Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Joe Biden Logs Biggest Polling Lead Yet and Has Donald Trump On the Defense
https://time.com/5896916/joe-biden-polling-lead-over-donald-trump/
As we head into the final stretch, with more than three million votes and counting already cast, it’s worth noting that Biden has also widened his lead in crucial battleground states, putting Republicans on their heels in places that would be safely under red ink during normal years. The former VP is also enjoying a cash advantage that no one challenging an incumbent President would ordinarily expect.
Homeland Security says white supremacists ‘most persistent and lethal’ US threat
The Homeland Threat Assessment, released on Tuesday, details an array of violent domestic threats in the United States. It also notes that, among other qualities, white supremacists are characterized by their hate of Jews, or by “their perception that the government is controlled by Jewish persons.”
It is also published a month after a whistleblower alleged that high-ranking Homeland Security appointees told officials in the department to downplay the threat posed by white supremacists. Brian Murphy complained that in writing the Homeland Threat Assessment, he was asked “to specifically modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe, as well as include information on the prominence of violent ‘left-wing’ groups.”
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Trump's reckless return met with a dramatically changed White House
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/05/politics/trump-white-house-coronavirus-diagnosis/index.html
A new aura of mistrust was settling in as several aides raised questions about whether they had been recklessly put in harm's way over the past week. Accusations of mismanagement -- directed mainly at White House chief of staff Mark Meadows -- have flown amid one of the gravest presidential crises in a generation. An absence of robust contact tracing efforts caused ripples of concern as testing and mask-wearing norms were being second-guessed.
Trump Covid: President downplays virus on leaving hospital
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54427390
Donald Trump says he has overcome the coronavirus - and you can, too.
In his video message from the White House, a mask-less Trump tells the American public: "Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it."
And so the president's message in the final weeks of his re-election campaign takes shape. He contracted the coronavirus because he was an out-front leader and he "had to do that".
"Nobody that's a leader would not do what I did," he said.
It is a message almost messianic in its undertones - one that the rest of his party is amplifying. The president has suffered and overcome, and will lead the nation to a promised land beyond the virus.
Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/06/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-white-house-biden/index.html
A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Antibodies, Remdesivir, Vitamin D: Unpacking Trump’s COVID-19 treatment
US President Donald Trump’s physician, Sean P. Conley, released a memo Friday afternoon saying the president had received an investigational antibody cocktail and was taking a number of vitamins and minerals to help keep him healthy. The president was also administered the FDA-approved drug Remdesivir.
Friday, October 2, 2020
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 92, diagnosed with coronavirus
https://www.jpost.com/health-science/rabbi-chaim-kanievsky-92-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-644267
"We should pray for the healing of Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky son of Pasha Miriam."
One of the leading rabbis of the non-hassidic haredi world, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 92, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Major Torah leaders: Keep coronavirus directives on Sukkot
Two top haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbis have sent a letter to their constituents calling on them to keep the Health Ministry’s coronavirus regulations over the Sukkot holiday, which starts Friday at sundown.
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Suicide and repentance
Bereishis Rabba (65:22): Jakum of Zeroroth was the nephew of R. Jose b. Jo'ezer of Zeredah.5 Riding on a horse he went before the beam on which he [R. Jose] was to be hanged,6 and taunted him: ‘See the horse on which my master has let me ride, and the horse upon which your Master has made you ride.’ ‘If it is so with those who anger Him, how much more with those who do His will,’ he replied. ‘Has then any man done His will more than thou?’ he jeered. ' If it is thus with those who do His will, how much more with those who anger Him,’ he retorted. This pierced him like the poison of a snake, and he went and subjected himself to the four modes of execution inflicted by the Beth Din: stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. What did he do? He took a post and planted it in the earth, raised a wall of stones around it and tied a cord to it. He made a fire in front of it and fixed a sword in the middle [of the post]. He hanged himself on the post, the cord was burnt through and he was strangled. The sword caught him, while the wall [of stones] fell upon him and he was burnt. Jose b. Jo'ezer of Zeredah fell into a doze1 and saw his [Jakum's] bier flying in the air. By a little while he has preceded me into the Garden of Eden,’ said he..
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Trump's Proud Boys comment at debate sparks pushback, outrage; Tim Scott asks him to clarify
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/reaction-trump-proud-boys-comment-presidential-debate
President Trump's reaction to a question about far-right white supremacist groups during Tuesday's first 2020 presidential debate quickly drew reactions ranging from pushback to anger from politicians and pundits, as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a fellow Republican, said the president needed to correct his statement.
Proud Boys: who are the far-right group that backs Donald Trump?
During the debate, Trump was asked repeatedly by the moderator, Chris Wallace, to condemn violence by white supremacists and rightwing groups, such as armed militias.
When Trump asked specifically who he should be addressing, Biden prompted him by saying the Proud Boys.
Trump then addressed the Proud Boys, saying: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.”
Members of the group immediately celebrated the president’s comment in posts on social media and rightwing discussion-board platforms such as Telegram and Parler. One Proud Boys group added the phrase “Stand Back, Stand By” to their logo. Another post was a message to Trump: “Standing down and standing by sir.”
The First 2020 Presidential Debate Was Nasty, Brutish and Long
https://time.com/5894588/presidential-debate-analysis-chaos/
It did not take long for the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election to spiral totally out of control. President Donald Trump simply would not stop talking—badgering, heckling, taunting and sniping at both his opponent and the moderator. Finally, Joe Biden could only blurt, “Man, would you shut up?”
Trump, of course, did nothing of the sort.
It was, in a way, a perfect metaphor for the Trump presidency: two professionals sighed and remonstrated and strained to enforce the rules, while Trump gleefully ignored them and refused to back down, putting on a show of dominance and creating a fact-free haze that made substance hard to discern. It wasn’t pretty, but had you landed fresh from Mars knowing nothing about American politics—lucky you!—you would have gotten an accurate sense of both candidates’ dispositions, if not their policy positions.
“That is simply not true,” Biden kept
insisting, as Trump called him an idiot, smeared his family and
concocted wild conspiracy theories about everything from the Obama
administration to the upcoming election. “It’s been totally
discredited.” Yet neither the Democratic nominee nor Wallace managed to
wrest back control of the proceedings, and Biden struggled to land sharp
attacks on Trump’s weaknesses.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-september-30-2020/
Israel’s virus czar Ronni Gamzu tells cabinet ministers that Haredi Israelis are 2.5 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus, indicating an incredibly high rate of infection in their communities.
Some 28.6 percent of virus tests administered in Haredi communities returned a positive answer in recent days, he tells the coronavirus cabinet, compared to 13.4% in Arab communities and 11.9% in the rest of the country.
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Project Veritas alleges election fraud, evidence scant
https://www.fox9.com/news/project-veritas-alleges-election-fraud-evidence-scant
James O’Keefe, of the conservative propaganda operation Project Veritas, was back in the public spotlight and once again making an incendiary allegation: There was major election fraud in Minneapolis.
One problem: The hard evidence of cash in exchange for votes was
lacking, and some of the other conduct of collecting ballots might be
perfectly legal.
'It's Frightening All Around.' Former Intelligence Officials Warn Trump's Debt Is a National Security Threat
https://time.com/5894199/trump-debt-national-security-threat/
One of the fastest ways to be denied a security clearance, current and former intelligence officials will tell you, is to carry a load of debt. And then there’s President Donald Trump.
New revelations in a New York Times report show Trump allegedly has $421 million of debt coming due over the next four years. An audit fight with the IRS could cost him another $100 million. At the same time, he reportedly paid taxes to foreign nations far larger than the $750 he paid in the United States the year he won the presidency and his first year in office.
For a sitting president, with the power to impose fear or favor across the country and around the world, not to mention access to the nation’s most closely held secrets, such financial exposure is more than embarrassing, former intelligence officials and ethics lawyers say: it makes Trump a national security threat.
Many ultra-Orthodox flouting virus rules entirely, reports indicate
https://www.timesofisrael.com/many-ultra-orthodox-flouting-virus-rules-entirely-reports-indicate/
The Haaretz daily reported that tens of thousands of yeshiva students were sent home for vacation Tuesday after weeks of study together, without receiving test results showing them to be negative for coronavirus — as had been required by the government as part of the so-called “capsule program” for yeshivas.
Gutfeld on the phony outrage over Trump's tax returns
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gutfeld-trump-tax-return
Another day… another media bombshell… that lands with a thud.
Imagine a loaf of bread hitting the pavement from the roof of your house. -- That’s the New York Times’ report on Trump's old tax returns.
Oh, Pillsbury Cronkite, aka CNN's Brian Stelter, is this one of the most important stories of the past 5 years?
He thinks it is, because here's what he said about it, "This is one of the most important stories of the past 5 years. Not one of the most important stories of the past year, but one of the most important stories of the past five years.” (I'd say his hair is on fire, but too late.)
Ivanka Trump got paid millions as a 'consultant' on family hotel deals in move which saved her father tax, Trump returns reveal
Ivanka Trump appears to have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in 'consulting fees' that helped reduce her father's tax bills while she was working as an employee of the Trump Organization.
Don't miss the Ivanka Trump bombshell buried in the Times tax story
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/28/politics/ivanka-trump-donald-trump-tacves/index.html
The big bombshell in The New York Times tax returns story is, obviously, the fact that President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in each 2016 and 2017 -- and for 10 of the 15 previous years, paid no federal income taxes at all.
Six key findings from the New York Times' Trump taxes bombshell
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/27/new-york-times-trump-tax-returns-key-findings
The president pays little, faces hefty audit costs as well as loans coming due soon, and Ivanka is not in the clear
CDC director concerned Atlas is sharing misleading information with Trump
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/28/health/redfield-atlas-coronavirus-data-comments/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield is concerned that White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Scott Atlas is providing President Trump with misleading information about Covid-19, a federal official told CNN.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Trump on defense after NYT publishes tax info, says he is 'entitled' to credits 'like everyone else'
President Trump on Monday defended his tax history, saying that he paid “millions of dollars” to the Internal Revenue Service and argued he is "entitled" to tax credits "like everyone else" in the wake of a New York Times report that said he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years.
Tax bombshell reveals Trump's image is a sham
It was the moment when Donald Trump's "Art of the Deal" fabulism, billionaire tycoon bluster and populist standard-bearing for forgotten Americans was revealed to be what it always looked like: a sham.
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Making Abusing Black Jews Great Again
BS"D
9 Tishrei, 5781 °° Sept. 27, '20 (Erev Yom Kippur, Parshas VeZos HaBracha)
By Binyomin Feinberg
Rivka bas Soroh, an orphaned Ethiopian Jewish woman, approximately 24, is reportedly being medically abused by the Israeli Army, military prison, and Military Justice System, in the wake of her refusal to enlist in the Israeli Army. We just received confirmation of key details regarding the medical abuse of this young Ethiopian Jewish woman, recently arrested over her refusal to enlist in the Israeli military. Although we await more details, we have confirmed the following.
The Israeli Army forces its female citizens to serve in the military. It's been doing so in flagrant violation of Torah law, for about 70 years. All leading Rabbis from across the spectrum prohibit girls and women from enlistment in the military. Leading Rabbis have even deemed refusal to enlist as Yaihoraig v'Al Ya'avor, a prohibition we're obligated to sacrifice our lives to avoid. Additionally, the Israeli Army is also known for exploitive and abusive treatment of women and girls, for decades.
https://docs.google.com/
...
contact:
feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com
By Binyomin Feinberg
~~~~~
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (writing on Pinchos, and those who follow his lead, in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
###
Friday, September 25, 2020
As a new outbreak grows in Brooklyn, mask-wearing appears to remain scarce
David Greenfield, a former city councilman who represented Borough Park and is now CEO of the Met Council, a large social service agency that serves many Orthodox Jews, said many were skeptical of the seriousness of the pandemic and the efficacy of masks because that was the message they heard on the news.
“Their main source of news tends to be right-wing news sources,”
Greenfield said, noting the popularity of talk radio and conservative
news sites in the community. “The right-wing media downplays the
effectiveness of masks.”
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The Fox News Decision Desk Controls the Fate of American Democracy
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/can-trump-supreme-court-decide-election.html
The question, then is: How much damage could an all but openly partisan Supreme Court, particularly in tandem with partisan supreme courts at the state level and partisan appeals judges, do? It’s impossible to give a single definitive answer, because that would require knowing exactly what is in Trump’s brain when he makes these comments. And no one, including Trump himself, ever knows exactly what he means by anything. But we can look at his remarks in the context of what his campaign has done, then put that in the context of what we know about what might be happening on the ground in November.
Donald Trump's election threat is actually worse than it appears
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/24/politics/donald-trump-election-peaceful-transition/index.html