The increasingly Republican pandemic

 https://news.yahoo.com/increasingly-republican-pandemic-184318917.html

The Associated Pressreported last week that of the 18,000 American COVID-19 deaths in May, only 150 involved fully vaccinated people — and that "breakthrough" infections of vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of the 853,000 COVID-related hospitalizations during the month. Those low numbers suggest the pandemic death rate "could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine," the news service concluded.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of vaccine holdouts. As David Leonhardt points out today at TheNew York Times, the refusers are trending Republican: The average county that voted for Donald Trump is just 34 percent vaccinated; the number is 45 percent for counties that went for Joe Biden. And unsurprisingly, the counties that have a low proportion of vaccinations have higher rates of new cases.
It's here where you have to consider if Tucker Carlson holds the power of life and death — or, at least, good health or ill — over his nearly 3 million conservative viewers.

As failure follows failure, coalition in uphill battle against inexperience

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-failure-follows-failure-coalition-in-uphill-battle-against-inexperience/

 The failures came in quick, maddening succession. One bill after another crashed in the Knesset plenum, sometimes from laughable and embarrassing errors by coalition lawmakers. Some pundits labeled it the worst string of legislative losses incurred by any ruling coalition in the Knesset’s history.

Ben & Jerry’s joins long list of failed 'boycotts' of Israel - analysis

https://www.jpost.com/bds-threat/ben-and-jerrys-joins-long-list-of-failed-boycotts-of-israel-analysis-674391 

 The desire to boycott Israel has existed since the country was created in 1948, but what is left of the “boycott” movement today appears to mostly be some privileged activists in the West.

Ben & Jerry’s board in dispute with owners Unilever over remaining in Israel

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-jerrys-board-in-dispute-with-owners-unilever-over-complete-israel-pullout/

 A statement Monday by Ben & Jerry’s that it will no longer distribute its products in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” but will remain in Israel was released by the company’s owner, Unilever, without consulting with the ice cream maker’s board — which had intended to put out a different statement that made no mention of committing to continue doing business with the Jewish state, Ben & Jerry’s chairman Anuradha Mittal told NBC News.

While many companies and countries have differentiated between Israel and its settlements in the West Bank, a complete boycott of Israel by a major Western company has been almost unheard-of in recent years.

Mittal said the board had been pushing for years to stop selling its products in settlements and intended to release a different statement from the one Unilever put out. NBC, which reviewed the intended statement, said it made no mention of remaining in Israel and focused on Ben & Jerry’s commitment to social justice causes.

I grew up in the same community as the star of Netflix’s ‘My Unorthodox Life.’ Here’s what I wished she remembered.

https://forward.com/scribe/473098/i-grew-up-in-the-same-community-as-the-star-of-netflixs-my-unorthodox-life/ 

 Can I call you Talia? The same Talia the young me watched in total awe, dancing and leading her way thru our high school concerts? The Talia that headlined so many local Monsey events leaving her audience in stitches with her comedic genius? The beautiful and graceful and oh so well dressed Talia that walked the streets of Monsey (incidentally, the streets in your first episode are Boro Park, not Monsey, you might want to fix that teeny, tiny error). So Talia, is it ok if I refer to you as that, that girl, the one I remember?

20% of Americans believe the conspiracy theory that microchips are inside the COVID-19 vaccines, says YouGov study

 https://news.yahoo.com/20-americans-believe-conspiracy-theory-115206203.html

A new study has found that 1-in-5 Americans believe that it is "definitely true" or "probably true" that there is a microchip in the COVID-19 vaccines.

The study by YouGov in conjunction with The Economist has found that 30-44-year-olds are most likely to believe this widely debunked conspiracy, with 7% of people from this age group saying that it is "definitely true" and 20% of them saying it is "probably true."

Less than half of people surveyed (46%) said that it is "definitely false."

 

Video of a microchip reader finding a chip in a vaccinated woman’s arm was posted as a joke

 https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/01/instagram-posts/video-microchip-reader-finding-chip-vaccinated-wom/

Video of a microchip reader finding a chip in a vaccinated woman’s arm was posted as a joke.

Jewish leaders in Israel and abroad slam Ben & Jerry's Judea and Samaria boycott

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310177

 Israel's Minister of the Interior, Yamina's MK Ayelet Shaked slammed the ice cream chain via a Twitter post, writing: "Your ice cream doesn't sit well with us anyway," and adding, "We'll be just fine without you."

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid responded to the move saying: "Ben & Jerry's decision is a shameful surrender to anti-Semitism, BDS, to all that is evil in the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse. We will not allow them to silence us."

 Spokeswoman of Samaria Regional Councilman, Yossi Dagan, Esther Silam Alush, quoted Dagan as saying: "Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria will continue to exist long after Ben & Jerry's has melted."

 Israel activist and former Democratic New York State Assemblyman from Brooklyn's Assembly district 48, Dov Hikind, accused the ice cream firm of hypocrisy, posting: "But Ben & Jerry's will still sell their product in unoccupied Palestinian Territory despite the fact that if you’re LGBTQ there’s no way you can survive a day in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin or Gaza! Because 'consistency'"…

Ben & Jerry's to boycott West Bank settlements, east Jerusalem

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/ben-and-jerrys-to-end-sales-in-west-bank-674336

 Well-known ice cream company Ben & Jerry's announced on Monday its plan to boycott West Bank settlements and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, by refusing to allow its products to be sold in those areas. 

"We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)," the company stated in a notice it posted on its website.

Israel's bus, train users lament lack of masks and enforcement

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1p0yxq0u

 Despite the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases around Israel and the subsequent reintroduction of the indoor mask mandate, the country's often overcrowded buses and trains are filled with people who are not wearing the protective face covering.

Outrage As A Business Model: How Ben Shapiro Is Using Facebook To Build An Empire

 https://www.npr.org/2021/07/19/1013793067/outrage-as-a-business-model-how-ben-shapiro-is-using-facebook-to-build-an-empire

 But The Daily Wire has turned anger into an art form and recycled content into a business model.

 Other conservative outlets such as The Blaze, Breitbart News and The Western Journal that publish aggregated and opinion content aimed at invoking outrage have also generally been more successful at generating engagement than legacy news outlets over the past year, according to NPR's analysis, which used data compiled by the media intelligence company NewsWhip.

1,679 Jews pray on Temple Mount during Tisha B'Av

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310095 

More than 1,600 Jewish visitors ascended the Temple Mount Sunday for prayers marking the Tisha B’Av fast day, drawing the ire of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and its political representatives in the Knesset.

According to the Bayadenu organization, which organized mass visits to the holy site, a total of 1,679 Jews visited the Temple Mount as of Sunday afternoon, a 42% increase over last year's Tisha B'Av fast.

The United Arab List, a coalition partner which represents the Southern Islamic Movement in Israel, condemned the Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount, warning Jewish worshippers on the holy site could cause Arab riots and ultimately spark a “religious war”.

Choni the circle maker

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honi_HaMe%27agel#Death

According to Josephus, in Antiquities of the Jews, Honi met his end in the context of conflict between the Hasmonean brothers Hyrcanus II, backed by the Pharisees and advised by Antipater the Idumaean, and Aristobulus II, backed by the Sadducees. Around 63 BC, Honi was captured by the followers of Hyrcanus besieging Jerusalem and was asked to pray for the demise of their opponents. Honi, however, prayed: "Lord of the universe, as the besieged and the besiegers both belong to Your people, I beseech You not to answer the evil prayers of either." After this, the followers of Hyrcanus stoned him to death.^[8]

The Babylonian Talmud records a different story of his death, as part of the aforementioned carob tree story. The Maharsha explains the discrepancy between the Talmud and Josephus by stating that Honi was "presumed" killed by Hyrcanus II's men, but in reality was put into a deep sleep or coma for 70 years, and only then died.^[5]

Taanis (23a) Ḥoni went home and said to the members of the household: Is the son of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel alive? They said to him: His son is no longer with us, but his son’s son is alive. He said to them: I am Ḥoni HaMe’aggel. They did not believe him. He went to the study hall, where he heard the Sages say about one scholar: His halakhot are as enlightening and as clear as in the years of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel, for when Ḥoni HaMe’aggel would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty they had. Ḥoni said to them: I am he, but they did not believe him and did not pay him proper respect. Ḥoni became very upset, prayed for mercy, and died. Rava said: This explains the folk saying that people say: Either friendship or death, as one who has no friends is better off dead. 

Chidushei Agadot (Taanis 23a)

ולא עבדו ליה יקרא כדבעי כו'. גם שראו בו שהוא בעל תורה ונהירין ליה שמעתתיה כבשני דחוני המעגל מ"מ לא ראו בו שהיה בעל מעשים כחוני ולכך לא עבדי ליה יקרא כדבעי ואמר דבעי רחמו ומת כו' שלא הגיע עדיין זמנו למות דאותן ע' שנין שהיה ישן לא נחשב לו לכלום ובירושלמי מייתי עובדא דחוני המעגל שהיה בחורבן בית ראשון והיה ישן מחורבן בית ראשון ע' שנין עד שנבנה בית שני אבל זה המעשה דמתני' היה אח"כ זמן רב בזמן שמעון בן שטח וכתב בעל יפה מראה דשני חוני המעגל הוו וזה דמתני' הוא בר בריה הוה ע"ש ובספר יוחסין כתוב בשם יוסף בן גוריון שנהרג חוני המעגל מחוץ לירושלים במלחמות בני חשמונאי וזה מסכים עם תלמודנו לפי שנאבד מן העולם ע' שנה בשינה אמרו עליו שנהרג במלחמת האחים ולכך כשבא אפי' בר בריה לא האמין לו:

Knesset speaker flubs vote, killing coalition bill for rabbinical court reform

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-speaker-flubs-vote-killing-coalition-bill-for-rabbinical-court-reform/

The bill would have expanded the panel that chooses rabbinical judges to include more representatives from the government and more female representatives.