Thursday, July 29, 2021

Terrorist who stabbed Jew handed 15-year sentence

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310811 

 Despite a demand by the Military Prosecutor's Office that Maslama receive between 19-25 years in prison, the judges decided on a lighter sentence, accepting the claim that the terrorist found the knife by coincidence, and therefore did not plan the attack early enough, Yediot Aharonot said.

"We need to take into account that the accused found the Exacto knife used in the attack by happenstance, and did not intentionally arm himself with it ahead of time, as in other cases. Indeed, the accused's actions were done after prior thought, when he ambushed his victim after noticing him, but this is a 'short-term' pre-planning, in my opinion," Judge Rani Amar wrote in his ruling.

PM set to back 3rd vaccine dose for older Israelis after nod from expert panel

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-set-to-approve-3rd-vaccine-for-older-israelis-after-nod-from-expert-panel/

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to announce his support for older Israelis to receive a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine after a government-appointed panel of health experts gave a nod to the trailblazing initiative on Wednesday evening.

The panel’s position will be presented to Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz during a Thursday morning meeting, after which the prime minister is expected to announce his backing for Israelis above the age of 60 to receive a third dose of the vaccine.

The vote by the panel was not unanimous, according to Hebrew media, but a majority supported booster shots for older Israelis, against the backdrop of the rising number of seriously ill patients in recent weeks.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Surprise! Trump’s ‘election fraud’ fundraising is not what it seems

Officer Fanone Walks Through His Bodycam Footage From Capitol Riot - but republicans say it was just a bunch of tourists!

Trump and DeSantis clash with Biden as the mask wars roar back to life

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/28/politics/mask-wars-are-back/index.html

Only two months ago, the CDC said vaccinated people didn't have to wear masks indoors with the pandemic apparently in retreat. But on Tuesday, with the highly transmissible Delta variant raging, the top public health agency said that even vaccinated people in areas of "substantial" and "high" transmission of the coronavirus should mask up. And it said that everyone -- staff, kids and visitors -- should wear masks in K-12 schools when the summer break ends.
The decision was taken in the context of new data showing that vaccinated people infected with the Delta strain can play a limited role in transmission, even if their chances of getting seriously ill and dying are still very low.
The announcement that masking is back for many Americans came as a devastating blow to morale and could have significant political implications for a White House that made ending the pandemic this year its signature goal.

Knesset nixes vote on bill to decriminalize cannabis

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310747

A bill to decriminalize the use of cannabis will not be brought for a vote Wednesday, after the coalition leaders failed to garner a majority supporting it.

The bill, put forth by New Hope's MK Sharren Haskel, was brought down mainly by opposition from the United Arab List (Ra'am) party.

The bill would ban smoking cannabis only in public areas, similar to the laws regarding smoking cigarettes. In all other places, police officers would be banned from conducting a body search, detaining a suspect, or arresting someone smoking grass.

Health Ministry to begin offering third coronavirus vaccine dose - next week

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310729

During a Wednesday morning interview with Galei Zahal, Professor Eli Waxman of the Weizmann Institute of Science called on the Health Ministry to approve the provision of a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

"You need to understand that we don't have time," he said. "We need to immediately approve the third dose of the vaccine against coronavirus, to start the campaign - and to vaccinate, at the end of the day, the entire population."

"We have proofs that the efficacy of the vaccine drops after six months," he added

 

Tzadikim- Ohr HaChaim (Bereishis 6:3)

 ויאמר השם לא ידון רוחי. G'd said: "My spirit will not abide in man permanently." This verse needs someone to explain it. Our sages have given numerous explanations to it without explaining the plain meaning of the verse. It appears that the Torah wishes to tell us that a change occurred in G'd's dealing with man. During the lifetime of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, G'd personally had rebuked man for any misdemeanour. When man's deeds became increasingly repulsive to G'd, He decided not to deal with them on such an intimate basis. 

The word רוחי in our verse therefore means "My Presence." Man had forfeited the privilege of proximity to G'd's Presence. G'd's Presence withdrew from man in direct proportion to his deeds. As long as G'd had confronted man directly whenever He had reason to rebuke them they were on the spiritual level of prophets. When man began to profane himself (meaning of החל in 6,1), he no longer enjoyed that status. In the course of time outstanding individuals, צדיקים, appeared on earth. These individuals succeeded in restoring a closer relationship between man and G'd. After the destruction of the Temple there were no more prophets; the most that remained were individuals who possessed a degree of what our sages describe as רוח הקודש, a measure of holy spirit. Ever since Israel's eyes closed, we no longer have even ריח הקודש, a holy fragrance, not to mention רוח הקודש. The absence of this line of direct communication from G'd is the greatest misfortune for those of us who thirst for at least a fragrance of the holiness of our Father in heaven in order to revive our spirits. The curse we speak about originated with the generation of the deluge. G'd supplies the reason for this in our verse. בשר בשגם הוא, man added to his abominations by adding the sin of בשר, adultery to his other sins. G'd hates sexual permissiveness more than anything else. As a result G'd resented having to communicate directly with such people.

 The characteristic of the righteous is that they refine the body to give it spiritual content. The characteristic of the wicked is that they do the reverse. They degrade the spirit making it the tool of the body. This leads to the destruction of the universe. G'd referred to this when He said: "My spirit will not find satisfaction in them forever more," not even in the world of eternity. This is because they have turned even their spirit into a tool of the flesh. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 108) states that the people who were destroyed by the deluge do not enjoy a life in the Hereafter.

COVID: Bennett vows decision on 3rd shot is near as cases top 2,000

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/coronavirus-in-israel-2123-test-positive-in-the-last-day-675016

 More than half of the current cases and two-thirds of patients in serious condition were fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry reported.

The rise in serious morbidity has been relatively limited compared with general morbidity. At the beginning of June, out of fewer than 200 active cases, about 20 patients were in serious condition. Today, with more than 13,000 active cases, 145 patients are in serious condition.
Health officials and experts are concerned that the protection granted to the most vulnerable sectors of the population who were vaccinated first has been waning. Most of the vaccinated people in serious condition today are elderly.
 
Most of the experts advising the Health Ministry support the move in principle, even though the debate has been very heated, since a third shot has not obtained the authorization of the US Food and Drug Administration or any other major health authorities, Hebrew media outlets reported.

In a major upset against a candidate backed by Donald Trump, Jake Ellzey wins runoff for Fort Worth-area congressional seat

 https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/27/susan-wright-jake-ellzey-texas-6-congressional-seat/

Gov. Greg Abbott, who had stayed out of the race, issued a statement congratulating Ellzey on his "hard-fought victory."

Ellzey wins US House seat in Texas in closely watched race

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ellzey-wins-us-house-seat-in-texas-in-closely-watched-race

 Jake Ellzey, the Texas Republican, won a special congressional election against Susan Wright, the widow of late Rep. Ron Wright, who had the support of former President Trump

"The Trump candidate goes down in TX special That’ll give folks something to chew on!" David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to President Obama, tweeted.

The Trump factor played out on the periphery during the contest. In 2016, he won the district by 12 points, and lost some ground to candidate Joe Biden in 2020, after securing only a 3-point win there. Political insiders say the race between Ellzey and Wright was a litmus test for Trump in Texas and perhaps a gauge of his influence in general.

At least 50 academics resign from CUNY over anti-Israel resolution

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h17ub1ard

Paper accusing Israel of 'massacring Palestinians' introduced in wake of latest Gaza conflict and stirs uproar among faculty; 'you have chosen to support a terrorist organization, Hamas,' Jewish professor laments

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

World Jewish Congress to Jewish CUNY profs: 'We have your backs'

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310671 

 The appeal to faculty to resign from the union was launched by Yedidyah Langsam, chair of Brooklyn’s College’s Computer and Information Science Department, who said in a letter to James Davis, president of the union, that the resolution made “many Jewish faculty and students uncomfortable with being associated with Brooklyn College and CUNY to the point of fearing for our safety.”

 

The pandemic is 'spiraling out of control' due to unvaccinated people, Trump administration official says

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/25/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html

For anyone who loves freedom and hates mask mandates or remote learning, Dr. Jerome Adams has a blunt message: Get vaccinated.  \

 "And it's coming because this pandemic is spiraling out of control yet again. And it's spiraling out of control because we don't have enough people vaccinated."