Republican Party Kamikazes

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/republican-party-mark-robinson-north-carolina-mike-johnson-house-budget-freedom-caucus-2dc29169?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

The larger GOP problem is that many on the right care more about their political brands than accomplishing something. Their seats are safe, and if Republicans lose the House because colleagues lose swing seats, so what? The kamikazes get more air time on cable in opposition. They also don’t have to vote for messy compromises that make incremental progress.

Top US Jewish groups, Biden and Harris slam Trump for saying Jews to blame if he loses

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-us-jewish-groups-biden-and-harris-slam-trump-for-saying-jews-to-blame-if-he-loses/

“Setting up anyone to say ‘we lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous. Thousands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to antisemitic hate and violence,” the group said, while decrying his description Democrats as “the enemy.”

Israel planned pager explosions for 15 years

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396457

Israel had a hand in the manufacturing of pagers that exploded on Hezbollah terrorists this week, with this type of "supply chain interdiction" operation having been planned for at least 15 years, a US intelligence source told ABC News on Thursday.

N.C. Republican vows to continue campaign for governor amid fallout of CNN story

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/19/mark-robinson-north-carolina-governor/

Separately, after the CNN report, Politico published a story that said the same email address that Robinson used for the porn website was found registered on Ashley Madison, a website used to arrange extramarital affairs. A Robinson campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Politico said.

North Carolina GOP defends Robinson following explosive CNN report

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4889881-north-carolina-gop-mark-robinson-cnn-report/

Despite some members saying the allegations are “not good” and “very concerning,” the NC GOP shifted the blame of the report toward Democrats.

“The Left can try to smear Mark Robinson all they want, but when voters go to the polls on Election Day, they are going to be asking one simple question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? The answer is overwhelmingly no and that’s why Republicans will win on November 5th,” the statement said.

‘I’m a black NAZI!’: NC GOP nominee for governor made dozens of disturbing comments on porn forum

 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/19/politics/kfile-mark-robinson-black-nazi-pro-slavery-porn-forum/index.html

The comments, which Robinson denies making, predate his entry into politics and current stint as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. They were made under a username that CNN was able to identify as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two.

Trump Hails Himself Israel’s Savior in Fantastical Speech

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hails-himself-israels-savior-in-fantastical-speech?ref=home?ref=home

For the former president, the day was devoted to emphasizing his support for Israel. He was scheduled to address the 2024 Israeli-American Council National Summit across town later in the evening.

“In Israel, they love me,” Trump said Thursday. “Here, not so much.

North Carolina Republican Vows to Stay in Governor’s Race After Accusations of Racist, Antigay Posts

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/mark-robinson-north-carolina-lt-governor-accusations-11610956?mod=hp_lead_pos10

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the state’s Republican candidate for governor, said he would stay in the race and denied new accusations that he posted racist, antigay and inflammatory comments on a pornography-website message board more than a decade ago. 

Donald Trump Called ‘Black Nazi Perv’ Mark Robinson Better Than MLK

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-called-black-nazi-perv-mark-robinson-better-than-mlk

Donald Trump called allegedly self-professed “Black Nazi” Mark Robinson “better than MLK” when he endorsed him to be the next North Carolina governor. Trump appeared at Robinson’s rally in March and adoringly talked up the lieutenant governor as he stood beside him on stage.

A report published Thursday revealed that Robinson allegedly posted about his pro-slavery beliefs and love of transgender porno in a forum called “Nude Africa.” In posts dated in the 2000s, Robinson reportedly wrote that “slavery is not bad” and declared himself to be a “perv.”

Vance says Ohio rumors come from locals. His ‘proof’ is from the internet. The Ohio senator likes to suggest that he has private knowledge of t

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/18/vance-says-ohio-rumors-come-locals-his-proof-is-internet/

The implication is that he is privy to nonpublic information that informs his views. You can see how this is useful: He can claim that he knows more than his interlocutor. But there’s no reason to think he does, in large part because the evidence he presents so often takes the form of unsubstantiated — and later debunked — rumors circulating on the internet.

9 Dead, At Least 300 Injured After Second Wave of Device Explosions in Lebanon

 https://www.newsweek.com/more-wireless-devices-hezbollah-explode-beirut-lebanon-1955747

Reports say that the second day of the attack included devices like handheld, walkie-talkie portable radios and solar equipment, rather than pagers—the devices involved in the previous wave of explosions.

Netziv:Why Rikva couldn't communicate with Yitzchok

Netziv(Bereishis 24:64): And Rivkah lifted her eyes – and she saw Yitzchok while he was still praying and he was at that moment like an angel of G‑d – extremely awesome. and she fell off her camel – Because of her great fear and awe. However she did not know who she was afraid of. If she had been sitting with Eliezer the servant on the same camel and she had been sitting behind him then she would have relaxed when she would have seen the man go and greet the servant and seen them talking together like all men. Then eventually when she would have been informed who it was – her fear would already have dissipated. But since she was sitting together with Eliezer she didn’t wait – but asked immediately who it was out of great fear. Who is that man - that makes me agitated and frightened? We see in Bereishis Rabbah that the term “that” implies someone fearsome and frightening. Therefore when she heard that it was her husband she took out her veil and covered her face out of her great fear and embarrassment because she realized she wasn’t fit to be his wife. From that moment on that fear was permanently planted in her heart and she was not able to have the relationship with Yitzchok that Sarah had with Avraham and Rachel had with Yaakov. In particular when the others objected to something their husbands had done they were not embarrassed to speak firmly with them.  Rivkah was different. All of this served as a necessary preliminary to the events that would follow in Parshas Toldos when Yitzchok and Rivkah had strongly different views. Nonetheless Rivkah could not find the courage to stand up to Yitzchok and defend her views – even though it was true that Esav was a fraud. The same thing happened at the time of giving the berachos. In fact all of this was the means by which G‑d caused the berachos to be given to Yaakov in this manner as we will explain later. All was done with Divine Providence from the beginning - that Rivkah should arrive when Yitzchok was praying and thus she should see him as an awesome and frightening spectacle – it all happened according to G‑d’s Will.

Who is Wealthy?

 Shabbos (25b) Who is wealthy? Anyone who gets pleasure from his wealth, that is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Tarfon says: A wealthy person is anyone who has one hundred vineyards, and one hundred fields, and one hundred slaves working in them. Rabbi Akiva says: Anyone who has a wife whose actions are pleasant. Rabbi Yosei says: Anyone who has a bathroom close to his table…

Working Reduces Sinning

 Netziv (Haamek Davar Devarim 32:13) G-d established the land of Israel in a special way so that they would not come to sin. And this was primarily against the corruption that was in the second Temple that was the result of baseless hatred. And it is explained in the Tosefta that this was the because of their excessive love of money which was the consequence  of being too involved in commerce. And reality the love of doing business that we find in other countries is typically  either because of the scarcity of livelihood or on the contrary because of idleness when a person has nothing to do. Therefore G-d was good to the Jews and gave them a productive land which required a lot of work. This why the Torah says “He acquired for you a mighty harvest of grain and grapes and you will live securely in your land.”