ReWalk™ - a product of Israeli genius

Today’s ‘Positive and Optimistic Sunday’. I’m acutely aware I have many reasons to count my blessings. One of them is that I’m not paraplegic – and neither is any of my family or friends. Being paraplegic’s distressing for several reasons – especially being physical dependent, being wheelchair bound (and thus at a lower level than everyone except small children), and (apart from the relatively few cases of temporary paraplegia) with zero likelihood of standing tall and walking again. Enter Argo Medical Technologies [1] – a small tech company in Haifa, Israel. Argo invented and refined ReWalk™ [2] – a wearable, motorized quasi-robotic suit. Partially concealable under clothing, ReWalk™ provides user-initiated mobility – leveraging advanced motion sensors, sophisticated robotic control algorithms, on-board computers, real-time software, actuation motors, tailored rechargeable batteries and composite materials. In summary ReWalk allows paraplegics to stand tall – physically and figuratively – and, as shown in this must-see video [3], to walk (albeit using forearm crutches) [4]. It’s a superb invention which will hugely improve the lives of many paraplegics world-wide. No doubt at all. How positive and optimistic is that. Good on you, Argo. You’re geniuses.

H/t Elder of Ziyon [5].

Safire and satire

William Safire (1929-2009, pictured). Wikipedia calls him an American author, columnist, journalist, lexicographer and presidential speechwriter perhaps best known as a long-time syndicated political columnist for the New York Times [1]. For the obvious reason, satire reminds me of Safire. Dictionary.com defines satire as ‘the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule or the like in exposing, denouncing or deriding, vice, folly etc’ [2]. I thought of William Safire early this week when I read this item on CiF Watch – which monitors and exposes anti-semitism on the Guardian newspaper’s ‘Comment is Free’ blog [3]. It’s titled: ‘Israeli NGO’s [sic] preparing Flotilla from Ashdod to Dublin*’ [4]. The superscript asterisk flags to readers too dumb to otherwise realise, that the piece is satire. It uses irony, sarcasm and ridicule to expose, denounce and deride the vice, folly and evil of the Viva Palestina [5] flotilla that sailed towards Gaza in mid 2010, and which included the Mavi Marmara. The satirical CiF Watch piece starts: ‘Israeli NGOs horrified by the developing humanitarian crisis in Ireland have organized a flotilla called Viva Dublina. And it rolls – or perhaps more aptly, sails – on from there. It’s brilliant. I heartily recommend it. It exposes Viva Palestina’s motives and hypocrisy in a way no serious analysis could. I think if William Safire had read it, he’d be jealous he didn’t write it.
H/t Elder of Ziyon [6].

Birds of a feather...

Moshe Weinbereg, Yossef Romano, Ze’ev Friedman. David Berger. Yaakov Springer. Eliezer Halfin, Yossed Gutfreund, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer, Amitzur Shapira. Who are these 11 people? They’re the athletes (apart from US citizen Berger, all Israelis) massacred during the 1972 summer Olympics [1, 2]. The Munich attack’s terrorist mastermind, Mohammed Daoud Oudeh (‘Abu Daoud’) [3] wrote an autobiography, Palestine: From Jersusalem to Munich, which won the 1999 Palestine Prize for Culture. In it, Daoud reveals that Mahmoud Abbas (‘Abu Mazen’) – PLO Chairman since late 2004 and Palestinian National Authority President since early 2005 [4] – provided the funds and instructions to Black September for the 1972 Munich attack [5]. Daoud reiterated this in a 2002 Sports Illustrated interview [6]. Though you’d reckon Daoud would know Abbas’s Munich role, the fact is Abbas wasn’t targeted by ‘Operation Wrath of God’ [7] or ‘Operation Spring of Youth’ [8]. But Daoud and Abbas were close: After Daoud died last 3 July, Abbas wrote in a condolence letter: ‘He is missed. He was one of the leading figures of Fatah and spent his life in resistance and sincere work as well as physical sacrifice for his people’s just cause’ [9]. Do you think the man who wrote that three months ago could be, by any yardstick, a genuine partner in peace negotiations? Don’t answer that – it’s a rhetorical question.

P.S. h/t to Elder of Ziyon for the graphic top left [10, 11].

farmdoc's blog post number 664

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. with the 2010 Australian F1 Grand Prix only 43 days away, the GP Corporation announced that the rock group Simple Minds will play concerts at this year’s event [1]. I rest my case.

2. with the race only 43 days away and sans naming rights sponsor, a hero of mine, Kevin Summers, offered A$3,000 for the naming rights – to plug a play he’s directing. He’s not heard back yet. [2] Surely three grand’s better than nothing. Shame on you, GP Corp. But go, Kev!

3. Nutrition Diva explained how to know that the fish fillets you buy are fresh and healthy, and how to thaw frozen fish without it turning to mush [3]. Sounds sensible to me.

4. UK peer Baroness Tonge said Israel should set up an inquiry to disprove allegations that its medical teams in Haiti harvested organs of earthquake victims for use in transplants [4a, 4b]. The anti-Israel Baroness beggars belief. But the Elder Of Ziyon has the perfect solution [4c].

5. I read two articles about anti-Israel bias infecting medical journals [5a, 5b]. Wouldn't it be a great idea if medical journals wrote about medicine.

6. a research study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that Australian GPs rarely follow guidelines when managing new episodes of low back pain [6a, 6b]. Ho hum.

7. it was reported that three Australian mining companies, i.e. Newmont Mining (ranked third), Rio Tinto (fourth) and BHP Billiton (tenth), were in the top-ten most controversial companies in the world last year [7]. Ho hum again.

8. the Events section of Sweetheart Vivienne’s website’s been filling up [8]. And there’s more in the pipeline. When will I ever see her?

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 490

Farmdoc’s Blog is part of the blogosphere. But I don’t feel part of it. I don’t want to. And I don’t have time to. So I hardly read blogs of anyone I’m not related to. But one I’ve taken to looking at from time to time is The Elder of Ziyon. I suppose its name derives from the notorious anti-semitic document The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Perversely, because the document’s a hoax and a forgery; and despite the loony conspiracists, there’s never been a secret group of Jews known as the Elders of Zion. I don’t know the provenance of The Elder of Ziyon blog. But its writer clearly demonstrates a goodly degree of knowledge and authority. I find its content interesting. Mostly it’s material I haven’t come across elsewhere. And its tone also appeals to me: the facts and sources are documented, and the text is mostly left to speak for itself. Loudly. Comment by EoZ is invariably a mixture of irony and wit – which sets it off like a twist of lemon does to a gin and tonic. Here is an example. In this internet age, all sorts of campaigns and conflicts are waged in the ether as well as tangibly. In relation to the conflict between Israel and her enemies, The Elder of Ziyon is doing an important job. May it continue to prosper.