In a 5-4 ruling, the US Supreme Court sided with religious organizations in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions put in place by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limiting the number of people attending religious services.
Thursday, November 26, 2020
In a 5-4 ruling, Supreme Court sides with religious groups in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions in New York
Child sex trafficking: It's probably not what you think it is
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/25/us/child-sex-trafficking/index.html
Shandel is among the many victims of sex trafficking, the commercial sexual exploitation of children. While the term trafficking evokes for many images of children kidnapped off the street, smuggled across borders and moved from place to place, that's rarely the case, social workers and researchers say.
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Study suggests plasma therapy for Covid-19 largely ineffective
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/291971
The results of a medium-sized clinical trial conducted in Argentina suggest that one mode of treatment for coronavirus, that of using plasma harvested from people who have recovered from the illness, is not as effective as was previously hoped.
According to Reuters, the study involved 333 patients hospitalized with severe cases of pneumonia brought on by Covid-19 infection. The patients were randomly assigned to plasma treatment or placebo, and after 30 days, the mortality rate was almost identical in the two groups (11. % in the plasma-treated group versus 11.4% in the placebo group).
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded that the therapy known as “convalescent plasma” did not cause any significant improvement to patients’ health or chances of recovery.
Debunking a feminist propaganda article II
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/291989
In my prior article, Debunking a Feminist Propaganda Article, I critiqued an article on the Israel National News site that I consider to be feminist propaganda, and I explained that fairness and balance in regard to Jewish men's rights is practically non-existent in much of the Jewish media.
A new article has appeared on the Israel National News site that I would like to discuss.
Once again, I'm not claiming to know the divorcing spouses in this latest Arutz Sheva article. Nor am I attempting to address which spouse is "right" or which spouse is "wrong" in any particular divorce case.
Some anti-male biases and Torah distortions I observe in the article linked above:
Trump Claims Credit for Dow's Record High, but Investors Hail Smooth Transition, COVID Vaccines
President Donald Trump was quick to claim responsibility for the boost, saying in a one-minute press conference: "That's a sacred number, 30,000. Nobody thought they'd ever see it. That's the 48th time we have broken records during the Trump administration."
The rally is at odds with claims Trump made during the election campaign that a Biden victory would crash stock markets.
Donald Trump Shares Deep State Conspiracy Article That Says 'We Are at War'
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-deep-state-sidney-powell-article-1550067
President Donald Trump has shared a link to an article that refers to "crimes of the Deep State" and claims "treasonous swamp rats" are trying to steal the 2020 election.
The article, shared by the president amid a flurry of election-linked retweets as he continues to claim the result was tainted by fraud, refers to attorney Sidney Powell's "Release the Kraken" comments at a recent Trump campaign press conference.
It suggests the Kraken is actually a "cyber warfare program" that tracks and "aquires [sic] evidence of nefarious activities and crimes committed by the Deep State." It adds that this has allowed Trump, alongside "loyal patriots" in the military and Space Command, to have gathered the evidence they need to prove his claims of fraud.
The Tzadik Is Like A Tree
https://ravberland.com/the-tzadik-is-like-a-tree-there-must-always-be-controversy-around-him/
Rebbe Nachman said: “All of the great Tzadikim reached their specific exalted level but remained there, I however, thank G-d every minute I become a new person”. He then gave a reason why people are against him, “For the tzadik is comparable to a tree (as in the verse “A tzadik blossoms like a palm tree), and every tzadik before he reaches his level there must be some kind of controversy surrounding him; people who are against him. For our sages say (Sanhedrin 7) controversy is comparable to water, and water is what is needed to make the tree grow. So each tzadik needed some kind of controversy in order to reach their level. I, however, need that there be controversy surrounding me always, and people always against me, because every time I need to grow higher and higher and cannot remain on the same level. For if I would know that I am standing now on the same level that I did an hour ago, I would feel as if there is no reason for me to be in this world.”
COVID Vaccine Side Effects Include High Fever, Body Aches and Bad Headaches
As the world inches closer to effective COVID-19 vaccines becoming available, public health experts are warning that people should be prepared for the possibility that they could experience severe, but ultimately unharmful, side effects after being given the vaccines.
Vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, both given in two doses approximately one month apart, could soon be approved for public use after data released from clinical trials showed that they may be up to 95 percent effective in providing immunity against the virus. While neither vaccine is believed to come with significant life-threatening side effects, experts are warning that those who receive the vaccines should be ready for unpleasant but temporary reactions.
Fox News Ratings Plummet After Election. Is President Trump’s Criticism the Cause?
https://time.com/5915461/fox-news-ratings-plummet/
Fox’s daytime viewership dropped 32 percent from the two weeks prior to Election Day to the two weeks after, the Nielsen company said.
The post-election, weekday average daytime viewership of 1.63 million was roughly equivalent to that of CNN (1.68 million) and MSNBC (1.71 million). CNN was up 33% and MSNBC up 9% during that time period, Nielsen said.
Trump told confidants he intends to pardon Michael Flynn
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-flynn-pardon-michael-flynn
President Trump reportedly intends to pardon former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, one in a series to be issued before he leaves office.
Axios first reported the news Tuesday, citing two sources with direct knowledge. Sources with knowledge of the president’s thinking also told Fox News he plans to pardon Flynn.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to misleading the FBI about his contact with Russia, and has came to symbolize for conservatives how Justice Department officials abused their power in the Russia investigation.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
How legislation led to 80 women being freed from agunah status
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/291875
The biannual conference of the standing committee of the Conference of European Rabbis was held online this year. Participating in the discussions was the head of the Knesset’s Regulatory Committee, MK Yaakov Asher of the United Torah Judaism party.
MK Asher praised the work of the Conference and told its President, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, that, “The amendment made to the laws regulating rabbinical courts in Israel that grants them legal authority in cases of agunot [women estranged from their husbands whose husbands refuse to divorce them -ed.] for women living outside Israel has led to 80 women being freed of their agunah status, from all over the world.”