Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has not only created a firestorm of controversy over his far left political views but has now attracted some negative ink for his appointment of radical Israel hater Linda Sarsour as one of his campaign surrogates.
According to a New York Post story of November 2nd, the American Jewish Congress is demanding that Sanders give Sarsour her “pink slip” for espousing “a long history of flagrant anti-Semitism.”
In a scathing missive that was released on Wednesday, the organization’s president, Jack Rosen wrote:
“As the only Jewish presidential candidate in the field, and as someone who may become the first Jewish President of the United States, you bear a special responsibility to the Jewish American community. With the tide of anti-Semitism rising worldwide, it is of utmost importance that Jewish political and community leaders, such as yourself, show Jewish Americans that they will stand up for them.”
Moreover, Rosen, )who heads the 101-year-old Jewish organization that has consistently weighed in on issues directly affecting the Jewish community in the United States), also took Sanders to task for the remarks he delivered at the recently held J-Street conference.
Rosen wrote: “The American Jewish Congress is dismayed and deeply perplexed by Senator Bernie Sanders’ comments at the J Street Conference. Senator Sanders not only reiterated his pledge to use the US security aid to Israel as “leverage” to pressure our ally, but he also showed a concerning lack of understanding of the real impediments to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While Senator Sanders surrounds himself with individuals that have publicly expressed anti-Israel bias and rhetoric, he seems more inclined to embrace positions that are uninformed, misguided, and that disregard the viewpoints of the majority of the American people.”
He added that, “Senator Sanders referred to Israel in his speech and stated that “if you want military aid, you are going to have to fundamentally change your relationship with the people of Gaza.” He also added that he believes “it is fair to think that some of that $3.8 billion [US aid to Israel] should go to humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
As a chief surrogate for Sanders out on the campaign trail, Sarsour traverses the entire nation, speaking on Sanders’ behalf in an attempt to garner support for the Democratic Socialist from Vermont who is now seeking the presidency for a second time. He went down in defeat to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
Amongst her anti-Israel positions, Sarsour is a staunch advocate for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement that targets Israel and seeks its ultimate international isolation and destruction. She is a passionate supporter of the anti-Semitic views of the Reverend Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam movement and even delivered remarks at a 2015 Washington, DC march that he and his movement held.
Ahead of Sunday’s annual New York City marathon there appears to be some controversial debate taking place amongst runners and officials over the Nike Vaporfly running shoes.
According to a Reuters article that appeared on Friday, these high tech sneakers were worn by athletes in two of the biggest distance-running achievements this year.
The debate over the hyper advanced sneakers known as the Vaporfly and made by Nike, focuses on the victories that Eliud Kipchoge had in a two hour marathon in Vienna, Austria as well as the record breaking victory scored by Brigid Kosgei in last month’s Chicago Marathon. Critics of the high tech shoes claim that they give an unfair advantage to runners.
Speaking to Reuters, Shalane Flanagan, who won in New York in 2017, said that the running community should “always question what’s going on” in her sport but said the debate should not overshadow individual performances.
“You could give the pair of shoes to Joe Shmo off the street — they can’t go run what Eliud ran or Brigid Kosgei,” said Flanagan, a Nike athlete who recently retired from competition and was consulted in the creation of the shoe.
“It’s up to other companies now to match the innovation or the IAAF needs to come in and say, ‘we’re not having this innovation as part of our sport’,” the American added, as was reported by Reuters.
Months before Kipchoge’s now historic run, Reuters reported that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) established a group to determine whether the running shoes were fair. The group is expected to supply a report before years end.
“The challenge is striking a balance between spurring development of ‘new technologies’ while preserving ‘the fundamental characteristics of the sport’,” the association said in a statement.
IAAF rules state “shoes must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair assistance or advantage” and that “any type of shoe used must be reasonably available to all.”
Meb Keflezighi, a retirde marathon runner who won the NYC marathon a decade ago told Reuters that credit for a victory still belongs to the runners themselves despite the stellar advances in running footwear..
“You’ve got to have the lungs, you’ve got to have put in the work and all that,” the Keflezighi said. “If there’s a lot of aid at the end I’m pretty sure it will make a difference,” the Olympic silver medalist said.
Reuters reported that in New York, Des Linden, who won the 2i018 Boston Marathon told reporters that, “It’s super frustrating that someone has an amazing race and we go, ‘what are they wearing?’ It’s not just the athlete anymore,”
Athletics is not the only sport to consider reining in the use of advanced technology in competition, as was reported by Reuters. In 2010, high-tech suits were banned from swimming amid a glut of broken records.
Did an Israeli firm use WhatsApp as part of a spy program?
WhatsApp alleges that it did. In fact, it has reportedly lodged a lawsuit against an Israel-based cybersurveillance company called NSO Group in federal court.
The allegation is that NSO’s surveillance technology was used on the Facebook-owned messaging service as part of a program that kept eyes and ears on both reporters and activists. NSO is suspected of spying on over 1,400 individuals located in nearly two dozen nations.
“The lawsuit did not say who was using NSO Group technology to target WhatsApp users. But the area codes for a number of phones that had been attacked indicated a focus on people in Mexico, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates,” reported the New York Times. “The filing of the lawsuit, believed to be the first by a tech company against a for-profit digital surveillance company, could be the “beginning of the end” of the rapid and largely unregulated adoption of these surveillance technologies, said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab.”
According to the web site threatpost.com, “On the heels of Facebook filing a lawsuit against Israeli company NSO Group — alleging that it was behind the massive WhatsApp hack earlier this year — privacy experts say that the move is “popping the unaccountable bubble” that commercial spyware companies have carved out for themselves.”
According to the story, WhatsApp has claimed that “cyber security experts at the Citizen Lab, an academic research group based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, helped them launch the investigation into the alleged hack, which so far has impacted approximately 1,400 mobile devices. Citizen Lab for its part said that during its investigation it identified over 100 cases of abusive targeting of human rights defenders and journalists in at least 20 countries across the globe, stemming from NSO Group’s spyware.”
Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, pointed out in a piece published by the Washington Post that “after months of investigation, we can say who was behind this attack. Today, we have filed a complaint in federal court that explains what happened and attributes the intrusion to an international technology company called NSO Group.”
Cathcart’s story continued, “How can we say this with confidence? As we gathered the information that we lay out in our complaint, we learned that the attackers used servers and Internet-hosting services that were previously associated with NSO. In addition, as our complaint notes, we have tied certain WhatsApp accounts used during the attacks back to NSO. While their attack was highly sophisticated, their attempts to cover their tracks were not entirely successful.”
Fitbit, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Google LLC for $7.35 per share in cash, valuing the company at a fully diluted equity value of approximately $2.1 billion.
“More than 12 years ago, we set an audacious company vision – to make everyone in the world healthier. Today, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved towards reaching that goal. We have built a trusted brand that supports more than 28 million active users around the globe who rely on our products to live a healthier, more active life,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit, in a release. “Google is an ideal partner to advance our mission. With Google’s resources and global platform, Fitbit will be able to accelerate innovation in the wearables category, scale faster, and make health even more accessible to everyone. I could not be more excited for what lies ahead.”
Fitbit “has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created terrific products, experiences and a vibrant community of users,” said Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Devices & Services at Google, in the release. “We’re looking forward to working with the incredible talent at Fitbit, and bringing together the best hardware, software and AI, to build wearables to help even more people around the world.”
Fitbit pioneered the wearables category by delivering innovative, affordable and engaging devices and services, the company said on its web site. “Being “on Fitbit” is not just about the device – it is an immersive experience from the wrist to the app, designed to help users understand and change their behavior to improve their health. Because of this unique approach, Fitbit has sold more than 100 million devices and supports an engaged global community of millions of active users, utilizing data to deliver unique personalized guidance and coaching to its users. Fitbit will continue to remain platform-agnostic across both Android and iOS.”
Consumer trust, the company said in the release, is “paramount to Fitbit. Strong privacy and security guidelines have been part of Fitbit’s DNA since day one, and this will not change. Fitbit will continue to put users in control of their data and will remain transparent about the data it collects and why. The company never sells personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. ‘
The transaction is expected to close in 2020, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Fitbit’s stockholders and regulatory approvals.
Female Hasidim who work at EMTs are asking New York City for an ambulance license, which of course generates protests.
An all-male ambulance crew – also Hasidic – has a problem with the request.
The women wish to operate their ambulance through an area of the deeply religious Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park that measures all of two-square miles. Their mission is to tend to religious women who feel uncomfortable being serviced by men due to the inherent lack of modesty.
Jim Deering, the group’s lawyer, noted during a recent public hearing at Methodist Hospital that it is “the cultural norm of women in the Brooklyn Hasidic community to lead their lives in modesty.” He added, “It is that cultural modesty and the trauma that can result from it not being honored that forms the need for Ezras Nashim’s ambulance application.”
“The men have continued to oppose the crew, arguing that it’s immodest for the women to take up EMS roles and that their services are redundant since a group of rabbis said it was OK for Hatzaloh to treat ladies,” the New York Post has reported.
Indeed, as local Rabbi Yechiel Kaufman testified publicly, “We have considered the modesty issue many times over the years … [and] have concluded that the associated risks of having two emergency services so disparate … far outweigh the benefits to the community.”
Over the last fifty years, volunteer-based Emergency Medical Services (EMS) groups have grown to become renowned international organizations servicing Jewish communities world-wide; the care they provide is invaluable and unparalleled,” notes Ezras Nashim on its web site. “We are deeply grateful to the men who volunteer their time and rely on their services for ourselves, family and friends. However, there is a significant void in first response medical services in the observant Jewish Community that we are prepared to fill: Dignified emergency care for women, provided by women.”
The group continues, explaining that “As observant Jewish women, Tznius, or modesty, is way of life. It dictates the way we dress, speak and act on a daily basis. Our personal identity and the defining characteristic we bring forth to nations of the world is our dedication to Tznius. According to Jewish law, the preservation of human life trumps almost anything, even Tzinus.”
For more than five decades, the group adds, Jewish women have been given “only two sub-par options in emergency care: be treated by men in their immediate community, resulting in a very uncomfortable situation that threatens their Tznius or turn outside the community for assistance. Inspired by our ancestral midwives, Shifrah and Pooah, it is time for Bnos Yisroel to reclaim our role as healers and midwives for our mothers, daughters, sisters and fellow woman. B’Zchus Nashim Tzidkaniyos, we invite you to become our partners.”
Barneys’ advisers have been in discussions with Great American Capital Partners, the Los Angeles based- private equity firm. The retailer also already spoke to its current lenders: TPG Sixth Street Partners and Wells Fargo & Co., as per the source. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
By: Calvin Preemyer
Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) has become the owner of Barneys New York Inc. in the wake of the clothier’s bankruptcy filing.
Executives of ABG have said their strategy going forward till be to shutter almost of the Barneys retail locations, and license its valuable brand.
The ruling came on Thursday after lawyers for Barneys told federal bankruptcy court Judge Cecelia Morris that Authentic was the only qualified bid by the time of Thursday’s hearing in Poughkeepsie, New York. Would-be rivals repeatedly failed to submit credible bids by previous deadlines. A court gave the go-ahead for closing Authentic Brands’ purchase of the bankrupt retailer on Friday.
ABG’s strategy includes “hitching the chain to another iconic retailer, with about 40 Barneys shops opening inside of Saks Fifth Avenue stores. The chain may also have some free-standing locations, including one in Boston and a new site in Greenwich, Connecticut,” according to Crain’s New York Business. “The $271 million Authentic offer met resistance from Barneys’ unsecured creditors, who called it a liquidation bid that would hurt workers, vendors and customers. The group, which included labels like Gucci and Prada, had urged the court to work with a buyer that would keep Barneys stores open, such as entrepreneur Sam Ben-Avraham.”
“We are thrilled that our offer for Barneys has been accepted,” said Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Authentic Brands Group, in a message on his firm’s web site. “Barneys is one of the most recognizable and iconic names in luxury lifestyle, and we see an incredible opportunity to extend the brand’s equity in current and new markets around the world. We are also excited to join forces with Saks Fifth Avenue, the preeminent luxury retailer that continues to bring innovation and fashion authority to the industry.”
Barneys, he continued, is “renowned for its discerning edit from the world’s top designers, paired with a unique shopping experience. Its signature sense of wit and style has translated into a global brand that is sought-after by a modern generation of luxury shoppers and trendsetters. Barneys’ distinctive collaborations have a proven track record of driving press, digital and social impact, and millennial appeal.”
Salter also said that his company plans to leverage its “international scale, marketing expertise, and network of best-in-class partners to grow Barneys’ presence as a global luxury retailer and lifestyle brand. Its initial focus will be on high fashion collaborations, namesake products, lively dining, and premium shopping experiences. ABG’s marketing division will drive growth for Barneys while maintaining its elevated aesthetic through innovative creative, original content, and engaging campaigns. The Barneys brand narrative will be powered by Winston, ABG’s proprietary network of creators, curators, and connectors, who have a combined reach of more than 150 million followers on social media.”
Manhattan’s luxurious St. Regis New York has been sold to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund by Marriott International Inc. in a deal valued at $310 million. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
By: Justin Laithmoore
Manhattan’s luxurious St. Regis New York has been sold to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund by Marriott International Inc. in a deal valued at $310 million.
The property is just the latest addition to the Qatar Investment Authority holdings around the world, and especially in New York City.
The historic hotel at East 55th Street near Fifth Avenue was founded in 1904 by financier John Jacob Astor IV. It includes in excess of 200 rooms and suites – charging from $779 to more than $4,000 nightly — as well as the famed the King Cole Bar.
Marriott came into possession of the hotel when it purchased Starwood Hotels & Resorts for nearly $14 billion back in 2016. Today, the St. Regis brand can be found in such far-flung places as Shenzhen, China and Bora Bora in French Polynesia.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel operator “recently disclosed its $206 million acquisition of the W New York Union Square, a move intended to jump-start the update of a beloved but faded brand. Marriott also agreed to pay $130 million for Elegant Hotels Group Plc to aid its new push into all-inclusive resorts,” reported Bloomberg. “Those moves fueled conjecture that Marriott would sell real estate assets to balance its portfolio following the recent acquisitions. In an Oct. 18 note, Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Michael Bellisario speculated that Marriott could be close to selling Sheraton hotels in Phoenix or Mexico City.”
The Qatar authority bought the renowned San Francisco St. Regis from Marriott roughly three years ago, noted The Wall Street Journal. “Another Qatar entity paid about $600 million for New York’s Plaza Hotel last year.”
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is a Sovereign Wealth Fund located in Doha Qatar, Middle East, and was founded in 2005, according to the company. “Current Assets for QIA is $328,000,000,000 and SWFI has 26 periods of historical assets, 60 subsidiaries, 243 transactions, 22 Opportunities/RFPs, 97 personal contacts available for CSV Export.”
Reuters recently pointed out that Qatar Investment Authority “aims to raise investments in the United States to $45 billion in the next two years as it rebalances its portfolio of assets away from Europe… The sovereign wealth fund has built up a huge European portfolio through stakes in companies including Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE).”
Top executive Mansour Ibrahim al-Mahmoud recently said during informal interviews with journalists, “We are talking about $45 billion for the U.S. market… we are on track for this over the next two years.”
Israeli-American Nobel Laureate and game theorist Robert Aumann. Credit: Courtesy of Robert Aumann.
By: Simon Apfel
From November 15-16, the 7th annual international Shabbat Projectis expected to exceed last year’s participation of more than 1 million people in 101 countries across 1,511 cities and towns. In advance of this year’s global initiative, Shabbat Project writer/editor Simon Apfel spoke with renowned Israeli-American game theorist and Nobel Laureate Professor Robert Aumann about his lifelong love affair with Shabbat.
Simon Apfel: People think game theory is simply about making difficult choices, but it’s obviously more complicated than that. What is game theory really about? Can you put it in layman’s terms?
Robert Aumann: “A typical game theoretical situation involves two or more actors striving for different — though not necessarily opposing — objectives, whose choices affect each other in specific ways. Take a typical business transaction, for example: the seller wants to sell the goods for a maximum cost, and the buyer wants to buy the goods for a minimal cost, but both want the transaction to be consummated. Game theoretical principles govern that interaction. The single most important concept is incentive — giving the other player/s an incentive to do what is good for you, creating a win-win situation. Of course, you also see game theory in effect in situations such as international relations, local politics and just about everywhere else.”
What was your specific contribution to the field?
“I’ve made a number of contributions, but the one Nobel recognized me for involved long-term relationships — what we call a ‘repeated game.’ In such a situation, I discovered that it’s more likely that the sides will cooperate than if it were a once-off game. It seems pretty obvious, frankly, but I gained the prize for pinning down the underlying rational reasons why this is the case, and working them into a framework that’s accepted in economics, and fits game theoretic thinking in general. Even if the prize did seem undeserved, I was never going to appeal the decision!”
Recently, I came across a piece in The Jerusalem Post about your experiences at the Nobel prize-giving ceremony. Apparently, the ceremony was held over Shabbat? Can you take us through that experience?
“Actually, it was held directly after Shabbat, which was quite fortunate. In Sweden, in the middle of winter, sunset is before 4pm. It was still a mad rush, however. The organizers were very accommodating, giving us a suite of rooms in a hotel very near the reception. We needed to be ready to go as soon as Shabbat came out. Because one is not meant to prepare for what happens after Shabbat on Shabbat, we got dressed in our formal clothing on the Saturday morning. I wore the obligatory white tails, black tie and tuxedo, and my wife wore her evening gown, and we spent Shabbat day like this, which was certainly a first! We did an early Maariv, at 3:56 p.m. we made Havdallah, and then we sped off to the ceremony.”
You and your wife?
“No, we had an entourage of over 40 people! Our children, grandchildren, colleagues, spouses, all travelling in convoy. Prize-winners were meant to be limited to an entourage of 16, but here, too, the organizers were very accommodating. Most of the other winners didn’t even bring their quota of 16 people, which maybe was why they were able to stretch it for us. In any event, there were enough seats at the dinner for all of us.”
Tell us about the dinner
“A huge affair. More than 1,300 guests in all. The rabbi of Stockholm had very thoughtfully arranged kosher meals that were similar in appearance and taste to the meal everyone else was eating, so we didn’t feel out of place. At the last moment, I remembered to wash and make hamotzi so that this could be a melave malka, but I was a bit reluctant to create a scene by suddenly getting up from the table. At that exact moment, a waiter come around with a large basin and towel, and a bowl of bread, so it was all wonderfully well-orchestrated.”
Apparently, you delivered a Nobel Prize address that doubled as a dvar Torah?
“Yes. After dinner, I was asked to address the gathering. I began the speech with l’chaim, and publicly made the blessing of tov umeitiv, which I explained is recited after you drink a second glass of wine that is of a superior vintage to the first.”
Do any other memories of your Stockholm trip stand out?
“One thing I remember vividly. In the week leading up to the ceremony, all the prize-winners stayed at the same hotel. On the roof of the hotel there was a flag of Sweden, and on each side, the flags from the countries of the prize-winners. Six countries in all were represented. When I walked out of the hotel, they told me to look up — I saw the Swedish flag in the middle, and the Israeli flag next to it. That gave me great pleasure and pride.”
How did winning the Nobel Prize change your life?
“The main difference is that now I have to spend my day talking to people like you! Before, I was wholly consumed with scientific research; now, I get asked for advice, or my opinions on this or that, or to join this or that cause. It never ends. I’m not complaining, though, I actually enjoy it. It’s great that I get to talk to people like you and advance great causes like the Shabbat Project.”
A past challah bake organized by the international Shabbat Project. Credit: The Shabbat Project.
What does Shabbat mean to you?
“It’s six days of work followed by a day that is different. On Friday at sundown, candle lighting time, the world stops. I get off the bus and catch the next bus in another 25 hours. These 25 hours of Shabbat are magical, sacred; time spent in a different world.”
Can you explain what you mean by “a different world?”
“Well, on a recent Friday night, my great-grandson, who is 16 and a youth counsellor in a wonderful local youth movement, brought his fellow counsellors and around 20 or 25 kids to my house after dinner to meet me. I talked to them about various things and shared some ideas from the Torah. Afterwards, I said they could ask me anything they wanted. One of the kids asked me about game theory. I said I don’t talk game theory or think about game theory on Shabbat — it’s how I make a living and it belongs to the work week. I’m happy to talk about it on Tuesday afternoon or Saturday night — but Shabbat is a different world. It’s something else, something separate and special.”
Literally on his deathbed, in the last piece he ever published, the great neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks, wrote movingly about Shabbat. In the same New York Times piece, he also mentioned the profound impact you had on his life. Can you tell us about that relationship?
“Oliver Sacks was actually a cousin of mine — my mother’s father was the first of 18 children, his mother was number 16 of 18. I discovered we were related quite by accident. My son read his magnum opus, Awakenings, and recommended it to me. One of my cousins noticed I was reading it and told me the author was my cousin. The next time I was in New York, I looked him up. From then on, every time I was in New York (once a year), we would get together, have dinner, maybe catch a show. In between, we corresponded frequently. He didn’t like email, he wrote letters by hand — and he had pretty awful handwriting. He once visited Israel for the 100th birthday of an aunt, and we spent a Shabbat together. I think this was the immediate trigger for that article in the Times that you mentioned. When I found out he was dying, and that he was in a really bad state, I flew to New York to visit him in his final hours and flew back to Israel the same day. During that visit, we spoke of deep, existential matters, which I can only tell you about off the record.”
Have you ever had to make any compromises during your career? Has keeping Shabbat ever held you back or made your life in academia complicated in any way?
“Events or assignments that are on Shabbat I just turn down from the start. Sometimes I’ll attend a symposium or an event that runs over a few days, including Shabbat, but I’ll skip whatever happens on Shabbat. People know I turn into a pumpkin on Shabbat.”
Coming back to game theory, do you ever put it to use in your personal life?
“All of us do, whether we are aware of it or not. For example, if I’m making a reservation at a restaurant or hiring a car, I’ll always ask for the service agent’s name. I can forget the name right away — at my age, I usually do — but I’m giving them a personal incentive to give me good service and deliver on their promise.”
Earlier, you mentioned game theory being applied in international relations. Looking at the Cold War, and the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), was that applied game theory, or just diplomats flailing and trying their best, and the world — luckily —coming out the other side unscathed?
“I do think it was applied game theory. In fact, the game theorist who shared the Nobel with me was one of the top advisors in Washington throughout the Cold War. I played an advisory role myself, particularly in relation to U.S. arms control. I believe Henry Kissinger (U.S. Secretary of State under Richard Nixon) was an arch game theorist — we even shared a podium together at a conference at Princeton in 1961 on ‘Recent Advances in Game Theory.’”
Are there other examples of game theory making the world a safer/better place?
“Innumerable examples. One recent example, which is quite striking, is the issue of matching kidney donors to the right recipients. Kidneys are the one instance in which nature splurged —you don’t really need two. There are tens of thousands of patients in the U.S. needing a kidney. What often happens is that you get a person willing to donate a kidney to friends or close relatives, but it’s not always a good fit. So you’ll get a situation where, let’s say, I want to donate to my wife, and you want to donate to your wife, but my kidney fits your wife and your kidney fits mine. I won’t get into the mechanics, but we’ve used game theory to develop an algorithm to ensure people get the kidney that’s right for them. It’s an algorithm that was adapted from a similar mathematical model that’s used for the buying and selling of property.”
You’ve written a paper applying game theoretic principles to the Talmud. Were the sages of the Talmud practicing what we’d recognize today as advanced game theory?
“I wouldn’t say the sages of the Talmud necessarily applied it, but there are several Talmudic passages and conundrums that we can unravel only by using game theoretic tools.”
I’d like to end off by discussing your Agreement Theorem – the idea that people with a shared set of beliefs can’t agree to disagree. Do you think that, ultimately, all decisions arereducible to logical axioms? Is everything in principle knowable? And what does that mean for questions of faith?
“The meaning of your question is not knowable. I have no idea what you’re asking.”
You dealt with that well. Thank you for your time Professor Aumann, it has been fascinating talking to you.
“Not at all, it has been a real pleasure.”
The 2019 Shabbat Project takes place from November 15-16. To sign up, find out how you can become a partner, or learn more, visit: www.theshabbatproject.org/
Penske truck parked on Ave T & East 5th takes up several parking spots. The truck owner gets a safe place for this vehicle to be parked and free advertising, to boot. (Credit for all photos: Jewish Voice Photography)
By: Ariella Haviv
For over 50 years, the Jewish neighborhood in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn has always prided itself on the fact that the residents of this pristine community have joined forces to collectively work on maintaining the safety, security and impressive appearance of the cherished place that they call home.
Recently, the Jewish Voice learned that this sense of community security has been flagrantly violated by the presence of enigmatic vehicles that are arbitrarily parked on the streets. Not only are these vehicles a loathsome eyesore in an aesthetic sense but apparently their presence has raised health related concerns as they attract an assortment of vagrants.
The investigative team of reporters that were dispatched by the Jewish Voice to meticulously research this jarring situation have revealed that such vehicles include clothing drop off vans, dilapidated late model recreational vehicles, a variety of trucks, trailers, and non-commercial vehicles that are intentionally decorated as commercial vehicles.
Not only do these vehicles remain on the streets for weeks and months on end in the same parking spots but they often take up two, three or more parking spots.
David Ben Hooren, the publisher of the Jewish Voice has noted that, “in a neighborhood that is so densely populated as ours, having these vehicles in the area that are clearly not owned by residents makes the parking situation even more difficult than it already is.” He queried: “How can people come to synagogue every day, if they cannot find parking? And why are these vehicles parked in areas that are in such close proximity to synagogues, schools and homes? That should be a cause of paramount concern for every person living in this neighborhood.”
Spray Foam Insulation truck parked in front of 444 Avenue T for several months. Yet another hideous eyesore in a neighborhood that normally maintains such as impressive appearance. Tickets are issued for violating the rules about allowing city street sweepers to gain access to a parking spot but these owners absorb the ticket fee just to have a permanent parking home.
Van advertising a sewer service is parked near Avenue S and East 4th Street
Clothing drop off vehicle on the northwestern corner of Avenue T and Ocean Parkway has resulted in accumulation of garbage and health related issues.
Construction dump truck parked at the corner of Avenue T and East 4th Street
Theresa Scavo, the chairwoman of Community Board 15 told the Jewish Voice that this has been an ongoing dilemma and one that demands immediate action. Concerning the clothing drop off vehicles that attract people who attempt to crawl into the vehicle to steal clothing, she mentioned that in the areas in which these vehicles are parked they inevitably attract putrid filth that can lead to a significant increase in vermin.
“I can tell you that I witnessed the disgusting mess outside the home of someone I know. This mess was caused by those congregating around the clothing drop off vehicle. I called the police about one vehicle in particular that was located on Avenue X and they responded quite quickly. The next day, however, these clothing vans were right back on the streets, so the problem has not been resolved” Ms. Scavo said.
She added that she attempted to call the phone number listed on the vehicle but her calls were never returned. Others interviewed by the Jewish Voice reiterated her comments about being unable to reach the person or organizers behind this clothing drop off appeal.
Ms. Scavo said that she believes that these vehicles are merely a “front” for a larger scam in which the clothes that are donated do not end up in the possession of the needy or indigent but are actually sold, in order to make a profit.
While she did not provide concrete evidence to support this claim, the Jewish Voice was able to obtain a cell phone number of a man who allegedly operates these clothing drop off vehicles. When contacted by the Jewish Voice, the man who answered phone identified himself as Yossi but refused to answer any questions about the current status of the vehicles.
David Heskiel, a community activist and an NYPD clergy liaison said that he recently contacted Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch’s office regarding the vehicle in question. He asked that Mr. Deutsch arrange for the clothing drop off vehicle that had been parked for many months on the northwest corner of Avenue T and Ocean Parkway to be removed. Mr. Heskiel reported that the vehicle in question was indeed removed from that corner parking spot the very next day. “Mr. Deutsch has taken a pro-active role in trying to have these vehicles towed in his district and frankly, this is a borough wide issue and we all need to take a shared responsibility,” he added.
Concerning the proliferation of the recreational vehicles that dot the landscape of the neighborhood, Ms. Scavo said she had contacted the police about a particular RV that was parked for a lengthy duration of time on East 1st Street, after being contacted by concerned residents. When the police arrived and knocked on the door of the RV a man answered who identified himself as an out of state employee of a local contractor who was working on a luxury home on that block. Ms. Scavo told the Jewish Voice that the police asked the man to move the RV as it was located near a school and represented a danger. She said that the man moved the vehicle to a spot on McDonald Avenue.
“The people who park these recreational vehicles and sometimes take up two or more parking spots are essentially migrant workers who are employed by contractors. They need a place to live while they are working on the construction project and I would imagine that the contractors are allowing them to bring these vehicles in for groups of men to live. Many of these vehicles have out of state license plates and some do not have any license plates at all. The bottom line is that this presents not only a parking problem for residents, but the issues of safety and cleanliness are very important as well,” Ms. Scavo said.
Her sentiments were echoed by Mr. Heskiel who said that vehicles with advertising splashed all over the exterior and appeared as commercial vehicles were able to circumvent parking laws by maintaining non-commercial license plates. He said that these vehicles as well as commercial trucks are parked in the same spots for weeks and even months in some cases.
Longtime neighborhood resident and community leader Danny Bergman told the Jewish Voice that the police have problems ticketing some trailers or trucks as they do not have license plates. He added, “Instead of obtaining commercial plates on their trucks, some of these owners get regular plates so they can park overnight, without placing themselves at risk of getting a ticket.” Speaking of the safety concerns of the neighborhood, Mr. Bergman said, “Each day we must be vigilant about who is in our neighborhood and what they are doing here. Our communal obligation is to protect our families, our children and our stable way of life.”
Mr. Ben Hooren opined that “the owners of these vehicles know that their cars or trucks will be safe from theft in this neighborhood, plus the longer they stay, the longer that they get free advertising.”
Asked if law enforcement authorities were contacted about this neighborhood blight, Ben Hooren said that he had repeatedly attempted to contact the local branch of the Shomrim, the volunteer police force comprised on mainly Orthodox Jews. While their objective is to assist the New York City police department in fighting crime at all levels, Ben Hooren said that the response he received from Shomrim spokesman Chaim Moskowitz was less than satisfactory. “I tried to contact Mr. Moskowitz on a number of occasions to establish a contact with him and to learn more about what the Shomrim are actually doing in terms of crime fighting. Each time I reached out to him, he essentially blew me off and said he had no time to talk. What I did get out of him was that the only thing that the Shomrim does do is take on bicycle thefts and car break-ins” he said.
Mr. Heskiel and others in community pointed to the inherent danger that these vehicles, vans and trucks represent. In addition to being a magnet for graffiti artists, a haven for filth to accumulate and for health issues to arise, the issue of safety and the increase in crime remain a priority.
“Anyone can come along and throw a bomb into a truck, or abandoned van. We live in a age in which terrorism is proliferating and what is to stop someone from trying to target this area with deadly attacks, “ Mr. Heskiel said.
Another community member who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. “When we see these trucks in the neighborhood for such a long duration of time, we can become desensitized to the danger they could possibly represent. We figure if they have been here so long and nothing has happened then they don’t represent a real threat. The fact is that the complete opposite is true. Anyone at any time can use these trucks as receptacles for destruction and we need to take the proverbial bull by the horns and seek action to stop this frightening phenomenon.”
In a sign of pure desperation, Pelosi has begun insisting that impeachment is a Trump conspiracy. “Trump is goading us to impeach him," she actually claimed. The Dem House leader is hoping to dissuade her faction from its self-destructive orgy of Trump hatred by tapping into that hatred to convince them that impeaching Trump is exactly what he wants. And it won’t work. (Photo Credit: Shutterstock)
By: Ken Bredemeier
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted Thursday to authorize a public impeachment inquiry targeting President Donald Trump after weeks of testimony behind closed doors about his efforts to push Ukraine to investigate his political opponents.
The vote was along party lines, 232-196 for the impeachment inquiry, with all Republicans against the resolution and two Democratic defectors joining them.
Immediately after the vote, Trump called the impeachment inquiry, “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!” in a tweet.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement saying the president “has done nothing wrong” and calling the process “unfair, unconstitutional, and fundamentally un-American.”
“Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats’ unhinged obsession with this illegitimate impeachment proceeding does not hurt President Trump; it hurts the American people,” she said.
House Speaker Pelosi had long opposed opening an impeachment inquiry, but has turned sharply against Trump and called for passage of the impeachment rules. As debate opened Thursday, she said “nobody” comes to Congress to impeach a president, “unless his actions are jeopardizing us honoring our oath of office.”
“Sadly, this is not any cause for any glee or comfort,” she said. “This is something that is very solemn.”
Republicans had for weeks demanded that the majority Democrats hold a vote to authorize the impeachment probe against the Republican president, but as the vote neared they attacked it as an attempt to justify what they contend are sham hearings that have already been held.
One of the president’s staunchest supporters, Congressman Jim Jordan, called the inquiry “an unfair partisan process,” and assailed the fact that the name of the intelligence community whistleblower who touched off the impeachment push against Trump has not been disclosed.
The whistleblower has been described by news organizations as a Central Intelligence Agency employee who once worked in the White House. He was the first official to voice concerns that Trump in a late July phone call had pressed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open investigations about one of Trump’s chief 2020 Democratic rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and any links the eastern European country might have had to try to defeat Trump in the 2016 election.
The phone call came at a time when Trump was temporarily withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine that it wanted to help in its fight against Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
Trump has denied any quid pro quo deal with Zelenskiy, although several White House national security officials and career diplomats have told the impeachment investigators that Trump wanted the Ukraine investigations to help him politically.
Soliciting and receiving foreign contributions in an election is illegal under U.S. campaign finance law.
Trump, who last month released a rough transcript of his call with Zelenskiy, has described the call as “perfect” and claimed that the whistleblower misrepresented it. But much of what the whistleblower alleged about Trump looking for “a favor” from Zelenskiy — the investigations — has been borne out in subsequent testimony from other officials familiar with Trump’s call and his relations with Ukraine.
In setting up Thursday’s vote, Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues, “We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the resolution “falls way short” of bringing fairness and due process to the inquiry.
“I understand that many House Democrats made up their minds on impeachment years ago,” McConnell said. “But our basic norms of justice do not evaporate just because Washington Democrats have already made up their minds.”
If the full House, on a simple majority vote, eventually impeaches Trump, his trial would be held in the Republican-majority Senate, where a two-thirds vote to convict him to remove him from office would be required. With the votes of at least 20 Republicans needed to convict Trump, his removal from office remains unlikely.
Thus far, the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees have heard closed-door testimony from diplomats and other officials as they probe whether Trump should be impeached for urging a foreign country, Ukraine, to dig up dirt on a political rival with the aim of helping his re-election bid.
The resolution calls for moving to public hearings with the House Intelligence committee eventually issuing a report on its findings and recommendations to the House Judiciary Committee, which would then be responsible for deciding whether to recommend that the full House impeach Trump.
On Thursday, Timothy Morrison, who was Trump’s top Russian and European affairs adviser on the National Security Council until he resigned Wednesday, corroborated the testimony of a senior U.S. diplomat who last week detailed for investigators how Trump pressed Ukraine for the investigations to help him politically.
Morrison, according to people who heard his testimony, said the account offered by William Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, was accurate. Morrison said he did not necessarily view the president’s demands as improper or illegal, but that they could have damaged U.S. support for Ukraine.
House Democrats said Wednesday they want to hear from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and asked that he testify next week.
Several other witnesses have testified that Bolton was deeply disturbed that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was working behind the scenes to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrats and 2020 presidential candidate Biden for alleged corruption — evidence of which has never surfaced.
Giuliani was apparently running what critics call a “shadow foreign policy” behind the back of the State Department. Bolton was said to have called Giuliani’s work a “drug deal” and that he wanted nothing to do with it.
Trump fired Bolton last month after they clashed on several fronts, including Ukraine.
A lawyer for Bolton says he is “not willing to appear voluntarily,” which means the House committees would have to issue a subpoena if they want to him to appear. (VOA News)
The FBI says it is investigating more than 2,000 cases tied to groups designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations, a figure that reflects the persistent threat posed by outfits such as al-Qaida and Hezbollah. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
By: Masood Farivar
The FBI says it is investigating more than 2,000 cases tied to groups designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations, a figure that reflects the persistent threat posed by outfits such as al-Qaida and Hezbollah.
There are currently 68 individual groups on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, the vast majority jihadi outfits such as al-Qaida. The designation allows the U.S. to freeze the groups’ and their members’ assets and investigate their activities.
The FBI’s renewed focus on foreign terrorist organizations and their members partly reflects the quiet resurgence in recent years of al-Qaida, said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
“While the primary focus was ISIS the last few years, al-Qaida used that time to bide their time and build up a network,” Hughes said. “And so, these cases are still out there, and they’re going to have to look at them. It’s not just ISIS — there are al-Qaida, its affiliates, and then you have groups like Hezbollah.”
Out of about 5,000 terrorism cases under investigation, approximately 850 are focused on domestic terrorism such as far-right violence, while the rest have a nexus to international terrorism, the FBI said in response to a query from Voice of America.
The international terrorism investigations are in turn divided into about 1,000 cases each of so-called homegrown violent extremism and Islamic State. The rest are made up of “thousands of other cases associated with foreign terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and Hezbollah,” the FBI said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray first disclosed the top-line number of terrorism cases last October when he testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.
The FBI provided a breakdown of the figure after Wray appeared before the same panel on Wednesday to discuss the threat of international terrorism to the U.S.
The terror threat, he said, has morphed from sophisticated plots directed by foreign terrorist organizations to individual attacks carried out by lone actors inspired by these organizations, Wray said.
“We remain concerned that groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) and al-Qaida have the intent to carry out large-scale attacks in the U.S.,” Wray said in prepared remarks.
While the FBI recently elevated domestic terrorism to a “national threat priority,” Wray said homegrown violent extremists, or so-called “lone wolf actors,” pose “the greatest, most immediate terrorism threat to the homeland.”
“These individuals are FTO-inspired individuals who are in the U.S., have been radicalized primarily in the U.S., and are not receiving individualized direction from FTOs,” Wray said, using an initialism for foreign terrorist organizations.
The FBI conducts several types of investigations: a 30-day assessment, a six-month preliminary investigation and a full investigation based on a national security threat or criminal activity. All 5,000 open cases are full investigations, the FBI said.
“The 5,000 is not just the total number of cases they’re dealing with,” Hughes said. “They’re probably dealing with orders of magnitude larger than that.”
The FBI did not provide historical data on terrorism investigations, making it difficult to assess the aggregate figure. However, the number in several categories, including homegrown violent extremism and domestic terrorism, has hovered around 1,000 cases in recent years, according to FBI officials.
In the post-9/11 era “they’re obligated to open and investigate every plausible threat,” said David Gomez, a former FBI special agent and terrorism investigator.
The vast majority of the investigations do not lead to prosecution, Gomez noted, adding that the FBI opens investigations for both intelligence-gathering and prosecution purposes.
The FBI’s three largest field offices — in Washington, New York and Los Angeles — are probably responsible for as much as 80% of the investigations, Gomez said. (VOA News)
Anti-Semitic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has reportedly filed for divorce from her husband Ahmed Hirsi, the one who is not her brother. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
A judicial watchdog group says Rep. Ilhan Omar committed fraud and perjury, according to a complaint it filed with U.S. House of Representatives.
By: WIN Staff
A conservative watchdog group called Judicial Watch filed a complaint on Tuesday with the U.S. House of Representatives’ ethics office requesting an investigation into alleged “wrongdoing” committed by Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
The complaint accuses Omar of perjury, immigration fraud, marriage fraud, state and federal tax fraud, and federal student loan fraud in violation of both federal law and Minnesota state law.
President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton called on the House of Representatives to “urgently investigate and resolve the serious allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Omar.”
“Substantial, compelling and, to date, unrefuted evidence” supports the allegations, Fitton maintained, according to The Daily Signal.
Investigative reporters David Steinberg, Preya Samsundar and Scott Johnson collected the documents and records submitted with the complaint against Omar, which were sourced in both the United States and the United Kingdom over a three-year period.
According to The Daily Signal, this material includes public records, social media content, genealogy records, computer forensic analyses, photographs, conversations between investigative reporters and the subjects of the investigation, and information supplied by confidential sources within the Somali-American community.
Omar immigrated to the U.S. as a child to escape the civil war in her native Somalia, settling in Minnesota with her family.
According to Judicial Watch’s complaint, “Rep. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, a citizen of the United States, married her biological brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a citizen of the United Kingdom, in 2009, presumably as part of an immigration fraud scheme. The couple legally divorced in 2017.”
Omar filed for a “default” divorce from Elmi in 2017 in Minnesota district court, swearing under penalty of perjury that she had not seen Elmi since 2011 and could not locate him.
Photographs posted to social media, which have since been deleted, allegedly show Elmi with Omar in London in 2015.
According to Minnesota law, lying on a sworn form represents perjury, punishable by five years in prison. Judicial Watch accused Omar of falsely swearing on the divorce form six times.
“The evidence is overwhelming Rep. Omar may have violated the law and House rules,” stated Fitton. “The House of Representatives must urgently investigate and resolve the serious allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Omar. We encourage Americans to share their views on Rep. Omar’s apparent misconduct with their congressmen.”
In the past, Omar dismissed allegations regarding her marriage to Elmi as “disgusting lies.”
Omar’s hometown newspaper, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, published a number of articles on Omar’s marital history, with a June 23 article commenting that the paper “could neither conclusively confirm nor rebut the allegation that [Elmi] is Omar’s sibling.”
Judicial Watch is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. (World Israel News)
Israelis demonstrate in support of PM Benjamin Netanyahu near the house of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in Petah Tikva, Oct. 29, 2019. (Flash90/Avshalom Shoshani)
He says the left established two countries: One of “elitists” and the other of “second, third, fourth, and fifth-rate citizens, who are us.”
By: WIN Staff
Amid growing discontent in right-wing circles with a legal establishment and media which they view as leftist and working to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a media personality and right-wing activist took to the stage at a rally on Tuesday and charged that the left has “messed up” the State of Israel and is “milking” the country.
The speaker was Erez Tadmor, founder of Im Tirtzu, a “non-profit organization working to strengthen the values of Zionism in Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” according to its website.
At the pro-Netanyahu rally, which took place in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, Tadmor accused leftists of enlisting in the army just to reap the benefits, joining high-tech units that ensure high-paying jobs after their service, as opposed to going to combat units.
Tadmor, a former speechwriter for Netanyahu, charged that the left established two countries: One of “elitists” and the other of “second, third, fourth, and fifth-rate citizens, who are us.”
He called the new generation of leftists “spoiled, ungrateful people who were born into the right families.”
Tadmor said that even the election of Israel’s first right-wing prime minister, the Likud’s Menachem Begin in 1977, has not changed the reality of a society of “haves” and “have nots.”
The rally at which he spoke, attended by thousands of demonstrators, centered around the argument of how the establishment, unable to bring down Netanyahu through the democratic process, resorted to “fabricating” criminal cases against the prime minister in order to remove him from office.
The demonstration took place near the home of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who is to decide in the coming weeks whether Netanyahu is to be indicted in connection with any, or all, of the three criminal cases in which he is accused of charges ranging from breach of trust to fraud. (World Israel News)
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly took his own life while in prison in NYC
Edited by: JV Staff
Since the death of convicted pedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein in August at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, the circumstances surrounding his demise have been murky at best as many have speculated that Epstein did not die as a result of a suicide attempt as had been originally reported but rather his death was a result of a homicide.
The Miami Herald reported that Mark Epstein, the brother of Jeffrey has been concerned that his own well-being and those of others who traveled in his brother’s orbit could be significantly compromised because federal authorities never got around to investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, having believed that it resulted from self-inflicted injuries.
According to the Miami Herald, Mark Epstein hired a private forensic pathologist to monitor his brother’s autopsy. The paper reported that Dr. Michael Baden, one of the world’s leading forensic pathologists, viewed Jeffrey Epstein’s remains and was present at the autopsy — held Aug. 11, the day after Epstein was found dead at the prison in which he was housed in downtown Manhattan.
The pathologist’s professional opinion indicates that the available evidence does not support the finding that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself.
“They rushed the body out of the jail, which they shouldn’t do because that destroys the evidence,’’ Baden told the Herald.
“The brother, Mark, doesn’t think it was suicide — he is concerned it might be murder. It’s 80 days now and if, in fact, it is a homicide, other people might be in jeopardy,’’ Baden said.
Dr Baden shared his suspicions over the nature of Epstein’s death in a bombshell interview with ‘Fox and Friends’ on Wednesday, according to a report in the Daily Mail of the UK, discrediting the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office ruling of suicide by hanging.
According to the report in the Daily Mail, Baden described how the 66-year-old financier had two fractures – one on the left and another on the right sides of his larynx, around the Adam’s apple.
The Daily Mail reported that Baden who has worked on cases involving OJ Simpson, President John F Kennedy, Phil Spector, Aaron Hernandez and more – said that the three fractures were ‘rare’.
The 85-year-old forensic pioneer added: ‘I’ve not seen in 50 years where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case.’
New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said Wednesday that she stands ‘firmly’ behind her findings and the autopsy puts any speculation about Epstein’s death firmly to rest, according to the Daily Mail report.
‘Our investigation concluded that the cause of Mr. Epstein’s death was hanging and the manner of death was suicide. We stand by that determination,’ Sampson said in a comment.
‘We continue to share information around the medical investigation with Mr. Epstein’s family, their representatives, and their pathology consultant. The original medical investigation was thorough and complete. There is no reason for a second medical investigation by our office.’
“This week, Iran marks the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and what a 40 years it’s been. Tyrannizing its own people and terrorizing the world. Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons, to intimidate peaceful people all around the globe and ballistic missiles to use as delivery systems,” Bolton said in a video posted by the White House. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Edited by: JV Staff
House Democrats have summoned former national security adviser John Bolton to testify next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Trump, media outlets reported Wednesday. Several other witnesses have testified that Bolton was deeply disturbed that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was working behind the scenes to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrats and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden for alleged corruption — evidence of which has never surfaced. Giuliani was apparently running what critics call a “shadow foreign policy” behind the back of the State Department. Bolton was said to have called Giuliani’s work a “drug deal” and that he wanted nothing to do with it. Trump fired Bolton last month after they clashed on several fronts, including Ukraine. Bolton has been lying low since he left the White House. A lawyer for Bolton said he was “not willing to appear voluntarily,” which means the House committees would have to issue a subpoena if they want to hear from him.
The Democrat-led House is holding closed-door hearings to decide whether Trump should be impeached for urging a foreign country, Ukraine, to dig up dirt on a political rival with the aim of helping his re-election bid. Trump allegedly held up $400 million in badly needed military aid to Ukraine unless President Volodomyr Zelenskiy publicly agreed to investigate Biden and the Democrats. Trump has called the impeachment probe illegitimate because the entire House never voted to conduct it, even though no law requires a vote. The White House has complained that the proceedings are being held away from the public, which is a routine practice for any grand jury-style investigation. In order to satisfy Republican concerns, the entire House will vote Thursday on a resolution spelling out the rules for the inquiry. The resolution would make it clear that the Republican minority has equal opportunity to question witnesses, ask for written testimony, and subpoena witnesses and records. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wanted to “eliminate any doubt” about the process.
One of witnesses in Wednesday’s testimony, Foreign Service officer and Ukraine expert Christopher Anderson, said Bolton cautioned him about dealing with Giuliani, warning that Giuliani could complicate diplomatic efforts to improve ties between Washington and Kyiv.
Another Foreign Service officer, Catherine Croft, told the House committees she had received several telephone calls from Robert Livingston, a former Republican congressman-turned- lobbyist, telling her that U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch should be fired. She said Livingston described Yovanovitch as an “Obama holdover” and “associated with George Soros,” a longtime supporter of liberal causes. “It was not clear to me at the time, or now, at whose direction or at whose expense Mr. Livingston was seeking the removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch,” Croft said. Trump fired Yovanovitch in May. She testified that she was replaced because of “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.” Meanwhile in the Senate, Trump’s nominee to become the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, said at his confirmation hearing he knew Giuliani was involved in efforts to fire Yovanovitch. When asked whether a president should ask a foreign power to investigate his political opponents, Sullivan replied, “I don’t think that would be in accord with our values.”
Trump has called the impeachment inquiry a witch hunt and a hoax. He described his July 25 telephone call with Zelenzkiy, in which he was said to have asked for the investigations, as “perfect.” The White House released a rough transcript of the Trump-Zelenskiy call.
But Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, another National Security Council aide, testified Tuesday that references to Joe Biden and the Ukrainian energy company where his son, Hunter Biden, worked were left out of the transcript and that he proposed filling them in. White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Wednesday that this was “false” and again called the impeachment hearings a “sham.” (VOA)
One of the Islamic State terror group’s media divisions is promising supporters that a major announcement is on the way — the first of its kind since the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a U.S. raid on Sunday. IS’s Al-Furqan Foundation started promoting the announcement at midday Wednesday. “Coming Soon … By the Willingness of Allah the Almighty,” the announcement said, without sharing details.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications, said supporters quickly began distributing the poster on social media platforms, with some expressing hope that Baghdadi was still alive while others were preparing to celebrate his martyrdom. ISIS official media operatives have been issuing their usual news updates on operations in Syria, Iraq and around the world, but they have been silent so far about the fate of Baghdadi, who was killed by U.S. special forces in a raid on a compound in Barisha in Syria’s Idlib province. President Trump confirmed Baghdadi’s death in a White House speech the same day.
U.S. officials also confirmed the death of ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir in a follow-on operation a day later in Jarablus, near Syria’s border with Turkey.
Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper have described the death of Baghdadi and one of his top lieutenants as a significant blow to the terror organization, while promising to hunt down other top officials.
But a top military official warned late Wednesday that it would be a mistake to underestimate IS’s resolve. “ISIS is first and last an ideology, so we’re under no illusions that it’s going to go away because we killed Baghdadi,” said Central Command’s General Kenneth McKenzie, who oversaw the raid on Baghdadi, using an acronym for the terror group. “It will remain.”
And while it may take time for IS to get itself organized under a new leader, McKenzie cautioned that the group would be dangerous. “We suspect they will try some form of retribution attack, and we are postured and prepared for that,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. A top counterterrorism official Wednesday echoed those concerns, warning the impact of Baghdadi’s death, while damaging to morale, might be limited. “It’s a deep bench,” Russell Travers, acting director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, told members of the House Homeland Security Committee of the terror group’s overall leadership.
“This is a bureaucracy that’s pretty good at doing succession planning,” he said. Travers, along with the director of the FBI and the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security, further warned that IS remained a capable and potent organization, commanding at least 14,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq, many of them operating in diffuse and clandestine cells that continue to launch attacks. Those numbers also could get a boost from IS fighters who escaped from makeshift prisons run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, most of them getting free during the initial days of Turkey’s military incursion in northeastern Syria.
“Our expectation is that the vast majority of the individuals who escaped, more likely than not, were Syrian and Iraqi, and will be looking to stay in the region,” Travers said. “They will be incorporated into the ISIS insurgency in all likelihood, and we could well see them serve as suicide bombers.”
U.S. counterterrorism officials also expressed concern that some of them could be used in renewed attacks on the SDF-run prisons, as well as on displaced-persons camps housing tens of thousands of IS wives, children and other family members.
In the last message before his death, Baghdadi last month called on IS followers to free members of the group who may have been captured or imprisoned. “For your brothers and sisters, make [an] effort in saving them and destroying the gates that imprison them,” Baghdadi said in a Sept. 16 audio recording.
“I assume that we will see some of that,” Travers said Wednesday. “Those prisons are vulnerable.” FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned of indications that IS was preparing to make increased use of women and children. “We know that ISIS has started to take advantage of women in operational planning and trying to recruit youth, some of them in these displacement camps,” Wray said. “That’s going to present all kinds of problems for us and our partners.” (VOA)
