Shadowing Trump’s attacks on mental fitness — his own father’s dementia

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/20/donald-trump-dementia-father-fred-alzheimers-biden/

Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the test, said in an interview that if an individual in their 70s had not taken the Montreal test since 2018, the results would not be valid to cite today.

Trump’s long fixation on mental fitness followed years of watching his father’s worsening dementia — a formative period that some associates said has been a defining and little-mentioned factor in his life, and which left him with an abiding concern that he might someday inherit the condition. While much remains unknown about Alzheimer’s, experts say there is an increased risk of inheriting a gene associated with the disease from a parent.

Biden knows ‘exactly what he is doing’ and will likely win election, says German chancellor

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/15/biden-scholz-g7-00163585

 In an interview with Axel Springer media outlets on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy on Saturday, Scholz made assurances that Biden “knows exactly what he is doing,” and can provide critical leadership as the group of global leaders faces a complex web of issues, including multiple conflagrations and hotly-contested elections that threaten to upend the international status quo. POLITICO is owned by Axel Springer.

Biden allies say president is ‘sharp,’ special counsel criticism is ‘B.S.’

 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mayorkas-defends-biden-sharp-intensely-probing-detail-oriented-rcna138192

“I’ve been knowing him for 30 years. I have met with him personally. I’ve met with him with two people, five people, 10 people. I have been on trips with him, crisscrossing the country, rebuilding America based on this incredible infrastructure bill that was passed. And I’m telling you, this guy is tough. He’s smart. He’s on his game,” Landrieu said.

Michael Douglas defends Biden mental acuity: ‘Sharp as a tack’

 https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/4611047-michael-douglas-biden-trump-2024-november/

Douglas said “everybody” in Biden’s orbit who he’s consulted with says the president is “fine.”

“His entire Cabinet, including his vice president, everybody that’s in his Cabinet would be more than happy to work with him again on a next term,” Douglas said, before knocking Trump, without mentioning the former president by name.

Haredi leader on army draft: ‘You don’t want us and you don’t need us’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredi-leader-on-army-draft-you-dont-want-us-and-you-dont-need-us

/Citing a tweet by former politician Haim Ramon, Goldknopf claimed that “four thousand Haredim asked to enlist since the beginning of the year — though that’s not good to hear — but you ruled out 3,300 of them. You don’t want us and you don’t need us. Why do you abuse us?” (Ramon in his tweet cited data from the Knesset, though he later acknowledged that some individuals had challenged the data as problematic.)

Are animals conscious? How new research is changing minds

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv223z15mpmo

"The field is replete with weasel words and unfortunately one of those is consciousness," says Prof Stevan Harnad of Quebec University.

"It is a word that is confidently used by a lot of people, but they all mean something different, and so it is not clear at all what it means."

He says that a better, less weasley, word is "sentience", which is more tightly defined as the capacity to feel. "To feel everything, a pinch, to see the colour red, to feel tired and hungry, those are all things you feel," says Prof Harnad.

Hamas threatens: We will continue the terrorism until we reach Jerusalem

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391642

Hamas releases a video clip in which it stresses its commitment to continue the Jihad until the destruction of the State of Israel.

White House, Obama team dispute characterization of fundraiser video

 https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4725036-white-house-obama-teams-dispute-characterization-of-fundraiser-video/

The White House and former President Obama’s team disputed the characterization that President Biden froze up on stage at a Los Angeles fundraiser and had to be led off the stage by the former president.

The New York Post wrote about the video of Biden under the headline “Biden appears to freeze up, has to be led off stage by Obama at mega-bucks LA fundraiser.”

The Hostages Next Door: Inside a Notable Gaza Family’s Dark Secret

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/the-hostages-next-door-inside-a-notable-gaza-familys-dark-secret-2896f6aa?mod=hp_lead_pos7

Many hostages have been held in tunnels, but a number have been held in apartments, potentially reflecting the challenge of moving around so many captives in an active war zone.

Balancing Bitachon and Hishstadlus is Not Easy

 Michtav M’Eliyahu (01 page 187) And those who think that everything they strive for almost all their days is truly for heaven's sake, they should examine themselves, to see if a spiritual thought comes to them in the middle of their troubles in their business, or rather it is the thought of their business which comes to them in the middle of prayer? ... From two sides the evil inclination attacks. If he increases his efforts entirely according to the demands of his business then he is a heretic since he is lacking in bitachon but if he absolutely minimizes the amount of effort for parnossa he is rebelling against the words of our Sages. Finding the proper balance of effort and bitachon is not easy or clear since it depends on his free-will. It is impossible to find the true balance without properly utilizing pure Fear of Heaven free of biases. The correct point was not even revealed to Moshe

Trump's former doctor says Biden is "juiced" on a drug

Fox Host Skeptical of Joe Biden Drug Use Claim: 'We're Not Doctors'

 https://www.newsweek.com/maria-bartiromo-skeptical-joe-biden-drug-use-claim-donald-trump-1902305

Bartiromo responded: "These are obviously very serious charges that he is jacked up, we don't know. We're not doctors. We have no idea."

Trump Mocks Biden for Gaffes While Making a Big One of His Own

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-mocks-biden-for-gaffes-while-making-a-big-one-of-his-own?ref=home

He then went on to repeat his now infamous story about how he “got every question right” for the crowd at a conservative conference in Detroit, bragging about how the former White House doctor administering the test had “never seen” such an impressive result before. But with that same doctor sitting in the audience, Trump proceeded to butcher his name—twice. “Doc Ronny! Doc Ronny Johnson! Does everyone know Ronny Johnson? Congressman from Texas,” he excitedly declared. He was referring, of course, to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), the former physician and Republican ally who has repeatedly talked up Trump’s “incredible genes.”

Shavuos became the time of the giving of Torah - When?

 There is no description in the Torah or Talmud that states Shavuous is celebrated as the time of the giving of the Torah. Nor could I find such a description in the Rambam

However Shulchan Aruch (OC 494)The fiftieth day of the count of the Omer is the holiday of Shavuot. The prayer service is like the holiday of Passover, rather we say "the Holiday of Shavuot, the time of the giving of our Torah". We say full Hallel. We take out two Torah scrolls and read in the first one of five [sections] from "The third month" until the end of the order. The Maftir is read in the second scroll, "On the day of the first fruits". As Haftorah we read the chariot of Ezekiel, and end with the verse "and the wind took me up."

The Magen Avraham asks that since everyone agrees that the Torah was given on the 51st day of the Omer - why do we celebrate Shavuous on the 5oth day?

Correction 

Pesachim (68b) Rabbi Elazar said: All agree with regard to Atzeret, the holiday of Shavuot, that we require that it be also “for you,” meaning that it is a mitzva to eat, drink, and rejoice on that day. What is the reason? It is the day on which the Torah was given, and one must celebrate the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people. 

However this contradicts two other gemoras as well as the Magen Avraham.