Monday, June 20, 2022

I watched Fox News every day for 44 months – here's what I learned

 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/25/fox-news-watching-what-i-learned

Since July 2018, I’ve been one among a lucky few live-tweeting the show along with the president. And after consuming thousands of hours of Rupert Murdoch’s finest drivel, I’ve learned a few things about how America’s No 1 news network is dragging the United States into ruin.

Why mental health is an halachic issue

 https://www.thejc.com/judaism/all/why-mental-health-is-an-halachic-issue-3wZrZWQSiJjyGR21r3UgrG

 I suffer from both anxiety and depression, and sometimes have suicidal thoughts as well. I find that writing in a journal quiets those thoughts, and helps me deal with my depression and anxiety, but on Shabbat I have a problem, as it is prohibited to write. Is there anything I can do?

Texas GOP Declares Biden Illegitimate, Demands End to Abortion

 https://www.newsweek.com/texas-gop-declares-biden-illegitimate-demands-end-abortion-1717167

Texas Republicans acted on multiple resolutions and platform changes at their state convention this weekend—including declaring that President Joe Biden was "not legitimately elected" and demanding an end to abortion.

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Texas GOP Convention Sparks Intraparty Feud on Treatment of Gay Republicans

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-gop-convention-sparks-intraparty-feud-treatment-gay-republicans-1717159 

The Texas GOP denied the Log Cabin Republicans, which is an organization that represents LGBTQ Republicans, earlier this month from having a booth at their state convention, sparking a debate online about the treatment of gay conservatives.

Friday, June 17, 2022

Woman freed after being ‘chained’ in her marriage for 22 years

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-freed-after-being-chained-in-her-marriage-for-22-years/

Tamar is a pseudonym as the woman asked to maintain a degree of privacy while sharing her story. Though she provided an account of her ordeal through the organization, Tamar would not speak directly to The Times of Israel.

Thursday, June 16, 2022

New report shows Jewish young adults crave Shabbat dinner experience

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/354933

    Shabbat dinners can lead to more Jewish engagement. OneTable leads some participants to seek out new Jewish organizations and communities. About 1 in 4 participants say that they’ve adopted new Jewish rituals or practices since their first dinner, and nearly 1 in 3 have sought out new Jewish organizations or communities.

    Herschel Walker Mocked Over False Claim He Was FBI Agent: 'Humiliating Lie'

     https://www.newsweek.com/herschel-walker-fbi-agent-police-false-claim-lie-1715498

    The former football star reportedly told an audience in 2019: "I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school. Y'all didn't know I was an agent?"

    In the past, Walker has falsely claimed to have graduated from the University of Georgia as well as wrongly saying he was high school valedictorian and that he had founded a charity for veterans.

    Russia Implores Ukraine to 'Stop Senseless Resistance' in Severodonetsk - In other words don't make us kill you"!

     https://www.newsweek.com/russia-implores-ukraine-stop-senseless-resistance-severodonetsk-1716332

    "Once again we urge the authorities in (Kyiv) to display prudence, to give the appropriate instructions to the militants to end senseless resistance and leave the territory of the Azot plant," Mizintsev said.

    Herschel Walker, Critic of Absentee Dads, Admits to Yet ANOTHER Secret Son - Trump endorsed

     https://www.thedailybeast.com/herschel-walker-critic-of-absentee-dads-admits-to-yet-another-secret-son?ref=scroll

    Walker was also reportedly involved with two other women around the same time—Julie Blanchard, the woman who would later become his second wife, and Myka Dean, who alleged a 20-year on-and-off affair, which ended in 2012 when Walker allegedly told her he would “blow your head off” in a dispute, according to previous reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    The pattern belies a deep hypocrisy. As The Daily Beast reported, Walker has made a point over the years to criticize absentee fathers, beseeching parents in multiple addresses to “hug your child.”

    Gazan aid worker convicted of embezzling millions for Hamas

     https://www.timesofisrael.com/gazan-aid-worker-convicted-of-embezzling-millions-for-hamas/

    An Israeli court on Wednesday convicted Mohammad el-Halabi, a Gazan aid worker, of transferring millions in funds to the Hamas terror group, on all but one of the counts against him.

    Israeli forces arrested Halabi, who worked at World Vision — a highly respected Christian humanitarian organization that operates around the world — in 2016 and charged him with transferring millions of the nonprofit’s funds to Hamas. Since then, he has been held under arrest.

    They set out to produce an ‘accessible’ Mishnah. The price tag: $645

     They set out to produce an ‘accessible’ Mishnah. The price tag: $645

    Nevertheless, the study of classical Jewish texts is not just for specialists, and is central to the practice of many observant Jews, both clergy and laypeople. And building a Jewish library is an investment: While the Oxford Mishnah doesn’t have a direct competitor, other editions of the Mishnah can cost nearly $300. A full set of the Babylonian Talmud, which includes both the Mishnah and the expansive commentary known as Gemara, can cost upwards of $2,000. The Jewish Publication Society’s five-volume commentary on the Five Books of Moses sells for $360, or $75 per volume.

    Wednesday, June 15, 2022

    Synagogue Sues Florida Over Abortion Ban for Violating Religious Freedoms

     https://www.newsweek.com/synagogue-sues-florida-over-abortion-ban-violating-religious-freedoms-1715835

     But Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor [Reform] in Boynton Beach, Florida, has claimed in a lawsuit that Florida's 15-week abortion ban violates the religious freedom rights of Jews.

    Yeshiva University now obligated to host LGBTQ+ club on campus

     https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-709452

    Judge Lynn Kotler ruled on Tuesday that YU, as a non-religious organization, is subject to the New York City Human Rights Law and directed it to “immediately grant plaintiff YU Pride Alliance the full equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges afforded to all other student groups at Yeshiva University.” In the decision, the judge determined that “Yeshiva University is not a ‘religious corporation,’” and therefore cannot ban a certain group because of the Jewish faith.


    According to YU’s independent student newspaper The Commentator, YU will appeal the decision. “While we love and care for our students, who are all – each and every one – created in God’s image, we firmly disagree with today’s ruling and will immediately appeal the decision,” a YU spokesperson told The Commentator.

    Trump said he could kill and win – Covid and cheating may prove it

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/11/donald-trump-fifth-avenue-shoot-covid-election

    “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Donald Trump boasted in 2016. He thought his almost unlimited bravado, bombast and dominance of any situation allowed him to get away with figurative murder."







    Since then, the president’s Fifth Avenue principle has been repeatedly tested – most notably by the Access Hollywood tape, Robert Mueller’s findings that Trump obstructed justice and his campaign aides cooperated with Russia, overt racism, quid pro quo to the president of Ukraine, and impeachment – yet some 40% of American voters have stuck by him notwithstanding.

    They’ve stuck by him even as more than 210,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, one of the world’s highest death rates – due in part to Trump initially downplaying its dangers, then refusing responsibility for it, promoting quack remedies for it, muzzling government experts on it, pushing states to reopen despite it, and discouraging people from wearing masks.