U.S. Political Party Preferences Shifted Greatly During 2021

 https://news.gallup.com/poll/388781/political-party-preferences-shifted-greatly-during-2021.aspx

Bottom Line

The year 2021 was an eventful one in politics, after a similarly eventful 2020 that also saw major shifts in party preferences. In early 2021, Democratic strength reached levels not seen in nearly a decade. By the third quarter, those Democratic gains evaporated as Biden's job approval declined. The political winds continued to become more favorable to Republicans in the fourth quarter, giving the GOP an advantage over Democrats larger than any they had achieved in more than 25 years.

The final monthly survey of 2021 showed the parties at roughly even strength, although that still represents a departure from the historical norm of the Democratic Party's having at least a slight advantage in party affiliation.

January 6 texts from Fox hosts reveal the lie at the heart of the conservative movement

 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/12/14/22834009/fox-texts-trump-meadows-ingraham-hannity-capitol-riot

The basic idea is that the super-rich and their allies are in the driver’s seat of the GOP’s policy agenda — and what those elites want, more than anything else, are tax cuts and attacks on the social safety net. Recognizing that making the rich richer is an unpopular policy agenda, they have married their political fortunes to the forces of cultural reaction. The GOP wins elections by engaging in thinly veiled appeals to racism, xenophobia, and sexism; the super-rich win when those GOP majorities pass deeper and deeper tax cuts.

Fox News, which Hacker and Pierson call in their book “the epicenter of resentment politics,” plays a crucial role in cementing this relationship.

Democrats and Republicans hate each other more than ever

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/20/politics/democrat-republican-hate-tribalism/index.html 

But to be clear, it's not just that more Democrats strongly dislike Republicans or vice versa. Each party sees the other party as dangerous.

According to a 2020 poll from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, 64% of Democrats see Republican policies as so misguided that they pose a serious threat to the country. Among Republicans, 75% believe Democratic Party policies are so misguided that they pose a serious threat to the country.

When you see stats like that, it's no wonder that each party is at the other's throat. But in this climate, House Democrats are on record (with just two Republicans joining them) in saying that portraying the murder of a colleague is beyond the pale.

Fox hole vaccine conversions

 https://www.newsweek.com/unvaccinated-man-covid-vaccine-hospitalized-andrew-pugh-covid-shot-relief-1670183

And U.K. woman Saja Ali, 31, said in January that having COVID "totally changed my mind" about vaccines after the virus left her bed bound for weeks. She said she had previously been a "complete anti-vaxxer" due to material she'd read online.

הגאון רבי יוסף אפרתי חיזק את מקלב ותקף: "שיבוש דברי החזו"א"

 https://www.kikar.co.il/410333.html

ראש בית מדרש להלכה בהתיישבות חקלאית ואחד מרבני 'דגל התורה', הגאון רבי יוסף אפרתי, יוצא הבוקר (שלישי) להגנתו של חבר הכנסת מקלב, בנוגע ל'נטיעות ההצלה' של הליכוד בנגב.

כזכור, מקלב תקף בחריפות את מפלגת הליכוד שערכו נטיעות בנגב - בעיצומה של שנת השמיטה. מנגד, היו שטענו, כי מרן החזו"א, היה מתיר את הנטיעות.

במכתב שפרסם הרב אפרתי נכתב, "הנני לחזק את ידך על דבר מחאתך אודות "נטיעות ההצלה" שבקשו לבצע בנגב בשנת השמיטה. והדברים פשוטים שגם נטיעות לצורך חשוב, אפילו לצורך מניעת השתלטות נכרים על קרקעות – אין להתיר' כותב הרב אפרתי לח"כ מקלב ותוקף את חוסר המשילות בדרום - 'במקום שהשלטון יעשה את המינימום הנדרש ממנו, לסייר בשטחים, לוודא ולדאוג שלא משתלטים עליהם, השלטון עצמו מבקש להשתמש בהיתר עבודה בשביעית משום היתר ארנונא".

A Chassidish Community Blossoms in Baltimore

 https://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=1&ARTICLE_ID=151398

“Ashrei ayin ra’asah eileh. Fortunate are the eyes who saw this.”

With these poignant words, Harav Moshe Heinemann, shlita, Rav of Agudath Israel in Baltimore, penned his feelings after his recent visit to K’hal Chasidim of Baltimore Cheder and School.

Yale Sociologist Nick Christakis: COVID-19 Will Reshape Humanity | Amanpour and Company

Joint List: Enlisting haredim will strengthen the 'occupation army'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/320656

MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Meretz), who voted against the Draft Law and thus caused for it not to be passed in a vote in the Knesset, explained that she did so in protest of the coalition's policy toward the Arab public.

"The coalition crossed all the red lines in the expulsion and planting operations in the Negev by the JNF and approved the 'fascist and racist' citizenship bill introduced by MK Simcha Rothman of Religious Zionism," she said.

"I voted with my conscience and with Arab society," Zoabi added, noting that "the coalition is committed to change towards Arab society but unfortunately these laws teach that the opposite is true, and therefore the interest of my people is above all."

FBI Revises Assessment, Says Texas Hostage Situation Targeted Jewish Community

 https://hamodia.com/2022/01/17/fbi-revises-assessment-says-texas-hostage-situation-targeted-jewish-community/

The FBI released a new statement on the Texas hostage situation on Sunday, describing it as a “terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted.”

The description of the situation revised a previous assessment on Saturday night, when an agency spokesperson said, “We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.”

The remark drew strong criticism from the Jewish community and many observers, who noted that the hostage-taker, Malik Faisal Akram, ranted about Israel and indicated to the hostages he believed that he would be able to achieve his aim by forcing them to call Jewish leaders in New York.

Study: 4th vaccine dose not very effective against Omicron

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/320643

Preliminary results from the first study of its kind in the world, led by Sheba Medical Center, on the safety and efficacy of the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine, indicate a significant increase in antibody levels, but this level of protection is only partially effective against the Omicron variant.

The study, led by Prof. Gili Regev-Yohai, director of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at Sheba Medical Center, examined the rate of increase in antibodies after the fourth vaccine of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines was administered, compared to a control group.

Preliminary results from the first study of its kind in the world, led by Sheba Medical Center, on the safety and efficacy of the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine, indicate a significant increase in antibody levels, but this level of protection is only partially effective against the Omicron variant.

The study, led by Prof. Gili Regev-Yohai, director of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at Sheba Medical Center, examined the rate of increase in antibodies after the fourth vaccine of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines was administered, compared to a control group.

Trump takes thinly veiled shot at 'gutless' DeSantis over Covid booster

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/14/politics/desantis-trump-covid-response/index.html

Former President Donald Trump appeared to take a shot at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his refusal to disclose whether he's received a Covid-19 booster shot in a new interview with the far-right channel One America News.

Trump, who announced at an event last month that he had received a booster shot in addition to being vaccinated, decried "gutless" politicians who have declined to be similarly transparent with their own booster status. His comments came just weeks after DeSantis sidestepped a question about being boosted during a December appearance on Fox Business -- a response that his staff later claimed the governor had given because it was a "private medical" matter.

Trump's comments come as the former President has made no secret of his frustration with DeSantis during private conversations with aides and allies. As previously reported by CNN, DeSantis has drawn Trump's ire for refusing to publicly rule out a 2024 presidential bid in a GOP primary that also includes the former President.

How the arrest of a far-right militia leader signals a new chapter in the January 6 inquiry

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/14/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-january-6-us-capitol-attack

The arrest this week of Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers militia, marks one of the most significant moments thus far in the federal investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack.

Rhodes, along with ten other associates, is charged with seditious conspiracy for plotting to violently overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election – the first sedition charges prosecutors have brought related to the insurrection.

Rhodes is the one of the most high-profile arrests yet in the year-long investigation into the insurrection, which has charged more than 700 people and counting with crimes related to the attack. Many of these cases have involved minor charges and the majority of suspects have received light sentences, but the sedition charges facing militia members could carry up to 20 years in prison and signal a shift towards more complex cases targeting organized extremist groups.

The Queer Mikveh Project immerses marginalized Jews worldwide in a changing ritual

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-queer-mikveh-project-immerses-marginalized-jews-worldwide-in-a-changing-ritual/

Last Passover, a group of 125 Jews gathered via Zoom to collectively participate in the tradition of the mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath. Dr. Harriette Wimms, a queer Black Jewish psychologist and kohenet (Hebrew priestess), opened the ceremony by pouring libations, an African tradition of granting a water offering for ancestors. Some people immersed themselves in their bathtubs, spilled water down their bodies or waded into their local lakes. They sang prayers and shared artwork.

Texas rabbi: Hostages managed to escape as gunman became ‘increasingly belligerent’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/texas-rabbi-hostages-managed-to-escape-as-gunman-became-increasingly-belligerent/

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, among four people held hostage at his Congregation Beth Israel, said Sunday that the attacker grew “increasingly belligerent and threatening” toward the end of the 11-hour standoff, and revealed that the captives had escaped, crediting security courses he had taken for helping them flee.