Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Honoring an abusive parent
Recently met someone who had a dilemma. We all know honoring parents is a critical mitzva. But is it required to be observed even if it causes pain and anguish?
In this case the parent was not only abusive physically and emotionally but was not only non observant but strongly and ideologically opposed to Judaism, The issue was whether to say kadish for his Yahrzeit. Halachachically there is clearly no requirement to say kadish but he wanted to say kadish even though it caused him great anguish. Is he doing a mitzva by saying kadish?
One posek responded
"He can say kaddish and is also doing a mitzvah"
Netflix Doc Exposes the Enraging Pattern of Turning Rape Victims Into Suspects
As made clear by the infamous 2006 Duke lacrosse case, there are legitimate instances of false rape accusations. Nonetheless, Victim/Suspect persuasively maintains that law enforcement also conducts itself in a highly questionable manner when faced with such contentions. For example, in the case of Mannion, law enforcement withheld video evidence that directly corroborated her narrative. Worse, in initial interrogation-room conversations with Mannion, they stated that they had security camera footage of her making out with her attacker and willingly getting into a car with him—an assertion that, once de Leon received said footage (via a lawsuit!), proved to be a complete and utter lie.
Ted Cruz on Ukraine 'blatantly interfered' in 2016 election
During a television interview, Cruz said that "Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election."
Cruz’s claim is based on the existence of two social media posts and one op-ed from 2016 written by different Ukrainian officials criticizing Trump. He also highlighted reports about efforts by some Ukranians to discredit Paul Manafort, then Trump’s campaign chairman.
However, multiple intelligence officials said there is no evidence Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
We rate this claim False.
A scholar sees a common root for antisemitism and racism: ‘Christian supremacy’
Other writers and scholars would note how antisemitism shaped white nationalism. But Teter, professor of history and the Shvidler Chair of Judaic Studies at Fordham University, saw something else: how centuries of Christian thought and practice fed the twin evils of antisemitism and racism.
Russia says Zelensky heads ‘Nazi regime’ with ‘blood ties to Israel’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-says-zelensky-heads-nazi-regime-with-blood-ties-to-israel/
“The president of the Nazi regime in Kyiv has blood ties to Israel. He came to an Arab political event and not only lied outrageously about the roots of the conflict but also dared to condemn the neutral Arab position on this issue,” the embassy tweeted Saturday, referencing Zelensky’s attendance at the Arab League summit in Jeddah.
CNN's Amanpour publicly apologizes for saying Dee family was killed in a 'shootout'
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743921
In her on-air apology, Amanpour said: “On April 10, I referred to the murders of an Israeli family: Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee, the wife and daughters of Rabbi Leo Dee. I misspoke and said they were killed in a ‘shootout’ instead of a shooting. I have written to Rabbi Leo Dee to apologize and make sure that he knows that we apologize for any further pain that may have caused him.”
Monday, May 22, 2023
Russia Goes After Donald Trump's Enemies
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-donald-trump-enemies-sanctions-response-ukraine-1801818
Most notably, they include Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who has launched a civil business fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company.
In February 2022, the former president hit out at James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—who are both Black—saying two New York investigations into his businesses were "racist" attacks against him. "After five years of constant bombardment, this political and racist attack must stop. Look to the murderers, drug dealers and rapists instead," Trump said in a statement.
Also on the list is Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel who has launched an investigation into Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election result as well as his handling of classified documents post-presidency.
The Girl Who Told the Truth
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/girl-told-truth/
The bottom line was, if you believed Gabby, Shelby, Hunter, and Carly, you thought justice had been done. If you didn’t believe them, you tended to agree with longtime local defense lawyer Bobby Mims. “In my thirty years of practice,” he told me nine years ago, “I’ve never seen anything like that—an absolute, honest-to-God frame-up.” (At the time, Smith County assistant DA Murphy denied this claim. “There was no type of frame-up in these cases,” he wrote me.)
So Glenn Beck Calls George Soros a Nazi Collaborator? Marty Peretz Said It First
https://forward.com/opinion/133132/so-glenn-beck-calls-george-soros-a-nazi-collaborat/
Here’s some of the material that’s missing from the Fox-Beck transcript of the first show. Notice the scary music with the kettle drums and the screaming mobs as he takes us back history to the birth of George Soros. Note, too, that he provides a list of countries where Soros “collapsed” the regimes, without once mentioning that they were dictatorships in the former Soviet Union and communist Eastern Europe. He makes the $600 billion that Soros spent over the last 30 years promoting democracy and human rights in the former communist world sound like a conspiracy to subvert democracy and establish himself as some sort of emperor. It would be almost funny if it weren’t so outrageous.
The Troubling Truth About The Obsession With George Soros
Without question, there is a place for disagreement with any one individual’s politics, and Soros should not be immune to criticism. But the animosity against Soros goes far beyond criticism of any other billionaire funder of political efforts, and perhaps beyond all of them put together. The truth is there is only one sordid reason for why attacks on George Soros are constantly trending, and it is not because of his money or his politics.
It is because he is Jewish.
'Dripping with poison of antisemitism': the demonization of George Soros
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/24/george-soros-antisemitism-bomb-attacks
“If you can take people’s anger at the people in power, take people’s sense of being beaten down and ripped off, take people’s sense that the economy is screwing them over, that their sense of entitlement is at risk, and blame it on the Jews or certain wealthy Jews, then that’s very helpful for deflecting people’s anger away from the actual systems of power.”
The Vilification of George Soros In Israel
https://momentmag.com/the-vilification-of-george-soros-in-israel/
the accusation that a Hungarian-born Jew who escaped the Holocaust was a Nazi was beyond reason. Whether or not they knew it, the people who applauded were echoing a vicious lie likely invented in the 1990s by known anti-Semite and conspiracy-spinner Lyndon LaRouche, Jr.
Did George Soros Help Nazis Confiscate Jewish Property?
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-george-soros-help-nazis-confiscate-jewish-property-1801194
George Soros did not help Nazis confiscate Jewish property. During the World War II, he was given a false identity to avoid Nazi persecution of Hungarian Jews. A man who was paid to pretend that he was Soros' godfather, and helped hide the then-14-year-old boy, was on one occasion ordered to take inventory of a Jewish aristocrat. Soros was brought along but was not involved in the confiscation.