Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Top US general: Potential for 'significant international conflict' is increasing

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/05/politics/mark-milley-ukraine-reaction-international-conflict/index.html

"Candidly, short of the commitment of US military forces into Ukraine proper, I'm not sure he was deterrable. This has been a long-term objective of his that goes back years," Milley said. "I think the idea of deterring Putin from invading Ukraine, deterring him by the United States, would have required the commitment of US military forces, and I think that would have risked armed conflict with Russia, which I certainly wouldn't have advised."

Ex-Russian oligarch says Putin only responds to force

Neville Chamberlain

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain

Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July 1940, which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the thirty-year rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in 1938 would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared. Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British prime ministers.[1]

Monday, April 4, 2022

Joe Biden Is Calling for Regime Change in Russia and This Time It Isn't A Gaffe

 https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-calling-regime-change-russia-this-time-it-isnt-gaffe-1694867

When President Joe Biden told the world from Warsaw on March 26 that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," the White House quickly sought to downplay the U.S. leader's remarks, noting that Biden's remarks were not a call for "regime change" in Moscow.
But Biden then told reporters he was "not walking back anything," and that his words were an expression of his "moral outrage" at the atrocities he believed a man he's branded a "war criminal" has been responsible for throughout the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The president doubled down on these accusations on Monday, after images emerged purporting to show massacres committed by withdrawing Russian troops in the Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Trostyanets. Russia has denied committing atrocities.
"You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal," Biden told reporters on the White House lawn. "You saw what happened in Bucha...he is a war criminal."

Trump 'Loved to Gossip' With Ginni Thomas About Who Was Disloyal: Grisham

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-loved-gossip-ginni-thomas-about-who-was-disloyal-grisham-1694487

Many commentators and analysts have described Trump's "Make America Great Again" or "MAGA" movement as "a cult."

"Sadly, the people who helped deprogram Ginni were also apparently involved in right-wing causes. As is the case with SO many former members, she was overly susceptible and went from one cult to another (The Cult of Trump)," Hassan assessed in his Twitter thread.

What we know about what happened in Ukraine’s Bucha

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-we-know-about-what-happened-in-ukraines-bucha/

The images from Bucha have led to a global outcry.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the sight of multiple civilian bodies in Bucha was a “punch to the gut”.

The UK said the “appalling acts” must be investigated as war crimes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the images were “unbearable” and that Russian authorities “must answer for these crimes.”

Germany has said the civilian deaths in Bucha are a “terrible war crime” that “cannot go unanswered” and called for fresh sanctions on Moscow.

In rare decision, rabbinical court rules a man is married - but wife is considered single

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/325198

In a rare ruling, the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court issued a decision last week stating that a man who publicly stated that the get or traditional divorce document he granted his wife was not valid would be considered still married and that he would be placed on the list of people who are not permitted to remarry until he granted his wife an additional get.

However, at the same time, his wife would be considered divorced and free to remarry. The couple wed in 2006 and had five children, but after a decade, the marriage fell apart. In April 2017, the wife left the house and filed a divorce claim with the Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, but from the moment the procedure began, the husband unequivocally refused to grant her a divorce.

Letter to Austrian Ambassador to the UK

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhgngwieeb1_iwVGIrXw_17ZAK0lysQvfyEOAPthguhFRN7Q/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3_O1retj3ACxJsYXWG3knJaW2VtqrJTTbn-DBsSVaZ955dvGoeyLr5gqc

Please find below a link to an open letter to be sent to the Austrian ambassador to the UK, Michael Zimmerman, copying in MP Liz Truss.

We would be grateful if you could sign this letter by completing the form below, and in addition, encourage as many others to sign and share.

Clashes break out between Palestinians, cops in Jerusalem on second Ramadan night



Palestinian rioters clashed with the Israel Police near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate on Sunday for the second night of Ramadan in a row. Officers responded far more forcefully, using riot dispersal measures, while carrying out arrests.

Handfuls of rioters hurled glass bottles, rocks, and other objects at a police checkpoint, as was the case on Saturday night.

On Saturday, police managed to contain the situation without using riot dispersal measures, while arresting four. One officer was lightly injured after being struck by a bottle.

‘Provocative incursion’: Palestinians condemn Lapid’s visit to Damascus Gate

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/provocative-incursion-palestinians-condemn-lapids-visit-to-damascus-gate/

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority issued statements criticizing Foreign Minister Yair Lapid for paying a visit to the flashpoint Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Amid a rise in deadly terrorist attacks and tensions across Israel and the West Bank at the start of Ramadan, Lapid toured the area around the Old City’s Damascus Gate with Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and other officials and lawmakers. “This is a difficult, tense period, but we have a police [force] that can be relied on to get us through this complex period,” Lapid said, adding: “We give you full backing.”

Corpses 'All Over' Streets, Yards as Russia Retreats From Kyiv Area: Report

 https://www.newsweek.com/corpses-all-over-streets-yards-russia-retreats-kyiv-area-report-1694506

As the Russian military retreats from the Kyiv oblast, the carnage left behind is becoming more visible. There are reports of civilians being shot to death while there hands were tied behind their back. Bodies of naked women were found on a highway and corpses have been spotted in yards, in cars and in the streets near the Ukrainian capital.

"Russians are shooting civilians after tying their hands behind their backs," wrote Anastasiia Lapatina, a journalist for the Kyiv Independent. "Dead bodies are all over the Kyiv oblast, on the streets, in cars, in people's yards. Mass graves are full of unidentified bodies. Many families will never know what happened to their loved ones."

Lawmaker falsely claiming Trump caught bin Laden perfectly sums up today's GOP

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/03/opinions/lisa-mcclain-trump-bin-laden-obeidallah/index.html

GOP Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan was apparently so desperate to suck up to Donald Trump at his rally this weekend in her state that she falsely boasted to the crowd of adoring Trump fans that the former President had "caught Osama bin Laden." In reality, bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, when President Barack Obama was in the White House and Trump was hosting the season of "The Celebrity Apprentice" featuring Gary Busey and Meat Loaf.

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Polio outbreak in Israel caused by lack of vaccinations - Knesset Health Committee

 https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-703081

The recent outbreak of polio cases in Israel has been caused by a lack of vaccination against the disease, Israel’s Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis told a Knesset Health Committee meeting on Sunday morning.

Eight children have been diagnosed with polio in Israel since a four-year-old child in the Jerusalem area was discovered to have symptoms on March 8. Since then, the Health Ministry has launched an extensive operation to detect new cases and bring up rates of vaccination in communities and areas where they are low.

During a Sunday morning Health Committee meeting led by MK Idit Silman, Alroy-Preis offered insight into the challenges that health officials are facing in trying to contain any potential outbreak of the disease.


“It is a challenge for several reasons,” she explained. “First, due to fake news, suddenly everything has a question mark over it. Even vaccines which we have had for years and which we’ve seen eliminate diseases, suddenly they are being questioned.”

Rambam rejects Chazal because he was a rationalist

 Shomer Emunim HaKadmon (1:13): It is quite obvious to us and is clearly stated in the gemora and medrash in many places that there is a power to names and amulets to do amazing things e.g., Shabbos (61a) and Yevamos (49b)…Rashba (1:220). Nevertheless, the Rambam denies that this is true and strongly ridicules those who believe in the power of names to do anything. We see this in Moreh Nevuchim (1:61–62). Thus, he does not find the testimony of the gemora credible. It is also known that our Sages received traditions concerning demons and witchcraft as is well known from the gemora and medrashim. Nevertheless, the Rambam decided that they are nonsense and stupidity and that all who believe that they are real but the Torah has prohibited them is a fool and idiot and is included amongst the ignorant women and children (Hilchos Avoda Zara 11:16)... Even though the issue of magic is mentioned in the Torah itself in a number of places - nevertheless the rationalists reject their validity and produce far-fetched explanations to these verses in order not to violate their rationalism. They are not concerned with the words of our Sages that are clearly stated in a number of places which clearly acknowledge the reality of demons and magic. Their rejection of these things is that according to the rationalistic understanding it is simply impossible that these things exist. This is the approach of the rationalists. They will simply not accept the validity of anything said by our Sages which contradicts rational human understanding…

Rambam (Tefilin 5:4) It is a universal custom to write the word Shaddai (Almighty) on the other side of the Mezuzah, opposite the blank space between the two sections. As this word is written on the outside, the practice is unobjectionable. They, however, who write names of angels, holy names, a Biblical text or inscriptions usual on seals, within the Mezuzah, are among those who have no portion in the world to come. For these fools not only fail to fulfill the commandment but they treat an important precept that expresses the Unity of God, the love of Him, and His worship, as if it were an amulet to promote their own personal interests; for, according to their foolish minds, the Mezuzah is something that will secure for them advantage in the vanities of the world.*A reproof to those who sell Mezuzoth to be worn as amulets ! 

Avoda Zara (11a) When Onkelos the son of Kalonymus became a proselyte, the Emperor sent a contingent of Roman soldiers after him, but he enticed them by citing scriptural verses and they became converted to Judaism. Thereupon, the Emperor sent another Roman cohort after him, bidding them not to say anything to him. As they were about to take him away with them, he said to them: ‘Let me tell you just an ordinary thing: In a procession the torchlighter carries the light in front of the torchbearer, the torchbearer in front of the leader, the leader in front of the governor, the governor in front of the chief officer; but does the chief officer carry the light in front of the people that follow?’ ‘No!’ they replied. Said he: ‘Yet the Holy One, blessed be He, does carry the light before Israel, for Scripture says. And the Lord went before them . . . in a pillar of fire to give them light.’ Then they, too, became converted. Again he sent another cohort ordering them not to enter into any conversation whatever with him. So they took hold of him; and as they were walking on he saw the mezuzah which was fixed on the door-frame and he placed his hand on it saying to them: ‘Now what is this?’ and they replied: ‘You tell us then.’ Said he, ‘According to universal custom, the mortal king dwells within, and his servants keep guard on him without; but in the case of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is His servants who dwell within whilst He keeps guard on them from without; as it is said: The Lord shall guard thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and for evermore.’ Then they, too, were converted to Judaism. He sent for him no more.

Zohar (3 266b)  R. Abba further discoursed on the verse: “The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and for evermore” (Ps. CXXI, 8). He said: ‘That God shall keep thy going forth we understand; but what need is there to say, “thy coming in”? For when a man goes into his house he is in no danger? What it means, however, is that he who affixes the holy sign to his house with the words of the Holy Name is protected against all danger. The one who dwells at the door of his house accompanies him when he issues forth, and when he returns it proclaims before him: Have a care for the honour of the image of the Holy King-all this on account of the Holy Name which is impressed on his door, so that not only is a man protected in his house, but God protects him both when he goes out and when he comes in, as it is written, “The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in”, etc. But as for the evil spirit that abides between the doorposts, woe to the man who does not know how to guard against it by impressing on the door of his house the Holy Name that it may be with him, for this spirit has three hundred and sixty-five assistants, one for every day of the year, which accuse him above and below, trying to mislead him by day and troubling his dreams by night. When he goes out they accuse him; when he comes in they place their hands on his shoulders and say: Woe to So-and-so who has thrown off the control of his Master, woe to him in this world and in the world to come! Therefore the sons of the true faith should be stamped throughout with the impress of their Master to scare away all the sides of the “evil species”, that they may be protected in this world and the next.’