Sunday, March 12, 2023

'History will hold Donald Trump accountable' for Jan. 6, Pence says

 https://news.yahoo.com/history-hold-donald-trump-accountable-032802018.html

"What happened that day was a disgrace," he said. "And it mocks decency to portray it any other way. For as long as I live, I will never, ever diminish the injuries sustained, the lives lost, or the heroism of law enforcement on that tragic day."

Florida Surgeon General Joe Ladapo investigated for allegedly falsifying Covid report

 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/22/florida-joe-ladapo-investigated-covid-report-00084075

The Florida Department of Health’s inspector general last fall investigated Joseph Ladapo, the state’s surgeon general, after the agency received an anonymous complaint alleging he falsified a report focusing on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines for young men.

Among other things, the complainant alleged Ladapo committed “scientific fraud” and “manipulated data” in a report that Ladapo later used to claim that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines could increase the risk of cardiac death among young men, according to the complaint. Both brands use mRNA technology, which Ladapo contends was rushed to the market by the urgency of the pandemic without the proper testing.

Probe into Conservative Jewish youth group finds ‘hypersexualized culture’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/probe-into-conservative-jewish-youth-group-finds-hypersexualized-culture/

An investigation commissioned by an umbrella group for Conservative Judaism to investigate the handling of alleged mistreatment of minors by the movement’s flagship youth organization in the US found it harbored an “overly sexualized culture,” after collecting dozens of accounts of abuse, misconduct, or boundary crossing behaviors.

However, the inquiry into the United Synagogue Youth (USY) movement also concluded that there was no systemic wrongdoing and that just a handful of people were responsible for almost all cases of misconduc

Think your breakup was bad? Check out the Museum of Broken Relationships

 https://expmag.com/2023/02/think-your-breakup-was-bad-check-out-the-museum-of-broken-relationships/

People often long for closure at the termination of a relationship. Some psychologists say that’s because the brain needs a narrative to make sense of what happened and prevent us from repeating the same faulty relationship patterns in the future. Therein lies the premise of the museum: In addition to curating romantic pasts, it also wants to help us reckon with them emotionally.

Nikki Haley just handed Joe Biden a major gift

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/09/opinions/nikki-haley-medicare-social-security-biden-gift-zelizer/index.html

As Republicans continue to wade into this issue, they are poised to hand Biden and the Democrats a big win. Biden understands this, as he demonstrated during his State of the Union address, when he backed Republicans into a corner on Social Security and Medicare. It is for this reason that he is forcing Republicans to have a conversation, with specifics, about what they mean when they attack the government and federal spending.

For it is one thing to tell Americans that Washington is broken and another to say they will slash the federal benefits upon which so many of them have come to depend on.

Inside the Horrific (Contested) Abuse Story That Ignited the Satanic Panic

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/satan-wants-you-sxsw-doc-abuse-story-that-ignited-the-satanic-panic?ref=home

Beyond the immediate ramifications of the satanic panic, which sent dozens to prison on later debunked accusations, Satan Wants You explores the parallels between that conspiracy theory and more modern bouts of paranoia, like QAnon and Pizzagate. Many of the parallels, laid out in multiple pieces in the past few years, are somewhat obvious: both involve a moral panic centered around the supposed corruption of American youth by a cabal of secretive, terribly powerful cultists, and both proliferated thanks to a dearth of official information debunking their foundational claims.


Saturday, March 11, 2023

TIME FOR DIALOGUE

 https://mishpacha.com/time-for-dialogue/

It’s no secret that the State of Israel is in crisis.

Israel is on the verge of a societal breakdown, and we should all be losing sleep over the possibility of bloodshed — especially as there is no small number of people thirsting for violence, going so far as to write or speak publicly along those lines.

The demonstrators in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem may shout “democracy,” but the true cry emerging from their throats is actually “demography.” They are watching the demographic trends in the State of Israel with fear. They see the chareidi sector growing steadily, and the “chardali” (chareidi dati-leumi) gaining numbers and strength as well. In 1980, chareidim were just four percent of the population in Israel; today that number is more than 13 percent, and it continues to rise.

Yellen’s Global Minimum Tax Is a Boon for Beijing


The U.S. Constitution specifies that Congress, not unelected bureaucrats or foreign adversaries, is in charge of crafting our nation’s tax laws. As the American people awaken to the geopolitical and economic threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party, that protection makes more strategic sense than ever. Yet Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is turning this bedrock principle on its head by writing a global tax code with the help of European bureaucrats that would redound to the benefit of Beijing. If enacted, the new rules would violate international law and harm U.S. security.

Friday, March 10, 2023

I Was a Jan. 6 Committee Aide. Here’s Why Tucker Carlson Failed.

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/10/jan-6-committee-aid-tucker-carlson-00086354

Tucker Carlson tried to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, 2021, and utterly failed.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave the Fox News host and his producers exclusive media access to more than 40,000 hours of security footage recorded by the U.S. Capitol Police. Carlson promised viewers that his reveal of this massive tranche of video would dramatically alter our collective understanding of the events. It did not.

Santos accused of orchestrating credit card skimming operation

 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3892920-santos-accused-of-orchestrating-credit-card-skimming-operation/

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has been accused of orchestrating a credit card skimming operation in which he schemed to steal information from ATM and credit cards, according to a sworn statement from a former roommate of his obtained by Politico. 


Meet the ‘Ghost’ Woman Fox Relied on for Voter Fraud Claims

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-the-ghost-minnesota-artist-fox-relied-on-for-voter-fraud-claims?ref=home

But the strangest revelation so far from the Dominion Voting Systems case against the cable channel may be the alleged source of the voter-fraud claims that sparked the lawsuit: a single email from a previously unknown woman who was convinced, among other things, that late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was murdered while being hunted for sport.

That unhinged email to Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell has now become a centerpiece of Dominion’s case, raising questions about how Fox could allow obviously fake claims from a total stranger with no credentials to make it on the air.

Tuvia Tenenbom: 'The hatred from both sides on judicial reform is frightening'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/368512

“I am really worried, I really feel bad. I see that history is repeating itself,” Tenenbom tells Israel National News. “Two thousand years ago you lost this land because you hated each other, there was so much hate between us every time we lost [the Land of Israel.] We had Israel for two times in our history before, and now we have Israel for 75 years. We're never had it for 75 years.”

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Trump attorney admits misrepresenting evidence of election fraud

 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3891799-trump-attorney-admits-misrepresenting-evidence-of-election-fraud/

Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who represented former President Trump, admitted in court that she made various misrepresentations on social media and major television appearances about the 2020 presidential election, leading a judge to issue a public censure on Wednesday.

Rabbi Meiselman's Torah, Chazal & Science - Chazal are infallible even regarding Science

Jewish Press   There is one area of agreement, though, between sophisticated scientists and Torah scholars: attempts to make “peace” between the two sides. As methodologies of both science and halacha demand precision in the formulation and application of their respective principles, Rabbi Meiselman writes that “Consequently, both scientists and Torah scholars bristle when amateurs make assertions about their areas of expertise based on superficial contact with the sources.” It is for this reason that Rabbi Meiselman, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshivas Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, has authored the book, Torah, Chazal & Science

 Rabbi Meiselman is uniquely qualified to address the delicate topic of Torah and science. He was trained by outstanding academicians in a variety of disciplines – mathematics, philosophy and several of the natural sciences. Most importantly, however, he had unlimited access to his uncle and rebbe, Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, zt”l, who guided him in attaining a profound, thorough and Torah-true perspective on this topic. When reading this book, one will immediately notice the unique combination of vast Torah knowledge and extensive understanding of science from a sophisticated point of view. Those elements are brought to bear in this book.  

 One of the crucial aspects of the Jewish people’s belief, Rabbi Meiselman contends, is that the Torah was given by Hashem on Har Sinai and does not contain mistakes. The Torah is not a “primitive document,” and everything the Torah describes is absolutely truthful. Additionally, in this view, our mesorah of Torah She’be’al Peh is completely accurate. Therefore, to suggest that Chazal are full of mistakes has the potential to undermine our mesorah’s authenticity. 

 This new literature has disturbed many, who see it as radical. Conversely, many others oblivious to its danger warmly embraced its new ideas. Those concerned that this new thinking is dangerous have voiced their worries, while numerous others seem content with its unique approach. Torah, Chazal & Science was written for the benefit of both camps. Rabbi Meiselman satisfies both those who have been eagerly awaiting a proper response to the non-traditionalists as well as those unaware of the need for a response. Both can be satisfied with the sophisticated level of scientific expertise, coupled with a proficiency in Torah, which is apparent in this work. Thus, this book has the potential to unite Klal Yisrael pertaining to these issues.  

 Rabbi Meiselman begins Torah, Chazal & Science by explaining why it is that Chazal’s knowledge is superior to that of scientists – past, present and future. This is so because Chazal’s knowledge comes from the Torah. As Rabbi Meiselman writes: “The physical world is a manifestation of a completely separate underlying spiritual-metaphysical reality.” Everything occurring in our world, Rabbi Meiselman notes, is a reflection of realities and relationships existing there.This reality is not subject to change; accordingly all insights and conclusions derived from it are likewise immutable. Consequently, one who understands the spiritual world will also understand the resultant material world. [...]

Among the book’s goals is to demonstrate that there is no support in the classic sources for the approach that has recently surfaced, and to explain how it represents a deviation from the perspective that has been passed down throughout the centuries. In the book, Rabbi Meiselman examines many examples of how the chachmei hamesorah dealt with conflicts between Chazal and certain observable facts. His conclusion: Neither the integrity of the mesorah nor Chazal’s reliability was ever in question. One will come to the realization that Chazal’s mesorah and their definitive teachings represent absolute truth – even with respect to science.[...]