Friday, July 10, 2020
Thursday, July 9, 2020
Judge refuses to dismiss Flynn case, petitions full appellate court for review
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-sullivan-refuses-dismiss-flynn-cases
Washington, D.C. federal District Judge Emmett
Sullivan is refusing to dismiss the criminal case against former
national security advisor Michael Flynn, and is now arguing that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it ordered him to do so last month in a 2-1 ruling.
Sullivan, through his attorney Beth
Wilkinson, filed a petition on Thursday for a so-called "en banc" review
by the entire D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the three-judge panel
was improperly trying to force the district court "to grant a motion it
had not yet resolved ... in reliance on arguments never presented to
the district court."
Israeli Army Fighting to "Make Redemption Delayed Again," R"L? The Latest Escalation in the Antireligious War Against Israeli Girls, and the Latest Success of a Girl Resisting the Draft
Israeli Army Fighting to "Make Redemption Delayed Again," R"L?
17 Tammuz, 5780 °° July 9, '20
Parshas Pinchos
By Binyomin Feinberg
feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
.....
Here's the update link for the month of Tammuz to check in case we post during the week between our regular Wednesday/ Thursday posts:
https://docs.google.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Latest Escalation in the Antireligious War Against Israeli Girls, and the Latest Success of a Girl Resisting the Draft
17 Tammuz, 5780 °° July 9, '20
Parshas Pinchos
By Binyomin Feinberg
feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
.....
Here's the update link for the month of Tammuz to check in case we post during the week between our regular Wednesday/ Thursday posts:
https://docs.google.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
### GOOD NEWS: ###
1.
Appropriate to parshas Pinchos, B"H, Hadassah Margolit bas Miriam Y.
(20 y/o), a religious girl from an immigrant Bucharian family, was
finally freed from Israeli Military Prison Four on Monday, July 6, after
almost a month of incarceration. Her imprisonment and mistreatment was
accompanied by relentless protests in Israel (and one in NYC). She was
held in wake of her steadfast refusal to submit to the military draft.
We've been following her case (e.g. see https://
Miss
Y. endured physical, psychological, and religious mistreatment at the
hands of Military Prison officers. That was all in addition to the
sexual mistreatment to which she was initially subjected; they
took away her skirt and forced her to wear pants [even in public] for
almost two days. (Recall that these are the same cast of characters who
grandstand about "Equality," even gracing Israel's south with all-female
tank crews (JNS), ostensibly to protect against enemies.)
2.
If this mistreatment of girls - religious or otherwise - is the price
of having ostensibly religious Knesset members on the receiving end of
government largesse, then the one thing that should scare us more than
an Israeli government filled with Chilonim is one filled with
purportedly religious and Chareidi MKs. Their overall (or "coverall,"
as my spellchecker phrased it) silence on the issue of the SYSTEMIC
drafting, intimidating, terrorizing, mistreatment, and downright abuse
of hundreds, even thousands of Jewish girls by "our own" (sic) is
intolerable. If the broader religious Jewish public would know even a
fraction of what the government and collaborating elements are covering
up, they'd be in an uproar.
Therefore, the
media cannot remain silent. True, properly researching these cases is
often painstaking. (The military draft office and collaborating parties
do their best to ensure that.) However, exposing the systemic
persecution of religious and traditional teenage girls by "Maitav" (the
Israeli Army entity under which the Draft Office operates) is absolutely
vital for Jewish continuity, to ensure that spiritual survival of
future generations. Girls who fall into the morally corrosive military
environment generally don't come out capable of building healthy homes,
and properly raising Jewish families.
3.
Furthermore, we know that in the merit of righteous women we were
redeemed from Egypt (Talmud tractate Sotah 11b), and that in the merit
of righteous women we'll merit the Ultimate Redemption (sefer Kav
HaYashar). Drafting girls at that age into the notoriously promiscuous
military sabotages the natural process of raising righteous Jewish
women.
Accordingly, on a deeper level, the
draft actually impedes the Final Redemption. And those courageous
individuals who stand up and fight these evil designs against Jewish
girls and women are helping expedite the Redemption. Perhaps their noble
efforts, often undertaken in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds,
can be aptly qualified as "Raishis Tzemichas Ge'ulasinu."
Bad News:
4.
The Israeli Draft Office is currently escalating their discrimination
against religious girls who attended non-religious schools, as we'll
explain shortly.
5. Furthermore, and perhaps
more ominously, the Rabbanut has reportedly started to themselves ask
the girls which school they attend.
6. That
may appear innocuous to those unfamiliar with the process. However, even
posing such a question alone constitutes a hazardous shift in what is
supposed to be the military service *exemption* process. It's a slippery
slope, leading to actual participation in the Selectzia process,
whereby the Draft Office identifies girls to pursue, or persecute, with
the aim of robbing them of their opportunity to avoid falling into the
immoral and exploitive military.
7. What is
even more of a concern is that the Rabbanut thereby projects the
appearance that they've lent their approbation to the female draft
discrimination process by their own participation therein, albeit
perhaps only in a token manner, at this juncture.
8. Recent Changes for Girls who attended non-religious schools:
Recently,
since around the time Coronavirus hit Israel, a number of girls have
reported that in the process of obtaining their religiosity verification
from the Rabbanut, they were asked by the Rabbanut which school they
attended. These girls report subsequently being summoned by the Draft
Office to show up for a Rayon Dat, without ever stepping foot into the
Draft Office.
Until now, girls who were wise
enough to comply with the Halacha, and refused to enter the Draft
Office, were generally able to obtain an exemption without being
summoned to a Rayon Dat. Now, avoiding entering the Military Draft
Office no longer provides that same degree of security.
9.
Background: In the recent past, religious girls who attended
non-religious schools, when identified as such, would often be targeted
unfairly. The Draft Office had been summoning them to a Rayon Dat. A
Rayon Dat is a religiosity interview, or, more often, interrogation.
It's performed by a battery of trained military officers, intimidating a
lone teenage girl; she is not allowed to be accompanied by anyone, not
even a lawyer or family member.
10. The Draft Office does this to dupe or pressure the girls into enlisting, or to find a pretext to challenge their religiosity, and thereby deny them their legal entitlement to a religious exemption from military service.
11. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the appropriate organizations, the girls who had been fortunate enough to obtain the correct guidance would be able to avoid the Rayon Dat trap by sending in letters from Rabbis, or, at least, by sending the Draft Office firm letters from attorneys.
12. However, lately, there's been a alarming turn. The Draft Office is no longer backing off in the face of intervention. Thus, they're, in effect, obligating these girls to hire an attorney.
10. The Draft Office does this to dupe or pressure the girls into enlisting, or to find a pretext to challenge their religiosity, and thereby deny them their legal entitlement to a religious exemption from military service.
11. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the appropriate organizations, the girls who had been fortunate enough to obtain the correct guidance would be able to avoid the Rayon Dat trap by sending in letters from Rabbis, or, at least, by sending the Draft Office firm letters from attorneys.
12. However, lately, there's been a alarming turn. The Draft Office is no longer backing off in the face of intervention. Thus, they're, in effect, obligating these girls to hire an attorney.
13.
For those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer, and don't have a
sponsor, there are two "options:" enlist (which is absolutely
prohibited, on pain of sacrificing one's very life, as articulated by
prominent Rabbis, see Yoreh Daiyoh 157:1) - or face the spectre of being
terrorized by the Draft Office, with the threat of arrest and Military
Jail. According to Jewish Law, these girls have no choice but to stand
up - even if all alone - and fight.
14.
Against whom are they defending themselves? None other than the Israeli
Military Draft Office, the Military Police, the Military Prison System,
and the Military Justice System. And they need to do all of this
without a lawyer. Of course, procurement of an attorney for such a girl
in need is absolutely incumbent on anyone else who can help facilitate
that.
15. Such heroic individuals certainly are
reminiscent of the timeless words of Rav Hirsch, relevant to this
week's Torah portion (quoted above):
"...
And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man
is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the
Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his
adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
The 1 big thing Donald Trump *still* doesn't get about the Supreme Court
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/donald-trump-supreme-court-john-roberts/index.html
President Donald Trump
sees the world in a very black-and-white way: There are people who love
him and people who don't. Or, put another way: There are people who are
loyal to him and those who are always out to get him.
It's
a deeply simplistic way to think of life and the people in it. It's
also hugely selfish, always believing that every action -- and equal and opposite reaction -- are all about you, and how people feel about you.
"These horrible & politically
charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts
into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or
Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment
& everything else. Vote Trump 2020!"
And for good measure, added this: "Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn't like me?"
Me, me, me, me.
What Trump fails to understand -- and has never understood -- is that the Supreme Court doesn't work for him.
Yes,
he appointed Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to their current seats.
But that doesn't guarantee him their loyalty. They pledge allegiance to
the law, not to Donald Trump.
Why protests aren't as dangerous for spreading coronavirus as you might think
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/18/anti-racism-protests-coronavirus-rise-covid-19-cases
The evidence is becoming clear
that wearing a mask can substantially lower the risk of spread and
severity of illness. We are seeing more and more masks worn by
protesters. A second feature of gatherings that affects the spread of
the virus is whether they happen outdoors or indoors. Here, too, research suggests that outdoor activities are much safer than indoor ones.
Finally, although this is more preliminary, evidence suggests that if you’re going to be in a crowd, a mobile one is better than a stationary one. None of these three aspects will protect you from infection definitively – but together they offer a modest level of risk reduction. And compared with the risk of catching Covid-19 that is present in many jobs or other activities, such as working in meat-packing plants, outdoor protests are likely to be much safer– especially if we carry out testing, which can quickly reveal if the virus is spreading among protesters, as Massachusetts has done recently.
Finally, although this is more preliminary, evidence suggests that if you’re going to be in a crowd, a mobile one is better than a stationary one. None of these three aspects will protect you from infection definitively – but together they offer a modest level of risk reduction. And compared with the risk of catching Covid-19 that is present in many jobs or other activities, such as working in meat-packing plants, outdoor protests are likely to be much safer– especially if we carry out testing, which can quickly reveal if the virus is spreading among protesters, as Massachusetts has done recently.
Black Lives Matter protests have not led to a spike in coronavirus cases, research says
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/coronavirus-cases-protests-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html
Despite warnings from public health officials, new research suggests Black Lives Matter protests across the country have not led to a jump in coronavirus cases.
A new study,
published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, used
data on protests from more than 300 of the largest US cities, and found
no evidence that coronavirus cases grew in the weeks following the
beginning of the protests.
Did Floyd Protests Lead to a Virus Surge? Here’s What We Know
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-protests.html
“We’ve been looking very closely at the
number of positive cases every day to see if there is an uptick in the
context of the protests,” Ted Long, executive director of the city’s
contact tracing program, said. “We have not seen that.”
Nurses are struggling with trauma. But they were suffering long before Covid-19 hit
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/09/health/psychological-trauma-nurses-coronavirus-wellness-partner/index.html
In a follow-up study after the book was
published, I dug deeper, collected information from nurses, and learned
of yet another type of psychological injury: insufficient resource trauma.
This occurs when nurses don't have the staff, supplies, knowledge or
access to other professionals to fulfill ethical or professional
responsibilities. The pandemic has been a dark catalyst to seeing this
urgent concern. In a survey of 32,000 nurses
just completed by the American Nurses Association, 68% of nurses said
they are worried about being short-staffed and 87% are very or somewhat
afraid to go to work.
Mary Trump's claim Trump paid friend to take SATs conflicts with timeline, Joe Shapiro's wife says
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wife-of-late-trump-friend-challenges-mary-trump-sat
President Trump's
niece Mary L. Trump alleges in her new tell-all book that her uncle
paid a friend to take a college admissions test more than 50 years ago
so he could gain acceptance into the elite Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania. However, a new video from the wife of the
now-deceased friend tells a very different story.
"My late husband Joe Shapiro passed away 21 years ago. He was a man
of great integrity, honesty; he was a hard worker. He was literally the
smartest person I ever met," Shriver began. "He went to University of
Pennsyvlania, member of the class of 1968. It was while he was at
University of Pennsylvania where he met Donald Trump. They became
friends; they loved the sport of golf. They shared the same hometown of
New York City; they shared the same campus. They stayed in a little bit
of touch through the years."
Coronavirus: 1,231 new patients in a single day; 118 in serious condition
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/coronavirus-1262-new-diagnoses-death-toll-increases-to-346-634454
Some 1,231 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday as the government considers putting new restrictions or even closures on several “red zones” of infection.
In
total, some 33,947 Israelis have been diagnosed with coronavirus,
though there are only 15,209 people who remain infected. The other
18,376 have recovered.
As the numbers continue to grow and new restrictions continue to be
rolled out, the Ministerial Committee on Restricted Zones is expected
to meet on Thursday to determine which additional cities should be
closed. A list of nine communities under consideration was revealed by
Israeli media on Wednesday night that includes Modi’in Illit, Ramla,
Beit Shemesh, Lod, Jerusalem, Kiryat Malachi, Bnei Brak, Ashdod and
Raanana.
The mayors of most of these cities are pushing back, trying to get their communities off the list.
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