Sentence to include time served, meaning Eliezer
Berland may walk free in less than a year after he allegedly sold fake
cures and ‘wonder drugs’ to desperate members of community.
Monday, June 7, 2021
Sex offender rabbi who defrauded followers gets 18 months in plea deal
Sunday, June 6, 2021
‘Nobody Wants White Kids to Feel Bad About Their Race’
She argues that, at the earliest possible age, white kids should be taught to identify whiteness as the root of racial injustice so that they can reject the pervasive racism that they would otherwise embody. I think her account of what causes police killings is too monocausal and that her zeal for uprooting racism sometimes strays into overgeneralization based in racial stereotyping. Regardless, her message that kids can choose to reject racism is laudable, and many school districts find it valuable. What follows is an edited and condensed version of our discussion.
Friday, June 4, 2021
Donald Trump is getting worse
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/03/politics/donald-trump-2020-election-fraud/index.html
That follows on reporting from The New York Times
and The Washington Post that Trump is convinced that he will, at some
point this summer, be reinstated as president once a variety of kooky
and non-credible audits come to, uh, fruition.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Jerusalem Pride march sets out for first time in 2 years
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/jerusalem-pride-march-sets-out-for-first-time-in-2-years-670022
Heavy police barriers were set up in Bloomfield Park near Liberty Bell Park in preparation for a counter-protest by the far-right Lehava organization.
Officers will work to prevent clashes and protect participants, while
preserving freedom of expression and the right to protest.
An
ad reportedly by Lehava on behalf of the counter-protest referred to
the march as a “disgrace of Jerusalem,” “the dissolving of the natural
family” and a “trampling of traditional Judaism.”
Gafni: Abbas is the most religious person in this government
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307389
MK Moshe Gafni commented on the formation of the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government during a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee on Wednesday.
Gafni said, "I was really worried. I heard that they were going to form a coalition and do things against the Torah there. For example, [Meretz chairman] Nitzan Horowitz will demand rights for LGBT people, as he calls it. The State of Israel going against the Torah? Inconceivable."
Gafni went on to say what ultimately reassured him. "Then [Ra’am
chairman] Mansour Abbas came and lifted my spirits. He does not give
LGBT rights. I did not trust Bennett. I thought he would concede. But
there is Abbas. Abbas is the most religious person in this government.
Meretz says coalition deal includes push for LGBT rights; Ra’am vows to oppose
Later, Army Radio spoke to Ra’am leader MK Mansour Abbas, who said he was not aware of any coalition commitment to advance LGBT rights.
“I don’t know about that, I didn’t see it in the basic guidelines [for the coalition] nor in the agreements,” Abbas said.
Asked if he would oppose the measures that Horowitz had raised, Abbas responded: “Without a doubt. We are a party with a religious background, all of our positions on the matter are drawn from the faith itself.”
LGBT+ conversion therapy: banned on Facebook, but thriving in Arabic
https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/HkDvQg89d
In recent years, a number of countries, including Brazil, Ecuador and Germany, have imposed total or partial bans on conversion therapy, which can include talk therapy, hypnosis, electric shocks and fasting.
In July 2020, a United Nations special rapporteur concluded that conversion therapy practices - long shunned by the mainstream medical community – can amount to torture and ill-treatment when conducted forcibly.
Despite increased global scrutiny, conversion therapy remains legal in most countries including in the Arab world, where LGBT+ people often face persecution or discrimination.
Why is Miriam accused of sinning when she clearly was only trying to help her sister-in-law?
Bamidbar (12:1) וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר מִרְיָ֤ם וְאַהֲרֹן֙ בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה עַל־אֹד֛וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָקָ֑ח כִּֽי־אִשָּׁ֥ה כֻשִׁ֖ית לָקָֽח׃
Ramban (Bamidbar 12:3) NOW THE MAN MOSES WAS VERY MEEK. This [is stated] to tell us that G-d Himself was zealous for Moses’ sake on account of his [great] humility, since he would never pay attention to injustice [meted out to him] even if he were to consider it such [and therefore G-d vindicated his innocence]. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained [the meaning of this phrase] by saying that Moses never sought superiority over any person, nor did he ever pride himself at all about his high position, and certainly not in relation to his brother, thus they [Miriam and Aaron] sinned by speaking against him for no reason.The slander was in connection with Moses’ separating himself from his wife, which Miriam and Aaron attributed to his pride, as if to show that he was a holy man. “We also receive Divine revelations,” they said, “and yet continue our conjugal life.” But in the Sifre [it is said]:Sifre Beha’alothcha 100. “Rabbi Nathan says: They spoke against Moses even in his presence, as it is said, And the Eternal heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek,Verses 2-3. and he restrained himself about the matter.” [According to the Sifre, therefore, Scripture] mentions Moses’ meekness in that he endured [their insult] and did not answer them back, and that G-d was [therefore] zealous for his sake.
Chofetz Chaim (Devarim 24:9): "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam on the way when you went out of Egypt." The Torah exhorted us hereby that we mention verbally, always, the great punishment [leprosy] that the Blessed Lrd brought upon the tzadeketh, Miriam the prophetess — who spoke only about her brother, whom she loved as her soul...she did not speak in denigration of him, but only compared him to other prophets. And she did not speak so to his face to shame him, and not in public, but only to her brother Aaron, privately. And he [Moses] was not offended by all this, but in spite of which all her good deeds did not avail her and she was punished with leprosy for this. How much more so will other people, the fools, who are prolix in speaking "great and awesome things" against their friends, be severely punished for this.
Rashi (Bamidbar 12:8) Mouth to mouth I have spoken with him— I have Myself told him to separate from his wife. And where did I tell him this? On Sinai, when I said to him, (Devarim 27-28) “Go, say to to the people, ‘Get you into your tents (rejoin your wives). But as for you, remain you here by Me, and I will speak to you’”
Trump 'is telling people he will be reinstated as president by AUGUST' after Mike Flynn called for a 'Myanmar-style coup' to replace Biden
- Former President Donald Trump is telling people he wil be reinstated as president by August, according to The New York Times' Maggie Haberman
- Haberman commented Tuesday on a CNN story that showed Trump supporters expressing support for a Myanmar-style coup to bring Trump back
- The journalist noted that Trump has been pushing the idea of reinstatement as the Manhattan district attorney has convened a grand jury that could indict him
Israeli opposition parties strike coalition deal, paving the way for Netanyahu's exit
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/02/middleeast/israel-coalition-deal-intl/index.html
The new government consists of a number of parties from across the political spectrum, from the left-wing Meretz to Bennett's right-wing Yamina party.
In
a historic moment, the small Islamist party United Arab List also
decided to join the coalition, the first time an Arab-Israeli party has
joined a coalition. The party is unlikely to have a minister in the
government, but will have negotiated with the coalition on issues
important to them.
Not
much unites the parties other than their desire to oust Netanyahu, and
the parties differ in their stances on some of the country's most
pressing issues, especially relations with the Palestinians.
Lapid announces: I have succeeded in forming a government
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307378
Lapid spoke to the president on the phone and informed him that the government will comprise Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, Labor, Yisrael Beytenu, New Hope, Meretz and Ra’am.
Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett will be Prime Minister and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid will be Alternate Prime Minister..
Lapid spoke to the president on the phone and informed him that the government will comprise Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, Labor, Yisrael Beytenu, New Hope, Meretz and Ra’am.
Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett will be Prime Minister and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid will be Alternate Prime Minister.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Mansour Abbas signs with Yair Lapid
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307377
Ra'am Chairman Mansour Abbas has signed a document allowing Chairman of Yesh Atid Yair Lapid to notify the president he has succeeded in forming a government after Abbas reached an agreement on his demands with Lapid.
Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas demanded that the government's guidelines not include laws in favor of the LGBT community.
This is a significant withdrawal on the part of some of the left-wing bloc parties from their positions in principle on the issue, for the sake of the formation of a government not led by Netanyahu.
Abbas also demanded the repeal of the Kaminitz law and the regulation of illegal construction in the Arab sector, and it has not yet been announced which of these he received in talks.
Why Are Conservatives More Susceptible to Believing Lies?
But, the gullibility of many on the right seems to have deeper roots even than this. That may be because at the most basic level, conservatives and liberals seem to hold different beliefs about what constitutes “truth.” Finding facts and pursuing evidence and trusting science is part of liberal ideology itself. For many conservatives, faith and intuition and trust in revealed truth appear as equally valid sources of truth.
The Big Lie is the GOP’s one and only truth
https://www.vox.com/22420764/liz-cheney-trump-republicans-democracy-2024
Remaining in the GOP’s good graces requires that elected
officials either actively embrace lies about 2020 or, at very least,
refuse to condemn them. As a result, 2020 conspiracy theories are
exerting a dominant influence on the party, shaping both legislation and
the base’s worldview.
Yamina refuses coalition demands made by United Arab List
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307353
MK Naftali Bennett, who chairs the Yamina party, has declared his opposition to the fulfillment of a central demand by United Arab List (Ra'am) chair MK Mansour Abbas.
As a condition for his party's support of the proposed minority government, Abbas has demanded the cancellation of the Kaminetz Law, which allows administrative enforcement of laws against illegal construction and increases the severity of punishment for these crimes.
Sources involved in the coalition talks have claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those close to him are pressuring Abbas to stick to his guns on the Kaminetz Law and demand it be canceled, knowing that Bennett will not agree to such a demand. Netanyahu has promised Abbas that the illegal Bedouin settlements in southern Israel will be normalized.
For the Conservative movement, an audit of ethics policies might be overdue
As the R.A. begins its revision process, a parallel soul-searching is happening in the Reform movement. Last month, a probe by Manhattan’s Central Synagogue found that its senior rabbi in the 1970s and 1980s, Sheldon Zimmerman, had engaged in “sexually predatory behavior” with at least three female congregants and employees, including a teenager. The Central Conference of American Rabbis — which suspended Zimmerman in 2000, forcing him to step down as president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion — along with several other Reform movement institutions are investigating their own processes for handling misconduct.
New government still not ready as Lapid's deadline looms
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/new-government-still-not-ready-669875
"It's all on Ayelet Shaked now," a source at coalition talks told The Jerusalem Post. "She's the only real issue left."
Lapid Aims to Announce New Government With Bennett at the Helm
As negotiations to secure a coalition continue, lawmakers and party members say they expect Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett to announce a government before a Wednesday deadline expires and even as early Wednesday at 11 A.M., sending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the opposition benches after 12 years in power.
This would mean the confidence vote for the new government will be slated for next Wednesday at the latest.
In case talks are delayed and no final agreements are reached by that time, the Knesset speaker could formally inform the parliament of the new government on Monday, effectively postponing the vote by another week.
Judicial appointments the only remaining snag as Lapid set to declare government
Negotiations by the various parties set to make up the so-called change coalition advanced dramatically overnight Tuesday, leaving a disagreement over a judicial appointment panel as the sole remaining issue.
Yamina No. 2 Ayelet Shaked is demanding she be given Labor chief Merav Michaeli’s spot on the Judicial Selection Committee and has threatened to block the formation of the new government if she does not receive the posting.
Though Labor officials have said they would not back down on the committee position, having already completed their negotiations and agreed to join the government, a compromise was nonetheless expected, with political sources telling Hebrew media outlets that the formation of the government would not be prevented by the dispute.
As Israelis Await Netanyahu’s Fate, Palestinians Seize a Moment of Unity
To Israelis, Mr. Netanyahu’s possible departure constitutes an epochal moment — the toppling of a man who has left a deeper imprint on Israeli society than most other politicians in Israeli history.
The Palestinian polity has long been physically and politically fragmented between the American-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank; its archrival, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza; a Palestinian minority inside Israel whose votes have increasingly counted for making or breaking an Israeli government; and a sprawling diaspora.
Yet alongside last month’s deadly 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the worst bout of intercommunal Arab-Jewish violence to have convulsed Israel in decades, these disparate parts suddenly came together in a seemingly leaderless eruption of shared identity and purpose.
In a rare display of unity, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians observed a general strike on May 12 across Gaza, the West Bank, the refugee camps of Lebanon and inside Israel itself.
Yamina issues ultimatum as unity government talks stall
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307328
With Lapid's mandate set to expire Wednesday night, change bloc remains deadlocked over judicial appointments committee.
A Clash of ‘Alternative’ and ‘Facts’
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-clash-of-alternative-and-facts-1485454691
When Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last Sunday, she uttered two words that critics found emblematic of a new “post-truth” era in American politics: “alternative facts.”
Ms. Conway was commenting on a series of false statements that the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, had made inflating the size of the crowd at Mr. Trump’s inauguration. “You’re saying it’s a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that,” she told NBC’s Chuck Todd. He responded, “Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods.”
Ms. Conway found a more receptive audience for her phrasing
in a Monday interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, who said that
“alternative facts” simply provide “a different perspective.” But the
damage had been done. The phrase swiftly became a full-fledged meme on
social media, with the #alternativefacts hashtag humorously deployed to
satirize Orwellian doublespeak. (An example from Twitter : “Officer, I am not drunk, I am alternative sober, #alternativefacts.”)
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Donald Trump Insists It’s Entirely Possible Democrats Are Running a Satanic Pedophile Cult
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/donald-trump-qanon-town-hall
“Let me ask you about QAnon,” Guthrie said, referring conspiracy theory that a cabal of Democratic politicians, liberal Hollywood actors, and high-ranking government officials, who worship Satan, are running a child-sex-trafficking ring and simultaneously plotting against Trump, who is planning a day of reckoning in which thousands of members of the cult will be arrested. “It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior of that. Now, can you just, once and for all, state that that is completely not true and disavow QAnon in its entirety?” To reiterate, the thing Guthrie was asking the president of the United States to reject was the completely insane, entirely baseless claim that his political enemies and other liberals are running a satanic child-sex-trafficking cult. Which is not hard to denounce, unless you (1) believe it and/or (2) are counting on these deeply disturbed individuals to vote for you. And yet:
Trump: Can I be honest? [Sasse] may be right. I just don’t know about QAnon.
Guthrie: You do know.
Trump: I don’t know. No, I don’t know. I don’t know. You tell me all about it.Guthrie: Let me ask you another thing.
Trump: Let’s waste the whole show. You start off with white supremacy. I denounce it. You start off with something else. Let’s go. Keep asking me these questions. But let me just tell you, what I do hear about it is they are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that. I mean, I do agree with that, and I agree with it very strongly.
Guthrie: But there’s not a Satanic pedophile cult being run by—
Trump: I have no idea. I know nothing about them.
Guthrie: You don’t know that? Okay.
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