Rupert Wins Again

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/18/rupert-murdoch-dominion-settlement-00092694

A hundred million here, a hundred million there, might crimp your finances. But in the Murdoch universe, paying such settlements is just the cost of doing business Murdoch-style. The alternative to settling with Dominion for telling a series of lies about voting fraud would have been a painful and long courtroom drama. A stream of ugly would have been on the Fox image, day after day, as Dominion made its case. Even after the case concluded and went to appeals, the Fox brand would have been further stigmatized, and shame and disparagement would have been leveled at Murdoch, Fox executives and Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham and Bret Baier, all of whom Dominion planned to put on the witness stand. Getting out from under all of that hurt for $787.5 million is a kind of bargain for a company with a market cap of $17.3 billion. Fox has $4.1 billion in cash and warrants on hand, says the New York Times.

Fox News settles with Dominion at the last second, pays more than $787 million to avert defamation trial over its 2020 election lies

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/18/media/fox-dominion-settlement/index.html

The right-wing network said in a statement that it “acknowledge[s] the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false,” referring to Davis’ recent ruling that 20 Fox News broadcasts from late 2020 contained blatantly untrue assertions that Dominion rigged the presidential election. But Fox won’t have to admit on-air that it spread lies about Dominion, a Dominion representative told CNN.

Dominion’s history-making defamation trial against Fox News over 2020 election lies kicks off in Delaware

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/18/media/fox-dominion-defamation-trial-kickoff/index.html

The outcome of the trial, however, is not likely to dramatically change the dishonest way in which Fox News operates. The channel is the profit engine in Murdoch’s media empire and its business model is dependent on feeding its viewership a steady stream of right-wing infotainment.

Even as this case has advanced forward in recent days, some top Fox News personalities such as Carlson have yet again shamelessly sowed doubt about legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Ohio State To Supreme Court: Please Stop People From Suing Us Over Athletics Doctor’s Sexual Abuse

 https://defector.com/ohio-state-to-supreme-court-please-stop-people-from-suing-us-over-richard-strauss-sexual-abuse

"The plaintiffs allege that Ohio State concealed Strauss’s abuse and Ohio State’s knowledge of it, destroyed records, gave Strauss false performance reviews, and actively misled students by, for example, telling complainants that no one had ever previously complained about Strauss. The plaintiffs plausibly allege a decades-long cover up. Given these plausible allegations, the plaintiffs adequately allege that they could not have reasonably discovered Ohio State’s conduct. This alone provides sufficient grounds to delay the accrual of their Title IX claims."

Ohio State University abuse scandal

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

Following an independent 2019 investigation which found that Richard Strauss had sexually abused at least 177 students from 1979 to 1997, Ohio State University agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle the lawsuits of 162 men who alleged sexual abuse during the former university team doctor's tenure. Other lawsuits remain outstanding.^[54]

Here’s who says Jim Jordan knew - or didn’t know - about sex abuse on OSU’s wrestling team

 https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/02/heres-who-says-jim-jordan-knew-or-didnt-know-about-sex-abuse-on-osus-wrestling-team.html

Although Jordan has repeatedly insisted he didn’t know team doctor Richard Strauss was sexually mistreating athletes in his charge, former OSU wrestler Adam DiSabato called Jordan a “liar” at a Tuesday House Civil Justice Committee hearing on a bill that would let Strauss’ victims sue Ohio State for damages. DiSabato also said Jordan contacted him repeatedly in July 2018, after media outlets quoted his brother, Michael DiSabato, saying Jordan knew about Strauss’ abuse.

“Jim Jordan called me crying, groveling… begging me to go against my brother…That’s the kind of cover-up that’s going on there,” said DiSabato, who is among a group of former OSU wrestlers who filed lawsuits that allege the school ignored Strauss’ abuse.

Jim Jordan’s role in Ohio State’s molestation scandal resurfaces after he called story of a 10-year-old who was raped a ‘lie’

 https://www.dailydot.com/debug/jim-jordan-sexual-assault-deny/

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is being slammed for calling the story of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who obtained an abortion after she was raped “another lie” in a since-deleted tweet.

It marks at least the second time the congressman from Ohio has been accused of ignoring a sexual assault in the Buckeye state.

Six former wrestlers say Rep. Jim Jordan knew about abusive OSU doctor

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/06/politics/jordan-osu-wrestlers-strauss-invs/index.html

Multiple former OSU athletes told CNN they found Jordan’s denials puzzling, because they say they distinctly remember him responding to complaints about Strauss.

One former wrestler, Dan Ritchie, said he remembers a teammate complained about Strauss and that Jordan said, “If he ever tried that with me I’d snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood.”

American Democrats sympathise with Palestinians more than Israel, shock poll finds

Mother's fault

 Rabbeinu Bachya  (Vayikra 24:11) Whenever someone displays signs of effrontery and disdain towards the Jewish religion and G’d it is time to examine his maternal genealogy as it is certain that the droplet of sperm which such an individual grew out of reflected a negative deed or thought at the time when marital relations which produced that baby took place. 

Are Democrats Becoming Anti-Israel?

 https://momentmag.com/are-democrats-becoming-anti-israel/

While Democrats might increasingly view Palestinians more favorably  than Israelis, there is still no real political force behind this shift. Going back to the Gallup survey, it is interesting to look at another question, one in which Americans were asked to grade foreign countries by their favorability. On this measure, Israel still maintains an extremely high showing, with 68 percent of participants in the poll expressing a favorable view of the Jewish state, while the Palestinian Authority gets a favorable rating from only 26 percent of Americans.

How can we reconcile this figure with the head-to-head sympathy question that  puts Palestinians in advantage among Democrats? Let’s dive into the numbers.

Israel’s favorability crosses political boundaries, with 82 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of Democrats viewing it favorably. Favorability of the Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, is low across the board: Only 36 percent of Democrats and a mere 9 percent of Republicans view it favorably.

Furthermore, the overall favorability of Palestinians, though slightly up compared to most years in the past two decades, is still at just 31 percent.

The Partisan Gap in Support for Israel Seems Permanent

 https://www.cfr.org/blog/partisan-gap-support-israel-seems-permanent

 “Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to view the Israeli people favorably and the Palestinian people unfavorably (44% vs. 12%).” Pew also found that “Republicans and those who lean to the GOP are much more likely to express a favorable view of the Israeli people (78%) than of the Palestinian people (37%). Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, on the other hand, similar shares express favorable views toward both groups (60% and 64%, respectively).”

Dealing with sinful Jews

 Sefer Chasidim (76) Do not punish an Israelite, nor curse him but pray for him that G-d make his heart whole and return him to right conduct. Do not invoke judgement on him saying, “The Lord should avenge me from his hand and visit evil upon him according to his wickedness.” For he who invokes divine judgement upon his neighbor, the attribute of justice comes before G-d, and says, “Lord of all the Universe, shall we then acquiesce to his request? he is deserving to be punished for such and such…

Helpless feelings

 Friday night in shul I was approached by a young man whose water filled eyes indicated heavy medication. He said "I am manic depressive and I can't do anything. please help me. I asked how? He responded Give me a beracha because treatment isn't working