Michael Cohen pleads guilty to 8 counts

cnn

Kaminetsy Greenblatt heter

Attachment Theory: How Your Childhood Shaped You

Trump is powerless as his legal fate spins out of his control

cnn

President Donald Trump may no longer control his fate, a plight that helps explain his increasingly volcanic Twitter eruptions.

Trump's persona -- in politics, business and life -- relies on his self-image as the guy who calls the shots, closes deals and forces others to react to the shock moves of a master narrative weaver.

But as a legal web closes around the President, he's in a far weaker position than he would like, a situation especially underlined by the bombshell revelations that White House counsel Donald McGahn has spent 30 hours in interviews with special counsel Robert Mueller.

FORMER FOX NEWS ANALYST SAYS NETWORK 'PROSTITUTES' FOR TRUMP'S AGENDA

newsweek

A retired U.S. Army Lietenant Colonel and former Fox News analyst said employees at the cable news network have become "prostitutes" for President Donald Trump's Washington agenda. 

Update: Fox News issued a statement regarding Peters' comments. "Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention."

Speaking with CNN's Brian Stelter Sunday, Ralph Peters said Trump "does not respect our system of government" and cherry-picks parts of the Constitution "from which he can choose the most electable items." The retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel repeatedly criticized Trump as "distinctly un-American" and beholden to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, Peters left Fox News for "assaulting the Constitution." 

How the Catholic Church Keeps Surviving Abuse Scandals

the daily beast.

The news of sex scandal in Pennsylvania is truly sickening. Thousands of victims, hundreds of predatory priests, and what can only be described as a systematic conspiracy to conceal the crimes of those accused. All of which raises the question: How can the Catholic Church survive such a scandal? In fact, in light of previous revelations about sex abuse, how has the church survived so far?

Indian-American Doctor Convicted For Raping Patient Won't Serve Jail Time

ndtv

Indian-American Doctor Convicted For Raping Patient Won't Serve Jail Time

Jurors convicted Shafeeq Sheikh of second-degree sexual assault after a trial that ended this past week.

HOUSTON: An Indian-American doctor from Texas, who was convicted of raping a sedated patient in a hospital, will not serve prison time and, instead, will spend 10 years of probation.

Jurors convicted Shafeeq Sheikh, 46, a former physician at the Baylor College of Medicine, of second-degree sexual assault after a trial that ended this past week.

The crime is punishable by up 20 years in prison, but the Texas jury sentenced Sheikh to 10 years of probation on Friday.

Sheikh will have to register as a sex offender. Unlike most states and the federal government, Texas grants juries the power to set criminal punishments.

The punishment has surprised defense attorneys, disappointed law enforcement and raised concerns from a victims advocacy group, according to media reports.

The jurors had recommended the sentencing, to which visiting Senior District Judge Terry L Flenniken was required to follow by law, according to local media report.

Sheikh was working in night shift at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital in 2013 when a woman was admitted for shortness of breath and wheezing. She was in the hospital overnight and sedated when Sheikh came to her room several times during the night and sexually assaulted her.

The woman said she attempted to get help from a nurse, but the call button would not work.

DNA evidence collected from a rape kit matched the DNA sample of the guilty doctor's cheek swab. But it took two years for charges to be filed against Sheikh.

Architect of bin Laden raid issues stunning rebuke of Trump

cnn

Retired Adm. William McRaven, the man who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, issued a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump's decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan on Thursday, defending the former spy chief as "one of the finest public servants I have ever known."

In an op-ed published by the Washington Post, McRaven, a former Navy SEAL who led US Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014, not only called Brennan "a man of unparalleled integrity," but volunteered to have his own security clearance revoked in an act of solidarity.

"Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don't know him," McRaven wrote.

"Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency," he added.

His comments come just one day after Trump announced his decision to revoke Brennan's security clearance, marking an unprecedented use of a president's authority over the classification system to strike back at one of his prominent critics.

"This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics. It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent," Brennan tweeted after the announcement.

McRaven, who resigned as chancellor of the University of Texas in Austin earlier this year, is widely respected among the tens of thousands of active and retired special operators and his message will likely resonate within that community.

"Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation," McRaven said of Trump.

New York City Asks State to Help Investigate Yeshivas

wnyc

The New York City Department of Education has asked the New York State Education Department for help investigating 39 Orthodox Jewish private schools that allegedly provide inadequate instruction in subjects mandated by state law.

The city has been investigating the schools, known as yeshivas, since 2015, when a group of parents, former students and former teachers filed a letter of complaint. The advocates say the schools provide little, if any, education in English, math, science, history and other secular subjects.  

In a letter to the state sent on Wednesday, New York City schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said 15 schools allowed investigators to visit and expressed interest in expanding secular education to meet state requirements for nonpublic schools. But 15 of the schools did not allow the city to visit, observe classes or oversee curriculum changes as part of the investigation over three years. However, after the letter was sent, eight of the remaining schools said they would be open to visits. 

Ben Chapman, an education reporter for the New York Daily News, says advocates view Carranza's approach to the yeshivas as more transparent than that of his predecessor, former New York City schools Chancellor Carmen Farina.

Daas Torah whom to ask for help

this post was inspired by a critical letter in Binah magazine and the apologetic response both sides seemingly in agreement that the only  valid therapeutic advise must be from a gadol or be based on Torah sources

IT SIMPLY  AIN'T SO

AS RAV Moshe has said talmidei chachomim dont have superior knowledge except regarding TORAH itself

DAAS TORAH BLOG

A few years ago there was a widespread attack on going to psychologists

It was later revealed that the real issue was going to a therapist without first getting a rabbi's recommendation

EVEN THOUGH ALL KNOWLEDGE IS CONTAINED IN THE TORAH but R Freifeld told me we are not on the level to get it out

Rav Moshe poskened not to read secular marriage manuals until just immediately before the wedding

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach advised a young couple not to get married without setting aside enough money for 20 years of marriage therapy

 NOT JUST 

THIS APPLIES TO ALL ISSUES NOT JUST THERAPY INCLUDING EDUCATION AND MEDICAL ISSUES AS WELL AS FINANCIAL ONES

הלכות נושרים: דעת תורה ממרן ראש הישיבה רב גרשון אדלשטיין שליט"א (עברית)

trump fake news should not be censored as long as it reflects his views - Trump echoes conservative claims that social media companies censor conservatives

nbc
Conservatives on the internet have spent years claiming social media companies discriminate against them. On Saturday, those accusations reached the White House.

President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted a series of comments

accusing social media companies of
"totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices"
 but stopped short of calling for government intervention on the matter.

Trump did not name any companies specifically, but did claim
 that CNN and MSNBC spread "Fake News." MSNBC is part of NBC News.

Trump's tweets come after Facebook, Google and Apple 
have each taken steps to remove conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars media outlet from its platforms. Twitter also suspended
 Jones for a week. Jones is best known for spreading the unfounded 
theory that the elementary school massacre at Sandy Hook was a hoax,
 a claim that has made him the target of civil lawsuits.

huffingtonpost

But he does have a solution. Sort of. And it involves both sides.

Trump tweeted that “too many voices are being destroyed, some good and some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen.” So, he added: “Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!”

John Brennan: President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash

nytimesl

When I warned Mr. Bortnikov that Russian interference in our election was intolerable and would roil United States-Russia relations for many years, he denied Russian involvement in any election, in America or elsewhere, with a feigned sincerity that I had heard many times before. President Vladimir Putin of Russia reiterated those denials numerous times over the past two years, often to Donald Trump’s seeming approval.

Russian denials are, in a word, hogwash.

Before, during and after its now infamous meddling in our last presidential election, Russia practiced the art of shaping political events abroad through its well-honed active measures program, which employs an array of technical capabilities, information operations and old-fashioned human intelligence spycraft. Electoral politics in Western democracies presents an especially inviting target, as a variety of politicians, political parties, media outlets, think tanks and influencers are readily manipulated, wittingly and unwittingly, or even bought outright by Russian intelligence operatives. The very freedoms and liberties that liberal Western democracies cherish and that autocracies fear have been exploited by Russian intelligence services not only to collect sensitive information but also to distribute propaganda and disinformation, increasingly via the growing number of social media platforms.

Having worked closely with the F.B.I. over many years on counterintelligence investigations, I was well aware of Russia’s ability to work surreptitiously within the United States, cultivating relationships with individuals who wield actual or potential power. Like Mr. Bortnikov, these Russian operatives and agents are well trained in the art of deception. They troll political, business and cultural waters in search of gullible or unprincipled individuals who become pliant in the hands of their Russian puppet masters. Too often, those puppets are found.

In my many conversations with James Comey, the F.B.I. director, in the summer of 2016, we talked about the potential for American citizens, involved in partisan politics or not, to be pawns in Russian hands. We knew that Russian intelligence services would do all they could to achieve their objectives, which the United States intelligence community publicly assessed a few short months later were to undermine public faith in the American democratic process, harm the electability of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and show preference for Mr. Trump. We also publicly assessed that Mr. Putin’s intelligence services were following his orders. Director Comey and I, along with the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, pledged that our agencies would share, as appropriate, whatever information was collected, especially considering the proven ability of Russian intelligence services to suborn United States citizens.

The already challenging work of the American intelligence and law enforcement communities was made more difficult in late July 2016, however, when Mr. Trump, then a presidential candidate, publicly called upon Russia to find the missing emails of Mrs. Clinton. By issuing such a statement, Mr. Trump was not only encouraging a foreign nation to collect intelligence against a United States citizen, but also openly authorizing his followers to work with our primary global adversary against his political opponent

Commentary: Newspapers don't help themselves by coordinating against Trump

cbsnews.

If you are a Trump voter who thinks that much of the press is reflexively hostile to the president, 300 of America's leading newspapers want you to know that you might be on to something.

In a self-defeating act of journalistic groupthink, America's editorial pages launched a coordinated protest against President Trump on Thursday, all running negative editorials attacking the president over his #FakeNews rhetoric.

The Boston Globe, who organized the effort, calls it "educating readers" about "an attack on the First Amendment." But to the average American, seeing an editorial in their local paper trashing Trump is called "A day that ends in 'y.'"

Seriously—Who's going to be persuaded by this effort, or be impressed that a few hundred newspapers can hum the same tune? Who's even going to notice?

Well, the newspapers will notice, of course. There's a run on pain pills from all the muscle injuries inflicted by self-indulgent media back-patting. "A Free Press Needs You," a New York Times editorial headline blared on Wednesday, praising themselves for "answering the call" of the Boston Globe and courageously facing the threat that is Donald Trump.

#FakeNews? That phrase is "dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy," the Times intoned. "And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period."  

And to prove we aren't the enemy, we in the media are going to band together and go after the guy who keeps saying we are! The same guy we attack every day, seemingly no matter what he does, and in ways we've never attacked a politician before!

That might be an unfair characterization, but it's easy to understand why Trump supporters would see it that way. They remember the Obama administration spying on reporters. They remember Obama White House attempts to have Fox News de-legitimized and removed from traditional media opportunities over its viewpoint. President Obama called out the network by name repeatedly.

How many "Days Of Editorial Rage" did that inspire?

The real danger to the media isn't Trump's attacks—it's his departure. Trump, and the hatred he inspires among the left-of-center, media-consuming public, is a massive fiscal boon to these newspapers.  

The New York Times picked up 41,000 subscribers in just the first week after Trump was elected. They made more that $1 billion in subscription revenue in 2017. The impact of Trump on media revenue has been so huge they call it the "Trump Bump."

Yes, yes, Trump's attacks on the media are over-the-top and wrongheaded. Yes, in some small way he's undermining the credibility of legitimate journalism.  

But here's the headline the Boston Globe missed: The media had largely done that to themselves before he showed up. Believe it or not, the percentage of Americans who say they have a "great deal" of trust in newspapers is actually up since Trump took office. 

Or rather it's up from 8 percent to 12 percent. The percentage of Americans with a great deal or quite a lot of trust in newspapers hasn't hit 30 percent since 2006, according to Gallup. The percent that have little or no trust in them whatsoever hasn't been below 30 percent since 2008.

So what's the point of the editorial-page protest? This avalanche of invective won't move Trump supporters. The Globe, Times, Chronicle, etc. made it clear months ago that these readers weren't valuable to them. And how much self-indulgent virtue signaling can the media do before it loses its charm?