Friday, June 9, 2023

The conservative Supreme Court might have paved the way for Dems to take the House

 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/08/conservative-supreme-court-dems-house-vra-00101166

In a best-case scenario that could mean three more seats for Democrats in the Deep South, most imminently in Alabama.

Puerto Rico breaks record with 125-degree heat index, causing power outages and serious health risks

 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-puerto-rico-record-breaking-heat-wave-heath-risks-20230607-llsrj7x5yzfwffsullxfvmokle-story.html

“There’s emerging science indicating that there’s a connection to climate change here — the heat wave in Puerto Rico right now has been made at least five times more likely to happen due to man-made global warming,” said John Morales, a meteorologist at ClimaData and a hurricane specialist for NBC Miami.

Colorado’s largest eruv could sprout in Douglas County with fishing line strung between light poles

 https://www.denverpost.com/2023/06/08/eruv-douglas-county-jewish-chabad/

But Douglas County’s eruv wouldn’t be the nation’s largest. That honor likely goes to the Los Angeles Community Eruv, or L.A. Eruv, which covers 100 to 110 square miles of the nation’s second-largest city and is bounded by giant highways like the Ventura, Santa Monica and San Diego freeways, according to executive director Howard Witkin.

People Sure Think Marjorie Taylor Greene Just Admitted To A Crime On Live TV

 https://news.yahoo.com/people-sure-think-marjorie-taylor-053253337.html

Greene said the document was “unclassified,” but a SCIF is typically used only for very sensitive information. Lawmakers generally must check all electronic devices before entering, and cannot take notes while inside.

And usually, information revealed in the SCIF can’t be repeated outside of it.

But Greene ―a conspiracy theorist and close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who has called for a “national divorce” and spoke last year at a white nationalist event ― said she copied as much as she could once she left the SCIF.

As Canada burns, smoke makes US air unhealthy and skies eerie. Is climate change to blame?

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/07/see-wildfire-smoke-map-of-us-canada/70293572007/

While forest fires are a natural part of the ecosystem of Canada's boreal forests, the size, ferocity and number of fires this year is decidedly abnormal. Most of the country is expected to be under high to extreme risk for much of the wildfire season, which stretches from May to September.

"Climate change is real and having a huge impact on Canadians right now with forest fires burning across the country," tweeted Catherine McKenna, Canada's former climate minister.

Supreme Court rules Alabama’s new congressional map violates Voting Rights Act

 https://nypost.com/2023/06/08/supreme-court-sides-with-black-voters-in-alabama-redistricting-case/

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Alabama’s new congressional map likely violated the Voting Rights Act, handing a win to black voters in a a closely watched case that will force the state to create a second House district with a large minority population.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh split from their conservative peers, joining the court’s three liberals in affirming 5-4 a lower court’s ruling that Alabama’s current district lines unlawfully diluted the state’s black vote.

Right-Wing Media Is Saying the Wildfire Smoke Is Good, Actually

 https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fox-news-dismisses-wildfire-smoke-harmless-climate-change-1234766334/

Milloy isn’t the only talking head to dismiss the fires as nothing to worry about. Greg Kelly on Newsmax blamed them on “our woke friends to the north,” before describing the smoke as “manageable,” “not an unpleasant odor,” and “a beautiful, interesting aura.”

Kelly at least acknowledged that the smoke could be harmful for people with respiratory issues, but he of course denied that it has anything to do with climate change. “The White House is trying to exploit this, saying it’s all because of global warming,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s a forest fire.”

Trump allies link ex-president's indictment to FBI's Biden document: 'Radical Far Left will stop at nothing'

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-allies-suggest-link-between-ex-presidents-indictment-and-fbis-biden-document-coincidental

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said, "Imagine being naive enough to believe that the Biden Bribe evidence and Trump indictment happening the same day was a coincidence."

"The phony Boxes Hoax indictment is an attempt to distract the American public from the millions of dollars in bribes that the Biden Crime Family received from foreign nationals. This scheme won't succeed. President Donald Trump will be back in the White House and Joe Biden will be Hunter’s cellmate," Gaetz also said.

Fox News Guest Insists 'No Health Risk' from New York's Smoke-Filled Air

 https://www.newsweek.com/no-health-risks-smoke-new-york-city-fox-news-expert-1805413#:~:text=Steve%20Milloy%2C%20a%20guest%20commentator,and%20"unpleasant"%20to%20breathe.

Steve Milloy, a guest commentator on Fox News, said that the smoke-filled air in New York City has no health risk despite being "ugly" and "unpleasant" to breathe.

The twice-impeached Trump now faces his second criminal indictment as he looks to recapture White House

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/09/politics/analysis-donald-trump-indictment/index.html

Trump, who has been preparing the ground for a possible federal indictment for months, and who has been hugely successful in convincing his supporters that any scrutiny of his life, political decisions or business affairs adds up to politicization, wasted no time making that case.

Thursday evening’s news sparked a firm push back from some Republicans eager to prove their loyalty to Trump.

“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a tweet. “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice.”

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of the House GOP leadership, parroted Trump’s political argument, tweeting: “The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to interfere with the 2024 election in order to prop up the catastrophic presidency and desperate campaign of Joe Biden.”

And GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri tweeted: “If people in power can jail their political opponents at will, we don’t have a republic.” His comments ignore the fact that the ex-president is entitled to defend himself in a court of law.

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Worldly occupation is an illusion

 Derashas HaRan 06:19) And it is in this area that most people go astray, their error extending in all directions. For the plain person, when he sees good, saintly men occupying themselves with the affairs of the world — as we see our forefathers to have placed great emphasis upon planting and upon the keeping of livestock (and our sages have stated [Chullin 91a]: "'And Jacob remained alone' — for some small vessels") — when the plain man sees this, he says in his heart: "The saints, in spite of all of their saintliness, preoccupy themselves with worldly affairs. Why should I not do so too?" Woe to those men who see but who do not know what they are seeing! For they see only the outward act but not the inner intent. For the righteous do all things towards a good, appropriate end, and the rest of mankind, towards no end whatsoever! 

Derashas HaRan 06:20) How reminiscent this is of Hippocrates' question in his treatise, Hanhagath Hamiddoth, as to why most people cannot discriminate between the good doctor and the bad one. His answer is that this is due to the latter's employing the same materials as the former. For just as the good doctor employs potions, drugs, salves, and powders, so does the foolish one make use of the very same things. It is just that the wise doctor does all things with the right intent and at the right time, whereas the foolish one acts without sufficient intent and at the wrong time. In the same way, both the saint and the plain person occupy themselves both with mitzvoth and with mundane activities, but whereas all of the activities of the saintly are perfect Divine service because of their perfect intent, the service of the latter, even when they serve the L-rd directly, is not perfect; for intent is what is uppermost in the performance of mitzvoth. 

Healing body or soul - priority

 Derashas HaRan 06:10) Therefore, there is no doubt that in these times one must earnestly seek healing for the soul and give it precedence to the healing of the body. And there is no question that every thinking man should place the healing of his soul before that of his body. For even as concerns bodily ailments the question is raised in the practice of medicine: If there are two ailments affecting two organs, which organ should be healed first? And the answer is given that the following take priority: first, that organ which is in greater danger; second, that organ which is the cause of the other's illness; third, that organ whose healing is a prerequisite for the healing of the other. And all of these three apply to the healing of body and soul. For there is no doubt that the danger to the soul is greater than that to the body, the body being ephemeral and the soul eternal. And there is likewise no doubt in my mind that the illnesses of the soul are the cause of the bodily ailments and that the latter cannot be healed without the soul being healed first. 

Study of Medicine - Rambam

 Rambam (Shemoneh Perakim 5:03) The study of medicine has a very great influence upon the acquisition of the virtues and of the knowledge of God, as well as upon the attainment of true, spiritual happiness. Therefore, its study and acquisition are preeminently important religious activities, and must not be ranked in the same class with the art of weaving, or the science of architecture, for by it one learns to weigh one's deeds, and thereby human activities are rendered true virtues. The man who insists upon indulging in savory, sweetsmelling and palatable food although it be injurious, and possibly may lead to serious illness or sudden death ought, in my opinion, to be classed with the beasts. His conduct is not that of a man in so far as he is a being endowed with understanding, but it is rather the action of a man in so far as he is a member of the animal kingdom,

Assisted Suicide