How much is Vladimir Putin worth? Almost no one knows for sure

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/28/business/vladimir-putin-wealth-sanctions/index.html

Browder testified before the US Senate in 2017 that he estimates the Russian leader's wealth to hover around $200 billion in assets, which would make him among the wealthiest people on the planet.

Chris Christie Says What We’re All Thinking Of Trump Calling Putin ‘Savvy’

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-christie-trump-putin-russia-ukraine_n_621d6cefe4b03d0c803d5bec

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) lambasted Donald Trump’s praise of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week, saying history was watching despite the former president’s repeated comments about Vladimir Putin being a “genius” who had been “smart” about the ruthless assault.

“How can anyone with any understanding of the world call Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy’ as we watch him unite the rest of the world against Russia in nearly an instant?” Christie asked Monday on Twitter. He went on to say that Putin has two choices now: an “unwinnable occupation of Ukraine” or a “humiliating retreat.”

Russian invasion a 'solution to Ukrainian question' - Russian state news

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-698890

Russia is "restoring its unity" and providing a "solution to the Ukrainian question" in its invasion of Ukraine, reads an opinion piece that was seemingly published by accident by Russian news agency RIA Novosti before being quickly taken down. The article was recorded by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine before it was taken offline.

"A new world is being born before our eyes," wrote Petr Akopov in the article. "Russia's military operation in Ukraine has ushered in a new era — and in three dimensions at once. And of course, in the fourth, domestically. Here begins a new period both in ideology and in the very model of our socio-economic system."

Echoing similar statements made recently by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Akopov referred to the 1991 declarations of independence by Belarus and Ukraine as a "terrible catastrophe" and an "unnatural dislocation."

Man convicted after refusing a Jewish divorce in landmark English court case

 https://www.thejc.com/news/news/man-convicted-after-refusing-a-jewish-divorce-in-landmark-english-court-case-Sucf46KVLnGfpLmXpvRiq

For the first time a man has been convicted in an English court of controlling behaviour for denying his wife a get.

Alan Moher, 57,  from Manchester, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday in a private prosecution brought by his former wife Caroline, from whom he was civilly divorced in 2019

Health workers’ vaccine mandate undone by religious exemptions

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/28/covid-vaccine-exemption-hospital-00011951

While the federal government doesn’t track the number of religious exemptions, anecdotal evidence indicates they are widespread in health care settings. Several hospital executives told POLITICO their prevalence has helped keep the hospital from laying off dozens of employees, which would threaten their ability to provide patient care. But public health experts and patient advocates fear that widespread use of the exemptions risks infecting patients with the virus, even as Covid-19 cases decline rapidly from their January peak. Last month, as Omicron surged, more patients than at any time of the pandemic caught Covid in U.S. hospitals, likely due to insufficient control measures, POLITICO found in an analysis of federal data.

Studies show that unvaccinated individuals are more likely to contract and transmit the virus.

How Russia Has Destroyed Its Economy, in Six Charts

 https://www.newsweek.com/how-russia-destroyed-its-economy-six-charts-putin-zelensky-ukraine-1683170

Russia is currently facing the most punitive financial measures and sanctions ever imposed on a country in the modern financial system.

The invasion of Ukraine has prompted a severe political backlash and international condemnation, combined with an exclusion from markets that will, if it persists, have a hugely harmful effect on the Russian economy.

Whether President Putin sees the economic hardship as a price worth paying for the annexation of Ukraine remains to be seen.

Ukraine's Heroic Zelensky Unites Divided Americans Against Putin

 https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-president-zelensky-hero-war-russia-putin-united-americans-1683133

What's even more remarkable about Volodymyr Zelensky is that he has not only garnered bipartisan support in Washington, but has also has cable news channels as ideologically opposed as MSNBC and Fox News praising his heroism.

Liberal anchors like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and CNN's Don Lemon, appear to be signing from the same Zelensky hymn sheet as conservatives such as Fox News' Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

Mike Lindell Melts Down at CPAC, Calls Reporter 'Disgusting' and 'Traitor'

 https://www.newsweek.com/mike-lindell-melts-down-cpac-calls-reporter-disgusting-traitor-1683058

During the CPAC conference in Orlando this weekend, Lindell was questioned by CBS News journalist Robert Costa about a January 15, 2021 photo from outside the White House. In the photo, Lindell was seen holding documents that suggested then President Donald Trump could declare "martial law if necessary." The MyPillow CEO told The New York Times at the time that the papers were provided by an unidentified lawyer and aimed to help Trump prove that he was the true winner of the election.

When the journalist pressed him further, Lindell grew frustrated, refusing to say who gave him the documents.

"Robert Costa is a traitor to the United States of America," Lindell asserted, as a crowd gathered around them. He went on to call Costa "disgusting" and led those surrounding them in chants of, "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"

"Why do you protect a company called the media and attack a company called MyPillow? You're disgusting," Lindell said.

How Zelensky changed the West's response to Russia

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/28/politics/zelensky-us-response-to-russia/index.html

Five days into Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his courageous nation have already done more to transform the West's policy toward Russia than 30 years of post-Cold War summits, policy resets and showdowns with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian leader's defiance has inspired and shamed the United States and the European Union into going far further -- and far faster -- in turning Russia into a pariah state than it appeared they were ready to go. By promising weapons and ammunition to Zelensky, 44, the West appears increasingly to be drawn into a possible proxy war with Moscow over Ukraine, even though it is not a NATO member that benefits from the bloc's direct mutual defense agreements.

Moshe achieved prophecy through philosophical thought

 Meshech Chochma (Devarim 34:8)…Moshe was constantly involved with philosophical thought concerning G d as can be seen from the book of Job which he wrote (Bava Basra 14b) which is totally philosophical. Shemos Rabbah (1:35) also notes that he tried to determine the reason for the exile in Egypt. Through his analysis he came to the true source and full knowledge to such a degree that he became a prophet.

Shtisel: The show that changed my mind about the Charedim

 https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/shtisel-the-show-that-changed-my-mind-about-the-charedim-1.481155

Why do the denizens of Mea Shearim, Stamford Hill, Williamsburg and Broughton Park treat 2019 as though it were 1719? Why do they have kosher mobile phones, shun secular newspapers and seal themselves off from the surrounding world? Why do they dress as though they are still living in Lublin?

Most of us only truly experience Charedi life through art, films, documentaries, books. Yet depictions of the Strictly Orthodox in popular culture usually serve only to feed our preconceptions.

Much of it comes in the form of excommunication art, such as One Of Us, a documentary that depicted the horrors of trying to leave a Chasidic community. Or All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen, an extraordinary memoir about one Chasidic man’s agonising search for freedom. Then you have the coming-out dramas, movies such as Eyes Wide Open and Disobedience, which highlight the strains of forbidden passion.

World's largest plane destroyed in Ukraine

 https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/antonov-an-225-largest-plane-destroyed-ukraine-scli-intl/index.html

The world's largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225, has been destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials, generating alarm and sadness among the aviation world in which it occupies almost cult status.

The enormous aircraft, named "Mriya," or "dream" in Ukrainian, was parked at an airfield near Kyiv when it was attacked by "Russian occupants," Ukrainian authorities said, adding that they would rebuild the plane.

Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls takes 'brave' steps to improve, says Ofsted

 https://www.thejc.com/family-and-education/all/yesodey-hatorah-senior-girls-takes-brave-steps-to-improve-says-ofsted-20PQbN6Ehe3Uo29C3dhKBM

Leaders of a state-aided Charedi secondary school in Stamford Hill have taken some “brave” decisions to improve it since it was ranked inadequate four years ago, Ofsted says.

As a result, inspectors have upgraded Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls High School to a school that “requires improvement” after their latest visit.

In citizenship, “they enjoy discussing live ethical and moral issues in society. However, leaders place some restrictions on what pupils can learn. For example, pupils do not learn about same-sex relationships and gender reassignment.”

Four years ago, Ofsted criticised the school for censoring textbooks.

Melanie Phillips

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Phillips

Israel

Phillips's criticisms of liberal Jews who disagree with her positions on Israel have been mocked or condemned by writers such as Alan Dershowitz,^[27] Rabbi David Goldberg,^[28] and Jonathan Freedland, who criticised Phillips's labelling of Independent Jewish Voices, a group of liberal Jews, as "Jews For Genocide". Freedland wrote in The Jewish Chronicle: "Now, as it happens, I have multiple criticisms of IJV ... but even their most trenchant opponents must surely blanch at the notion that these critics of Israel and of Anglo-Jewish officialdom are somehow in favour of genocide—literally, eager to see the murder and eradication of the Jewish people ... it is an absurdity, one that drains the word 'genocide' of any meaning".^[29]

MMR vaccine

Melanie Phillips supported Andrew Wakefield, whose fraudulent work triggered controversy about the MMR vaccine and led to his being struck off the medical register. Through numerous articles in the Daily Mail and The Spectator, Phillips championed Wakefield's claims while casting doubt on their rebuttal by scientists, doctors, and politicians.[40][41] Her attacks on MMR attracted criticism from scientists and science writers.[40][42][43] Phillips continued to support Wakefield after his research methods and motives began to attract serious scrutiny and criticism: "While Mr Wakefield is being subjected to a witch-hunt, and while the parents of the affected children are scandalously denied legal aid to pursue the court case which may well have finally brought to light the truth about MMR, those powerful people in the medical establishment are continuing to misrepresent the evidence."[44][45] In May 2010, Andrew Wakefield was struck off the Medical Register for "serious professional misconduct", and is currently barred from practising medicine in the UK.[46] Phillips's support of Wakefield's "findings" and her campaign against the MMR vaccine has been both widely noted,[47][48] and credited for significantly undermining public trust in vaccines.[47]