After snubbing Tara Reade, the woman who made a very credible sexual assault allegation against His Fraudulency Joe Biden, the left-wing Time’s Up organization has decided to turn on Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in calling for an investigation of the credible sexual misconduct allegations made against the disgraced governor by a former staffer.
Earlier this week, Lindsey Boylan, Cuomo’s deputy secretary for economic development for a little more than three years, starting in March of 2015, added troubling details to her December 2020 allegation that Cuomo “sexually harassed me for years.”
The details include allegations of outright harassment and a lot of creepy behavior. Using her Medium site, Boyland detailed how Cuomo “repeatedly touched her body, attempted to kiss her on the mouth, invited her to play strip poker, and overtly objectified her.”
After that, my fears worsened. I came to work nauseous every day. My relationship with his senior team — mostly women — grew hostile after I started speaking up for myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top aides, but I could no longer ignore it.
On September 26, 2018, I sent a mass email informing staff members of my resignation.
The governor’s office has denied the allegations.
Naturally, America’s fake news media ignored the story.
Cuomo is already under fire for pouring the coronavirus into nursing homes and then lying about the number of deaths that resulted from his disastrous order. He is also facing allegations of toxic bullying of both the media and his fellow Democrats. And now he has a credible sexual harassment allegation to deal with, and not from a political enemy or the opposing party.
Adding to his troubles is Thursday’s news that the celeb-fueled Time’s Up organization will not, as they did for Biden, look the other way for Cuomo:
“Allegations of inappropriate behavior in any workplace are deeply troubling and should be addressed,” foundation president and CEO Tina Tchen said.
“We call on the Cuomo administration to conduct a full and independent investigation into these claims immediately.”
Time’s Up board members include Ashley Judd and Eva Longoria, two longtime Cuomo fan-girls.
Also calling for an investigation are New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, another fellow Democrat, and sexual assault activist Rose McGowan.
“Look, these allegations are really disturbing, let’s be clear about that,” de Blasio said Thursday. “When a woman comes forward with this kind of very specific allegations, we have to take it seriously.”
In a statement to Fox News, McGowan said, “I completely stand by Lindsey Boylan. Its truth leaks from every word on the screen that she wrote. She, none of us, should endure what she endured.”
McGowan added, “If they’re doing it to her, what are they doing to constituents? What is he going to do to what he considers the little people? It’s monstrous.”
Andrew Cuomo has pretty much gone into hiding and has so far not commented personally. It’s obvious he is counting on his allies in the national political to make this go away by continuing to ignore it.
Former President Donald Trump will be making his first post-presidential appearance at a conservative gathering in Florida next weekend, according to an AP report. Photo Credit: AP
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called his state an “oasis of freedom” on Friday during his speech to CPAC.
The governor, who has followed a strategy of remaining open during the coronavirus pandemic, welcomed attendees from across the country to the Sunshine State.
“We are an oasis of freedom in a nation that’s suffering in many parts of the country under the yoke of oppressive lockdowns,” DeSantis said.
“We see schools closed, businesses shuttered, and lives destroyed,” he said.
But if the past year has taught us anything, it’s that when there’s a will, there’s a way. And since G‑d certainly wills it, it’s up to us to find that way.
While Purim has lots of bells and whistles, we will first concentrate on the four mitzvot of the day, each of which must happen, and then move on to some creative ideas of how to bring the jolly cheer of Purim into our homes.
1. Hear the Megillah (In Person)
On Purim eve and again during the day (this year, Thursday night and Friday respectively), it is a mitzvah to hear the Megillah read aloud from a parchment scroll. If you can safely and legally make it to synagogue, then great. And if you have a Megillah scroll and know how to read Hebrew, you are also in good shape.
If you have a scroll, but are not much of a Hebrew reader, you may want to have someone stand with you carefully reading along in a printed text, which has vowels, to help you through the rough patches.
If you do not have a scroll and/or cannot do all that Hebrew reading yourself, contact your closest Chabad rabbi ASAP to make arrangements for a safe megillah reading, which can take place outdoors or through an open door or window.
If all else fails, here is an article on which (less than perfect) options remain:
If there was ever a time when people were in need of handouts, this is it! On the day of Purim it is a mitzvah to give charity to at least two fellow Jews in financial need. You do not need to leave your house to do this one. Send some cash to your rabbi and ask him to pass it on, or give directly to one of the many worthy causes who guarantee all money coming in on Purim day to families or individuals in need. For those unable to give locally, we have partnered with Colel Chabad to have your Purim funds distributed among the needy of Israel on Purim day.
Here too, the mitzvah can be done contact-free. Every female should send a minimum of two food items to a female friend, and every male does the same for a male friend. There need not be in-person handing off of the item, so sending through a delivery service or just dropping off a nice surprise at your friend’s doorstep are perfectly acceptable ways to do this mitzvah. In fact, you do not need to ever handle the item yourself. Asking someone else to purchase and deliver the gift on your behalf is just fine.
4. Have a Festive Meal
Sit down with whoever is in your pod (or yourself) to a nicely set table, and enjoy a Purim feast fit for royalty. Since Purim is Friday, things are a bit different from usual. Ideally we do not eat a full meal in close proximity to Shabbat, to ensure that we approach the Shabbat table with a hardy appetite. So the best thing is to have a big brunch, starting before halachic midday (calculate when that is in your area).
A time-honored favorite Purim tradition is to masquerade. During this topsy turvy era, where everything has been turned upside down and inside out, dressing up like a clown or Queen Esther even if you are going to spend the day alone doesn’t seem so crazy anymore. So dig up that old costume from the basement, or order something online, and give yourself some extra Purim sparkle.
As we’ve all discovered over the past year, friends and loved ones are only a mouse-click away. Planning to have your meal alone, or know someone else who is? Arrange to have your feasts at the same time over live-stream.
Beyond mealtime, make sure to call as many friends as possible (especially those who are isolating or who have recently lost loved ones) and wish them a joyous Purim. Not only will you make them happy, but you’ll become more joyous as a result too.
7. Make Kreplach and Hamantaschen
When planning your Purim menu, remember the two classics, both of which comprise dough wrapped around a filling: hamantaschen (baked sweets shaped as triangles) and kreplach (dumplings that contain ground meat).
The best way to keep the Purim spirit pulsating within you is to binge on Purim study, inspiration, and more. We’ve got boatloads for you to read and watch right here.
Even if you will not have many revelers tramping in, Purim is still Purim. The amount and style of decorations is entirely up to you. If you’re the type to go all out, you can pick a theme, make online orders, and give your house an extreme Purim makeover. You can also print and decorate these coloring sheets to hang up around the house. Even hanging up a nice sign or a few streamers can be enough to give the place a festive feel and remind you that today is not just another Friday—it’s Purim!
10. Don’t Forget About Shabbat
On the subject of Friday, it’s important not to forget about Shabbat. So between all the activities you’ve just scheduled for yourself, be sure to leave time for bathing, cooking, cleaning, and everything else normally done to honor the Shabbat!
At a public hearing in New York City on Tuesday, a vote was taken by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in which approval was granted for Project Commodore, a proposed 1,646-foot supertall skyscraper in Midtown East, as was recently reported on the Yimby.com web site.
According to renderings that were produced by developers, the building which is projected to stand at 83 stories high will replace the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 175 Park Avenue and rise between the 108-year-old Beaux Arts Grand Central Terminal and the 91-year-old Art Deco Chrysler Building at the corner of East 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, as was reported on Yimby.com.
The developers of the project are RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone and the designer of the structure is Skidmore Owings & Merrill. According to the report on Yimby.com, the skyscraper is projected to yield “500 Hyatt hotel rooms on the upper floors spanning 453,000 square feet; 10,000 square feet of retail space on the ground, cellar, and second levels; new elevated, publicly accessible plaza space overlooking the surrounding Midtown neighborhood; and 2.1 million square feet of Class A office space.”
The Landmarks Preservation Commission granted its imprimatur for the project earlier in the week and as reported by Yimby.com the decision to approve it was predicated on two critical advisory reports in the development of the project. In the end, it passed in the voting process with an overwhelmingly favorable vote on the architecturally “harmonious relationship” of the edifice with the adjacent Grand Central Terminal, as was reported by Yimby.com. In addition, there was a 10-0 vote on the improvement to viaduct passageways and the proposed 42nd Street passage that would help to more efficiently enhance the circulation of commuters walking among the ground floor, sidewalks, and subterranean levels of the complex, as was reported by Yimby.com.
The new rectangular concrete core for Project Commodore will be surrounded by four huge corner columns that will act as anchors for the superstructure. All of these critical structural components would have to be squeezed within the layout of this dense space upon the demolition of the 41-story hotel, according to the Yimby report.
Moreover, many of the textures and the choice of exterior materials for Project Commodore derive from and respect the architectural quality of Grand Central Terminal’s proportions, ornamentation, and iconic stone and glass façade, as was reported by Yimby.com.
Seems like WeWork’s Adam Neumann will be taking a significant salary cut. According to reports that are circulating the WeWork co-founder is discussing a settlement with SoftBank that would cut his payout from the Japanese investment giant roughly in half.
The Israeli-American billionaire and the office sharing giant WeWork were so miffed at Softbank when it jettisoned plans to buy $3 billion worth of shares from its investors last spring that they both filed separate lawsuits against the bank.
Before you state getting misty eyed over Neumann’s salary cut, the NY Post reported that a deal is close to being sealed that would put Softbank in a position where it would be on the hook for $1.5 billion of the amount listed above. And that would include about $500 million that will go directly into Neumann’s pocket, according to a report that appeared on Monday in the Wall Street Journal.
A person who is familiar with the deal told CNBC that Softbank (who is the majority owner of WeWork) would receive 10.5 percent of stock in WeWork from the company’s investors who jumped on board early in the game in return for a rate of $19.19 per share, which just happens to be the price that was initially agreed to.
In 2019, WeWork was not successful in an attempt at an initial public offering and as such Neumann vacated his position as the CEO. It was agreed upon that Neumann would bail out with a lucrative exit package. If the deal does make any headway, the settlement for Neumann would involve a cut of $500 million off the $1,7 billion that he was expecting.
As per usual, both sides were mum when asked for comments on the on the negotiations taking place behind the scenes.
The NY Post reported that Marcelo Claure, the executive chairman of WeWork, who also happens to hold a top spot at Softbank had said in October that Neumann would be required to forego his hefty fee for consulting services as he was in violation of “some of the parts of the consulting agreement.” That essentially meant that Neumann would not collect a cool $185 million.
What specifically prompted settlement talks at this particular juncture could possibly be attributed to reports circulating that say that WeWork may might to try its hand again in going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, according to a report in the NY Post.
For those not in the know, a special purpose acquisition company is a publicly traded shell company that hitches itself to another firm which then takes over its stock listing, as was reported by the NY Post.
The WSJ reported that WeWork has been in talks about joining forces with a SPAC called BowX Acquisition Corp. This deal could value it at roughly $10 billion. The Post reported that this figure is well below the $47 billion valuation the company was believed to be worth before Neumann failed at its first IPO attempt.
On the more salacious side of this story, the Post reported that prior to extricating himself from his CEO chair at WeWork, reports indicated that Neumann enjoyed partying and allegedly created a culture at the company that promoted such practices. The Post reported that Neumann also allegedly smoked marijuana while on a private jet. In terms of living a profligate lifestyle, the Post also reported that the WeWork CEO did not make substantial efforts to rein in spending at a company that was bleeding cash.
THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR TOM WOLF/FLICKR.COM/GOVERNORTOMWOLF
(TJVNEWS) Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) grilled President Biden’s nominee for assistant health secretary, Rachel Levine, over whether minor children should be allowed to have a sex change, being that these procedures are irreversible, life-changing decisions.
Levine, who is a transgender biological male and former pediatrician, carefully evaded Paul’s line of questions. Below is this very fascinating exchange which raises a lot of serious questions about the transgender movement.
transcript:
Paul: According to the WHO, genital mutilation has been recognized internationally as a violation of human rights. Genital mutilation is considered particularly egregious, because as the WHO knows, it is almost always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children.
Most genital mutilation is not typically performed by force, but as WHO notes that by social convention, social norm. The social pressure to conform, to do what others do and have been doing as well as the need to be accepted socially and the fear of being rejected by the community. American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent their biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics.
“Dr. Levine you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty, as well as surgical destruction of a minor’s genitalia. Like surgical mutilation, hormonal interruption of puberty can permanently alter and prevent secondary sexual characteristics. The American College of Pediatricians reports that 80-95% of pre-pubital children with gender dysphoria will experience resolution by late adolescence if not exposed to medical intervention and social affirmation.”
“Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?” Paul asked.
Levine deflected:
“Well, Senator, thank you for your interest in this question. Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field, with robust research and standards of care that have been developed. And if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I would look forward to working with you and your office in coming to your office and discussing the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine”.
Paul, visibly irritated, shot back:
“The specific question was about minors. Let’s be a little more specific since you evaded the question. Do you support the government intervening to override the parent’s consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and/or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia? You have said that you’re willing to accelerate the protocols for street kids. I’m alarmed that poor kids with no parents who are homeless and distraught – you would just go through this and allow that to happen to a minor.“
What I’m alarmed at is that you’re not willing to say: ‘absolutely, minors should not be making the decision to amputate their breast, or to amputate their genitalia. For most of our history, we have believed that minors don’t have full rights and that parents need to be involved, so I’m alarmed that you won’t say, with certainty, that minors should not have the ability to make the decision to take hormones that will affect them for the rest of their life.
“Will you make a more firm decision on whether or not minors should be involved in these decisions?” Paul repeated.
Levine repeated her last answer almost verbatim: “Senator, transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field…”
To which Paul shot back:
“For most of the history of medicine, we wouldn’t let you have a cut zone up in the ER, but you’re willing to let a minor take things that prevent their puberty, and you think they get that back? You give a woman testosterone enough that she grows a beard, you think she’s going to go back to looking like a woman when you stop the testosterone? You have permanently changed them. Infertility is another problem. None of these drugs have been approved for this. They’re being used off-label.
I find it ironic that the left that went nuts over hydroxychloroquine being used possibly for covid, are not alarmed that these hormones are being used off-label. There’s no long-term studies. We don’t know what happens to ’em. We do know that there are dozens and dozens of people who’ve been through this who regret this happening – a permanent change happened to them.
And if you’ve ever been around children, 14-yar-olds can’t make this decision. In the gender dysphoria clinic in England, 10% of the kids are between the age of 3 and 10. We should be outraged that someone is talking to a three-year-old about changing their sex.”
Feb. 22, 2021 satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. shows construction at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona, Israel. A long-secretive Israeli nuclear facility that gave birth to its undeclared atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, according to satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
(AP) — A secretive Israeli nuclear facility at the center of the nation’s undeclared atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
A dig about the size of a soccer field and likely several stories deep now sits just meters (yards) from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona. The facility is already home to decades-old underground laboratories that reprocess the reactor’s spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel’s nuclear bomb program.
What the construction is for, however, remains unclear. The Israeli government did not respond to detailed questions from the AP about the work. Under its policy of nuclear ambiguity, Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons. It is among just four countries that have never joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclear arms.
The construction comes as Israel — under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — maintains its scathing criticism of Iran’s nuclear program, which remains under the watch of United Nations inspectors unlike its own. That has renewed calls among experts for Israel to publicly declare details of its program.
What “the Israeli government is doing at this secret nuclear weapons plant is something for the Israeli government to come clean about,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association.
With French assistance, Israel began secretly building the nuclear site in the late 1950s in empty desert near Dimona, a city some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Jerusalem. It hid the military purpose of the site for years from America, now Israel’s chief ally, even referring to it as a textile factory.
With plutonium from Dimona, Israel is widely believed to have become one of only nine nuclear-armed countries in the world. Given the secrecy surrounding its program, it remains unclear how many weapons it possesses. Analysts estimate Israel has material for at least 80 bombs. Those weapons likely could be delivered by land-based ballistic missiles, fighter jets or submarines.
For decades, the Dimona facility’s layout has remained the same. However, last week, the International Panel on Fissile Materials at Princeton University noted it had seen “significant new construction” at the site via commercially available satellite photos, though few details could be made out.
Satellite images captured Monday by Planet Labs Inc. after a request from the AP provide the clearest view yet of the activity. Just southwest of the reactor, workers have dug a hole some 150 meters (165 yards) long and 60 meters (65 yards) wide. Tailings from the dig can be seen next to the site. A trench some 330 meters (360 yards) runs near the dig.
Some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) west of the reactor, boxes are stacked in two rectangular holes that appear to have concrete bases. Tailings from the dig can be seen nearby. Similar concrete pads are often used to entomb nuclear waste.
Other images from Planet Labs suggest the dig near the reactor began in early 2019 and has progressed slowly since then.
Analysts who spoke to the AP offered several suggestions about what could be happening there.
The center’s heavy-water reactor has been operational since the 1960s, far longer than most reactors of the same era. That raises both effectiveness and safety questions. In 2004, Israeli soldiers even began handing out iodine pills in Dimona in case of a radioactive leak from the facility. Iodine helps block the body from absorbing radiation.
Those safety concerns could see authorities decommission or otherwise retrofit the reactor, analysts say.
“I believe that the Israeli government is concerned to preserve and maintain the nation’s current nuclear capabilities,” said Avner Cohen, a professor of nonproliferation studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who has written extensively on Dimona.
“If indeed the Dimona reactor is getting closer to decommissioned, as I believe it is, one would expect Israel to make sure that certain functions of the reactor, which are still indispensable, will be fully replaced.”
Kimball, of the Arms Control Association, suggested Israel may want to produce more tritium, a relatively faster-decaying radioactive byproduct used to boost the explosive yield of some nuclear warheads. It also could want fresh plutonium “to replace or extend the life of warheads already in the Israeli nuclear arsenal,” he added.
Israel built its nuclear weapons as it faced several wars with its Arab neighbors since its founding in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust. An atomic weapons program, even undeclared, provided it an edge to deter enemies.
As Peres, who led the nuclear program and later served as prime minister and president of Israel, said in 1998: “We have built a nuclear option, not in order to have a Hiroshima, but to have an Oslo,” referring both to the first U.S. nuclear bomb drop in World War II and Israel’s efforts to reach a peace deal with Palestinians.
But Israel’s strategy of opacity also draws criticism from opponents. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seized on the work at Dimona this week as his country prepared to limit access by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency amid tensions with the West over its collapsing 2015 nuclear deal.
“Any talk about concern about Iran’s nuclear program is absolute nonsense,” Zarif told Iranian state television’s English-language arm Press TV. “Let’s be clear on that: It’s hypocrisy.”
The timing of the Dimona construction surprised Valerie Lincy, executive director of the Washington-based Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.
“I think the most puzzling thing is … you have a country that is very aware of the power of satellite imagery and particularly the way proliferation targets are monitored using that imagery,” Lincy said. “In Israel, you have one known nuclear target for monitoring, which is the Dimona reactor. So you would think that anything that they wanted to keep under the radar would be kept under the radar.”
In the 1960s, Israel used its claims about adversary Egypt’s missile and nuclear efforts to divert attention from its work at Dimona — and may choose to do the same with Iran now.
“If you’re Israel and you are going to have to undertake a major construction project at Dimona that will draw attention, that’s probably the time that you would scream the most about the Iranians,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a professor also teaching nonproliferation issues at Middlebury.
Dominion Voting Systems is suing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for $1.3 billion. This comes in the wake of other Dominion lawsuits against Trump advisors Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. All are accused of lying about Dominion’s supposed complicity in using the company’s vote-counting software to favor presidential candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
The company claims Lindell’s accusations “have caused irreparable harm to Dominion’s good reputation and threatened the safety of our employees and customers.” In the case of Giuliani, the company claims: “For Dominion—whose business is producing and providing voting systems for elections—there are no accusations [other than Giuliani’s claims of fraud and election fixing] that could do more to damage Dominion’s business or to impugn Dominion’s integrity, ethics, honesty, and financial integrity.”
Behind all of this is the usual logic of a defamation lawsuit. Dominion’s owners are concerned that Lindell, Giuliani, and Powell have cost the company money by saying things that could potentially hurt Dominion financially.
It’s entirely possible that Dominion may have a case, at least legally speaking. Dominion is nominally a private company. But will need to prove the usual elements of a defamation suit, namely, that Lindell et al. made false statements about Dominion and that they knew these statements were false. Dominion must also show it suffered damages.
Fortunately, this is very difficult to do in American courts. This is especially true for government officials and “public figures” of any kind. In those cases, a plaintiff must also prove that the defamation was committed with malicious intent and recklessness.
This presents a very high legal standard to meet. And rightly so.
In any case, a respect for freedom of speech would render most, if not all, defamation suits null and void. As I’ve noted in the past, defamation law opens a Pandora’s box of legal strategies that can be employed to silence people the regime and its allies find to be inconvenient.
In the case of Dominion Voting Systems, however, the company should not be able to sue for defamation at all. This is because Dominion is a private company in name only, and in reality is a de facto government agency.
Governments (in America) Can’t Sue for Defamation
In the 1964 case New York Times v. Sullivan, the US Supreme Court concluded:
For good reason, “no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence.”
The reasons for this should be obvious. Government agencies enjoy monopoly privileges and are funded through the coercive collection of taxes. Even the most blue-pilled regime sympathizer can probably see the danger that arises from also granting this monopolistic agency the right to sue people for criticizing it. After all, the liberal notion of “free speech” was codified in documents like the Bill of Rights primarily for the purposes of ensuring critics of the regime would be legally immune from the regime’s attempts to retaliate.
This brings us to “private” organizations like Dominion.
In its lawsuits against Lindell, Giuliani, and Powell, the company is proceeding as if it were just another private company. The basic claim is “we’re just a poor, innocent group of entrepreneurs being defamed!”
But “private” is clearly not an appropriate term for describing a company like Dominion. And “entrepreneurship” has very little to do with it. This is a company that is overwhelmingly geared toward serving only government agencies and performing what can only be described as government services. Dominion provides ballot-counting software and related services. Its only “clients” are apparently government agencies. As such, Dominion’s revenue comes from tax revenue. The company and its founders are not “entrepreneurial” in any sense except in the sense of a “political entrepreneur,” who seeks profit through government subsidies and contracts. The company does not interact in a free and open marketplace where real customers exchange money with the company in exchange for a good or service. Rather, taxpayers are forced to support Dominion through taxation, and taxpayers have no meaningful say in whether or not they “pay” Dominion. In short, the relationship between Dominion and the people who ultimately fund Dominion is one of coercion and exploitation.
In this sense, Dominion is like many other de facto government agencies which rather unconvincingly claim to be “private” in any sense other than the legal. One such example is Academi—formerly known as Blackwater—which supplies mercenary troops and related services to government agencies. The company was founded and managed by former CIA agents and other bureaucrats who presumably wanted to cash in the on the lucrative business of government contracts. Academi’s revenue has overwhelmingly come through these contracts, and as such, it is funded by the sweat and toil of the taxpayer.
We might also point to other “private” companies that cater to governments. This would include weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, or even road construction companies whose business plan is based around construction of government projects.
It’s not unusual to encounter engineers and owners from companies like these who make snide remarks about “government bureaucrats.” In truth, these people are only describing themselves. If their income comes primarily from tax dollars, they are de facto government employees.
Naturally, we could see the danger that arises from allowing these companies to sue their detractors for defamation. For example, given that Academi has been a key component of the brutal and bloody US occupation of Iraq, many critics have claimed over the years that Academi has murdered countless Iraqis. Are such statements defamation? A court could agree. Were Academi to sue such critics, though, the company would just be using tax dollars to sue taxpayers for daring to criticize an agency carrying out government policy.
This is also true of Dominion when it attempts to sue critics for defamation.
So, was Dominion defamed by its critics? Who cares? This should be considered of no more importance than whether or not the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is being defamed when critics of the Waco massacre contend that federal agents murdered Branch Davidian women and children. Allowing a government agency to sue in such cases would be a direct assault on free speech and the freedom to verbally attack perceived abuses by the regime.
De facto government agencies like Dominion (or Academi or Raytheon) should not be allowed to pose as legitimate private companies deserving of private sector legal protections. If they don’t like it, these firms can get in the business of offering real, voluntary services in the marketplace sans the taxpayer largesse.
Pictured at a 2012 competition in St. Louis: John Geddert, and athletes Alexandra Raisman and Jordyn Wieber. (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)
(AP) A former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar killed himself Thursday, hours after being charged with turning his Michigan gym into a hub of human trafficking by coercing girls to train and then abusing them, authorities said.
John Geddert was supposed to appear in an Eaton County court, near Lansing. His body was found at a rest area along Interstate 96, according to state police. No other details were immediately released.
“This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
Nessel earlier announced that Geddert was charged with two dozen crimes, including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The charges were the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor now in prison.
Geddert, 63, was head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. He was long associated with Nassar, who was the Olympic team’s doctor and also treated injured gymnasts at Twistars, Geddert’s Lansing-area gym.
Among the charges, Geddert was accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar. But the bulk of the case against him involved his gym in Dimondale and how he treated the young athletes whose families paid to have them train under him.
The charges against Geddert had “very little to do” with Nassar, said Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark.
Geddert was charged with using his strong reputation in gymnastics to commit a form of human trafficking by making money through the forced labor of young athletes.
“The victims suffer from disordered eating,” Nessel said, “including bulimia and anorexia, suicide attempts and attempts at self harm, excessive physical conditioning, repeatedly being forced to perform even when injured, extreme emotional abuse and physical abuse, including sexual assault.
“Many of these victims still carry these scars from this behavior to this day,” the attorney general said.
Nessel acknowledged that the case might not fit the common understanding of human trafficking.
“We think of it predominantly as affecting people of color or those without means to protect themselves … but honestly it can happen to anyone, anywhere,” she said. “Young impressionable women may at times be vulnerable and open to trafficking crimes, regardless of their stature in the community or the financial well-being of their families.”
Geddert was suspended by Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal. He told families in 2018 that he was retiring.
On his LinkedIn page, Geddert described himself as the “most decorated women’s gymnastics coach in Michigan gymnastics history.” He said his Twistars teams won 130 club championships.
But Geddert was often portrayed in unflattering ways when Nassar’s victims spoke during court hearings in 2018.
“What a great best friend John was to Larry for giving him an entire world where he was able to abuse so easily,” said gymnast Lindsey Lemke. “You two sure do have a funny meaning of friendship. You, John Geddert, also deserve to sit behind bars right next to Larry.”
Rachael Denhollander, the first gymnast to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual abuse in 2016, said she was proud of the women who stepped forward against Geddert.
“So much pain and grief for everyone,” she said on Twitter after Geddert’s death. “To the survivors, you have been heard and believed, and we stand with you.”
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testified on Thursday that militia groups want to blow up the US Capitol and kill as many people as possible when Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union Address.
According to Yogananda: “We know that militia groups that were present on January 6th have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union – which we know that date has not been identified. So based on the information, we think it’s prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities moving forward.”
Below is a post of her testimony, it is very noteworthy that no evidence was presented to back her claims
!! In her testimony before Congress, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman says militias tied to the January 6th attack have stated their desire to “blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon, in Washington. The U.S. military conducted airstrikes against facilities in eastern Syria, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, that the Pentagon said were used by Iran-backed militia groups, in response to recent attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq. “I’m confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit,” Austin told reporters flying with him from California to Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Elad Benari (INN) The United States on Thursday carried out an air strike in Syria against a structure belonging to Iranian-backed militia, two officials told the Reuters news agency.
The strike follows a series of recent rocket attacks against US targets in Iraq. It was approved by President Joe Biden, said the unnamed officials.
The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition troops.
“This proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with coalition partners,” the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, John Kirby, said in announcing the strikes, according to The Associated Press.
“The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq,” added Kirby.
He said the US air strikes “destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranian- backed militant groups.”
Rocket attacks have regularly targeted Iraqi bases as well as the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, since the US elimination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last January.
Former US President Donald Trump had warned the Islamic Republic against further attacks on American interests in Iraq and said, “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over
All told, seven people died in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. But only Ashli Babbitt’s death was directly caused by violence that day. She was a rioter killed by a Capitol Police officer, who fired the only shot by any person during the 4½-hour siege. Yet the story of who he is and why he opened fire remains shrouded in mystery.
More than six weeks after Babbitt succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the upper chest, authorities are keeping secret the identity of the officer who fired the fatal round. They won’t release his name, and the major news media aren’t clamoring for it, in stark contrast to other high-profile police shootings of unarmed civilians.
The secrecy has fueled Internet reports misidentifying the shooter as a Capitol Police special agent previously commended by President Trump for bravery. The false rumors have triggered threats against the officer.
Drawing on interviews with informed sources and available documents, RealClearInvestigations has put together a portrait of the actual shooter and the shooting, which some describe as completely justified and others call murder.
The officer who opened fire on Babbitt holds the rank of lieutenant and is a longtime veteran of the force who worked protective detail in the Speaker’s Lobby, a highly restricted area behind the House chamber, sources say. An African-American, he was put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation led by the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia, which shares jurisdiction with the Capitol Police. The Justice Department is also involved in the inquiry.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the officer has been interviewed and cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a preliminary investigation, suggesting that the police killing may soon be ruled justifiable homicide. But D.C. Police spokeswoman Alaina Gertz told RCI, “This case remains under active investigation.”
The well-placed sources told RCI the plainclothes officer has gone into hiding out of fear for his safety. They said he worries about reports that some of those arrested in the riots have declared “open (hunting) season” on whoever killed Babbitt, now a martyr in their cause. Twitter accounts have been created in her name, including “We Are Ashli Babbitt” and “Justice For Ashli Babbitt.” “An unarmed American patriot was murdered in cold blood! We need to know who murdered #AshliBabbitt!” proclaimed one recent post.
Melody Black, from Minnesota, visits a memorial setup near the Capitol Building for Ashli Babbitt in Washington, on Jan. 7, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, numerous lawmakers from both parties have hailed the lieutenant as a hero who saved lives that fateful day.
Most of the circumstances that led to his actions are still unclear. But video footage filmed by rioters shows the lieutenant, after taking up a defensive position in a doorway, carefully aiming and shooting Babbitt as she tries to climb through a smashed window beside a barricaded double door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, part of a pro-Trump mob of protesters. Babbitt, 35, had no weapon. She died later at a hospital. The decorated Air Force veteran, who had traveled from San Diego, was wearing a Trump flag as a cape when she was shot.
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt with cufflinks, along with a beaded bracelet on his right shooting hand, the Capitol Police officer fired at her from the side of the barricade, where he had been hidden from view in a doorway. At least from what can be seen and heard from the video, he appears to issue no commands to stop nor any verbal warning that he would shoot.
“That was an execution,” said Jack Feeley, a fellow Air Force vet and friend of Babbitt, adding that it “breaks my heart to know millions of people watched my friend be executed on live television.”
A former White House national security aide and Pentagon official agreed the officer appeared trigger happy. “It was an assassination. I’ve never seen a more clear case in all my years. I’ve seen EJKs that were cleaner than that,” said the former official, referring to an extrajudicial killing, or state-sponsored killing outside the formal legal system of a country. “He stepped into it [the shot] for [expletive deleted] sake.”
But appearances are deceiving, countered the lawyer whom the Capitol officer has hired to defend himself. In an RCI interview, Washington attorney Mark Schamel said his client did, in fact, warn Babbitt and other rioters to keep back — and that he did so firmly and repeatedly.
“It’s a false narrative that he issued no verbal commands or warnings,” Schamel said. “He was screaming, ‘Stay back! Stay back! Don’t come in here!’” He added that witness statements back him up. Schamel explained the lieutenant’s commands were not picked up on the video because it was recorded on the other side of the doors where dozens of rioters were shouting and banging against the doors and drowning out his words. And he said his client could not be seen yelling out the instructions because his mouth was covered by a mask he wore as part of COVID-19 protections.
Protesters clash with police, who deploy crowd control measures, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s not clear if the officer in fact warned the marauders breaching the barricade that he would shoot if they did not heed his commands. However, his service weapon — a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun — was visibly drawn. Some of the rioters spotted it through the lobby windows and shouted: “There’s a gun!” followed by, “He’s got a gun!”
Schamel said his client, who received his training primarily at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Glynco, Ga., was acting to protect himself and lawmakers from harm.
“He was acting within his training,” he said. “Lethal force is appropriate if the situation puts you or others in fear of imminent bodily harm.”
Added Schamel: “There should be a training video on how he handled that situation. What he did was unbelievable heroism.”
‘He Stopped a Potential Massacre’
He pointed out that the officer was the potential last line of defense between the rioters and dozens of members of Congress and staffers, who he said had yet to be escorted out of the House chamber by security at the time. (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other VIPs had already been evacuated.)
The Speaker’s Lobby is a hallway that runs behind the chamber and leads to exits on both ends, so the doors where the mob had gathered, which were manned by the lieutenant, served as a strategic chokepoint. Before they arrived, the officer had piled tables, chairs and other furniture from the hallway in front of the doors to create a barricade.
“He stopped them from coming through to the hallway and into the chamber,” Schamel said. “He stopped a potential massacre.”
Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin, who witnessed the mayhem from behind the barricade, said that although there will be questions about the officer’s use of deadly force, he “didn’t have a choice at that time.”
“They were trying to come through the front door, which is where I was at in the chamber, and in the back they were trying to come through the Speaker’s Lobby, and that’s problematic when you’re trying to defend two fronts,” Mullin said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “When they broke the glass in the back, the lieutenant that was there — him and I already had multiple conversations prior to this — and he didn’t have a choice at that time. The mob was going to come through the door, there was a lot of members and staff that were in danger at the time. And when he [drew] his weapon, that’s a decision that’s very hard for anyone to make and, once you draw your weapon like that, you have to defend yourself with deadly force.”
A group of protesters gather inside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, Mullin said, Babbitt was the first one to come through the door and the officer had to make a “split-second decision.” Tragic as it was, his decision to shoot the first rioter who breached the barricade was effective at stopping the rest of the mob from advancing. No other rioter followed after her.
Some critics argue the lieutenant panicked and should have waited for backup before firing. But those briefed on his account said he believed he was alone with no chance of assistance. He maintained he was not aware that three uniformed officers were posted on the other side of the doors, and did not know that a SWAT team armed with assault weapons and tactical gear was moving in to replace them.
Also, the officer said he heard reports of shots fired in the building earlier during the upheaval, and feared that the rioters on the other side of the doors had guns. But it turns out the reports were in error — the sound of glass being broken had been mistaken for gunfire. No other shots were fired that day.
He also told investigators he heard reports that pipe bombs had been found elsewhere in the area and worried that the rioters might be carrying explosives. Babbitt was wearing a backpack, which allegedly compounded his fears.
The lieutenant also said he believed his own life was in danger. It’s not clear why he decided to stand his ground rather than retreat and seek out reinforcements. Well-armed Secret Service agents were standing guard nearby in the House chamber.
Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman watches newly released video footage of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building during the second day of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb.10, 2021. (Brandon Bell-Pool/Getty Images)
In contrast, another Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, retreated when confronted by a horde of rioters in a stairwell, joining up with other officers who together defused the situation. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions.
‘Ashli Wasn’t a Thug’
In reviewing the shooting, investigators are examining whether the lieutenant used excessive force, and will also determine whether he willfully violated Babbitt’s constitutional rights — both of which could bring criminal charges. Schamel said he expects the investigation will find his client, whom he refused to identify by name, free of any wrongdoing. “One-thousand percent he will be cleared,” he said. “If he’s not cleared, we don’t have a country we want to live in anymore.”
A Joe Biden donor, Schamel also happens to represent Igor Danchenko, the “primary subsource” of the discredited Steele dossier on Trump. It’s not immediately clear if Babbitt’s family is pursuing civil action against the police, including a wrongful death lawsuit. Schamel said the family has not contacted him directly or through a lawyer. Attempts to reach Ashli Babbitt’s husband, Aaron, and other family members were unsuccessful.
In an interview with a Boston TV station, however, Babbitt’s cousin-in-law said Ashli should not have lost her life.
“Ashli wasn’t a thug. She wasn’t a rioter. Ashli was a peaceful person,” said Justine Babbitt. “She did 14 years in the military. She was not there to destroy the Capitol building. She was there to be heard and be part of a movement. Ashli was a die-hard patriot. Not a Democrat, not a Republican. She was for the people. Ashli carried around the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in her pocketbook.”
Justine Babbitt added that she is waiting to learn more about the shooting and why it happened. “I don’t know who’s responsible for Ashli’s death,” she said. “I don’t know how that took place. I don’t know how that cop responded. I don’t know. And it’s not fair for me to speculate.”
In another interview, Ashli Babbitt’s husband made a point to say she was unarmed. “She didn’t have any weapons on her. I don’t know why she had to die in the People’s House,” he told a San Diego TV station. “She was voicing her opinion and got killed for it.”
The lack of transparency in the case has fueled Internet speculation about her shooter, leading to a case of mistaken identity. Some conservative websites have falsely identified David Bailey, the black Capitol Police officer who in 2017 heroically shot and killed a Bernie Sanders supporter after he shot Rep. Steve Scalise and other Republicans practicing on a congressional baseball field.
Comparing video footage and photographs, the websites note that Bailey wears a beaded bracelet on his right wrist like the officer who is seen shooting Babbitt. But multiple authorities interviewed by RCI say agent Bailey, who is currently still assigned to Scalise’s protective detail, did not shoot Babbitt and is not a subject of any investigation. They say the 35-year-old Bailey, who was awarded the Medal of Valor by President Trump, wasn’t suspended and retains the title of “special agent.”
Former President Donald Trump, who will mark his first public appearance with a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gathering on Sunday, knows his speech is a “very, very important reset,” CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp said Thursday before the annual conference was to kick off in Orlando.
“He thinks about what he is going to say right until he starts saying it,” Schlapp told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.” “I think he is talking to advisers, people he trusts, trying to ask where should I go with this speech? He knows it’s a very, very important reset for him and for the country, and for half the country, and for so many people here in this ballroom.”
Stephen Miller, Trump’s adviser and one of his speechwriters, told Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow in a preview of the speech Wednesday that Trump will likely speak about the economy, opening schools again, and will “obviously talk about the immigration issue, which the president believes, I agree, is political suicide for the Democrat Party.”
Miller also said that the president will talk about standing up to China, bringing back our manufacturing jobs and that blue-collar working-class agenda.
Schlapp commented Thursday that Trump will most likely speak for well over an hour, as he has never spoken for any time shorter than that at CPAC.
But, Schlapp said that even with Miller’s preview, Trump’s speech can change up until when he starts talking Sunday.
Schlapp also addressed the Republicans’ divisions, after some party members have broken with the former president following the riot at the Capitol, saying that CPAC has played a role with Trump that he would not have predicted back when the former president first announced his candidacy.
“One of the reasons he was a great conservative president is because people just didn’t immediately go on the attack like so many establishment Republicans did,” said Schlapp. “They never really liked Donald Trump. They liked his policies but then they thought they could shove him off the stage. My message to the establishment Republicans, you don’t have to like Trump to love his policies. You should love the millions of people he brought to this coalition.”
Also, said Schlapp, there are “MAGA supporters who might not have the same perfect philosophy other conservatives want them to have (but) they gravitated to (Trump) and love our movement. I want to grow this coalition. Anybody who wants to hurt this coalition, I think, is making a critical mistake.”
Long before the novel coronavirus made masks a fashionable part of respectable wardrobe, the custom developed to wear masks on the holiday of Purim. Jewish mask-wearing even predates the establishment of Purim, as the Bible reports that when Moses descended from Mount Sinai, his face shone with a strong light, and he covered his face with a “mask” (see Ex. 34:29-35). The Hebrew word used to denote Moses’ mask is masveh. In this essay we will explore the etymology of the Biblical Hebrew word masveh, as well as the Modern Hebrew word masechah, which also means “mask.” But first, let’s explore the word originally used in connection with the custom of wearing masks on Purim.
The earliest halachic authorities who mention the custom of wearing a mask on Purim refer to the practice as wearing partzufim, wearing “faces.” This wording is found in the response of Mahari Mintz 17, the Rema to Orach Chaim 696:8, and in Rabbi Yuzpa Shamash’s account of the old traditions of the Jewish community in Worms.
The Hebrew word partzuf — which appears once in the Mishnah (Yevamot 16:3), plus numerous other times throughout the Talmud and Midrashim — and the Aramaic word partzufa are actually Greek loanwords. The original Greek word, prosopon, literally means “facing the eyes,” as pros means “toward” and ops means “eye” (think of optometry or optical). Thus, the originally custom was for people “to wear ‘faces’ on their faces” on Purim. Interestingly, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Latin persona (“mask used by an actor”) also derives from the Greek word prosopon, and is the etymological ancestor of the English word person.
Now we can talk about the Biblical Hebrew word for “mask.” Masveh appears only three times in the entire Bible — all of these in the verses mentioning the “mask” that Moses used to cover his face. Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Parchon (the 12th century compiler of the Machberet HeAruch lexicon) more specifically defines masveh as a fabric placed over the face that has holes for the eyes, nose and mouth. He follows early grammarians like Rabbi Yehuda Chayyuj (945-1000), Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach (990-1055), and Radak (1160-1235) in understanding masveh as the only word derived from the triliteral root SAMECH-VAV-HEY. However, Rashi suggests that the word masveh comes from Aramaic, as he finds apparent cognates of this word in the Talmud (Ketuvot 60a, 62b).
That said, other commentators find that there is another Biblical word derived from the same root as masveh. When Jacob blessed his son Judah, he said: “…he shall launder his garments in wine, and his clothing (suto), in the blood of grapes” (Gen. 49:11). Rashbam (to Ex. 34:33), Ibn Ezra (to Gen. 49:69, Ex. 34:33) and Chizkuni (there) all write that the word suto cognates with masveh. In fact, Menachem Ibn Saruk (920-970) in Machberet Menachem classifies both suto and masveh as derivatives of the monoliteral root SAMECH. Thus, the literal meaning of masveh is actually “clothing” or “fabric.” (The word sutot in the sense of “fabric” appears in the Mishna (Keilim 16:7), and Maimonides (in his commentary to the Mishna there) connects that word to the Biblical suto. Interestingly, Menachem’s famous interlocutor, named Donash Ibn Labrat (920-990), argues that suto means kesuto — “his covering” — with the letter KAF missing for some odd reason.)
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Brelsau (1740-1814) writes that the words masveh/suto are related to the Hebrew word stav (“autumn” or “fall”) and refer to soft, spongy fabrics worn to insulate oneself from the cold weather. Alternatively, he explains that those two words refer to fabrics placed on top of one’s clothes so that they do not get dirty (something commonly done during the season of stav).
When Rabbi Ephraim Lenchitz (1550-1619) discusses the Ashkenazi custom of wearing masks on Purim, he actually uses the word masveh, while Rabbi Zerach Eidlitz (1725-1780) uses both the words partzuf and masveh.
The Modern Hebrew word masechah (“mask”) actually appears in the Bible, but means something totally different. The Biblical term masechah refers to molten metal that was fashioned into a certain shape. For example, the Bible uses the term egel masechah (literally, “molten calf”) when referring to the Golden Calf (Ex. 32:4, 32:8, Deut. 9:16, and Nechemia 9:18). According to Ibn Janach and the Radak, the root of this word is NUN-SAMECH-KAF (nesech), which primarily refers to “pouring,” since metal heated to high temperatures becomes ‘liquidy,’ and therefore pourable. Other meanings derived from this root include “hiding” or “covering,” and those meanings seem to be the semantic basis for masechah in the sense of “mask” — as a mask covers or hides one’s face.
Another way of understanding the etymology of masechah is by tying it to the Biblical root MEM-SAMECH-KAF, which means “mixture,” both in the sense of mixing liquids (e.g., Isa. 5:22, Prov. 9:2, 9:5) and in the sense of mixing threads to create a fabric (as in masach, “curtain” or masechet in Judges 16:13-14). The Mishnaic Hebrew word masechet similarly refers to the woof threads that run across a woven fabric (see Rabbeinu Chananel to Shabbat 59b, Maimonides to Keilim 21:1, and the Rash to Negaim 11:9). If the etymology of masechah as “mask” lies in this root, then masechah and masveh closely resemble each other. (MEM-SAMECH-KAF seems to be congruent with the more familiar root that means “to mix” or “dilute,” MEM-ZAYIN-GIMMEL. That congruency is based on the interchangeability of the letters SAMECH with ZAYIN, and KAF with GIMMEL.)
Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein (1899-1983) and Avraham Even-Shoshan (1906-1984) add that the Modern Hebrew masechah as “mask” also developed from phonetically-similar words in foreign languages, namely, mask in English, masque in French, and maskhara in Arabic.
Another related word is masechet in the sense of a “tractate” (like tractates of the Mishna or within the halachic Midrashim). Sefer Chassidim (929) writes that masechet in this sense derives from the Biblical word masechet (Judges 16:13-14), which means “interwoven fabric,” because a masechet refers to the tapestry of rabbinic rulings on a given topic that are culled together into one work. In his introduction to Tosefot Yom Tov, Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (1579-1617) writes that the word masechet is related to the Biblical phrase maschah yeynah (“she mixed her wine”) that appears in Proverbs 9:2, as a masechet comprises a “mixture” of various laws. Interestingly, Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia (1606-1675) suggests that the root of the word masechet is SAMECH-KAF, which means “to listen” (as in hasket, Deut. 27:9), since “listening” is the core mechanism by which the Oral Torah — typified by the Mishna — is transmitted.
The Talmud (Megillah 12a) explains that the Jews in the time of Ahasuerus deserved to be destroyed because they had previously bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. However, the Talmud clarifies that since the Jewish People did not actually forsake G-d by bowing to those idols, but rather did so out of fear, they did not really deserve to be destroyed. Instead, just as they only superficially worshipped idolatry, while on the inside remained loyal to G-d, so too did they deserve to undergo an ordeal whereby they would appear to be doomed to destruction on the surface, while in practice they would not end up being destroyed. Indeed, the Talmud elsewhere (Chullin 139b) characterizes the story of Purim as G-d hiding “His face” (Deut. 31:18) from the Jewish People, as though He wore a mask that concealed His true plans.
Based on this explanation, Rabbi Moshe Chagiz (1671-1750) writes that the custom of wearing masks on Purim (which he calls partzufim) mimics the way G-d treated the Jewish People in the story of Purim: He put up a façade of planning to the destroy the Jewish People, while really, on the inside, He had no such intentions.
Just when we thought we were literally turning the corner of the infection rate due to the Covid-19 virus with the advent of several highly effective vaccines, it appears that New Yorkers are heading for yey another challenge in keep themselves safe.
According to a report in the NY Times, a worrisome mutation of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading in the New York City area and beyond, Two teams of researchers, according to the NYT report have said that the virus variant may result in a weakening of the vaccines that are now on the market.
First appearing in New York City in samples collected in November, the new variant is called B.1.526, The Times reported that one study of the new variant, led by a group at Caltech, was posted online on Tuesday. The other, by researchers at Columbia University, was published on Thursday morning.
By the middle of February, the Times reported that the variant accounted for about one in four viral sequences appearing in a database shared by scientists.
The aforementioned studies of the variant were not as yet published in a scientific journal, nor were they subjected to peer review, according to the NYT report. Experts and virologists do say, however, that the consistent results indicate that the spread of the variant is real.
Also on Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, urged Americans to get vaccinated and to take whatever vaccine they can get first, indicating the level of gravitas being assigned to the spreading variant.
Speaking to the NY Times, Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University who was not involved in the new research said of the variant, “It’s not particularly happy news. But just knowing about it is good because then we can perhaps do something about it.”
While California is also experiencing a quickly spreading variant of the virus. Dr. Nussenzweig said he was more worried about the variant in New York, as was reported in the NY Times.
By the end of March, experts predict that yet another contagious new variant, which was discovered in the UK will become the most widespread form of the coronavirus, to date. The Times reported that it now accounts for about 2000 cases in 45 states across the country.
Researchers have been meticulously examining genetic sequences of the virus taken from a small proportion of infected people to chart the emergence of new versions, according to the NYT report.
“We observed a steady increase in the detection rate from late December to mid-February, with an alarming rise to 12.7% in the past two weeks,” one team, at Columbia University Medical Center, write in a report that has yet to be published, although it is scheduled to appear in pre-print version this week, according to a CNN report.
In an e-mail sent to CNN. Dr. David Ho, Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia said, “It’s home grown, presumably in New York.”
CNN reported that “the mutation in this variant that most concerns researchers is called E484K and it gives the virus the ability to slip past some of the body’s immune response, as well as the authorized monoclonal antibody treatments. This mutation is popping up independently in many different cases but appears in one particular variant, as well — the one called B.1.526.”
“There was a pattern that was recurring, and a group of isolates concentrated in the New York region that I hadn’t seen,” said Anthony West, a computational biologist at Caltech, according to the NYT report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to the media during a visit to the Fitness gym ahead of the re-opening of the branch in Petah Tikva, Israel. Israel's attorney general says a plan by Netanyahu to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to diplomatic allies has been frozen. In a statement, Thursday, Feb. 25, the attorney general says he's conducting a legal review in response to queries from various officials. (AP Photo/Tal Shahar, Yediot Ahronot, Pool, File)
(AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plan to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to a group of allied nations was frozen Thursday following a legal challenge to the deal, his office announced.
It was the latest twist in a saga that has raised questions at home about Netanyahu’s decision-making authority as well as his move to help far-flung nations in Africa and Latin America at a time when the neighboring Palestinian territories are struggling to secure their own vaccine supplies. The plan has also illustrated how at a time of global shortages, the vaccine has become an asset that can be used for diplomatic gain.
Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he had personally decided to share small quantities of surplus Israeli vaccines with allied nations. He did not identify the countries, but an Israeli TV station said they included a number of nations that have supported Israel’s claims to the contested city of Jerusalem as its capital.
Netanyahu’s governing partner and rival, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, on Thursday called for a halt in the shipments, saying Israel’s stockpile of vaccines is the property of the state. He attacked the prime minister’s go-it-alone approach and questioned Netanyahu’s claims that there are really excess supplies when Israelis still have not been fully vaccinated.
“This is not the first time that significant defense and diplomatic decisions are being made behind the backs of the relevant bodies, while possibly damaging our national security, our foreign relations, and the rule of law,” Gantz wrote. “This is a pattern which impinges upon our ability to manage the country soundly.”
He demanded the matter be brought before the country’s Security Cabinet for discussions and said he had asked the attorney general for an opinion.
Late Thursday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said he had received a number of requests to review Netanyahu’s decision. One of those requests, he said, came from Netanyahu’s national security adviser, who told him he had been instructed to “freeze any action on the matter.”
An official in Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the national security adviser had asked for the delay in response to the legal challenge. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to the media.
Despite the freeze, Israel’s Army radio station reported that one delivery had already landed in Honduras.
Netanyahu, who is up for reelection on March 23, has staked his political success on Israel’s successful vaccination drive, in which about half of the country’s 9.3 million people have been inoculated in just under two months.
Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, told army radio that Gantz was jealous “of Netanyahu’s achievements” and said Israel had more than enough vaccines to share with friends. He described the mission as a “strategic and political move at zero cost.”
Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel has hundreds of thousands of surplus vaccines. He said some extras were being shared in response to requests from allies as a mostly symbolic thank-you “in return for things we already have received.”
The revelation was striking because Israel has received widespread international condemnation for sharing only a small fraction of virus-fighting shots with the Palestinians. Israeli this month shared just 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine with the Palestinian Authority to immunize front-line medical workers.
“As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control,” tweeted U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It is outrageous that Netanyahu would use spare vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians in the occupied territories are still waiting.”
U.N. officials and human rights groups say Israel is an occupying power responsible for the well-being of the Palestinians. Israel says that under interim peace accords from the 1990s it has no such obligations. It notes that it has vaccinated its own Arab population, including Palestinians who live in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
A list obtained by an Israeli TV station included a number of nations that have supported Israel’s claim to Jerusalem, including Honduras, Guatemala and the Czech Republic. African countries with close or budding relations with Israel also appeared, including Chad, Mauritania, Uganda and Kenya.
In his letter, Gantz noted that the decision to share vaccines with the Palestinians was made after consultations involving various government ministries. He said he could not understand why Netanyahu’s latest move was “never broached in relevant forums.”
Gantz and Netanyahu are fierce rivals who battled to stalemates in three consecutive elections before agreeing last year to form an emergency government.
Their power-sharing arrangement was beset by mutual distrust, highlighted by Netanyahu’s moves to reach a number of diplomatic pacts with Arab countries last year without informing Gantz ahead of time.
In December, their coalition collapsed, and the country is heading to its fourth election in two years next month.
Netanyahu’s Likud is projected to be the largest party in parliament after the election, but it is not clear whether he and his hardline allies will control a majority of seats. Gantz’s Blue and White party, meanwhile, has plummeted and is struggling to win the minimum number of votes to remain in parliament.
