Blade, a NY based helicopter company which has made a name for itself for its luxury helicopter rides, is now saying that they want to lower the sound level on helicopters and private jets that shuttle between New York and the Hamptons. Photo Credit: Beta Technologies
Edited by: TJVNews.com
The New York based short distance aviation company Blade which has made a name for itself for its luxury helicopter rides, is now saying that they want to lower the sound level on helicopters and private jets that shuttle between New York and the Hamptons. The company has told the New York Post that they plan to achieve the cessation of noise pollution in the city with the assistance of a “newfangled, super quiet flying machine.”
Speaking to the New York Post on Tuesday, Blade representatives said that they had recently concluded an agreement with Beta Technologies to buy 20 “electric vertical aircrafts,” or EVAs, to add to its fleet in 2024.
Because drones are becoming the norm in terms of delivering items and now people to their selected destinations, they are now being utilized by Blade. The drones appear to be part helicopter and part private plane, with rotor blades in the rear and on the wings, according to the Post report. The smaller blades and electric engines of the EVAs allow them to fly without making an unbearable and total racket, the Post report added.
Blade Chief Executive Rob Wiesenthal told The Post, “Next to safety, being a good neighbor is Blade’s number one priority. We have been working on our transition from helicopters to quiet and zero emission Electric Vertical Aircraft [EVA] for five years. These new aircraft are near silent in flight and extremely quiet during takeoff and landing.”
Because excessive noise related to helicopter landings and takeoffs in Manhattan has been a growing concern for its residents and visitors, Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney has reintroduced legislation to significantly reduce noise levels and prohibit non-essential choppers to fly in New York City airspace, as was reported in the New York Post.
It appears that any new concept or idea has its own cadre of detractors and Blade’s new brainstorm is no exception. The Post reported that according to the group known as “Say No to KHTO,” which takes its name from traffic controller codes, Blade’s electric vehicles won’t do much to solve the problem of summertime air traffic congestion and noise over the Hamptons.
Patricia Currie, co-founder of the group told the Post, “You’re talking to someone who has lived under siege for 20 years, and frankly it’s too late for them to offer any remedy. It will be like locusts hovering above us.”
“I don’t see it [electric aircrafts] as a solution for this area,” Currie added in her conversation with the Post. “Far more environmentally-friendly options to the east end of Long Island are available, including the wonderful Jitney service and Long Island Railroad, and even driving.”
For his part, Blade CEO Wiesenthal said the new EVA fleet will be the first of many new electric aircraft in his company’s drone collection..He added that the electric vehicles will be more cost-effective than its gas-guzzling counterparts, as was reported in the NY Post.
The Post reported that although the company did not provide specifics, Wiesenthal estimated that traditional Blade rides from Manhattan heliports to NYC airports which generally cost between $95 and $195, will now be reduced to between $75 and $125 in the electric vehicles.
The electrical vehicle industry has become a national issue as the Biden administration has strongly advocated for its utilization and is putting aside $174 billion over the next eight years to support the industry’s growth.
The Post reported that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a recent interview with Yahoo News that it is “important to continue incentivizing and encouraging electric vehicle adoption. We got to make sure that electric vehicles are not just a luxury item, especially because the fuel savings from not having to pay to fill it up with gas will be especially meaningful to lower and middle income American car owners.”
Dan Verbin(INN) The Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University in Philadelphia is being harshly criticized for hosting an anti-Israel, pro-BDS event titled “The Weaponization of Discourse: Israel/Palestine, Antisemitism, and Free Speech on Campus” which bills itself as exploring “increased state violence against Palestinians.”
The center, founded, and for many years run, by historian Murray Friedman, who was a strong Israel supporter, is drawing rebukes from the Jewish community for running a biased, one-sided event that the Jewish Journal compared to the type of false information and lies spread by “Arab propagandists.” The center’s mission statement purports that its goal is to “understand American Jewish life.”
The program claims to be a response to the dispute between supporters of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, which has been widely adopted worldwide, and those who oppose it.
The keynote speakers at the event, include Professor Kenneth Stern from Bard College, who is in opposition to the IHRA definition, and Joyce Ajlouny, the general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) who headed a school in Ramallah that ran a program “Go Palestine” which invited teenagers from other countries. Ajlouny has in the past justified Palestinian violence by claiming that “feelings of revenge and retaliation” are difficult to manage.
Multiple US Senators have denounced the Go Palestine program for fostering extremist views and radicalization. Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called for a government investigation to ensure no funds were given to the program.
Other speakers include BDS activists, Nasser Ibrahim of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has been designated as a terrorist group by multiple countries, and convicted terrorists who were jailed by Israel.
(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
(AP) — The Biden administration is preparing to announce sanctions in response to a massive Russian hacking campaign that breached vital federal agencies, as well as for election interference, a senior administration official said Wednesday night.
The sanctions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, would represent the first retaliatory action announced against the Kremlin for last year’s hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what U.S. officials believe was an intelligence gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.
Besides that hack, U.S. officials last month alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for reelection as president, though there’s no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes or manipulated the outcome.
The measures are to be announced Thursday, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear what, if any, other actions might be planned. Officials had previously said they expected to take actions both seen and unseen.
The sanctions, presumably intended to send a clear retributive message to Russia and to deter similar acts in the future, come amid an already tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia.
President Joe Biden told Putin this week in their second call to “de-escalate tensions” following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border, and said the U.S. would “act firmly in defense of its national interests” regarding Russian intrusions and election interference.
In a television interview last month, he replied “I do” when asked if he thought Putin was a “killer.” He said the days of the U.S. “rolling over” to Putin were done. Putin later recalled his ambassador to the U.S. and pointed at the U.S. history of slavery and slaughtering Native Americans and the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.
It remained unclear whether the U.S. actions would actually result in changed behavior, especially since past measures by the U.S. have failed to bring an end to Russian hacking. The Obama administration expelled diplomats from the U.S. in 2016 in response to interference in that year’s presidential election. And though Trump was often reluctant to criticize Putin, his administration also expelled diplomats in 2018 for Russia’s alleged poisoning of an ex-intelligence officer in Britain.
U.S. officials are still grappling with the aftereffects of the SolarWinds intrusion, which affected agencies including the Treasury, Justice, Energy and Homeland Security departments, and are still assessing what information may have been stolen. The breach exposed vulnerabilities in the supply chain as well as weaknesses in the federal government’s own cyber defenses.
The actions would represent the second major round of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against Russia. Last month, the U.S. sanctioned seven mid-level and senior Russian officials, along with more than a dozen government entities, over a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.
In an apparent act of censorship, Twitter locked the account of Jason Whitlock, citing his tweet criticizing a Black Lives Matter founder for her purchase of a pricey home in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood as a “violation of the Twitter Rules.”
Whitlock, who is black, reposted a news story on Friday about BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors buying a $1.4 million home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood.
Just 1.4% of the neighborhood’s residents identify as black, and Whitlock sarcastically added his own caption alongside the story, writing, “She’s with her people!”
Although Cullors’ home purchase was covered by major media outlets including the New York Post and Grio, Twitter said that Whitlock’s tweet revealed “private information.”
“You may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission,” the terms-of-service violation message from Twitter explained.
Some may be surprised to learn that Twitter’s official policy is to freeze accounts that post private information about individuals, as many left-wing users on the social media platform regularly engage in “doxxing.”
Doxxing refers to the practice of revealing personal information, such as full names, home addresses, workplaces, and supervisor’s names, of Twitter accounts, typically for the purpose of seeking retribution over the content of a tweet.
After the Capitol Hill riots, left-wing Twitter activists regularly scoured the platform for the tweets of people who said they’d been present at the protests.
The activists then forwarded the tweets to the employers of the people who said they’d attended, and encouraged other Twitter users to join in, hoping to create social pressure that would cause people to be fired from their jobs or otherwise penalized.
Whitlock’s suspension is the latest example of what appears to be selective enforcement of the Twitter rules.
The social media giant came under fire for freezing the account of the New York Post in October 2020 after the newspaper had shared an unflattering story about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
At the time, the FBI had reportedly opened a probe into a laptop containing classified and other highly sensitive information that Hunter Biden had abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop.
Twitter even froze the accounts of people who shared the stories, including major Republican lawmakers.
After public backlash, Twitter reversed its policy, unfreezing the Post’s account and allowing users to share the story.
Heshy Tischler, known since his yeshiva days as Uncle Heshy — or just “The Big H” — is a community icon and South Brooklynite for his entire life. He is married for over 30 years to his wife, Linda, and has raised three sons in the South Brooklyn community. He is now the proud zeidy of one grandchild.
Heshy is known throughout the neighborhood as host of the Just Enough Heshy Show. Because hey — it’s never enough but it may be just enough. Watch his show at 9 o’clock every Wednesday night at 620 AM for news and talk about community issues.
Uncle Heshy is the gregarious uncle to more than just his 104 biological nieces and nephews. Anyone with a problem knows that they can come to the Tischlers for good food, a place to stay, and a caring shoulder to lean on. The Tischlers have had 21 children pass through their house. These include society’s saddest forms such as ex-felons who need a place to crash. They get a loving family, help finding a job and an apartment, and a lifelong connection.
Heshy as a Community Activist
Heshy grew up with a sister who has Down Syndrome. That experience has helped him emphasize with those who require medical care and constant hospitalizations. He and his wife Linda have been helping special needs children and adults for decades. For over 30 years, Heshy tries to make it to the hospital every day, bringing sandwiches and fresh food for the patients. He visits inmates in prison every two weeks, bringing good cheer and a smile to those forgotten by society.
For the past seven years Heshy has been involved with Rabbi Mordechai Fisch of Khal Sheves Achim in Boro Park, sponsoring and boxing food for 107 mostly Bukharian families. He helps out at Rabbi Ozer Babad’s youth center in Boro Park, taking troubled youths off the street and into a warn environment.
All this has led him to begin a political career three years ago, when in 2017 a City Council seat opened when David Greenfield resigned. Despite the lateness, Heshy acceded to urgings by friends and others to get in. The experience gained on the trail, hearing people’s concerns and how politicians have forgotten them strengthened his desire to get into public service, early this time so he could win.
When Mayor Bill de Blasio closed the parks earlier this year and refused to reopen it even with strict social distancing, nobody stood up for the hundreds of mothers who needed an open space for their children to enjoy themselves. Weeks passed, the number of COVID-19 cases dwindled, and the parks still had those ugly chains wrapped around the gates.
Finally, Heshy went there and cut the locks. I went to parks around the city — 19 in all — and opened them for those what it belongs to — the people. Children now have a place where they could safely play, adults have a place to relax and everyone can enjoy the open spaces.
But Heshy has been there for the community for decades. As a receiver for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, he helps anyone with housing problems. He helps tenants stay in their apartments when landlords try to push them out and helps landlords evict bad tenants. As an expeditor and a certified building inspector he has helped remove illegal fines from buildings.
“People ask me what I do,” Heshy says. “I like to say that I am a problem-solver. People started coming to me for solutions to their problems. When they realized that I was able to get stuff done they started coming even more. Shuls, yeshivas, businesses and centers that need help with government bureaucracy come to me and I take care of it.”
Heshy’s Agenda — for the People
Heshy’s long experience working with city government on behalf of people has given him a unique perspective on what has to be strengthened and what should be changed — or dropped entirely.
Heshy rose to national prominence when he restored ownership of New York City’s parks to its citizens. He will therefore be looking into reorganizing the Parks Department — there is too much bureaucracy there and not enough action for residents of the five boroughs.
The City Council makes way too many laws, putting additional burdens on our citizens. There are an average of two dozen new laws enacted by the legislature every month. We should be looking to repeal laws, not make the city a more regulatory place. There is also too much bureaucracy. Heshy will cut the red tape to make it easier to live and do business in the city.
As an experienced expeditor who has helped many people with government kn95agencies, Heshy will take a hard look at the agencies and whether all of them are need. There are 312 government agencies — some of them have to go. Heshy will look to fold five agencies into each other. Millions of dollars can be saved by merging the departments of Sanitation, Buildings, Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Finance, Transportation (DOT) and Health and Mental Hygiene.
Heshy also wants to reform a few big agencies. The Buildings Department, for example. This agency has no oversight whatsoever and they do whatever they want. They’ve been abusing residents with frivolous violations for too long. Heshy will reimagine it in a way that makes them accountable to the people.
The Mayor’s Task Forces are like unelected lawmakers — they have the power to shut down anything they want but are not elected. Heshy wants them shut down.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development. This agency is full of corruption and a lack of transparency. For example, it has a few commissioners that do the same thing, making them redundant.
In addition, there should be one inspector for all departments instead of having separate ones show up for the Buildings department, Sanitation or Health. All inspectors must be trained in the specific industry they are inspecting and have been licensed in the past for that industry. We can’t continue to hear of horror stories of buildings inspectors with no idea what a two by four is.
Heshy has fought all his life to prevent the frivolous nickel and diming of landlords and small businesses. In the City Council, he will craft and submit legislation to lower the interest rate and late payment fees for these fines. He will also create an annual amnesty for all fines, where people can pay their fines without worrying about late payment fees.
But here’s one fee he’s willing to raise. Heshy will work with the Department of Motor Vehicles to instate an across the board fee hike of $100 or $150 on licenses and use the money to pay inspectors to keep traffic flowing instead of handing out tickets. This will save us all money and aggravation. Only drivers doing something egregious should be fined.
Airports have no-stop rules in front of terminals, so should our major arteries. All avenues from Avenue J until Kings Highway should be closed to parking during the day and focus on keeping traffic flowing smoothly. To make up for this, the city should build municipal parking lots. Also, cars should be able to park in municipal parks overnight, beginning when they close at 7 p.m.
School buses are long and take up a huge amount of space, they should not be allowed to park on our avenues. Altogether, Boro Park, Flatbush, Midwood and Brighton Beach have about 1,400 buses riding on our streets, many of them with no parking lots to be housed at night. Schools should pay for overnight parking.
Heshy has big plans to help the district’s troubled youths, many of whom have no home. Based on his decades of experience with these youths, Heshy wants to add youth centers and drub rehabilitation centers to the neighborhood.
“I want to help the quality of life, improve living conditions and help parents better educate the children in our community,” Heshy said. “I want to improve the wellness and job opportunities of the men and women of the 48th District.”
There is a grand total of just two youth centers in the entire South Brooklyn. This is unacceptable. We need many more in order to get youths off the streets. We have only one drug center — SAFE — in the entire area. We need more youth centers to save our next generation. There have been 92 suicides in our Midwood community this past year. We must also bring awareness lectures on drugs and depression to our yeshivas.
Postpartum depression in a very serious issue in our community. Other councilmen have secured tens of millions of dollars to bring organizations such as SPARKS to their districts. We do not have that in the 48th district. Heshy will be a fighter for these needed funds.
Many women in the 48th district have careers and jobs. They need childcare to be able to go to work. Heshy will make sure that there are afterschool programs in our schools and yeshivas.
Jobs is the single-most important part of the 48th District’s economic engine. But many youths do not have a job. I have a plan to work with businesspeople to get provide city tax breaks in exchange for creating jobs. This will save the city millions in welfare and in means-tested benefit programs.
Heshy is a strong supporter of our yeshivas and will work to protect them against Naftuli Moster and his YAFFED group’s plots to make it harder to operate the way they’ve done for centuries.
Heshy will make sure there are enough afterschool vouchers and prekindergarten slots for the many hardworking men and women to be able to send their kids.
Heshy strongly supports President Trump and his Law and Order program. He will defend the NYPD against the Defund Police radicals and show them the appreciation they deserve.
“I will be the biggest fan of the New York Police Department in the City Council,” Heshy said. “I will fight every attempt to defund them or demean their lifesaving work. I understand that some minorities feel targeted by the police. To address that, I will call for a citizen-managed council to oversee the police. This will be an independent body made up of residents of each district. But police must feel that they are valued.”
The city’s 311 call center has been a failure from the beginning. It’s a waste of time and leads to frivolous calls. People should be redirected to their local community board when they call the help center instead of to a main switchboard that rarely helps them anyhow. Heshy will work to cancel the 311 call center and bring back something better.
Heshy has been visiting senior citizens every single week for decades, helping them and making sure they are cared for. He wants seniors to have access to wherever they want to go so he will work to expand the Access-A-Ride program and protect it from funding cuts.
Heshy has a plan to help get homeless individuals off the streets and into respectable housing.
“As a city councilman,” Heshy said, “I will be fighting not only for the 48th district but for the entire city. I have a proven record of fighting for the rights of everyone — of all ages, races and colors. As your councilman, I will be able to continue helping you, just now with better tools.”
(TJVNEWSCOM) President Biden’s UN Ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the National Action Network, founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, that “the original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents and principles.” She also championed Black Lives Matter, saying, “I remain hopeful in part because of the influence and the insistence of organizations like yours. Just look at the way [the] Black Lives Matter movement spread this past summer.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the National Action Network that if America’s going to join the UN’s Human Rights Council, we must acknowledge our own failures: “White supremacy is weaved into our founding documents and principles”
Watch the entire revolting speech below and remember this individual, filled with hate of her own nation, one who praises an insurrectionist Marxist movement in BLM, represents America at the United Nations.
F-35 (U.S. Navy/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon E. Renfroe)
By World Israel News Staff and AP
On Tuesday, the Biden administration informed Congress it intends to proceed with an arms deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slated to include advanced F-35 aircraft, Reuters reported based on communications from congressional aides.
The Reuters report also cited a State Department spokesperson, who confirmed the sale of F-35s in addition to armed drones and other military equipment.
According to that source, the U.S. was “reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials” on operational issues related to the weapons, with 2025 delivery dates anticipated.
Whether or not the U.S. will proceed with a munitions sale to Saudi Arabia remains to be seen at this point, with Congressional Democrats opposing that deal and the UAE agreement.
In January, the Biden administration put a temporary hold on several major foreign arms sales initiated by former President Donald Trump.
Among the deals being paused was the UAE deal.
At the time, the State Department called the “pause” a “routine administrative action” that most incoming administrations take with large-scale arms sales.
“The department is temporarily pausing the implementation of some pending U.S. defense transfers and sales under Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales to allow incoming leadership an opportunity to review,” the department said.
The Trump administration authorized tens of billions of dollars in new arms sales, including announcing plans to send 50 F-35s to the UAE.
That announcement came shortly after Trump lost the Nov. 6 election to President Joe Biden and followed the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, under which the Arab states agreed to normalize relations with Israel.
After Anti-Defamation League (ADL) head Jonathan Greenblatt called for Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s dismissal after Carlson was falsely accused of defending the white-supremacist “great replacement” theory, former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) blasted the “hypocritical” ADL for launching an “unwarranted attack” on Carlson which “crossed the line” and created antisemitism.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday, Hikind — a renowned Jewish rights activist who is also the founder of Americans Against Anti-Semitism — began by claiming the ADL had changed over time. “I think a lot of people are realizing more and more, by the reaction that I’m getting from a lot of establishment people who have reached out who have the same refrain, that the ADL has long gone off the path,” he said. “The train has definitely derailed. A lot of people feel that way who told me they used to support the ADL.”
“We [Americans Against Antisemitism] try to do what we think is right without looking at Democrat versus Republican,” Hikind explained. “We call things as we see it in terms of racism and antisemitism. I’ve gotten some of the strongest reactions from people who really were outraged at what the ADL has done. It’s not the ADL they once knew, it has changed completely and that it has become sort of an arm of the Democratic Party.”
“When I was growing up we respected the ADL. Even when [former ADL head Abraham] Foxman was there it was very, very different. I think there’s a real change that has taken place since Greenblatt got there and maybe the fact that he worked for the Obama administration and what they represented to a lot of people that he’s caught up in that and maybe he forgot that he’s not working for them anymore. It’s so obvious the role that Greenblatt has been playing for quite a while now,” he said.
“I’ve had a suspicion that Greenblatt may be aiming [for] some kind of job with the Biden administration,” Hikind said. “There was no need for what he did except to curry favor on the left. Because if he was consistent if he reacted to stuff that’s going on [on the left]… He wants to curry favor [with the left]. He’s a superstar for Democrats, liberal Democrats, progressive Democrats. Because of what he did they love him: calling for the most popular conservative commentator to resign, quit, to be fired. That’s pretty ‘courageous.’ It’s really just ridiculous. It’s insane and it’s so unfair and so unhealthy.”
Hikind also noted the left’s “dangerous” hypocrisy in holding blatant double standards. “Unfortunately, what’s going on today on the political left in the Democratic Party is this hypocrisy and double standard and that’s very sad,” he noted. “The political left, they’re the ones to talk about freedom of speech and the right to express themselves and not have to think twice, but it’s only when they agree with it. People should have a right to express themselves when it comes to Black Lives Matter in the streets, to even do some not nice things. But someone who says something that they don’t like or they want to interpret it the way they think they can get away interpreting it — ‘let’s crucify the guy; let’s destroy that person.’ This has become the new culture, cancel culture, and it really is very dangerous. It could lead to terrible things in my opinion. Very, very dangerous stuff.”
“It’s just pure unadulterated hypocrisy that exists on the left with so many of these people — I mean [Don] Lemon was raving from this whole thing. He is the most partisan, literally if I turned to CNN and he’s on I just turn away because he is so radical to the left, it’s unbelievable,” Hikind said.
Hikind specifically noted the ADL’s apparent policy of neglecting to address black antisemitism, despite it skyrocketing. “The ADL is obsessed with hate on the political right — it’s all the right and nobody is denying there is a problem but if you go back to about a year ago, right before the coronavirus pandemic, we had an outbreak of antisemitic hate crimes in the New York area like we’ve never seen before in my life,” Hikind explained. “In my 36 years in the New York State Assembly never did we have a period with constant attacks upon Jews and most of those attacks, almost all of them, we know who the perpetrators were because of surveillance cameras. We saw who was beating up on Jews [who were simply] walking down the street and being assaulted because they were Jews. It was unprecedented what was going on.”
“Did the ADL talk about the hate, the anti-Semitism, that was coming from the black community? Because the perpetrators were almost always black.,” he noted. “Now we’re not blaming the black community, but wasn’t that the reality? The people who were attacking Jews in New York on a near daily basis going back to that period of time, after Jersey City [where two were killed after assailants opened fire at a kosher market], after Monsey [where a machete attack at a Hanukkah party occurred], all these things that were happening in the New York or Tri-state area, almost all of those crimes were being committed by people who happen to be of color, almost without exception. Did the ADL say anything about that? Did they make a point of saying that we need to do something about this? To address it? Never.”
Hikind also accused Greenblatt of stoking the flames of antisemitism. “What I think Greenblatt did is create antisemitism,” he said. “I give him credit for that because I think what he did was so unfair. It’s not fair for people to look at Greenblatt — he represents the ADL, one of the most ‘important’ Jewish groups in America, at least one that people can identify — and assume he represents Jews. I think what he did so crossed the line that it gave an opportunity for haters to hate and there was no need for it.”
Hikind also expressed bewilderment as to what the ADL represents and how exactly its decisions are made. “Most people totally don’t know what the ADL is,” he said. “Who is the ADL? I’m not quite sure who they are. Is it Greenblatt? Who decided at the ADL that Tucker Carlson must go? What’s the process of democracy at the ADL to make a decision like this, to deprive someone of their livelihood because you think what they said is wrong? How is that decision made to do that? To destroy someone’s life in a sense. Who decided at the ADL? Does just one person make a decision ‘this is the way to go?’ Is it by majority vote? Of who? Of what? How does it work? Who decides? Does he have a group? Is there a computer that makes the decision?”
“Maybe reach out to Tucker Carlson and say ‘we know you’re popular, people appreciate you, maybe we could have a discussion, maybe we could sit down.’ Isn’t that the way they do that with people on the left? ‘Tucker Carlson? Shoot him. Hang him. Eradicate him.’ It’s really shameful from the ADL,” he concluded.
Despite his criticisms of the left, Hikind remains committed to the Democratic Party, though he describes himself as a “very sad” member. “I’m still a Democrat, a very sad and depressed one, but I still remain a Democrat because I want to say to people in my party, ‘What the hell was going on?!’ I speak as a Democrat, very disappointed in what is going on and the hypocrisy — that’s the worst. The hypocrisy. The double standard. When it comes to Jews, the stuff with NBC recently, with Saturday Night Live and a lot of other stuff that goes on in the left, stuff that you see and hear on CNN and MSNBC. I’m not talking about a different point of view, I’m talking about radical hatred towards Israel, pro-BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] sentiment. It’s just unbelievable,” Hikind said.
According to a report that emerged on Wednesday, passengers of El Al Airlines who had booked flights to the Jewish State prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in early 2020 have not received refunds for their flights that were cancelled due to the raging pandemic
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Seems like Israel’s national carrier airline is in some big trouble with passengers, According to a report that emerged on Wednesday, passengers of El Al Airlines who had booked flights to the Jewish State prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in early 2020 have not received refunds for their flights that were cancelled due to the raging pandemic.
Speaking to the Jewish News web site, passengers have been waiting for their refunds for more than a year. While El Al has experienced grave financial hardships over the last year due to the cessation of tourism to Israel and thusly were forced to conduct massive layoffs of their employees, some feel that this is no excuse to keep the money paid for tickets that were never honored.
Speaking to the Jewish News web site, El Al passengers have expressed their frustration in repeated attempts to get reimbursed for their cancelled tickets. The Jewish News site reported that the airline is offering two options for those that had flights cancelled before September 21st: flight credit worth 125% of the tickets or a cash refund.
Among those affected is Mike Mandelbaum, a charity chief executive who lives near Brighton in the UK. Jewish News reported that he had booked tickets for four relatives to fly from Luton to Tel Aviv for the Passover holiday.
He said he was owed $920 for the flights, which had been due to fly on April 12th of 2020. Three of the refund requests have been ‘approved’ – but he still hasn’t gotten his money back, according to the Jewish News web site. Mandelbaum said: “I just wish they would be straight with you. If they said it was going to be six months for a refund, then it’d be fine. But if they say they’re going to refund you and don’t, that’s not fine.”
Mandelbaum added that contacting representatives at El Al is practically impossible because a landline in the UK just rings without the benefit of an answering service, according to the Jewish News web site. The site also said that an automated WhatsApp number gives back messages in Hebrew. “You just go around in circles,” Mandelbaum added.
Another person experiencing difficulties with getting his money back from El Al is Nick Conway. Speaking to the Jewish News web site, Conway said that his flight to Tel Aviv with his partner was cancelled by the airline last year and he too has been unsuccessful in getting reimbursed. While El Al confirmed that they owe Conway approximately $1000 and that the refund was confirmed in December, as of yet, he still has not received his money.
“Right now they are offering flights to Tel Aviv but have yet to pay me back. It’s disgusting. They have the money. They are simply taking advantage of their customers,” he told Jewish News. When asked how the airline could improve its customer service, Conway replied: “They could actually have some customer service, that’s how!”
Another passenger who also claimed to have been adversely affected by El Al’s lack of communication on whether he is going to get a refund on a flight he booked last spring that was cancelled told the Jewish News that, “There is no customer service to call.” He said he had since filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation. “I’m very frustrated,” he added.
According to the El Al web site, they have been deluged with requests for refunds on cancelled flights and that they were gradually trying to handle the load.
“In recent months, EL Al Israel Airlines has been facing the biggest crisis that has ever befallen the aviation industry against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic,” said a website statement, as was reported by the Jewish News web site.
“The directives and travel limitations of the State of Israel and other countries, along with public health concerns, have almost completely halted our activities.”
Anticipating unrest as the Derek Chauvin trial potentially nears a conclusion, the New York City Police Department is weighing putting its officers on 12-hour shifts.
A decision on making mandatory 12-hour shifts in anticipation of the verdict might come Thursday “morning or next week,” the New York Post reported Wednesday.
Chauvin is facing murder charges from last year’s death of George Floyd in Minnesota, which touched off worldwide riots against social injustice and police brutality.
“We have been planning for this for some time,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told 1010 Wins AM-N.Y. on Wednesday. “You have to be prepared for any and all eventualities. We ask that anyone that may come out to voice their concern over the trial to do it peacefully and no property damage.”
Anti-police protests raged in 2020 and have been revived amid the Chauvin trial and another incident involving a white Minneapolis police officer, Kim Potter on Sunday.
Both Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon submitted their resignations on Tuesday.
Potter, 48, was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter for killing a 20-year-old Black motorist, Daunte Wright, during a traffic stop and as the nearby murder trial progresses for the ex-officer charged with killing Floyd last May.
The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said Potter, a 26-year veteran and training officer, intended to use her Taser on Wright but fired her handgun instead. However, protesters and Wright’s family members say there is no excuse for the shooting.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Hundreds of corporations, including Starbucks, Amazon, and Netflix, have signed a letter signaling their opposition to election integrity efforts in numerous states, promising to oppose any related legislation they deem “discriminatory.”
The effort, led by former American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault and Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier, both of whom recently led a group of black business leaders urging corporations to take a stand against election integrity efforts, has corporations vowing to stand against “any discriminatory legislation,” representing what the New York Timesdeemed “the broadest coalition yet to weigh in on the issue.”
“We stand for democracy,” the statement reads. “A beautifully American idea, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything”:
However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice. For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us. We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.
“Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy,” the statement continues, calling on Americans to take a “nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.”
Signers include Bank of America, Amazon, Estée Lauder, Eventbrite, General Motors, Netflix, Starbucks, Synchrony, Nordstrom, PayPal, Peloton, Pinterest, United Airlines, Twitter, Under Armour, and more.
Some, such as Coca-Cola and Delta, which spoke out after Georgia passed its election integrity law, did not add their names to the list, nor did Home Depot, as the Times reported:
Coca-Cola and Delta, which condemned the Georgia law after it was passed, declined to add their names, according to people familiar with the matter. Home Depot also declined, even though its co-founder Arthur Blank said in a call with other business executives on Saturday that he supported voting rights. Another Home Depot co-founder, Ken Langone, is a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump.
Coca-Cola and Delta declined to comment. Home Depot said in a statement on Tuesday that “the most appropriate approach for us to take is to continue to underscore our belief that all elections should be accessible, fair and secure.”
…
JPMorgan Chase also declined to sign the statement despite a personal request from senior Black business leaders to the chief executive, Jamie Dimon, according to people briefed on the matter. Mr. Dimon has publicly declared that he supports Black Lives Matter and made a statement on voting rights before many other companies, saying, “We believe voting must be accessible and equitable.”
“It should be clear that there is overwhelming support in corporate America for the principle of voting rights,” Chenault said.
While the statement does not list specific state election efforts, it follows the debate over Georgia’s recently signed election integrity law, which the left has inundated with misinformation, including the false claims it eliminates “Souls to the Polls,” thereby suppressing minority votes. In reality, the law expands ballot access in several ways, including by increasing the mandatory days for early weekend voting.
“The nuts and bolts of [the law] are this, it makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said during a March appearance on Breitbart News Daily:
The biggest — probably the top four things to me — is it replaces a signature match with a voter ID on absentee ballots. It secures ballot drop boxes around the clock It also requires poll workers to continue tabulating ballots until all votes are counted and then it actually — contrary to what the national media and those that are profiting off of this whole exercise of not being truthful with people — expands voting access, especially on the weekends.
A Rasmussen Reports survey released last this week revealed a majority of likely voters, or 60 percent, believe it is more important to make sure there is no cheating in elections rather than prioritizing making it “easier for everybody to vote.” Additionally, a majority of likely voters, including a majority of black voters, reject the notion that voter ID laws are discriminatory against some voters.
- Sarah Halimi was beaten before she was thrown off her Paris apartment building's roof in April 2017. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Halimi family
Edited by: Fern Sidman
Family members of a 65-year old Parisian woman who was viciously murdered by her neighbor in 2017 as he screamed anti-Semitic slurs will not stand trial, according to a JTA report on Wednesday.
In April of 2017, Kobili Traoré, a then 27-year-old Muslim man, savagely beat Sarah Halimi, (a Jewish woman and his neighbor), while screaming “Allah Akbar” (God is great) and other hateful antisemitic epithets before throwing her out of the window of her third-floor apartment to her death, as was reported in the Jerusalem Post. JTA reported that Halimi was both a physician and an educator. Traore broke into her third floor apartment and called her a demon and began to violently pummel her before throwing her out the window to her death, according to a report.
Previously, a lower court said that he was not responsible for his actions, however, since he smoked an extensive dose of cannabis that “affected” his senses. This decision has sparked outrage among the French and International Jewish community.
In its decision Wednesday, the Court of Cassation’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld rulings by lower tribunals that Traore cannot stand trial in the 2017 killing of Halimi because he was too high on marijuana to be criminally responsible for his actions, as was reported by the JTA.
The way in which the murder of Halimi was handled by the French judiciary has been a seminal event for French Jews who assert that it underscores France’s abysmal failure in strongly dealing with growing anti-Semitism in the country.
JTA reported that the appeals court said that Traore, now in his early 30s, had an anti-Semitic bias and that the killing was partly connected to it. But it also accepted the defense claims that Traore was too high on marijuana to be tried by a jury of his peers for the gruesome murder. The court ordered that he be placed in a psychiatric facility and his only penalty will be that he will be banned from visiting the site of the murder or having any contact with Halimi’s family for 20 years.
The CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities called it a “miscarriage of justice,” according to the JTA report. The founder of the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, a communal watchdog known as BNVCA, said he “no longer had full confidence that anti-Semitic hate crimes in France are handled properly.”
On March 4th, an article appeared on the Jerusalem Post web site by Sarah Chemla that quoted Halimi’s attorney. Muriel Ouaknine Melki, the Halimi family attorney said, “How can we have a ‘discernment’ that is abolished, but the remainder of a conscience?” She added that French citizens as a whole had an important stake in Traoré facing trial, as they would then be able to establish whether “the consumption of narcotics can be a cause for exonerating from penal responsibility in criminal matters.”
The JPost reported indicated that Ouaknine emphasized that French law more commonly mandates further penalties for individuals who commit crimes under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“I want to recall that for several offenses, for example the crime of rape, taking narcotics is an aggravating circumstance,” she said. “In willful violence, it is also an aggravating circumstance.”
In early January of 2020, France24.com reported that hundreds of French Jews and their supporters staged a protest rally in Paris calling for justice for Halimi. The report said that the protestors gathered against the lower court ruling at the Place de la Republique and the rally concluded at Halimi’s former home in Belleville in the city’s 11th arrondissement (district).
France24.com reported that nn the day of Halimi’s killing, witnesses reported hearing Traoré shout, “I killed the shaitan,” an Arabic word that means “demon”, after he threw her body onto the building’s courtyard.
According to the Guardian newspaper of the UK, Traoré told a judge that anti-Semitism did not compel him to attack Halimi and that he was not in his right mind. But he also said that seeing a Jewish candelabra and prayer book in the 65-year-old woman’s apartment intensified his mental state.
Georges Halimi, one of the victim’s brothers, told France24.com in 2017 that his sister and her daughter were often insulted in their building, and that his sister’s neighbor and his family would spit on the ground when she passed by.
Dr. David Fowler testifies Wednesday in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)
George Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm problem due to his heart disease while being restrained by police, a retired forensic pathologist testified for the defense Wednesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, contradicting experts who said Floyd succumbed to a lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned down.
Dr. David Fowler, a former chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland and now a member of a consulting firm, said the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd’s system, and possible carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust, were contributing factors.
“All of those combined to cause Mr. Floyd’s death,” he said on the second day of the defense case.
He also testified that he would classify the manner of death “undetermined,” rather than homicide as the county’s chief medical examiner ruled. Fowler said the death had too many conflicting factors, some of which could be ruled homicide and some that could be considered accidental.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson is trying to prove that the 19-year Minneapolis police veteran did what he was trained to do and that Floyd died because of his illegal drug use and underlying health problems.
Prosecutors say Floyd died because Chauvin’s knee was pressed against Floyd’s neck or neck area for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lay pinned to the pavement on his stomach last May, his hands cuffed behind his back.
Fowler listed a multitude of factors: Floyd’s narrowed arteries, his enlarged heart, his high blood pressure, his drug use, the stress of his restraint, the vehicle exhaust, and a tumor or growth in his lower abdomen that can sometimes play a role in high blood pressure by releasing “fight-or-flight” hormones.
Fowler said all of those factors could have acted together to cause Floyd’s heart to work harder and suddenly stop.
Previous witnesses have noted that a sudden heart rhythm problem does not necessarily produce visible signs on autopsy but can be inferred from circumstances such as a victim suddenly clutching one’s chest and collapsing.
Nelson questioned Fowler extensively about carbon monoxide, which displaces oxygen in the bloodstream of people who breathe it in. Fowler said it could have contributed to oxygen depletion in Floyd, noting that he was facing the tailpipe end of a vehicle. But there is no way to know for sure because, he acknowledged, Floyd’s blood was never tested for carbon monoxide.
Nelson similarly tried to introduce another possible explanation on Tuesday when he raised questions about excited delirium, or what a witness described as a potentially lethal condition that can include agitation, incoherent speech and extraordinary strength.
Several top Minneapolis police officials, including the police chief, have testified that Chauvin used excessive force and violated his training. And a number of medical experts called by prosecutors have said Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because the way he was restrained restricted his breathing.
Fowler said the prone position alone does not affect a person’s ability to breathe — testimony that contradicts other witnesses who said the position Floyd was in was inherently dangerous.
He also testified that Chauvin’s knee was not applied with enough pressure to cause any bruises or scrapes on Floyd’s neck or back. He further said that Chauvin’s knee on Floyd was “nowhere close to his airway” and that Floyd’s speaking and groaning showed that his airway was still open.
And he said that Floyd did not complain of visual changes or other symptoms consistent with hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen to the brain, and that he was coherent until shortly before he suddenly stopped moving.
“The bottom line is, moving air in and out, and speaking and making noise is very good evidence that the airway was not closed,” Fowler said.
Fowler handled a case similar to Floyd’s in Maryland in 2018, when a 19-year-old Black man, Anton Black, died after three officers and a civilian pinned him for more than five minutes as they handcuffed him and shackled his legs.
The family brought a federal lawsuit that included Fowler, whose autopsy concluded that the stress of the struggle probably contributed to Black’s death but found no evidence that restraint directly caused it. It also found no evidence of asphyxia, or a lack of oxygen.
Chauvin, a 45-year-old white man, is on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death after his arrest on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 at a neighborhood market. The video of him as he gasped that he couldn’t breathe touched off worldwide protests, violence and a furious examination of racism and policing in the U.S.
The defense hasn’t said whether Chauvin will take the stand.
Testifying could open him up to devastating cross-examination, with prosecutors replaying the video and forcing Chauvin, one freeze-frame moment at a time, to explain why he kept pressing down on Floyd.
But taking the stand could also give the jury the opportunity to see and hear any remorse or sympathy Chauvin might feel. He would be able to take off the COVID-19 mask that he has to wear while seated at the defense table.
The only time Chauvin has been heard publicly defending himself was when the jury listened to body-camera footage from the scene. After an ambulance had taken Floyd away, Chauvin told a bystander: “We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy … and it looks like he’s probably on something.”
Earlier Wednesday, Judge Peter Cahill turned down a defense request to acquit Chauvin, rejecting claims that prosecutors failed to prove Chauvin’s actions killed Floyd. Requests for an acquittal are routinely made midway through a trial and are usually denied.
The defense began its case on Tuesday with Nelson going straight to the question at the center of the trial — whether Chauvin’s actions were reasonable.
Police officers are allowed certain latitude to use force. Legal experts say a key issue for the jury will be whether the officer’s actions were reasonable in those specific circumstances.
A use-of-force expert for the defense, Barry Brodd, a former Santa Rosa, California, police officer, testified Tuesday that Chauvin was justified in keeping Floyd pinned to the pavement, saying Floyd kept on struggling.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, under fire for allegations of corruption, mismanagement and sexual impropriety, apparently made disparaging remarks about religious Jews, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The governor, who has served three consecutive terms, has also faced criticism over what some Jewish leaders called his singling out of the Jewish community for criticism during the pandemic.
In the latest exposure of Cuomo’s friction in dealing with Jewish constituents, the Times quoted witnesses as saying the governor badmouthed Jews over his attendance at at event celebrating Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles holiday, when biblical scripture commands that Jews gather in sukkot – temporary outdoor dwellings with tree branches for roofs.
“These people and their f*****g tree houses,” Cuomo said to members of his team, according to a person who witnessed it and another who was briefed on his comments at the time.
A spokesman for Cuomo denied the claim, noting that Cuomo’s two sisters are married to Jews “and he has the highest respect for Jewish traditions.” He has repeatedly denied the allegations of harassment, although in one case admitted his behavior may have been “unintentional” and said he apologized for it.
Cuomo’s success in office is “owed to the governor’s personal relentlessness, his refusal to give an inch,” the Times wrote, but noted that even President Joe Biden has said that Cuomo should resign if an investigation substantiates accusations of sexual misconduct.
“At minimum, Cuomo’s once-presumed glide path to a fourth term has given way to doubts about whether he will complete his third,” the Times wrote.
“I don’t know what he stands for,” Democratic state senator Jessica Ramos told the Times. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk passionately about anything but himself.”
Cuomo is being investigated for suspicions that he pushed for coronavirus tests for his family and close associates at the start of the pandemic when those tests were hard to obtain. He is also under fire for misrepresenting the coronavirus death count at New York state nursing homes after ordering those homes to accept corona patients despite the known risk the virus posed to the elderly.
Soldiers are seen before the main rehearsal of the 73rd Anniversary Independence Day ceremony, held at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, April 14, 2021. (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)
By Paul Shindman, World Israel News
Israelis celebrated the country’s 73rd Independence Day Wednesday in public celebrations after the coronavirus pandemic shut down all gatherings last year.
With over 50% of the country vaccinated against the coronavirus, the country has been able to largely reopen its economy and allow large public gatherings, albeit restricted to those who have been vaccinated or can show they have recovered from being sick with the virus and thus have antibodies.
The country makes an emotional switch from mourning to celebration, having marked Wednesday’s Memorial Day with somber visits to cemeteries and recollections of those who have fallen in Israel’s wars or been victims of terrorism.
“Thanks to the fallen, our nation’s heroes who are always with us, we mark 73 years of renewed life, 73 years of building the country, of impressive achievements, remarkable prosperity,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier Wednesday at the national memorial ceremony.
Independence Day ceremonies are being held in communities across the country featuring speeches, musical performances and fireworks, with the main event taking place on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem where members of the government and invited dignitaries launch the celebrations on national television – one of the most widely watched events in the country each year.
Thursday is a national holiday with Israelis by the millions expected to exploit the good weather to hold barbecue picnics, go on nature hikes and visit museums and beaches.
A highlight of the day is a national flyover by Israel Air Force jets and aircraft that traverse the country flying over dozens of towns and cities, while the Israel Navy will parade some of its fleet along the Mediterranean coast, with a special sail-by off the beaches of Tel Aviv.
Also on Thursday President Reuven Rivlin will host a reception at his official residence honoring the 120 outstanding IDF soldiers, with Rivlin saying he was excited that Israel has emerged from the coronavirus closures that canceled the in-person awards event last year.
“I see your excited faces and I am happy we can hold this moving ceremony this year almost as normal,” Rivlin said Tuesday at the dress rehearsal for the event. “You are the outstanding soldiers, men and women, of the IDF, with berets of all colors, combatants, support troops, intelligence soldiers. You are, all of you together, the beautiful face of our country. We thank you, and on the morning of Yom Haatzmaut, we will spotlight you as the best of the best.”
People stand still next to the graves of fallen soldiers at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem as a two-minute siren sounds, marking Israel's Memorial Day, April 14, 2021. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90.
(JNS) Israelis across the country stood silent at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning as sirens blared for two minutes to mark Israel’s Memorial Day.
During the siren, fighter jets flew a special aerial salute over the national military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, beginning the official state Memorial Day ceremony to commemorate the 27,086 soldiers and civilians who have died in wars and terrorist attacks since 1860.
“We mustn’t remain indifferent to the threats of annihilation from those who wish us harm,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the ceremony, amid the current tensions with Iran. “The defenders of the present tell the defenders of the past: ‘Masada will not fall again.’”
He added: “We must hold onto our land with all our might and with all our determination.”
Memorial Day was ushered in at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, as a one-minute siren sounded throughout the country, bringing it to a standstill.
The siren was immediately followed by the state ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Wednesday’s siren was being followed by the state Memorial Day service at Mount Herzl, as well as smaller events in Israel’s 52 military cemeteries and at memorial sites across the country.
The ceremony honoring victims of terrorist attacks will be held in Jerusalem at 1 p.m.
According to the Defense Ministry, since last Memorial Day, 112 new names were added to the somber list of those who died defending the country.
Of them, 43 were soldiers, police officers and civilians, and 69 were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications of injuries sustained during their military service.
The Defense Ministry’s figures include all security forces members who died during their service over the past year, including as a result of accidents, suicide, or illness.
Memorial Day will come to a close with a ceremony slated to take place on Mount Herzl at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, ushering in Israel’s 73rd Independence Day.
