It took the panel roughly a half-day to convict Ray, 62, of racketeering conspiracy for his 10-year reign atop “The Ray Family,” preying on the vulnerable young friends of his daughter Talia at the bucolic Bronxville college. Testimony and evidence, including videos filmed by Ray himself, showed he systematically broke down down his victims until he controlled every aspect of their lives.
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
GOP laying early plans for its own Hunter Biden probes
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/06/gop-early-plans-hunter-biden-probes-00023230
“Hunter Biden has never been in office and isn’t seeking office. Donald Trump led a failed coup against his government,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees. “The Republicans are obsessed with investigating Hunter Biden and have no interest in guarding against another Trump coup.”
Study: Fourth vaccine dose improves protection by a factor of about 3
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/325294
A new study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined the effectiveness of the fourth dose based on data of over one million people aged 60 or older who were eligible for the vaccine, in the period between January 10 and March 2.
The study found that the rate of severe disease among people who received the fourth dose was lower by a factor of about three compared to people who only received three vaccine doses, and that this protection did not wane throughout the study period.
The rate of confirmed infection in those receiving the fourth dose was lower by a factor of about two compared to people who only received three doses, but this protection waned throughout the eight-week study period.
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Adam Kinzinger Slams GOP for Focusing on Disney Amid 'Genocide' in Ukraine
https://www.newsweek.com/adam-kinzinger-slams-gop-focusing-disney-ukraine-genocide-1695275
Representative Adam Kinzinger slammed the Republican Party for focusing on the recent Disney controversies rather than addressing their members who have "shown Putin sympathy" amid the war in Ukraine, accusing the GOP of distracting voters by riling them up for the midterm elections.
"The world order is being challenged for the first time since World War II and [the Republican Party is] sitting around today thinking about how we can win our next election, what the newest outrage is, what's the next thing we can do to get people angry and upset and get their money from them for our re-election," Kinzinger said in a video shared to social media on Tuesday.
Top US general: Potential for 'significant international conflict' is increasing
"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."
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
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
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.”
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