Santos refuses to resign amid calls from local N.Y. GOP

 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/11/local-n-y-gop-leaders-to-call-on-george-santos-to-resign-00077450

Officials from across Santos’ Long Island district and beyond gathered at the headquarters of the Nassau County Republican Committee to offer biting critiques of the newly sworn-in Republican. Critically, they pledged to cut Santos’ local support system off at the knees after he fabricated much of his resume and backstory during a successful Congressional campaign last year.

'Disgraced' George Santos Faces 'Major Announcement' as Republicans Attack

 https://www.newsweek.com/disgraced-george-santos-faces-major-announcement-republicans-attack-1772842

Republican Representative George Santos of New York is facing a new setback after GOP officials announced that they would soon be making a "major announcement" regarding the "disgraced" congressman.

A Nassau County GOP media advisory issued on Tuesday brought more bad news for Santos by teasing a Wednesday press conference. It is set to feature a "major announcement" and "dozens" of Republicans, including elected officials and Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo, and billed as their "strongest statement yet" about the "disgraced" congressman and their position on his status in Congress.

Transgender woman pushed out of YU-linked synagogue after uproar over day school job

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/transgender-woman-pushed-out-of-yu-linked-synagogue-after-uproar-over-day-school-job/

A transgender woman who was asked to leave her teaching position at a New York yeshiva after an uproar over her identity late last year said she has been ejected from a synagogue affiliated with Yeshiva University due to the ongoing controversy.

Talia Avrahami was asked to leave her job in September at the Magen David Yeshivah, a religious Jewish day school in Brooklyn, and agreed to step down after facing widespread harassment.

Avrahami told The Times of Israel last week that after she left her teaching position, she was also asked to leave Shenk Shul, an Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan that is linked to Yeshiva University, the flagship Modern Orthodox institution of higher learning in the US.

Why Joe Biden Was Not Raided by the FBI Over Classified Documents

 https://www.newsweek.com/why-joe-biden-was-not-raided-fbi-over-classified-documents-1772506

However, Boston Globe opinion writer Abdallah Fayyad tweeted: "The fundamental difference in this case versus Trump's (other than volume of classified docs) is that Biden's team appears to have volunteered this info upon discovery whereas Trump's team actively misled investigators."

How Joe Biden's Classified Documents Compare to Donald Trump's

 https://www.newsweek.com/how-joe-biden-classified-documents-compare-donald-trumps-1772552

Cases are very different. Most notably, when Biden's lawyers found these documents, they immediately notified the Archives and turned them over," lawyer and former federal prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg told Newsweek.

"In Trump's case, it was the government that realized the documents were missing and then tried, repeatedly and ultimately unsuccessfully, to get them back. Even after being served with a grand jury subpoena, Trump did not return all of the documents," he said.

"And in Trump's case, these highly classified documents were scattered all over his hotel, including in unlocked storage areas and his desk drawer. Finally, Biden had a security clearance throughout the time he had these documents, while Trump's security clearance was revoked after he left office. So cases are really only superficially similar."

Classified documents found from Biden’s time as VP, White House cooperating with DOJ

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3806056-classified-documents-found-from-bidens-time-as-vp-white-cooperating-with-doj/

Matthew Miller, a former Justice Department spokesperson during the Obama administration, tweeted, “Worth noting what former government officials have said since Mar a Lago raid: classified docs get mistakenly removed from government facilities fairly frequently. You report it, turn in the docs, the government does a damage assessment, and that is the end of it.”

“OR…you cover it up, lie about it repeatedly to the government, and force them to raid your premises to retrieve the docs (ie act like a sociopath), in which case you can expect a criminal charge,” Miller added.

Astrology and off the derech teenagers

 I was asked to deal, as a psychologist, with a troubled teenager who was the estranged son of an important American rabbi. The son was no longer observant. I did his horoscope which indicated  strong conflicts (aspects) which strongly overruled his desire to behave. I told this to his father, I was told later the father and son had reconciled and developed a strong positive relationship though the son did not change. The father simply accepted that this was a case of onas and that his son could not control himself. I have heard that some gedolim view off the derech children as not having free will in this area. This is also possible justification for the common advice to accept the off the derech child with unconditional love.

Another case in which I used astrology involved the son of a friend who was in Kollel and was also the grandson of a chassidic rebbe. The Rosh Kollel asked me to try and help the troubled boy. He told me don't try psychotherapy - he has already gone to a few and doesn't trust therapy. I asked the son  if I could do his horoscope. He replied cynically he didn't believe it or any other system. But to test me he gave the birthday of his closest friend. I told him the friend was a criminal and would end up in jail. Several days later the friend was in fact arrested and I was validated. Instead of therapy I suggested learning Berachos. We in fact made a siyum attended by the Bostoner Rebbe. He went on to get married and get a job and in general to behave as expected. I view this as a case where Torah overcame Mazzel

This is Donald Trump's Favorite Movie. "He Watches it Again and Again and Again."

 https://bestlifeonline.com/news-donald-trumps-favorite-movie/

The biographer Tim O'Brien once wrote about watching the movie with Trump. When the film depicted Norma Desmond crying, "Those idiot producers. Those imbeciles! Haven't they got any eyes? Have they forgotten what a star looks like? I'll show them. I'll be up there again, so help me!," Trump whispered to O'Brien, "Is this an incredible scene or what? Just incredible."

The ‘Never Kevin’ Chaos Is Tearing Fox News Apart

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-never-kevin-chaos-is-tearing-fox-news-apart?ref=home

By the time Wednesday arrived, Carlson made it clear that he was fully siding with the “Never Kevin” crowd, all while most of his Fox cohorts were begging the group to fold and end the standoff.

Haredi woman from NY released from marriage to Lebanese Muslim husband

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-727966

At the end of 2021, the young woman, who was part of the Jewish Syrian community in New York, married a man who had been attending yeshiva in Brooklyn. His relatives did not attend the wedding, and during the wedding celebrations, the woman found her new husband's passport which revealed to her that he was not named Eliyah as he told her - his name was Ali and he was a Lebanese Muslim man.

Following the discovery, the woman left her husband and flew to Israel. Ali then turned to the New York rabbinical court and converted to Judaism before flying to Israel himself in search of his wife.

The deal McCarthy struck was an inexplicable act of self destruction

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/07/opinions/mccarthy-speaker-vote-house-republicans-dent/index.html

While congratulations are in order to Speaker McCarthy, the role has been considerably weakened due to the reported concessions he made during this unseemly political shakedown. Clearly, the hardliners exacted more than a pound of flesh from McCarthy and most of the House GOP conference that will make governing exceedingly difficult.

It begs the question: Is surrendering your way to victory really winning? And when will this appeasement ever end, considering it only makes this extremist faction more powerful?

Rabbi responds to uproar: The Torah forbids gay relations, what do you want from me?

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/365564

Rabbi Meir Mazuz, head of the Kisei Rahamim Yeshiva, responded in his weekly lesson on Saturday night to the uproar following his remarks last week against the Gay Pride Parades and against Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, the first openly gay Knesset Speaker in Israel’s history.

"The country is in an uproar. What? I said? No one else said the same thing? The Torah said 'it is an abomination', what do you want from my life?" said Rabbi Mazuz.

Last week, Rabbi Mazuz implicitly hinted that Ohana, who served as Public Security Minister at the time of the Meron disaster in 2021, was responsible for the disaster.

Wife should be ruled by husband: Torah Temima

Torah Temima (Bereishis 3:16): And he will rule over you - we learn from this that a woman asks for intercourse through her actions while the man asks for it directly and this is a good trait for women (Eiruvin 100b). Even though the trait of modesty is a good trait, nevertheless it is a curse that she can’t openly express her desires to her husband. It should be noted that this doesn’t explain the language “And he will rule over you” in terms of its literal meaning of having a master… Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezar (Chapter 14) notes that this is one of the curses of a woman and she should have her ear bored as a permanent slave and as a maidservant. The Radal says that this teaches that it has been decreed that a woman always has to pay attention to the words of her husband. It is logical that the reason for the practice of piercing a woman’s ears for jewelry is an allusion to the fact that she is enslaved to her husband as is noted in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezar. If so then why isn’t the expression in this verse “He shall rule over you” explained according to this understanding [and instead the gemora says it means that she can’t asked openly for intercourse]? … Nevertheless it definitely would appear that the verse doesn’t lose its literal meaning and that is also meant. Therefore in terms of the relationship of a husband and wife, the wife is obligated to accepted the authority of her husband as we find in the Rambam (Hilchos Ishus 15:20): “Our Sages have commanded that the wife view her husband as a king and lord.”Aside from the language of this verse this idea of rulership can also be seen in the Sifre…that a woman does not have permission to speak before her husband. This is also possibly the source that Pesachim (108a) that a woman does not have to recline at the Pesach Seder in the presence of her husband. The reason being that he rules over her. She is exempt in the same way that a student is in the presence of his teacher. He cannot recline in the manner of freedom because of his fear and respect of his teacher. It is logical that this is the reason that a woman who does not fulfill the wishes of her husband is called a moredes (rebel). Since it is an obligation to accept him as king and lord [as stated in Rambam] therefore when she does the opposite - it as if she had rebelled against the kingdom. …

What has Kevin McCarthy given up, and at what price?

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64194129

It took 15 ballots, a midnight vote and a near-fistfight in the hallowed chambers of Congress, but Kevin McCarthy has now been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Through a combination of cajoling, arm-twisting and finger-jabbing, the California congressman succeeded in convincing enough of the 20 holdout Republicans to support him - or at least not explicitly oppose his bid for the Speaker's gavel.

Getting those recalcitrant Republicans on board, however, was not an easy job. Mr McCarthy has had to make promises, and key concessions, that limit his own power and increase the influence of conservatives in the House of Representatives.