsule that scientists call a hohlraum. Inside the hohlraum’s walls, this barrage spawns X-rays that crash into the capsule’s filling: a pellet of deuterium and tritium, super-squeezing it at temperatures and pressures more intense than the sun’s, initiating fusion.

The goal of all this work is to pass the break-even point and create more energy than the laser puts in: an achievement that fusion scientists call gain. In December’s experiment, 2.05 megajoules of laser beams elicited 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy. We won’t know for sure until NIF releases its data, but unnamed sources told the Financial Times that this second success created even greater gain. [read more]

Nice! Thumbs up Hopefully, the lab can scale up the fusion.

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

US researchers develop revolutionary 'cancer-killing' pill

From J Post.com (Aug. 2, 2023):

US researchers at City of Hope have found a new way to treat cancer via a targeted chemotherapy pill that can kill solid tumors, according to a recent study.

The findings of this study were published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Cell Chemical Biology.

The drug in question, dubbed AOH1996, works by targeting a specific cancerous protein variant called a proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA).

This protein is vital in DNA being able to replicate and therefore tumors being able to spread.

How does AOH1996 help treat cancer?

This is where AOH1996 differs from other targeted cancer treatments. Most others tend to focus just on a single pathway. However, that method can result in the cancer mutating and becoming more resistant to treatment.

"PCNA is like a major airline terminal hub containing multiple plane gates. Data suggests PCNA is uniquely altered in cancer cells, and this fact allowed us to design a drug that targeted only the form of PCNA in cancer cells. Our cancer-killing pill is like a snowstorm that closes a key airline hub, shutting down all flights in and out only in planes carrying cancer cells," said City of Hope Prof. Linda Malkas in a statement. 

"Results have been promising. AOH1996 can suppress tumor growth as a monotherapy or combination treatment in cell and animal models without resulting in toxicity. The investigational chemotherapeutic is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial in humans at City of Hope."

In tests, AOH1996 was found to be useful in treating breast, prostate, brain, ovarian, cervical, skin, and lung cancers. It selectively kills cells by disrupting how those cells reproduce. This process is known as apoptosis and it prevents cells with damaged DNA from spreading throughout the body.

More clinical trials are slated to help test this drug for future use.

"No one has ever targeted PCNA as a therapeutic because it was viewed as 'undruggable,' but clearly City of Hope was able to develop an investigational medicine for a challenging protein target," said Long Gu, lead author of the study and an associate research professor in the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope.

"We discovered that PCNA is one of the potential causes of increased nucleic acid replication errors in cancer cells. Now that we know the problem area and can inhibit it, we will dig deeper to understand the process to develop more personalized, targeted cancer medicines." [source]

Nice. Hope the drug is a success and gets approved.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Joe Biden and Iran

From Bill O’Reilly.com (Dec. 17):

In a largely unreported story, the Biden administration unfroze another $10 billion dollars so the Mullahs in Iran could have a nice Christmas.  Of course, the fundamental Islamists don't believe in Christmas, and if you do, you're an infidel.

That makes around $100 billion that Joe Biden has allowed to flow into Tehran. That money was frozen in banks around the world after Iran refused to stop exporting terrorism.  They still lead the league in that death sport, but Joe doesn't seem to mind very much.   What's next, pardoning the terror killers?

Sorry, I mentioned it.

The Biden administration says all that cash will be used for "humanitarian" concerns. Sure. Don't know about you, but when I hear the word Iran, I immediately think of a benevolent government aiding those in need, and the country's nuke program is simply to provide clean energy.  Right, Joe?

Joe?  Helloooo. 

Like the open border, there is no rational reason to help the crazed Mullahs amass billions.  It will become blood money.

Somebody gently awaken President Biden and tell him.

See you this evening for the No Spin News. [source]

Stupid and potentially dangerous.  Briben just doesn't care about America's national security. This is what happens when appeasers are in power.

Monday, December 30, 2024

The Folks Saved America

From Bill O’Reilly.com (Dec. 1):

Having traveled to 86 countries, I believe the United States is, indeed, the land of opportunity - By A LOT, as Donald Trump might say.

Many people on Earth agree.  Millions are trying to get here.  No one is sneaking into Russia, China, or even Mexico, for that matter.  The pathway to success is "El Norte."

t's all about the long and winding road to personal freedom and economic success. We have that lane here.  But it is being threatened by the far left which believes that life outcomes must be dictated by a central government.

More than 74 million people voted for Kamala Harris, a politician who joined with socialist Bernie Sanders in an effort to allow the federal government to run America's health care system.  Do you think those voters have any idea what kind of medical chaos would arise from bureaucrats making healthcare decisions for them?

No, they don't.

Canada has just 41 million citizens, and its Ottawa-based healthcare system is plagued by enormous wait times as well as incompetent management.  We have 330 million citizens down here.  Math is instructive.

The truth is most Americans are clueless when it comes to understanding that the more a citizen depends on government, the less freedom that person actually has. I don't want to live in a country where pinheads dictate and impose an ideologically driven lifestyle on me and my family.

Benjamin Franklin didn't want that either and cajoled his compatriots into constructing a constitution that promoted self-reliance, achievement, individualism.

Today, the progressive movement seeks to deconstruct Franklin's vision.

The 77 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump stopped the far-left zealots cold.  Harris, Biden, Pelosi, the corporate TV media, Hollywood, and the newspaper industry were all badly battered by the election outcome.  Recovery is doubtful. Good.

The strength of America is not government but strong, well-intentioned individuals.  President Biden will go down in history as a weak leader whose only problem-solving solution was massive spending and imposing onerous regulations and taxation.  That equation spiked consumer prices, leading to the collapse of the Democratic Party.

Had she been elected, Vice President Harris would have been worse.

Finally, there is an arrogance in the progressive movement that is simply appalling. To have Hollywood nitwits tell the foreign press that Trump supporters are idiots is beyond the pale.  I voted for Trump and can tell you there is not one entertainer in this country, not one, who could best me in a political debate.

The offer is on the table.

So, this Thanksgiving I said a prayer of gratitude for the voters who have saved the country from massive dysfunction and equity-driven unfairness.  You guys stopped the madness.

And I thank God you did. [source]

Yes, we did. Thank God Trump got back in. Good article.