Tuesday, April 18, 2023

The Rebbe on the Holocaust

 https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/64888/jewish/The-Rebbe-on-the-Holocaust.htm

But the most important thing about the Holocaust to the Rebbe was not how we do or do not understand it, nor, even, how we memorialize its victims, but what we do about it. If we allow the pain and despair to dishearten us from raising a new generation of Jews with a strong commitment to their Jewishness, then Hilter's "final solution" will be realized, G‑d forbid. But if we rebuild, if we raise a generation proud of and committed to their Jewishness, we will have triumphed.

The truth about crime in Manhattan

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/17/politics/fact-check-manhattan-crime-trump-bragg/index.html

Trump claimed in March that Bragg “has watched Violent Crime in Manhattan soar to Record Highs” and that “killings are taking place at a number like nobody’s ever seen, right in Manhattan.”

These claims are not even close to true. Manhattan’s recent levels of violent crime in general and murder in particular are way down from the record levels of the early 1990s.

New York City publishes crime statistics on its website, so the truth is easy to find. In 1990, when the city set its all-time record for total murders, there were 503 recorded murders in Manhattan, which is one of the city’s five boroughs. In 2022, Manhattan recorded 78 murders – a decline of about 84% from 1990.

Monday, April 17, 2023

Americans’ Complex Views on Gender Identity and Transgender Issues

 https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/06/28/americans-complex-views-on-gender-identity-and-transgender-issues/

Democrats and those who lean to the Democratic Party are more than four times as likely as Republicans and Republican leaners to say that a person’s gender can be different from the sex they were assigned at birth (61% vs. 13%). Democrats are also much more likely than Republicans to say our society hasn’t gone far enough in accepting people who are transgender (59% vs. 10%). For their part, 66% of Republicans say society has gone too far in accepting people who are transgender.

Alvin Bragg defends plea deal in brazen antisemitic attack

 https://jewishinsider.com/2023/01/alvin-bragg-new-york-hate-crimes-antisemitism/

In a demographic breakdown of his office’s open hate crimes investigations shared with JI, the highest number of cases, 44 in total, were said to be motivated by anti-Asian bias, followed by 32 cases involving members of the LGBTQ community. The hate crimes unit is currently working on 16 antisemitic cases, which represent the third largest share of hate crimes prosecutions now under the office’s purview.

Republican rep insists GOP senators are ‘pro-pedophile’

 https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republican-rep-insists-gop-senators-are-pedophile-rcna23215

Indeed, a sitting member of the United States House of Representatives — a Republican in good standing, who’s poised to be rewarded by her party next year — assumed she could get away with accusing three senators from her own party of being “pro-pedophile,” without any meaningful pushback, because that’s where the contemporary right is now.

Why Republicans Are Smearing Everyone As Pedophiles

 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/why-republicans-are-smearing-everyone-as-pedophiles-now.html

Not long ago, the notion that American politics was oriented around a dispute over the merits of child sexual exploitation was viewed as so loopy that not even Donald Trump could take it seriously. It is now becoming the Republican Party’s most energetic idea. The two most prominent theaters of partisan combat of the moment, the Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, have both seen a growing swath of conservatives embrace charges of pedophilia as their central theme.

GOP Smears Political Opponents As ‘Pro-Pedophile’: The QAnon Part Out Loud

So, Let’s Talk About Republicans and Sex Crimes

 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/04/from-hastert-to-gaetz-lets-talk-about-republicans-and-sex-crimes.html

Because American politics are now just one, long, low-rent nightmare, Republican culture warriors have spent the past few weeks slandering their various enemies as being soft on pedophilia. For some time, this sort of raving was mostly confined to adherents of QAnon, the Trump-idolizing conspiracy cult that believes Democratic politicians and other elites are secretly operating a global child trafficking ring.

Donald Trump Jr. opposes Bud Light boycott, citing company's donations to Republicans

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/donald-trump-jr-opposes-bud-light-boycott-citing-company-donations-republicans

Trump cited Anheuser-Busch's record of donating slightly more to conservative politicians than liberal ones as reason to keep buying their beer.

Trump Lawyer's Recusal Spells Bad News for Former President: Legal Experts

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-lawyers-recusal-spells-bad-new-former-president-legal-experts-1794634

Following the news of Corcoran's recusal from the documents case, numerous legal experts and analysts took to social media and said that the move was a clear sign that charges will soon be leveled. This, they said, is because Corcoran would have to recuse himself if he was expected to be called as a witness at a future trial.

Florida woman admits robbing $2.8 million from Holocaust survivor in dating scam

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/florida-woman-admits-robbing-2-8-million-from-holocaust-survivor-in-dating-scam/

“Peaches Stergo stole the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just looking for companionship. This conduct is sick – and sad,” US attorney David Williams said. “Using the millions in fraud proceeds, Stergo lived a life of luxury, purchasing a home in a gated community and a Corvette, taking vacations at hotels like the Ritz Carlton, and buying thousands in designer clothing, while at the same time causing her elderly victim to lose his apartment.”

GOP Quietly Backs Off Attacking Bud Light—Its Own Major Donor

https://www.thedailybeast.com/nrcc-quietly-backs-off-attacking-bud-lightits-own-major-donor?ref=scroll 

The National Republican Congressional Committee quietly deleted a fundraising page Saturday that took aim at one of its largest donors, the parent company of Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch.

The NRCC’s backpedaling follows conservative calls for a boycott of the beer company after it partnered with transgender TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Graham Issues Warning About Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jack Teixeira Defense

 https://www.newsweek.com/graham-issues-warning-about-marjorie-taylor-greenes-jack-teixeira-defense-1794641

ABC News' This Week host Jonathan Karl asked Graham on Sunday about what he makes of Greene's and Carlson's remarks.

"What they're suggesting will destroy America's ability to defend itself. That it's OK to release classified information based on your political views. That the ends justify the means. It is not OK," Graham responded.

CNN journalist urged to delete anti-Israel posts on social media

 https://www.jpost.com/bds-threat/article-739348

She also wrote that Lebanon faced a "ruthless, genocidal onslaught of an Israeli invasion” and wrote of a "desire for resistance to the Zio-Saudi project."