Misconceptions about marriage - a wife is not a shtender

 Steipler The Steipler told fathers to look for 3 qualities in a son in law1 intelligence, diligence (hasmoda) and character (midos)One father objected saying there was no need for the third since all talmidei chachomim have midos.The Steipler responded “A wife is not a shtender!” after many years in yeshiva a bachor learns to relate properly to his shtender and gemora but not to a request to take out the garbage or who needs attention d character to put up with a sick wife a sick child to sleep. For that you need good character

Trump maintains bank account in China, says NY Times

 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54625422

 US President Donald Trump has a Chinese bank account and spent years pursuing business projects in the country, the New York Times has reported.

The account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management and paid local taxes between 2013 and 2015.

It was set up "to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia", according to a Trump spokesman.

Mr Trump has been critical of US firms doing business in China and sparked a trade war between the two countries.

The NY Times revealed the account after obtaining Mr Trump's tax records, which included both personal and company financial details.

 

Fearing a loss, GOP senators keep distance from Trump and begin to ponder party's future

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/20/politics/republican-senate-reaction-trump/index.html

 For four years, Republican senators have shrugged off President Donald Trump's constant string of controversies and scandals. They've ignored his Twitter outbursts and endless grievances. And they've avoided confronting him, while voting mostly in lockstep for his agenda and protecting him during his impeachment trial.

But two weeks until Election Day, GOP senators are beginning to come to grips that Trump's reign in Washington could soon come to an end.

Publicly and privately, Republicans are now beginning to distance themselves from the President. And the debate over the post-Trump Republican Party is already taking shape, with some eager to emulate his populist style of America-first, slash-and-burn politics -- and others pushing to return to a more moderate, pro-business message to woo disaffected younger voters and women who have been put off by Trump.

Nearly 350 Prominent Republicans Voting for Joe Biden

 https://www.newsweek.com/nearly-350-prominent-republicans-voting-joe-biden-1540611

 With two weeks until Election Day, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president, joining 347 other prominent Republicans who are voting blue come November 3.

These Republicans have broken party lines to speak out against President Donald Trump and publicly endorse Biden. One of the most notable GOP groups is the Lincoln Project, whose ads have severely attacked the president. The anti-Trump group is led by several high-profile Republicans, including John Weaver, Rick Wilson, George Conway, Reed Galen and Jennifer Horn.

Trump demands Barr investigate Hunter Biden

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/521827-trump-demands-barr-investigate-hunter-biden

President Trump early Tuesday pressured Attorney General William Barr to investigate the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and demanded that information be released before Election Day.

“We have got to get the attorney general to act. He’s got to act and he’s got to act fast," Trump said on “Fox & Friends,” citing a New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Trump called on Barr to “appoint somebody” to handle the matter.

"This is major corruption and this has to be known about before the election,” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks represented an extraordinary effort by the president to push a member of his Cabinet to investigate the family of his political opponent, as he explicitly invoked the election as reason to do so. They came after a group of House Republicans asked Barr to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations about Hunter Biden made in the Post last week.

 

 

Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000

Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails October 19, 2020 We are all individuals who devoted significant por<ons of our lives to na<onal security. Some of us served in senior posi<ons in policy departments and agencies, and some of us served in senior posi<ons in the Intelligence Community. Some of us were poli<cal appointees, and some were career officials. Many of us worked for presidents of both poli<cal par<es. We are all also individuals who see Russia as one of our na<on’s primary adversaries. All of us have an understanding of the wide range of Russian overt and covert ac<vi<es that undermine US na<onal security, with some of us knowing Russian behavior in<mately, as we worked to defend our na<on against it for a career. A few of us worked against Russian informa<on opera<ons in the United States in the last several years. Perhaps most important, each of us believes deeply that American ci8zens should determine the outcome of elec8ons, not foreign governments. All of us agree with the founding fathers’ concern about the damage that foreign interference in our poli8cs can do to our democracy. It is for all these reasons that we write to say that the arrival on the US poli<cal scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his <me serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian informa<on opera<on. We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal aSorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement -- just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this elec8on, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this. There are a number of factors that make us suspicious of Russian involvement. Such an opera<on would be consistent with Russian objec<ves, as outlined publicly and recently by the Intelligence Community, to create poli<cal chaos in the United States and to deepen poli<cal divisions here but also to undermine the candidacy of former Vice President Biden and thereby help the candidacy of President Trump. For the Russians at this point, with Trump down in the polls, there is incen<ve for Moscow to pull out the stops to do anything possible to help Trump win and/or to weaken Biden should he win. A “laptop op” fits the bill, as the publica<on of the emails are clearly designed to discredit Biden. Such an opera<on would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now mul<-year opera<on to interfere in our democracy – the hacking (via cyber opera<ons) and the dumping of accurate informa<on or the distribu<on of inaccurate or misinforma<on. Russia did both of these during the 2016 presiden<al elec<on – judgments shared by the US Intelligence Community, the inves<ga<on into Russian ac<vi<es by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and the en<rety (all Republicans and Democrats) on the current Senate Intelligence CommiSee. Such an opera<on is also consistent with several data points. The Russians, according to media reports and cybersecurity experts, targeted Burisma late last year for cyber collec<on and gained access to its emails. And Ukrainian poli<cian and businessman Adriy Derkach, iden<fied and sanc<oned by the US Treasury Department for being a 10-year Russian agent interfering in the 2020 elec<on, passed purported materials on Burisma and Hunter Biden to Giuliani. Our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue is consistent with two other significant data points as well. According to the Washington Post, ci<ng four sources, “U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that Giuliani was the target of an influence opera<on by Russian intelligence.”In addi<on, media reports say that the FBI has now opened an inves<ga<on into Russian involvement in this case. According to USA Today, “...federal authori<es are inves<ga<ng whether the material supplied to the New York Post by Rudy Giuliani...is part of a smoke bomb of disinforma<on pushed by Russia.” We do not know whether these press reports are accurate, but they do suggest concern within Execu8ve Branch departments and agencies that mirrors ours. It is high 8me that Russia stops interfering in our democracy. Signed by, Jim Clapper Former Director of Na<onal Intelligence Former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Former Director of the Na<onal Geospa<al Intelligence Agency Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Mike Hayden Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency Former Director, Na<onal Security Agency Former Principal Deputy Director of Na<onal Intelligence Leon PaneSa

 

Why marriages succeed — or fail

 https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/5/16379910/marriage-love-relationships-eli-finkel

 We have goals, we have aspirations. We're reasonably proud of who we are, but we can think of ways that we can be better, more ambitious, more energetic, or maybe better at relaxing. We're trying to achieve those goals, and the reality is that humans aren't individual, isolated goal-pursuers. Our social relationships have profound influence on the extent to which we get closer to versus further from our ideal self.

The best marriages these days take that seriously. They take the responsibility for trying to help each other grow and live authentic lives to an extent that would have seemed bizarre in 1950.

From 'Child Porn on Hunter Biden's Laptop' to QAnon, Conspiracy Theories Pollute 2020 Election's Final Weeks

 https://www.newsweek.com/hunter-biden-laptop-qanon-conspiracy-theories-2020-election-1540173

With just 15 days until the presidential election on November 3, conspiracy theories have played a major part in the campaign and they are likely to stay on the radar as the 2020 contest nears its end.

As President Donald Trump trails former Vice President Joe Biden in national polls, the Republican and some of his prominent allies have shared unfounded conspiracy theories about the Democrat.

What’s Really Going on With Hunter Biden’s Hard Drive? Here’s Everything We Know.

 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/hunter-biden-hard-drive-everything-we-know.html

 For the next two weeks until Election Day, expect allies of Donald Trump to repeat the same refrain: But his emails! So far, though, the revelation of Hunter Biden’s private messages and photographs has been a dud of an October surprise, largely because the story’s credibility is so evidently flimsy. It’s also confusing—both to Trump supporters who’d like to make hay out of it and to anyone else trying to understand how this whole saga came to be. How did a laptop supposedly belonging to the former vice president’s son end up in a Delaware computer-repair shop, then get to Rudy Giuliani, then arrive at the New York Post? What does Steve Bannon have to do with it? Why did it make the entire right wing mad at Facebook (again)? Read on.

Rabbi Mutzafi: 'Not wearing a mask? Your prayers are an abomination'

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289460

 A leading Sephardic haredi rabbi ruled Monday that prayer groups must exclude worshippers who aren’t wearing face masks, calling their prayers “an abomination”.

Rabbi Ben Zion Mutzafi said during his weekly lecture at the Musayof synagogue in Jerusalem that it is “forbidden” to pray with people who don’t have masks on during prayer.

“There are people outside who don’t have masks. You can’t include these people in prayer quorums [minyanim], it is forbidden to pray with them.”

“Their prayers are an abomination, since they are hurting others, God help us. They may have a beard, sidelocks, a long jacket, a gartel [prayer belt] and who knows what else – they can put on a shtreimel too even on a weekday, it won’t help.”

Fact-checking Trump's dishonest weekend: The President made at least 66 false or misleading claims in three days

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/19/politics/fact-check-trump-dishonest-weekend-florida-michigan-georgia-wisconsin/index.html

 President Donald Trump's dishonesty is getting worse.

Trump has been reliably deceptive for his entire presidency, filling his speeches and tweets with lies and other false statements.

The frequency and magnitude of his deception tends to accelerate, however, during campaign season -- when he complements his usual ad-libbed inaccuracy with a barrage of inaccurate statements that are written into his speech scripts.

Most U.S. ultra-Orthodox Jews support Trump - Haredi poll shows

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

 According to a survey by Ami Magazine - a Haredi publication, some 83 percent of the respondents said they were going to vote for Trump in the November 3 vote.

Respectfully disagreeing with earlier authorities

 These are selections of sources from my Daas Torah 2nd edition

Rav Chaim Voloshner (Ruach Chaim 1:4): … It is prohibited for a student to accept the words of his teacher if he has questions about them. Furthermore sometimes the truth is with the student and not the teacher.” Avos (1:4) says, One should sit in the dust at the feet of one’s teachers and drink with unquenchable thirst what they say. “The word for sitting - avek - can also mean struggle or warfare. That is because this is an obligatory struggle. The holy rabbis who have composed the books we study have in fact given us permission to struggle and to fight over their words and to answer the difficulties they raise. Therefore, we have the right to question what they say and not to blindly accept their words - but one must love the truth…. Since ascertaining the truth is the prime concern - we must be very careful not to be conceited and egotistical in the discussions and to imagine that we are as great as the teacher or author with whom we are disagreeing. We should be aware in our hearts that we might simply be misunderstanding their words. Therefore we must always be very humble. We must have the attitude, ‘I am not worthy to argue but this is Torah and I must know the correct answer’. Furthermore, the Mishna states that the struggle is conditional on being ‘in the dust at their feet’ which means we must be humble and submissive and figuratively sit on the ground before them in these discussions.

Seridei Aish (1:113): I frequently comment on the apparent contradiction found in Avos (6:5) concerning those factors involved in acquiring Torah i.e. analysis of the students and faith in our Sages. Furthermore, what does faith in our Sages have to do with acquiring Torah? However, the explanation is that if one doesn’t believe in the truth of the words of the sages then one readily dismisses them for the slightest reason. With an attitude of condescension, one proclaims that they didn’t know what they were talking about. Consequently, one makes no effort to investigate and try to validate what they said. However, in the end we find that in fact we are the ones who have erred. … Therefore it is characteristic of the truly wise to presume that the sages have not erred, G d forbid! In fact we, with our limited perspective and limited understanding, have erred. On the other hand to blindly believe and not struggle to comprehend with our intellect the apparent difficulties, saying simply that they knew and we need merely to mindlessly rely on them, that is also not correct. We need to wrestle mightily with the apparent contradictions and doubts as if they are people like us. With this approach, we will come to a much profounder and sharper comprehension. Thus, we see that both factors - emunas chachomim (faith in our sages) and pilpul (intellectual evaluation) - work together to the purpose of the acquisition of Torah.

Michtav M'Eliyahu (4:269): Why was Miriam punished with leprosy - indicating the sin of lashon harah - when all she did was inquire about her brother’s conduct? G d Himself answered this question by stating (Bamidbar 12:8): Why weren’t you afraid to speak against My servant Moshe? It is permitted to question the teacher’s conduct if he knows in his heart that his teacher is right and he only wants a clarification. In other words, he wants to understand but is not challenging or criticizing his teacher. In such circumstances, it is not only permitted but is required as we see in Berachos (62a). However when the student’s attitude is, “I also know what to do and to judge the validity of my teacher and I am convinced he is wrong” - then there is problem with his faith in scholars and such a challenge is a manifestation of lashon harah…. An example of an appropriate question is when Rabbi Akiva Eiger, one of the greatest scholars in the last several hundred years, raised a difficult question about the words of Tosfos. He concluded his words by stating:” I have not merited to understand the holy words of Tosfos.” [G d forbid to think he was just being polite. In fact, he, despite all his greatness, understood that Tosfos was superior and he was nothing in relation to them. A great person is upset that he doesn’t understand while a little person in his arrogance readily accuses his superiors of error.]

Maharal (Introduction to Be’er HaGolah): The precondition for achieving perfection, through knowledge and comprehension of reality, is accurate self evaluation. However self knowledge is not easily achieved and in fact it is rare to find someone who has an objective understanding of whom he is. Paradoxically this should be the easiest thing to know - he needs to simply open his eyes. He is not far away and is not in Heaven - in fact, there is nothing closer! However, the majority of people perceive themselves inaccurately. In particular, they mistakenly think that they are the equal of the early sages and say, “I also have a brain and that the early days were not better than now.” They insist the intellect of man is identical in all ages. True sages, however, know their own value. They do not distort justice concerning their money and surely concerning themselves. An example of this accurate self-evaluation is found in Eiruvin (53a): “The hearts of the early generations were as open as the 20 amos wide door of the Ulam of the Temple, while that of recent generations is like that of the 10 amos wide door of the Heichal of the Temple while our heart is like that of the eye of a needle….” We see that they are not embarrassed to admit their inferiority relative to earlier generations and describe how they differ….

Trump's Final Campaign Strategy? Retweet Conspiracy Theories & Tout Rudy's Russian Disinformation