“Divergence” Written by Judith &; Garfield Reeves-Stevens Directed by David Barrett Season 4‚ Episode 16 Production episode 092 Original air date: February 25‚ 2005 Date: unknown Captain’s star log. After getting the highlights from “Affliction‚” we learn that Columbia is going to rendezvous with going-zoom-fast Enterprise because Tucker needs to be on board to fix the engines. (Why Tucker can’t just relay instructions over comm lines is left as an exercise for the viewer.) Archer springs Reed from the brig to supervise the physical transfer of Tucker from Columbia to Enterprise on a tether while both are at warp five-plus. They manage it‚ though the tether is lost‚ and Tucker is rather shocked when MACOs escort Reed to the brig when it’s done. Tucker does a hard reboot of the engines‚ which will only work if Columbia wraps its warp field around Enterprise so they can stay at ludicrous speed. Tucker pulls it off‚ because he’s just that awesome. Archer asks Columbia to stick around. On Qu’vat‚ Antaak visits Phlox in his cell‚ where he’s been beaten. Antaak has discovered a weakness in the virus that may enable them to cure it. Phlox points out that K’Vagh won’t let them work on a cure‚ he just wants Klingon Augments. Antaak replies that they don’t have to tell him what they’re doing… Columbia joins Enterprise on the search for Phlox. Archer—who has gone through Reed’s correspondences—asks about this Harris guy he’s been talking to. He was with Starfleet Security up until a few years ago‚ but now he’s off the grid. Reed is unable to speak further on the subject beyond the fact that he worked for Harris once. Screenshot: CBS Tucker agrees to help Kelby with repairs. He and T’Pol lie to each other when they ask if the other is sleeping okay. On Qu’vat‚ Antaak and Phlox discuss family‚ with the former revealing that he was disowned when he chose to become a physician. The Bird-of-Prey returns‚ with Laneth reporting that Enterprise was destroyed and that K’Vagh’s son Marab was captured by the humans and therefore died without honor. (This‚ boys and girls‚ is why you always stick around to make sure there’s a body. Or blown-up ship.) Phlox claims to K’Vagh that he’s found the “off switch” that will deactivate the virus and make Augments. K’Vagh then reports that to General Krell‚ who says that the project has been shut down. Krell’s fleet will arrive in three days‚ and K’Vagh has until then to prove that he has valuable research that’s worth sparing the plague-ridden colony. K’Vagh reveals that his son‚ Laneth‚ and the others who sabotaged Enterprise were volunteers on whom the Augment treatments were tried after they ran out of prisoners to experiment on. Those volunteers are now getting sicker‚ and Laneth complains of how she felt fear when she was on Enterprise. She worries that even with the enhanced strength and intelligence‚ if they survive‚ they’ll be outcasts because of how they look and act. Phlox is able to narrow it down to four possible treatments. In the lab‚ he’d need a week to determine which was the cure. Since they don’t have that kind of time‚ they have to test them on Antaak‚ K’Vagh‚ and two of K’Vagh’s warriors. Harris contacts Archer‚ insisting that Phlox is on an important mission‚ which Archer calls bullshit on‚ as you don’t assault and kidnap someone to send them on a mission. Harris refers to “the Charter‚ Article 14‚ Section 31‚” ahem ahem‚ and that what Phlox is doing is necessary for the stability of the quadrant. Archer continues to call bullshit. Archer then goes to Reed‚ showing him the medical scans that show that Marab has been experimented on. Reed admits that he was ordered to delay Enterprise from finding Phlox because he was needed to find a cure. He doesn’t know where they might be taken‚ but Reed does know that Starfleet Intelligence has reports of a medical research facility on Qu’vat. Archer restores Reed to duty‚ and they head to Qu’vat‚ Columbia hanging back in reserve. Screenshot: CBS Harris then contacts Krell‚ with a report that the Klingon saboteurs failed to stop Enterprise. Krell tells Harris to just order them home‚ but he doesn’t have that authority‚ so Krell intends to destroy them. Harris poutily says that wasn’t the arrangement and Krell laughs in his face for being so naïve. On Qu’vat‚ K’Vagh is the one who has the cure. Antaak is philosophical about dying from a plague that’s pretty much his fault‚ but Phlox thinks he’ll be able to synthesize a cure in time to save him (and‚ presumably‚ the two guards). Enterprise arrives at Qu’vat‚ with Archer and Marab beaming down. K’Vagh is surprised first that Enterprise is intact and his son is alive‚ and also that Phlox was working on a cure‚ not perfecting the Augment genome. Archer wants to take Phlox back‚ but the doctor is very close to perfecting the cure‚ and he just needs more time. That time is in short supply‚ as Krell’s fleet has arrived. Enterprise and Columbia engage the fleet‚ and while the firefight is going on in orbit‚ Phlox uses Archer to speed up the process‚ as he needs human antibodies to finish the cure‚ and it would go faster by injecting Archer with it. Archer makes all kinds of silly faces (and also gets some minor cranial ridges) and then Phlox has a cure. He then beams a canister with the virus onto Krell’s flagship‚ and tells the general that‚ if he destroys the colony‚ he and his entire crew will die of the virus. Krell reluctantly stands down. The cure for the virus has one rather major side effect: loss of cranial ridges. Antaak grumps that his own targ won’t recognize him now‚ and now millions of Klingons who contracted the Augment-enhanced Levodian flu will be human-looking. And it will be inherited‚ so they’ll pass it on to their children. Screenshot: CBS Tucker says he’ll remain on board for a bit to help Kelby with repairs. Archer thanks Hernandez for the help‚ with the latter wondering how Archer survived without her all these years. Archer also still has vestigial cranial ridges‚ and a craving for gagh‚ which Phlox insists will pass. Harris contacts Reed to say that everything came out more or less okay. Reed says he quits and never to contact him again. Harris all but laughs in his face. Can’t we just reverse the polarity? Tucker does a good old-fashioned hard reboot and reset to factory settings to get rid of the virus. Why he needs to come over to the ship himself and do this simple thing that tech support always tells you to do is (once again) left as an exercise for the viewer. The gazelle speech. Archer gets to squirm in a chair and make funny face and get minor cranial ridges. I’ve been trained to tolerate offensive situations. T’Pol is in charge during the firefight in orbit‚ and is a nice calm presence‚ teaming up with Hernandez to kick all the butt. Florida Man. Florida Man Does Crazy-Ass Space Walk. Optimism‚ Captain! Phlox absolutely owns this episode‚ taking charge of the entire situation once he’s on the road to a cure‚ manipulating K’Vagh and Krell both with verve and aplomb. Screenshot: CBS Good boy‚ Porthos! Porthos is down in the dumps because Phlox is missing‚ though Archer suspect that he more misses the fact that Phlox sometimes sneaks him cheese from a stash in sickbay. Qapla’! General Krell collaborated with Harris and Section 31 for his own reasons. Harris was stupid enough to let him. No sex‚ please‚ we’re Starfleet. Neither Tucker nor T’Pol are willing to admit that they’re getting into each other’s dreams. It’s really kind of silly. More on this later… We officially have an explanation for why the Klingons we saw on the original and animated series looked so different from the Klingons after that. And the seeds for an explanation of why we’ve seen none since then (and why the three we’ve seen in both modes‚ Kor‚ Kang‚ and Koloth‚ are like that) are sown as well‚ though that has not been explicated on screen. (See Trivial Matters below.) I’ve got faith… “I need a little more time to cure this plague!” “Cure? You were supposed to perfect the Augment genome!” “I lied.” –Phlox saying “Bazinga!” to K’Vagh.  Welcome aboard. Back from “Affliction” are Ada Maris as Hernandez‚ James Avery as K’Vagh‚ John Schuck as Antaak‚ Terrell Tilford as Marab‚ and Eric Pierpoint as Harris. Pierpoint will return in the “Demons”/“Terra Prime” two-parter. Also appearing are prior Trek guests Kristin Bauer as Laneth‚ having previously played one of Quark’s fantasy women in DS9’s “If Wishes Were Horses”; and Wayne Grace as Krell‚ having previously played a different Klingon‚ Torak‚ in TNG’s “Aquiel” and a horny Cardassian legate in DS9’s “Wrongs Darker than Death or Night.” Trivial matters: This is the second of two parts‚ continuing from “Affliction.” Following this episode‚ the Klingon Language Institute provided terms for the two types of Klingons: QuchHa’ (“the unhappy ones”) for those without cranial ridges and HemQuch (“the proud forehead”) for those with. This episode establishes that millions of Klingons are QuchHa’ following this‚ and that they’re considered inferior to some degree or other. This is by way‚ not only of explaining the Klingons we saw in the original series‚ but why we never saw mixed crews‚ as it makes sense that all QuchHa’ in the Klingon Defense Force would be segregated. It also retcons the less-than-honorable behavior of some of those Klingons in the original series‚ if they weren’t considered “proper” Klingons. Prior to this two-parter‚ various works of tie-in fiction proposed all manner of explanations for the discrepancy between types of Klingon‚ all of which were superseded by new onscreen evidence. John M. Ford’s The Final Reflection posited that Klingons created “fusions” of Klingons with other species‚ humans among them. The My Brother’s Keeper trilogy by Michael Jan Friedman posited that the Klingons with cranial ridges were a new species created via genetic engineering. Several works that came out pre-Enterprise‚ notably the graphic novel Debt of Honor by Chris Claremont &; Adam Hughes‚ posited that there were two different species of Klingons‚ with the smooth-headed ones being ascendant during the original series‚ but became outcasts by the movie era. This is the first Trek episode directed by David Barrett. He’ll return to the franchise to direct two episodes of Discovery‚ “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” and “Saints of Imperfection.” Barrett’s father‚ Stan‚ played a small role in the original series’ “All Our Yesterdays.” While Kelby is mentioned several times‚ Derek Magyar doesn’t appear. Reed’s determination to not do anything for Harris anymore will last all of four episodes‚ as our heroes will once again deal with him in “Demons.” The other half of this story‚ to wit‚ how the Klingons got their grooves back‚ as it were‚ was told in the Star Trek: Excelsior novel Forged in Fire by Andy Mangels &; Michael A. Martin‚ which also served as a prequel to DS9’s “Blood Oath.” The novel focused on Hikaru Sulu‚ Kor‚ Kang‚ Koloth‚ and Curzon Dax‚ establishing the relationship the latter four of them would develop‚ and part of the plot explains how the QuchHa’ were eliminated (as evidenced by those three Klingons having cranial ridges in the twenty-fourth century). The novel also connects in an interesting way to the original series’ “The Omega Glory.” The Columbia is not seen again onscreen‚ but is featured in the Romulan War novel Beneath the Raptor’s Wing by Martin‚ the Destiny trilogy by David Mack‚ and Federation: The First 150 Years by David A. Goodman. Screenshot: CBS It’s been a long road… “My own targ won’t recognize me!” Parts of this episode are excellent‚ especially the climax where Phlox basically owns everyone. It starts with Archer and K’Vagh arguing over who gets Phlox and the doctor barging in and saying that he can speak for himself‚ thank you‚ and from that moment forward‚ he’s totally in charge‚ and it’s fabulous. Some of John Billingsley’s best work is in the back half of this episode. So much of the rest of the episode is pointless filler‚ though. The lengthy sequence where Tucker gets on a tether between two ships travelling way way way faster than light and shimmies between them is visually pretty nifty‚ but at no point does anyone explain why Tucker can’t just explain what he’s doing and walk Kelby and/or T’Pol through it over video chat. Especially given how long the transfer takes. The entire subplot with Harris and Reed and Section 31 is just so much sound and fury signifying nothing‚ especially since Harris is so unbelievably stupid in this. I mean‚ his original notion of having Reed sabotage Enterprise was idiotic‚ because all it was going to do was call attention to the conspiracy. If Harris had just told Reed to hide the fact that the sensor grid was down when Phlox was kidnapped‚ maybe I could see it‚ but all of this extra sabotage just shone a light on the conspiracy. And then Krell turned out not to be trustworthy‚ which any idiot could’ve seen coming‚ but Harris is obviously not just any idiot. In the comments section of my “Affliction” rewatch‚ the reader “mr_d” pointed out that‚ for all of Section 31’s protestations that they’re necessary‚ protestations that are echoed by people who are fans of the use of 31 in Trek (a number that will never‚ under any circumstances‚ include me)‚ they’re actually not very good at what they do. This two-parter is a classic example‚ as they don’t do anything particularly useful here. In fact‚ the first question that comes to mind when you realize that there was conversation between Earth and Kronos on the subject should’ve been the same thing Phlox said when he was kidnapped: why not just ask for help? Ultimately‚ it’s more filler for a two-parter that doesn’t have enough story for two parts‚ and really is only in service of explaining something that didn’t really require an explanation. It certainly didn’t require taking two episodes out of a season to explain it. While the end result is still eminently watchable‚ thanks to the continued wonderfulness of putting Billingsley‚ John Schuck‚ and James Avery in a room together‚ it still feels like paperwork masquerading as a story. Warp factor rating: 6 Keith R.A. DeCandido’s most recent work includes several short stories: “Prezzo” in Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird‚ a story about Italian immigrants in 1930s New York City and monsters; “Know Thyself Deathless” in Double Trouble: An Anthology of Two-Fisted Team-Ups (which he co-edited with Jonathan Maberry)‚ teaming H. Rider Haggard’s She with the Yoruba goddess Egungun-oya; “Another Dead Body on the Corner” in Joe Ledger: Unbreakable‚ featuring Ledger in his days as a Baltimore homicide cop; “What Do You Want From Me‚ I’m Old” in The Four ???? of the Apocalypse (which he co-edited with Wrenn Simms)‚ about the four septuagenarians of the apocalypse; “The Legend of Long-Ears” in The Good‚ the Bad‚ and the Uncanny‚ a Weird Western tale of Bass Reeves and Calamity Jane; and “The Kellidian Kidnapping” and “Work Worth Doing” in the two most recent issues of Star Trek Explorer‚ the former a Voyager story featuring Tuvok‚ the latter the backstory for Discovery’s President Rillak.

Exit polls in Ohio clearly showed that most voters oppose unlimited abortion on demand‚ yet that’s what 57% of the Ohioans voted for with the passage of Issue 1 on Nov. 7. Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and their allies persuaded a lot of people who believe in limits on induced abortion to vote in favor of abortions of preborn children who could survive outside the womb using a barbaric dilation-and-evacuation procedure‚ in which babies are dismembered. While the procedures permitted by Issue 1 are extreme‚ the messaging to persuade people to vote for it was not. The messaging appealed to all voters with a message that resonated with the shared values of conservatives in this red state‚ as well as that of moderates and liberals. As a physician who has practiced OB-GYN care that embraces both patients‚ the mother and her child‚ I’m alarmed that some of my fellow doctors colluded with abortion extremists and messaging specialists to promote the narrative that abortion limits restrict the care we are able to give our patients. That narrative is harmful to women‚ their babies and the practice of medicine. So many of my patients and patients of other doctors who practice life-affirming care come to us with the same story: “My child has a life-limiting condition‚ and the only option given to me was to abort.” One time‚ I delivered two babies by cesarean section. One passed away eight hours later; the other is thriving to this day. The mother treasures the time she was able to spend with the twin who only lived 8 hours after he was born. Both pre- and post-Roe v. Wade‚ most obstetricians and gynecologists—76% to 93% of us—have been providing exceptional health care for both our maternal and fetal patients without doing induced abortions. We know how to do our jobs. We are trained and desire to partner with our maternal patients during low-risk and high-risk pregnancies alike to protect both of our patients from harm‚ and there is no law in our country that prevents us from doing so. Yes‚ there are times when we must prematurely separate our maternal and fetal patient‚ and the unintended consequence is the death of our fetal patient. That’s completely different‚ however‚ from an induced abortion‚ because our intention of the intervention is to separate and save them both‚ if possible‚ not to intentionally end the life of one of them. Women deserve health care in which doctors can be trusted to try to save both the woman and her preborn child. It is unfair to women to end the life of their preborn children without presenting them with all of their options. Too many times‚ I have spoken with women who were told they needed to have an induced abortion when there were other options‚ including expectant management (waiting with careful monitoring) or perinatal palliative care (hospice) for a baby with a life-limiting condition. Women are harmed when they cannot trust their doctors to tell them about all of their options. Doing that includes connecting them with tangible resources that address any socioeconomic barriers they face that often lead to a decision to have an induced abortion. Americans do not have to say “yes” to state ballot initiatives to constitutionalize induced abortion to protect themselves or their daughters‚ girlfriends‚ or wives. Doctors don’t have to harm our fetal patients to take care of our maternal patients. What doctors do have to do‚ however‚ is allow their voices to be heard. While there were some doctors in Ohio against Issue 1 who were willing to speak up‚ many remained quiet. Yes‚ it’s scary to put yourself out there when we live in a society that would rather resort to name-calling than making a persuasive argument. Yes‚ it’s scary to work for employers who threaten your right to free speech. Yes‚ it feels like you are alone‚ but please know you are not. Most of my colleagues do not practice induced abortion and do not believe abortion is essential health care. My colleagues across all different kinds of practices and states leave abortion to a small group of providers and shouldn’t let this small group drown out our voices.  Courage is contagious. It’s time to be courageous. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post On Ohio’s Issue 1‚ OB-GYN Debunks Deceptive Abortion Narrative appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Bari Weiss‚ the former New York Times editorial writer‚ delivered a tour de force speech explaining the West’s current war of ideas and laying out what we must do to save our civilization. Speaking at the Federalist Society’s annual National Lawyer’s Convention‚ Weiss spoke after receiving a prize named after Barbara K. Olsen‚ a victim of the Sept. 11‚ 2001‚ terrorist attacks. She perfectly encapsulated the “civilizational war” the West faces‚ a war that “too many had foolishly thought was over.” She eloquently used the dual catastrophes of 9/11 and the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel to underscore the current war of ideas‚ conviction‚ and will.Throughout her 38-minute speech‚ Weiss proved eloquent‚ poignant and self-deprecating. She used humor to disarm and challenge the primarily conservative audience to look past the reality of her same-sex marriage and support for abortion to the stark truth that she‚ and millions like her‚ are allies with them in the more profound and deeper fight to save Western civilization as we know it.  She opened by noting that the attacks of Oct. 7 were not like “previous wars or battles Israel has fought in its 75-year history.” It was a “genocidal pogrom‚” akin to the Nazi Holocaust‚ the European pogroms‚ or the Farhud‚ the 1941 massacre of Jews in Baghdad.     Comparisons between the 9/11 and Oct. 7 attacks are apt because‚ as she noted‚ “the spectacle and savagery were the point.” Yet while the West responded with due horror to 9/11‚ Weiss lamented the West’s response to 10/7 as a “moral and spiritual catastrophe‚ revealing the rot permeating our civilization. At the Sydney Opera House‚ protesters shouted “Gas the Jews.” People celebrated “on the streets of Berlin‚ London‚ Toronto and New York.”  Black Lives Matter of Chicago created an image of the Hamas paragliders as a “symbol of freedom.” Posters materialized on college campuses calling for “Israel to burn.”  Ironically‚ the same crowd had quickly condemned George Floyd’s death and Putin’s Ukraine invasion‚ Weiss noted. “In lockstep‚ the social justice crowd–the crowd who has tried to convince us that words are violence–insisted that actual violence was actually a necessity. That the rape was resistance. That it was liberation.”     She rightly excoriated university presidents who‚ in her words‚ “leapt to issue morally lucid condemnations of George Floyd’s killing or Putin’s war on Ukraine‚” but who‚ after the 10/7 attacks‚ “offered silence or mealy-mouthed pablum about how the situation is tragic and ‘complex’ and how we need to think of ‘both sides.’”  She pointed to George Washington University‚ where students projected “Glory to Our Martyrs” on campus buildings; to Cooper Union‚ where Jewish students hid in the library from a rabid mob; to Columbia‚ Weiss’s alma mater (and of one of us – Malcolm)‚ where a professor called the slaughter “awesome;” and to Harvard‚ which discriminated against Jewish students decades ago in admissions‚ where 30 student groups signed a petition to “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all the unfolding violence.” And what is the explanation for their reactions? Weiss posited that the superficial answer would appear to be antisemitism‚ which she labeled the “world’s oldest hatred.” But to Weiss‚ it’s more profound and disturbing than just that. To Weiss‚ the proliferation of antisemitism is a symptom of a much deeper crisis.  When antisemitism moves from the shameful fringe into the public square‚ it is not about Jews. It is never about Jews. It is about everyone else. It is about the surrounding society or the culture or the country.  It is an early warning system – a sign that society itself is breaking down. That it is dying. In the 20 years since 9/11‚ “educated people now respond to an act of savagery not with a defense of civilization‚ but with a defense of barbarism.” Academic theories like postmodernism‚ postcolonialism‚ and post nationalism morphed over the two decades into “nothing less than the deconstruction of our civilization from within.”  The entire concept of right and wrong has been turned upside down. These radicals’ new solution is to “decolonize” the West. Tear it down from the inside out.  Basic commonly understood concepts like good and evil have been replaced with a new rubric: “the powerless” or “oppressed” who are considered good‚ and the “powerful” or “oppressors” who are now considered bad.  This new paradigm and perverted worldview explain‚ for example‚ the rush to replace “color blindness with race obsession‚ ideas with identity‚ debate with denunciation‚ persuasion with public shaming‚ [and] the rule of law with the fury of the mob.” Weiss’s incisive comments perfectly depicted the Through-the-Looking-Glass-like place we find ourselves in as a society where up is down and down is up. Today‚ people are given authority in “inverse proportion to the disadvantages their group had suffered.” Forget about the quaint notions of merit‚ hard work‚ or other outward signs of accomplishment. Merit and excellence are now “dirty words.”  Like a kudzu vine that swallows entire ecosystems‚ this “inverted worldview” has contaminated every institution in American life‚ according to Weiss. Paraphrasing Weiss‚ it started in universities and has devoured the media‚ museums‚ philanthropy‚ high schools and elementary schools‚ and even the law.  The takeover of this pernicious worldview is so pervasive and comprehensive that Weiss conceded it’s now “almost hard for people to notice it because it is everywhere.” The reaction to the Oct. 7 attacks has “been a mark to market moment” as they show the world how deeply this cancerous viewpoint has spread and how‚ in Weiss’s opinion‚ these incendiary reactions serve as a “predicate to violence.”  To her‚ this explains why the editor of the Harvard Law Review was intimidating a Jewish student and why a Manhattan public defender was videotaped tearing down posters of kidnapped Jewish children. “That baby? He is a colonizer first and a baby second. That woman gang raped by terrorists? Shame it had to come to that‚ but she is a white oppressor.” Weiss argued that we must do four things to defeat this nihilistic ideology. First‚ we need to open our eyes to “look and discern accordingly.”  She urged us to get past the superficial and look at “the barbarism that Hamas carried out” and the reaction to it. She said we should ask‚ Why is it that the “most educated…have become the most morally confused?” She urged us to “see the world as it is” and be clear-eyed about distinctions between “good and bad‚ better and worse‚ pain and not pain‚ safety and danger‚ just and unjust‚ friends and enemies.” We don’t need a “history lesson” or “context” to know that “tying children to their parents and burning them alive is pure evil.” She noted that her allies are not people who look at the external “markers of my identity‚” but people who “believe that America is good‚” the “West is good‚” that “human beings are created equal‚” and that “America and our values‚ those are things worth fighting for.”  Second‚ we “must enforce the law.” Weiss rightly decried the election of “so-called ‘progressive prosecutors‚’” noting that it has “proven to be an immensely terrible thing for law and order.” As we have warned for years‚ choosing not to enforce the law doesn’t reduce crime‚ it actually promotes it. One of us (Stimson) even wrote a book about these rogue prosecutors. Weiss noted the cruel irony that the “same activists who pushed to ‘defund the police’ are also non-publicly harassing Jews.”    We must not allow or tolerate the “selective enforcement” of the law. Third‚ we must push back against “double standards on speech.”  Weiss noted‚ “the universities are playing favorites based on the speech they prefer‚ and the racial group hierarchies that they have established.” Public universities have been imposing “content-based restrictions on free speech” for years‚ which is unconstitutional. Conservative speakers are slapped with “security fees” or have the venues for their speeches moved off campus. Private universities‚ which can legally restrict speech‚ have enforced the rules in a “discriminatory manner.”    Fourth‚ we must “accept that [we] are the last line of defense and fight‚ fight‚ fight.” In a clarion call for a robust application of the First Amendment‚ Weiss urged us to‚ above all else‚ tell the truth. In a battle cry reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth’s St. Crispin’s Day speech‚ Weiss‚ building to a crescendo‚ implored: Do not bite your tongue. Do not tremble. Do not go along with little lies. Be the skunk at the garden party. Speak up. Break the wall of lies. Let nothing go unchallenged. Our enemies’ failure is not assured and there is no cavalry coming. We are the calvary‚ and our civilization depends on us. She wound down her speech by sharing a passage from the Torah that would be shared in synagogues the day after her speech. It comes from the story of Abraham when his wife‚ Sarah‚ dies in a foreign land. Instead of wallowing in misery‚ Abraham buys a plot of land to bury her and then finds a wife for his childless son. She quotes Rabbi Jonathan Sacks‚ saying Abraham “heard the still‚ small voice saying: The next step depends on you.” She concluded by saying‚ “There is no place like this country‚ and there is no second America to run to if this one fails.”  Like a general leading troops into battle‚ Weiss urged us to “get up and fight for our future” because it is the “fight of—and for—our lives.”  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post A Speech for the Ages: Bari Weiss’s Battle Cry to Save the West appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz’s daughter was celebrating her 2nd birthday on Oct. 7 in Israel. Inside the safe room of their home one mile from the border of Gaza‚ Lulu-Shamriz’s little girl was delighted that she was allowed to eat her birthday cake with her fingers as her parents had not had time to grab forks as they fled into the safe room. The child was unaware of the Hamas terrorists outside‚ and her parents did everything they could to ensure it stayed that way.   “I told her that we were going to play a game‚” Lulu-Shamriz said‚ “the whisper game‚ that if we whisper‚ we get the balloons after.”   For the 22 hours he‚ his 7-month pregnant wife‚ his daughter‚ and their two dogs were in the safe room‚ they tried to remain as silent as possible‚ and if his daughter started to sing or talk loudly‚ he reminded her of the game and the prize of balloons if she remained quiet.   After being in the safe room for a few hours‚ Lulu-Shamriz‚ who is 33 and the oldest among three boys‚ received a text from his 26-year-old brother Alon Lulu-Shamriz telling the family he heard Hamas terrorists in his house.   “I wrote him that I love him‚ and he’s strong‚ and this is the last time we spoke‚” Lulu-Shamriz told The Daily Signal during a recent interview.   Lulu-Shamriz’s youngest brother was taken hostage by Hamas during the attack in October. At first‚ the family thought he was among the 1‚200 Israelis killed in the terrorist attack‚ but later‚ the Israel Defense Force confirmed that he was taken hostage.    Lulu-Shamriz and his brother Ido Lulu-Shamriz‚ 32‚ recently traveled from Israel to Washington‚ D.C.‚ to share their story and advocate for their little brother and the release of about 240 hostages being held in Gaza.   The oldest Lulu-Shamriz said he and his family have not found any peace since his little brother was kidnapped‚ but instead said he feels “blame all the time.”   “You wear these clothes‚ you eat food‚ you go to bed‚ you brush your teeth in the morning‚ and you always ask yourself if Alon get the same conditions‚” the oldest brother said. “When you put your blanket at night‚ you ask yourself‚ is Alon cold now?”  Alon Lulu-Shamriz was taken hostage by Hamas Oct. 7. Photo compliments of JDA Worldwide. Ido Lulu-Shamriz‚ the middle brother‚ had a different experience on Oct. 7. The middle brother is part of the civilian emergency squad in his kibbutz near the Gaza border in Israel. Every kibbutz near the Gaza Strip has a civilian squad that can respond to threats until the Israel Defense Force arrives‚ Ido Lulu-Shamriz explained.   Around 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7‚ Ido Lulu-Shamriz received a message from a squad member that someone had parachuted into his kibbutz with a gun. He then started to hear missiles go off and alarms sound and realized that “this is not just the missile attack.” “This is something unique‚ something that never happened to us‚” he said. Ido Lulu-Shamriz and the members of his civilian emergency squad were instructed via a group WhatsApp message to go to the shelter in the kibbutz where their guns are stored. He reached the shelter and got his gun and he and the other squad members began to fight “dozens of terrorists around the shelter‚” he recalled. “Seven of my friends were killed‚” Ido Lulu-Shamriz added. “Seven of them fought shoulder to shoulder with me‚ and the other seven guys survived.”   “At the beginning‚ we thought about attack‚” he said‚ but “then you realize you need to defend because there are so many‚ they were everywhere. And then you realize it’s self-defense‚ you know‚ everyone needs to rescue himself before you’re going to be dead like your friends.”   Ido Lulu-Shamriz and his good friend retreated back to his house‚ but before they made it to safety‚ Ido Lulu-Shamriz saw that his neighbor’s door was open. His neighbors‚ a husband and wife‚ had two 10-month-old twins.   “When I saw the door open‚ I realized that they are not with us anymore‚” he said‚ bluntly. Ido Lulu-Shamriz entered the safe room in his home with his friend and initially believed that Hamas terrorists had killed the parents and their twin babies. Later‚ however‚ through the walls of the safe room‚ they heard the babies crying. “They didn’t stop for 12 hours‚” the middle brother said.   He sent a message to Israel Defense Force soldiers alerting them to the twin babies‚ but “they didn’t reach them for 12 hours‚ 12 hours that I’m hearing those twins crying nonstop while their parents are dead between their beds.” Reflecting on the events of Oct. 7‚ Ido Lulu-Shamriz added‚ “Nothing can prepare you for those moments‚ you know‚ for such a battle‚ such a sight to fight with your best friends that are now alive and a couple of minutes later‚ they are dead. It’s terrible. You can’t prepare for those moments in your life.”   When asked what message they have for President Joe Biden and America’s leaders‚ Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz‚ the eldest brother‚ said America needs to put “pressure on Qatar” because the nation has a “direct channel to Hamas” and Qatar could play a role in negotiating the release of the hostages.   Victoria Coates‚ vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation‚ told The Daily Signal that “Qatar does have leverage with Hamas.” But Coates noted that the hostage negotiations are complex and that there is no simple answer to moving negotiations forward. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of Heritage.)  Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz said he hopes U.S. citizens understand that what “happened in Israel on the seventh of October‚ it’s not aimed only for Jews‚ for Israelis‚ and Zionists.” “They killed everyone‚” he said‚ referring to Hamas. “They kill Thai people‚ they kill Americans‚ they killed Russian‚ and Europe is next. America is next.”   Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post ‘America Is Next’: Brothers of Hamas Hostage Issue Dire Warning‚ Plead for Help appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Thanks to a resounding wave of recent public support‚ the Texas Civil War Museum’s board of directors has decided to keep the museum in Fort Worth‚ Texas‚ open‚ reversing a decision made earlier this year to permanently close the facility to the public on December 30‚ 2023. Museum artifacts currently in possession of The Horse Soldier Antiques in Gettysburg‚ Pa.‚ and Heritage Auctions in Dallas‚ will continue to be sold and auctioned off to endow the museum. The museum’s current hours of operation will remain the same: Thursday through Saturday‚ 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Marcus Richey‚ son of retired museum president Ray Richey‚ will continue in his present role as museum director.  historynet magazines Our 9 best-selling history titles feature in-depth storytelling and iconic imagery to engage and inform on the people‚ the wars‚ and the events that shaped America and the world. subscribe today

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While we were all tucked up in bed in the early hours of Halloween‚ Portugal was about to start a record-breaking streak. For six days in a row‚ more energy was produced from renewable energy sources than was consumed across the entire country.A record-breaking streakThe new record was set between 4 am local time on October 31 and 9 am on November 6 – 149 consecutive hours‚ breaking 2019’s record of 131 hours – during which 1‚102 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy were produced. This ended up being more than the country needed‚ with both industrial and household consumption only reaching 840 GWh.Although this record doesn’t mean that fossil fuel plants weren’t operating at all during this time‚ another national record set during this time demonstrated that may well be possible in the near future. Beating a previous high of 56 consecutive hours‚ Portugal also managed to go natural gas-free for 131 hours in a row‚ and for 95 of those hours‚ produced enough clean energy that some could be exported to neighboring Spain.Speaking of the achievement in a statement posted to its website‚ REN‚ the company in charge of electricity and gas supply in Portugal‚ said: “These significant achievements confirm that Portugal has been maintaining a sustainable trajectory in progressively integrating indigenous renewable sources‚ while upholding the primary objectives of supply security and service quality.”Ahead of the gamePortugal is something of a trend-setter when it comes to renewable energy. Whereas the rest of the European Union didn’t pledge itself to become carbon-neutral by 2050 until 2019‚ Portugal did so in 2016. It had also aimed to stop the use of coal as a fuel by 2030‚ and with the last of its coal plants having shut down nearly two years ago‚ it achieved that goal nine years early.The country’s main sources of renewable energy are wind and solar‚ which in the future could be combined into hybrid plants. “If we combine wind and solar‚ what we see is that there is a big complementarity‚” said Hugo Costa‚ who oversees the renewables arm of the state utility‚ speaking to Canary Media. “Typically‚ when we have wind blowing‚ we don’t have sun. And when we have sun‚ typically we don’t have that much wind.”As with its coal plants‚ Portugal aims to decommission all of its natural gas-fired power plants by 2040. Earlier this year‚ it also set out plans to double the country’s solar and hydrogen energy capacity – the country is already the home of Europe's largest floating solar park. All being well after public hearings‚ Portugal may be well on its way to achieving its carbon-neutrality goals.

Since living through a pandemic‚ we’ve all recently become acutely aware of the stresses associated with living in close quarters with a single group of people for a prolonged time. Spare a thought‚ then‚ for the six men and women who entered the Russian Academy of Science’s SIRIUS-23 project last Tuesday – and won’t come out again for 360 days.The team – compromising crew commander Yuri Sergeevich Chebotarev‚ flight engineer Anzhelika Anatolyevna Parfyonova‚ crew doctor Ksenia Dmitrievna Orlova‚ and researchers Olga Sergeevna Mastitskaya‚ Ksenia Sergeevna Shishenina‚ and Rustam Nazimovich Zaripov – will spend the next almost-year in a sealed-off facility at the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow. It’s the fourth mission launched in the SIRIUS project – the name stands for “Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station” – a joint endeavor from NASA and IBMP. As in previous experiments‚ the crew will nominally be on a simulated lunar mission: performing a flyby‚ multiple “landings” and surface operations‚ using a rover for investigations‚ and so on. But diverting though that all is‚ it’s not the main goal of the mission. “The research is not about exploring the lunar surface‚” NASA announced at the start of 2019’s SIRIUS-18/19 missions. Instead‚ the agency explained‚ they are “a series of missions to better understand how the human body and mind adapt to increasing durations in spaceflight missions with crews representing different countries and cultures.”The subjects are being sealed away for space science.Image Credit: IBMP (CC-BY-NC-SA)But that makes this mission rather unusual‚ in fact – because NASA is sitting it out.“The agency is not participating in the 12-month SIRIUS 23 mission‚” confirmed Anna Schneider‚ a public affairs specialist at NASA Johnson Space Center‚ in a statement to Space.com.“NASA’s Human Research Program is participating in isolation research and other Earth-based analogs‚ including the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) and the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA)‚ Antarctica‚” elaborated Schneider‚ “as well as evaluating other domestic and international analogs‚ to ensure key research goals can be completed to inform future human spaceflight missions. ”Without Americans on board‚ SIRIUS-23 is making history as the first monolingual isolation experiment for IBMP‚ with all crew members speaking Russian. It’s also noteworthy that four of the six Moscownauts are women‚ noted Anastasia Stepanova‚ a PhD student in space resources at the Colorado School of Mines and one of the scientists on the SIRIUS-19 team.“Sirius-23 is different in many ways [from] the previous SIRIUS-17‚ 19 and 21 simulations‚” Stepanova told Space.com.“One year is a challenging duration that will be filled with many biomedical experiments on board.”For example‚ she explained‚ the crew’s ability to cope with technical malfunctions of various seriousness will be studied‚ as will the physical consequences of long-term and regular extravehicular activity and night work. Also of interest are the psychological and social ramifications of spending so long in isolation – effects which have so far proved not entirely positive.After all‚ as various futurists look to colonizing the moon and Mars for humanity’s future‚ it’s experiments like SIRIUS that will decide how feasible such long-haul expeditions really are. So watch this space: in a year‚ we’ll either have confirmation that our species can cope with interplanetary missions – or‚ worst case scenario? One hell of a whodunnit.