Wednesday, August 21, 2019

DONALD TRUMP HAS SPENT NEARLY A THIRD OF HIS PRESIDENCY VISITING HIS BUSINESS PROPERTIES AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE: REPORT

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-spent-one-third-presidency-visiting-business-properties-report-1455319


President Donald Trump has spent nearly a third of his presidency visiting his business properties at taxpayer expense, according to a new report by the government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington.

CREW has found over 2,300 conflicts of interest resulting from Trump's decision not to divest ownership of his global business empire upon entering office. The group used social media, news reports, Freedom of Information Act responses and other sources of information to tally these instances. The nonprofit added that there are likely more conflicts of interest than the ones they have been able to identify.

"This corrupt relationship between the Trump Organization and the White House leaves the American public in the dark about whether presidential decisions and policy are being made in the best interest of the country or in the best interest of the president's own bottom line," Noah Bookbinder, CREW's executive director, told Newsweek.

DONALD TRUMP ACCUSES JEWS WHO VOTE DEMOCRAT OF 'A TOTAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR GREAT DISLOYALTY'

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-jews-vote-democrat-great-disloyalty-1455355

President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Jewish-Americans who vote for Democrats of showing "great disloyalty."

"Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," Trump told reporters at the White House as he discussed a Monday press conference by Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, in which they criticized Israeli leaders for barring them from entering the Mediterranean nation.

https://time.com/5657042/trump-jewish-democrat-uninformed-disloyal/

 Showing a fresh willingness to play politics along religious and racial lines, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”
Trump’s claim triggered a quick uproar from critics who said the president was trading in anti-Semitic stereotypes. It came amid his ongoing feud with Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both Muslim.

https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Trump-Jews-voting-for-democrats-show-lack-of-knowledge-or-great-disloyalty-599207

As soon as Trump completed his interview, a storm of comments surfaced on social media and in press releases. 
 
Halie Soifer, executive director of Jewish Democratic Council of America, called the president's remarks "yet another example of  Donald Trump continuing to weaponize and politicize antisemitism. 

:At a time when antisemitic incidents have increased -- due to the president's emboldening of white nationalism -- Trump is repeating an antisemitic trope," Soifer said in a statement. "If this is about Israel, then Trump is repeating a dual loyalty claim, which is a form of antisemitism. If this is about Jews being 'loyal' to him, then Trump needs a reality check. We live in a democracy, and Jewish support for the Republican Party has been halved in the past four years."

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) likewise sharply criticized Trump's remarks. 

"Enough, Mr. President," the organization tweeted. "American Jews – like all Americans – have a range of political views. Your assessment of their knowledge or loyalty, based on their party preference, is divisive, disrespectful, and unwelcome. Please stop. "


AJC's CEO, David Harris, added that "for the President to assert that Jews who vote Democratic show 'disloyalty' is outrageous. This is a free country. Jews aren’t a monolithic bloc, nor single-issue voters/ Some will vote Democratic, others Republican. As Americans, that’s their right. Please keep loyalty out of it." 

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, joined the criticism. He tweeted, "It’s unclear who the president is claiming Jews would be 'disloyal' to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews. 

"As we’ve said before, it's possible to engage in the democratic process without these claims. It's long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football."

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

הלווית אישה נעצרה - בגלל בנה סרבן הגט rabbi errs and tries pressuring son to give get by interfering with mother's funeral

https://www.kikar.co.il/327902.html

נשיא בית הדין, הגאון רבי דוד לאו, הורה לחברא קדישא שלא לקיים הלוויה לאשה שבנה, תושב ארה"ב, מעגן את רעייתו למעלה מעשור, וזה בכדי להביא לשחרור העגונה 

נשיא בית הדין הגדול, הרב רהאשי הגאון רבי דוד לאו, הורה לחברא קדישא בירושלים שלא לקיים הלוויה לאשה שבנה, תושב ארצות הברית, מעגן את רעייתו כ-16 שנים.
ההחלטה של הגר"ד לאו הגיעה בתיאום עם בית הדין בארצות הברית וזה בכדי ללחוץ על בנה לשחרר את רעייתו מהעגינות, שכאמור נמשכת למעלה מעשור וחצי.
"Meir deposited a GET in 2008 at his Bais Din but Lonna has not come to his Bais Din. Meir remarries with a Heter from 100 rabbis..."

Meyer Kinn's mother passed away in Israel, and Lonna is apparently seeking to prevent her from coming to kever Yisrael, until Meyer gives her a Get. 
The problem is, that Meyer apparently got a Hetter 100 Rabbanim to remarry, and had a Get written for her in 2008, which was deposited at a Beis Din in Monesy. 
All Lonna has to do, is go and pick it up. 
We call that a FAKEgunah.
https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1025413

https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-rabbi-halts-womans-burial-until-son-grants-wife-a-divorce/
Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau on Tuesday ordered the Jerusalem burial of a woman put on hold until her son agreed to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce.
Hours later, the man in question expressed his willingness to grant the get, and the funeral of his mother was set to proceed, reports said.
The woman, whose body was flown to Israel from the US, was due to be buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery Tuesday morning but Lau instructed the burial society to stop the proceedings until her US-based son delivers the divorce papers, known as a get, to a rabbinic court.

Fact check: Trump falsely claims Google 'manipulated' millions of 2016 votes

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/19/politics/trump-google-manipulated-votes-claim/index.html

Facts FirstEpstein himself says Trump was wrong about his findings. Epstein did find "bias" in Google search results, but he says there is no evidence Google "manipulated" the results to favor Clinton. Also, critics of the study note that there is no definitive link between search results and voting behavior in presidential elections.

First let's address what Epstein says Trump got wrong. Then we'll delve into Epstein's research.Trump's words and numbers were inaccurate

Epstein, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, found what he alleges was a pro-Clinton bias in Google's search results.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Epstein said the pro-Clinton bias was "sufficient to have shifted between 2.6 and 10.4 million votes" to Clinton.
There is no basis in Epstein's research for Trump's claim that the alleged bias might have affected "16 million" votes. Epstein did testify in July that big tech companies in general could potentially shift "upwards of 15 million votes" in the 2020 election, but he didn't claim that this happened in 2016.
In the Monday interview, Epstein rejected Trump's claim that Googl


Sunday, August 18, 2019

Omar and Tlaib rightly blocked from visiting ‘non-existent’ country Palestine


https://nypost.com/2019/08/17/omar-and-tlaib-rightly-blocked-from-visiting-imaginary-country-palestine/
At first blush, Israel’s decision to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib looked like a mistake. My gut reaction was that the move would simultaneously make Israel appear weak and allow critics to claim the incident proves the Jewish state has no interest in peace with the Palestinians.

It didn’t help that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially signaled the two Democrats could visit despite their support for the BDS movement, which Israel has outlawed. When it became clear that Net­anyahu reversed his decision at President Trump’s urging, the situation appeared to go from bad to worse.

Both the United States and Israel looked to have blundered. Or so I thought.

Then facts and history had their say. Now, I believe Trump and Netanyahu made the right move.

They had no good options and chose the lesser of two evils.

Trump Fat-Shames His Own Supporter



Friday, August 16, 2019

Ben Shapiro: Israel made a 'big mistake' barring Omar and Tlaib from visiting

https://www.foxnews.com/media/israel-omar-tlaib-ben-shapiro-trump

Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro claimed Thursday that Israel made an error in judgment by barring Rep. Ilhan Omar D-Minn., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., from visiting the Jewish state and said the Israeli government played right into the lawmakers' hands.

"Is this a smart move by Israel? No. It is a very not smart move by Israel," Shapiro said on his eponymous radio program Thursday.

"If Omar and Tlaib had just gone to Israel and then they had done their little propaganda tour about how Israel is evil and shouldn't exist -- then their ten fans would cheer and everybody else would sigh and roll their eyes," Shapiro said. "This is actually giving Omar and Tlaib what they want in terms of PR so they can falsely claim that Israel doesn't tolerate dissent."

How Trump Bullied Israel Into Punishing His Political Opponents, to the Jewish State’s Great Detriment


https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/289728/trump-bullied-israel-into-punishing-his-opponents

On July 19, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, announced that Israel would permit entry to U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, despite their support for boycotting the Jewish state: “Out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel.” Dermer, Netanyahu’s closest confidant and colloquially known as “Bibi’s Brain,” had reportedly recommended this course to his boss. As Haaretz correspondent Amir Tibon later reported, the decision was made to focus on this past week’s pro-Israel visit of 41 Democratic representatives, led by House Whip Steny Hoyer, rather than give more oxygen to an anti-Israel trip by just two Democratic congresswomen.
That entire plan, however, was detonated by Donald Trump for his own political purposes, to Israel’s great detriment. The president’s effort to undermine and alter the Israeli government’s approach began in early August, when Axios’ Barak Ravid reported that Trump was privately signaling that Israel should bar both Omar and Tlaib—personal antagonists who he had repeatedly assailed, often in bigoted terms. “Trump’s private views have reached the top level of the Israeli government,” Ravid reported.
Trump’s complaint put Netanyahu and his government in a bind—between their own original judgment that banning members of Congress would create a major rift with American Democrats and an erratic president who could be alienated by the smallest slight. Netanyahu himself, facing a tough reelection fight, could not afford a spat with Trump—the man whose face he had festooned on giant campaign posters. In an effort to buy time, the government announced on Thursday morning that it was “reconsidering” its position. Then Trump forced the issue:

Editorial: The Omar and Tlaib ban from Israel is a disgrace. True democracies aren’t afraid of critics

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-15/ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib-israel-ban-trump-netanyahu

Last we checked, both the United States and Israel were democracies — and allies. Yet on Thursday the leaders of both countries sounded more like crazy autocrats with a penchant for silencing their critics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to prohibit U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) from entering Israel on an official congressional visit not only smacks of tin-pot authoritarianism, it elevates his critics.

Netanyahu justified this shameful decision by citing a recent bit of daft legislating, an Israeli law prohibiting foreign nationals who back boycotts against Israel or its West Bank settlements from entering the country. That’s bad enough. Even more outrageous is that President Trump appears to have goaded Netanyahu into making this decision.

Not content to call for Omar and Tlaib (and their two progressive Democratic colleagues on the so-called “squad”) to leave the United States, Trump has been pressing Israel publicly not to let them into that country. To quote his tweet Thursday: “It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds.” He added, “They are a disgrace!”

The only disgrace here is Trump’s behavior.

Israel Bans Reps. Omar and Tlaib From Entry Over Support for Boycotts

https://time.com/5652989/israel-bans-omar-tlaib-representatives/

Israel said Thursday that it will bar two Democratic congresswomen from entering the country ahead of a planned visit over their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement, a decision announced shortly after President Donald Trump tweeted that it would “show great weakness” to allow them in.

The move to bar Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from visiting appeared to be unprecedented. It marked a deep foray by Israel into America’s bitterly polarized politics and a sharp escalation of Israel’s campaign against the international boycott movement.

The two newly-elected Muslim members of Congress are outspoken critics of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and have repeatedly sparred with Trump over a range of issues. Tlaib’s family immigrated to the United States from the West Bank, where she still has close relatives.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Trump accuses news media of trying to crash the economy

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/15/trump-economy-recession-stock-market-media-1464577

President Donald Trump on Thursday baselessly accused the press of trying to tank the American economy, shrugging off any blame for a prospective economic slowdown and possible recession heading into his reelection next year.

“The Fake News Media is doing everything they can to crash the economy because they think that will be bad for me and my re-election,” he said in a tweet. “The problem they have is that the economy is way too strong and we will soon be winning big on Trade, and everyone knows that, including China!”

The president offered no evidence to support his claim that the media, a frequent target of his ire, is working to weaken the U.S. economy.

Donald Trump Grapples With Self-Inflicted Economic Wounds As Markets Plunge | The Last Word | MSNBC



‘Keep the Hasidic Out’: A Small-Town Housing Showdown


In a peaceful corner of the Hudson Valley, a broad expanse of land sits at the ready for hundreds of homes ranging between 2,500 and 3,400 square feet, with views of the surrounding hills. There will be a recreation center and tennis courts, and nearly half of the development’s 117 acres will be kept as open space.

they most have read Joe Orlow's comment

Let's put this in perspective.
If I gave you a choice to take a walk at night unescorted through an American neighborhood filled with an overwhelming majority of White people, or through a neighborhood in any inner city neighborhood in America with a minority of White people, which would you choose?

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

RenameFifthAvenueinfrontofTrumpTower:"PresidentBarackH.ObamaAvenue"


https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/rename-fifth-avenue-in/?source=search

To be delivered to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Council

We request the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets be renamed "President Barack H. Obama Avenue." Any addresses on that stretch of Fifth Avenue should be changed accordingly.